Go big or go home.....or stay the same

[jdamhof]

Last year was my first year mowing, I went to an accountant set up an LLC, bought insurance, paid taxes, the whole thing- I want to be legit. I did way better than I thought I would, almost double my gross revenue projection. So, now I'm wondering where do I go from here? I have agreements from most my customers last year for repeat business already and I'm wondering how much more work I could pick up.

So far I've done everything on my own and I'm about to my capacity, so to take on more work I would need to hire somebody. Obviously this brings on many more issues, so at what point is it worth it for me- how much work do I need to pick up to justify growing my company.

Do you require them to use their vehicle, do I insure them or do they insure themselves, and so on and so on.....

Or do I stop being greedy, learn to be content with what I have and stay small?

[The Cleaning Doctor]

First off for EVERYONE reading this, if you are having employees driving their own vehicles, then you MUST get non-owned vehicle insurance. If they are driving to a job and have an accident and the lawyer finds out they were on the clock then they can and will also come after you.

First off you need to know what the costs are going to be. You can figure in around 40-50% over what their hourly wages will be. So if you pay someone $10 per hour, by the time you add in all the taxes, insurance, payroll processing and fees etc you are at $14 to $15 per hour. That is #1

Secondly you need to figure out what kind of person you need or want. Do you just want a helper or do you want a crew leader? 2 people does not require another vehicle. Meet somewhere and pick them up.

Why not try with a helper this year and see where that takes you. One can cut while the other trims. You can train them up to be a crew leader.

Lastly, since you went with the helper this year, save up the extra cash for the upgrade in equipment or the purchase of another crew setup.(truck, trailer, mowers etc.) Business that go into debt are usually the ones that end up folding.

[Steve]

Are you running your business now full time or part time?

Have you figured out what you are billing per hour? Is it below, at or above $45? If we go with $45 as an average, then from there you can determine if you are charging enough or if this is a matter of needing to scale up and hiring your first helper.