Website. Yay or Nay?

[CHEESE2009]

Originally Posted by brian'slawncare cheese, why not pressure washing? Is there really any liability in that? Depends if you know what to lookout for, aiming up towards some sidings could cause some interior water damage, or make you the suspect of a problem if one ever happened. It's a fat chance, but here are some other crazy things that would be rare, but still interesting: - Some brick sidings can crumble, sometimes old mortar can come loose. (if you plan on washing an old brick wall lol, normally for webs and moss) - Excess water around openings/vents (laundry/attic/ac,etc) can cause mold. - Cheap window panels can become discolored or crack, especially ones with those tiny cosmetic looking shutters. - Paint can peel off gutters. - If any particular thing you spray has a protective coating, it will be removed with a pressure washer, causing early deterioration. The only thing I use my pressure washer for, is to clear grass from the mowers decks. Too lazy to do anything else with it, maybe shoot a bees nest every now and then... - Unrelated. A homeowner decided to take it upon himself to fix one shingle on his roof that was lifted. He used a nail gun. What happened after? He then had to replace his entire kitchen due to water coming in from the roof, and inside of the wall. Tiles started to lift, and the inside of cabinets became full of mold - it could have been life threatening. It just goes to show that one simple thing can have a snowball effect.

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Last edited by CHEESE2009; 01-18-2013 at 01:34 PM.

[Cashin H&P]

Lawn care business tips

Like I said before if you do not have the proper insurance you should not be advartising your self as a contractor. That is the problem with this industry, lowballers under cutting legit contractors because they can do the work for half of what us legit guys charge. what happens when your mowing a $40 lawn and you shoot a rock into some kids head? are you going to pay his medical bills out of pocket? No your not I dont care how many lawns you cut you will be never be able to pay that. This is the reason we have General Liabilty insurance. I personaly carry a 1 million dollar policy for the reason I stated above. If your not doing it legit dont do it at all.

[Mowin4Dollas]

Thanks guys! I really appreciate it!

[CHEESE2009]

In truth, I can understand why some people would like to test the waters before going legit.

It's one thing to cut grass, but dealing with clients, managing expenses, and learning about advertising is enough to have some people racing back to school or working under someone else, especially if things things may even become more difficult when the government starts getting involved.

The following is more catered to people who are of legal age:

There are a lot of questions that many of you may not know the answer to, which is why the thought of becoming a legit company haunts your dreams.

All of the problems you face now, can and will most likely be eliminated once you become legit, here are just a few:

- You can create your own contract that keeps you safe. Giving you more power over your clients and their shifty ways.

- People will trust you more, meaning they will be less hesitant when it comes to paying you in advance; you will often have the law on your side if the client refuses to pay you, especially if your clients did not follow your terms & conditions listed in your contract.

- You never really owe YOUR money to the government. Example:

Many people assume that the government wants a cut of your hard earned money, which is wrong. They simply want you to charge your client(s) extra.

Your invoice should look something like this:

Subtotal (your charge): $100.00
Tax (5% for example): $105.00
Total (the amount your client owes): $105.00

When the client pays you that $105.00, you simply give the government the $5 that was never yours in the first place.

The government doesn't want $5 of your $100, leaving you with $95.


Hope this helped!!!

[CHEESE2009]

The things that you may also be stressing over, is managing your finances, and figuring out what to do with all those annoying documents the government keeps sending you...

Normally, they just want to be updated on how much money you are making; solution:

Keep every single bill you receive (gas, equipment, etc), and file them away in a folder. You should have a folder for each month.

E.g.; every gas receipt I receive in January will be kept in a folder labeled "January".

When you write down the amount of money you spent on the paper the gov' sends you, simply calculate your expenses - simple.


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As for actually understanding the gov's intimidating mumbo-jumbo, I'd recommend for you to get a lawyer (approx $800/yr). You can have paperwork sent to him/her, and he/she will send it to you with easy to understand/simplified instructions.

You can even ask to have all government documents sent to their office first hand.

[wat5150]

I wouldnt worry about it. And if you are just do a simple site, its not very expensive.

[brian'slawncare]

That is all very helpful Scott! One more q: is there much liability when pressure washing say, a driveway or sidewalk?

[CHEESE2009]

Originally Posted by brian'slawncare

That is all very helpful Scott! One more q: is there much liability when pressure washing say, a driveway or sidewalk?

I wouldn't imagine so. In fact, you can probably use a pressure washer to remove weeds from interlocking brick driveways.

The one thing to consider, is if you are mixing cleaning solution in with your pressure washer, some chemicals can kill plants. Water alone can usually take care of dirty driveways.