Maine NewB

[t-10yrs2retire]

Hi all just wanted to say hi and and intro myself a little. Im from Midcoast Maine and as my name suggest im on the down side of 10yrs before my "Planned" retirement. I will be 56 at that point. At this time I have all the equipment needed to mow lawns. Now I say I have all the "equipment" and by that I mean I have a homeowners rider a new troy-bilt 46" horse a couple weed trimmers a push mower a 5x8 trailer, chainsaw. I have 4 local lawns and I got mixed up with SOFI and am going to complete a lawn I agreed to do till the end of August and thats the end of that! My short term plan (2 yrs) is this: pick up around 10 lawns/week and LEARN!! Save my money for GOOD equipment. Figure out how to price. How to break down expenses! I am going at this with the KISS method for the first two years. Besides lawns I will also try and do leaf service this fall. Im going to stick with the leaf blower/vacumn, tarp, rake , and trailer. I will need to figure out how to price that also. Anyway that is my short term plan through 12-31-13. for the 3 years following that I plan on upgrading equipment and vehicle. I will still only have 3-4 days / week off but would like 20 lawns/ week min by then. a decent leaf vacumn trailer, and a GOOD Plow rig. for the last 5 years before my retirement I want to continue to build working into comercial plowing and twards F/T lawns at around 50/week+-.

This will ALL be done the best I can do with Cash. I did start out with $1600 in credit just to get the rider a trimmer and ramps for my trailer but havnt made the first payment yet and my first deposit is expected to be $1140 for August 1st. (I started late this summer).

ANYWAY...lol thats it in a nut shell and as far as I have gotten. I enjoy yard work and always have. Just thought it would be nice to do something I enjoy after my retirement. I am respectful, honest and hard working and willing to learn. This is a great forum and I will be using it a ton. I want to do things right and if any locals have advice I sure could use it.

[wat5150]

Where are you located? Im in Maine also.

[t-10yrs2retire]

North of Belfast you?

[wat5150]

Cushing. Just outside of Thomaston

[t-10yrs2retire]

Yup get that way now and then. Any advice on pricing the leaves?

[wat5150]

Charge your hourly rate. How are you going to do them? Blow them on tarp and remove? If you have a bagger on your mower it may be easier to bag. Anyway figure out how much your going to charge per hour. Go from there.

[t-10yrs2retire]

Blow tarp and remove. Guess i knew that but figuring how long its going to take will be the key. That will be the learning part i guess...lol

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

Blow tarp and remove. Guess i knew that but figuring how long its going to take will be the key. That will be the learning part i guess...lol

leaves are a guessing game. It takes longer then it looks unless you can blow them into the woods.

[Steve]

Welcome to our forum! It sounds like you are doing really well with all your start up!

[t-10yrs2retire]

I can afford the homemade vacumn box (I think) and would use my regular trailer for this. Are they a big plus? They look like fairly simple builds. I would get the bagger attachment for my mower but the reviews SUCKKKK for it.

[t-10yrs2retire]

Ok so an update. Things were going as planned and I had made back what i had into everything until a family medical emergency that has required me to go out of state on the weekends probably till mid sept. I also tore a hamstring putting me out of work till probably october...ok thats the bad news. Lol... Good news is the doctor told me i could continue to mow (ride). So son in law stepped up to do the leg work for free! What a good kid!!!...Well i did get some advertising "stuff" before all this happened. Door magnets for my tuscon and a sign for the back of my trailer. T-shirts, and buisness cards. On paper im doing well and im happy that i started with less then $2000 or i would be screwed right now. I am getting the pricing down i think. I have it down to a formula that takes into account equipment, an hourly rate, and fuel and i have this figured into a cost per sq/ft then add millage and drive time. I have 6 lawns and im good with that this year. Anyway advice is always good and welcomed. Will finish out this year before I adjust my overall plan. I may still be able to pull off a pay off this year!

[Steve]

I am glad to see you have some help to get you through your injury! It sounds like you are doing the best you can right now and I am sure you will see some more growth as you push ahead. Keep going, you will do fine!