Hi Everyone!

[StartALawnCareBusiness]

Hey all:

The Gopher team has asked me to work with this board and help lead discussions on what it takes to get started in the lawn care business.

I certainly don't know everything about running a LCO but I have a strong basis of business knowledge and I'm always willing to share an opinion.

I would love to hear how some of the more seasoned professionals here got their start.

Here's my story: I was working as an accounting clerk in a mfg. plant. One January, I noticed we paid our lawn care company $475. There is rarely any grass to mow in January and I questioned the payment. I looked up their contract and noticed they were on a 12 month contract and all they had to do in January was stop by and pick up any trash on the lawn...5 minutes tops. After much analysis, I realized I could replace my salary within 6 months

In March of that year, I quit my job and started mowing residential lawns with a 22" push mower and a hatchback. Before the year was out I had upgraded to a 48" walkbehind, a small pickup truck, and my first trailer.

Please post your beginnings. Your story might inspire someone to follow their own dreams of starting their lawn care business.

Keith

[Steve]

That is a great story.

You know it makes me think of a discussion I had the other day with another friend of mine who is a newer business owner. In the discussion he was saying how even though he was making more money now than when he was previously working for someone else, he wasn't sure if he liked being an entrepreneur.

I was kind of amazed. He seemed happier being an entrepreneur. He wasn't angry all the time like he used to be when at his job. Yet somehow, he still wasn't sure if being an entrepreneur was right for him.

Did you ever wonder this? Or did you feel it was right for you as soon as you started?

Can a person who runs a profitable business actually want to go back to working for someone else simply because they feel they have this security blanket around them. Even though this security blanket is more a false sense of security?