Ask a guy that owns a successful Lawn Care business anything

[Spartan#x]

How much would you charge to trim my hedges?????

(sorry, couldn't resist - just WAY too many obvious bush jokes come to mind)

For you, darlin, nothin at all

Get more commercial accounts, scale back on the home businesses. If you look around your area many businesses will have contracts that expire periodically and will be looking for people to bid on them. Start putting in those bids sir, that is where the money is.

Commercial accounts are so cut throat, nothing is guaranteed. Its not about quality to them, its about price. The guys cutting most of the commercial accounts are the ones that gave them the lowest bid, no matter the quality. And I can't afford to undercut huge properties like that.

[killermike]

The Green Industry, yes.

As far as going out every day and cutting grass..probobly not. The ultimate goal is to hire a few guys (LEGALS) and have a couple crews running that will take care of the actual labor. I get to sit back, take customer calls, and ensure the quality is there.

seriously bro good job, you can only go up from here.

[Spartan#x]

Have you been recording depreciation on the equipment?

no,

[Spartan#x]

seriously bro good job, you can only go up from here.

thanks man, reps on recharge

[anonymous123]

I'm gonna rep you btw, just gotta recharge first. Keep in mind, recording depreciation expense is better for your income tax.

[Ultimus]

So you'll be happy in life knowing that you most likely will never make more than 100,000(and thats after a long time too). Do you ever plan on getting a college degree?

[HeatherAC]

For you, darlin, nothin at all

Commercial accounts are so cut throat, nothing is guaranteed. Its not about quality to them, its about price. The guys cutting most of the commercial accounts are the ones that gave them the lowest bid, no matter the quality. And I can't afford to undercut huge properties like that.

LOL - since I don't have a lawn, that would actually be true. But I do plan on picking up some plants for some container gardening on my balcony.

Do you plan on branching out into more landscaping work or are you going to stick with the lawns?

I think you've got a very good thing going - charging a reasonable price that most people won't flinch at to do something that they generally avoid. Good job Spartan man!

Any plans for college? You've got excellent practical experience managing a successful business....surely you'd do well if you wanted to pursue a business management degree - which would only benefit you in your future.

[Darkwatcher759]

So you'll be happy in life knowing that you most likely will never make more than 100,000(and thats after a long time too).

i'm going to go ahead and ask you that same question

[anonymous123]

So you'll be happy in life knowing that you most likely will never make more than 100,000(and thats after a long time too). Do you ever plan on getting a college degree?

Yeah, but not only is he getting business ownership experience, but eventually, if he plans to branch out, he easily can do that.

[Spartan#x]

I'm gonna rep you btw, just gotta recharge first. Keep in mind, recording depreciation expense is better for your income tax.

Thanks man. I'm not too sure I would know how to do it, I think I would have to hire somebody to come in and do it for me, which means I don't know if I would be saving any money in the long run. It is deffinitly something I am going to look into though

So you'll be happy in life knowing that you most likely will never make more than 100,000(and thats after a long time too). Do you ever plan on getting a college degree?

Hey, I'd be just fine making sub 100k. Its not exactly expensive to live around here. 75, 80, 90k is plenty of money. And like said above, this isnt the only thing/


And I haven't even begun to jump into the huge pot of money that awaits large landscaping jobs. The past 3 weekends I have been working 3 different landscaping jobs, each over or around 4k..and thats probobly all I will do this season as far as large landscaping jobs. Imagine if I did that year round'..there are plenty of opportunities for growth in many different directions. Liguid fert, hardscaping, tree removal, landscape design..

[qdiddy69]

what do you think about the guy in this video?
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/425381/

[anonymous123]

Did they teach you that in your accounting course? Straight line method, accelerated methods, etc...

[Spartan#x]

LOL - since I don't have a lawn, that would actually be true. But I do plan on picking up some plants for some container gardening on my balcony.

Do you plan on branching out into more landscaping work or are you going to stick with the lawns?

I think you've got a very good thing going - charging a reasonable price that most people won't flinch at to do something that they generally avoid. Good job Spartan man!

Any plans for college? You've got excellent practical experience managing a successful business....surely you'd do well if you wanted to pursue a business management degree - which would only benefit you in your future.

Thanks heather! I do plan on attending college next fall, although it will only be my local community college. I frankly don't have the time to be going to school somewhere else while still keeping the business running right now. I do plan on pursuing some sort of business management or entrepenurial (sp?) degree. In the end, I WILL attend and graduate from a 4 year university, no doubt about it.

[kfx450r]

Thanks heather! I do plan on attending college next fall, although it will only be my local community college. I frankly don't have the time to be going to school somewhere else while still keeping the business running right now. I do plan on pursuing some sort of business management or entrepenurial (sp?) degree. In the end, I WILL attend and graduate from a 4 year university, no doubt about it.

great way to plan out your life..as long as you can manage the business and go to college you will benefit greatly..you can probly even pay your way through college..im sure your parents would love that..and what the hell is sp? ..wondered that for the longest time

[HeatherAC]

Thanks heather! I do plan on attending college next fall, although it will only be my local community college. I frankly don't have the time to be going to school somewhere else while still keeping the business running right now. I do plan on pursuing some sort of business management or entrepenurial (sp?) degree. In the end, I WILL attend and graduate from a 4 year university, no doubt about it.

Nothing wrong with going to a cc while you're pursuing your education - especially since it allows you the opportunity to still run your business.

I don't know what area you're from - or missed it if it was posted. Do you have snow in winter where you are? And if so, are you looking at getting into plowing like so many landscape/lawn care companies do? The other thing I've noticed is that many lawn/landscape firms are branching out into handling the holiday decorations for many clients - just another way to diversify.

great way to plan out your life..as long as you can manage the business and go to college you will benefit greatly..you can probly even pay your way through college..im sure your parents would love that..and what the hell is sp? ..wondered that for the longest time

spelling - people use it when they're unsure of how they spelled something.

In this case - the correct spelling is entrepreneurial

[Spartan#x]

what do you think about the guy in this video?
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/425381/

I think hes Chris Hansen in disguise.

Did they teach you that in your accounting course? Straight line method, accelerated methods, etc...

Na, I actually haven't ever heard any of those phrases. Care to elaborate?

great way to plan out your life..as long as you can manage the business and go to college you will benefit greatly..you can probly even pay your way through college..im sure your parents would love that..and what the hell is sp? ..wondered that for the longest time

Thanks man...and (sp?) is when your not sure if you spelled the word right lol.
you know like (spelling??)

[anonymous123]

great way to plan out your life..as long as you can manage the business and go to college you will benefit greatly..you can probly even pay your way through college..im sure your parents would love that..and what the hell is sp? ..wondered that for the longest time

If someone's not sure if they spelled a word correctly, they put that after the word.

[kfx450r]

I think hes Chris Hansen in disguise.

Na, I actually haven't ever heard any of those phrases. Care to elaborate?



Thanks man...and (sp?) is when your not sure if you spelled the word right lol.
you know like (spelling??)

Gotcha, makes sense now..i was always thinking..(south park?) wtf..lol but w/e good luck!

[Haywood Jablome]

Go.

kudos to you

here's a question: we seeded our new lawn last summer, I know its a long process to fully grow it out, but if we want to abort and go with sod, what prep work do we need to do? FYI, about 60% of the yard is new grass, some weeds, lots of dead weeds, and about 1/3 of the yard is no growth (Just dirt)

[dickhordishay]

How does having no 401k, no pension, no health insurance, and paying a higher rate of taxes feel?

[manofmany]

how would i improve the drainage on my lawn...?

Call an excavation company.

A cop once told me criminals are the ones who start and work for landscaping companies. My two friends who where in jail, both do landscaping lol. You a criminal?

Thats nonsense. Sure, alot of criminals do construction because they don't generally have to pass a background test. Alot of construction workers make 2x what cops make.

[HeatherAC]

How does having no 401k, no pension, no health insurance, and paying a higher rate of taxes feel?

He's more than likely still covered under his parents' health insurance.

As for the rest - being that he's only 18, I give him credit for what he's achieved so far. So many 18 year olds are still fapping to mental images of their sister's friends and wondering if they'll ever get laid by someone besides their own fists.

[Spartan#x]

kudos to you

here's a question: we seeded our new lawn last summer, I know its a long process to fully grow it out, but if we want to abort and go with sod, what prep work do we need to do? FYI, about 60% of the yard is new grass, some weeds, lots of dead weeds, and about 1/3 of the yard is no growth (Just dirt)

Kill off the whole lawn. Wait a week, and then do it again. Then you will want to aerate over it a few times to (like said before) get some oxygen into the soil so it can better fuse with thew new sod. Then, depending on the size of your lawn, id bring in a few yards of enriched top soil to spread out evenly across the whole lawn, just a thin layer, and then lay the sod down on top of that. Put starter fert. over the whole yard. Water furiously.

[Duality987]

Water features....People will spend insane amounts of money on those....I was amazed at the profits made off ponds, waterfalls, bubblerocks when i was doing them.

[dickhordishay]

He's more than likely still covered under his parents' health insurance.

As for the rest - being that he's only 18, I give him credit for what he's achieved so far. So many 18 year olds are still fapping to mental images of their sister's friends and wondering if they'll ever get laid by someone besides their own fists.

who said he was getting laid?

[Spartan#x]

Water features....People will spend insane amounts of money on those....I was amazed at the profits made off ponds, waterfalls, bubblerocks when i was doing them.

I have done one pond, and man it was a lot of work. The profit was amazing, like you said, though. It ended up being a 2200 gallon pond, it was huge. I can post up some pics of it if you would like.

[Spartan#x]

Here are a few pics of my setup right now.







Those trash bags are full of grass and have been sitting there for a week, probobly the worst smell you could ever imagine.

[subterfuge]

Very interesting thread because My friend and I are starting our own landscaping/gardening business. We have bought lots of equipment and done our first job this weekend.

However, we have had an excellent result that should put us head and shoulders above everyone else because through a friend of mine who manages an esate agents company, we have secured literally thousands of future jobs so that whenever the agency wants to show a house to a prospective buyer, they will use our company to go round and tidy up the garden first.

We are looking to branch out into the landscaping side of the business too. We have a lot to learn though. Basically learning as we go.

My other landscaping friend earnt nearly $1000 (about ?500) this weekend for simply draining a large pond for a hotel, clearing all the muck out and then refilling it with water. Spent most of the day sunbathing whilst waiting for the pump to drain the water out! sweet.

[Spartan#x]

Very interesting thread because My friend and I are starting our own landscaping/gardening business. We have bought lots of equipment and done our first job this weekend.

However, we have had an excellent result that should put us head and shoulders above everyone else because through a friend of mine who manages an esate agents company, we have secured literally thousands of future jobs so that whenever the agency wants to show a house to a prospective buyer, they will use our company to go round and tidy up the garden first.

We are looking to branch out into the landscaping side of the business too. We have a lot to learn though. Basically learning as we go.

My other landscaping friend earnt nearly $1000 (about ?500) this weekend for simply draining a large pond for a hotel, clearing all the muck out and then refilling it with water. Spent most of the day sunbathing whilst waiting for the pump to drain the water out! sweet.

I know man! Congrats on starting your own. So many opportunities! I actually have an agreement with a smaller real estate agency around here where they will include one of my fliers and business cards in each packet they give to new home owners. Haven't seen any responses from this method yet.. What kind of equipment are you guys running?

[deftones9]

being mexican i envy you...every time i see a lawn that has to be mowed i get the urge to mow it even if its not my yard and i dont know who lives there...its part of my mexican gentetics...

quick question...i have a **** load of clover that i cant get rid of...every time i rip it out more and more grows....any suggestions....