I saw the light the other day

[jasonw]

Ok this is just funny. You all know by now the crap we have been going through as of late. Well I have a few jobs running and am about ti hire new help, mainly for weedeating. I dont let my employees use my good equipment because I hire unskilled labor to just do crap labor and I worry if they blow up my TB I am out $300 not including another $400 in attachments that are worthless without the trimmer so I went out to walmart and got a $70 WeedEater 20cc trimmer for employee use. I figured if it lasts 2 hours it payed for itself and if not no big loss. Now here is the kicker. While looking at the selection there and buying one and getting home the next day and putting it together, breaking in and all that I actually got excited, like I use to. Like buying a new peace of equipment was my business v-i-a-g-r-a <****that will probably be censored. Has anyone ells had this same thing happen? Is this some sort of OCD where I have to always get nice new toys to stay excited about business?

__________________
White Company

[MountainViewGreenskeeper]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by jasonw Ok this is just funny. You all know by now the crap we have been going through as of late. Well I have a few jobs running and am about ti hire new help, mainly for weedeating. I dont let my employees use my good equipment because I hire unskilled labor to just do crap labor and I worry if they blow up my TB I am out $300 not including another $400 in attachments that are worthless without the trimmer so I went out to walmart and got a $70 WeedEater 20cc trimmer for employee use. I figured if it lasts 2 hours it payed for itself and if not no big loss. Now here is the kicker. While looking at the selection there and buying one and getting home the next day and putting it together, breaking in and all that I actually got excited, like I use to. Like buying a new peace of equipment was my business v-i-a-g-r-a <****that will probably be censored. Has anyone ells had this same thing happen? Is this some sort of OCD where I have to always get nice new toys to stay excited about business? lol your not alone... I love new equipment that makes life easier on me.

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Colton
Mountain View Greenskeeper proudly offering yard care in the East Valley of Arizona.

[jasonw]

Makes me want to go out and buy a new truck and tractor. Maybe then I will be interested in continuing for another year lol

[picframer]

Sometimes depending on the equipment I just bought, when this was delivered to a jobsite back in, I believe May, I didn't want to go home after using it for the day and I didn't sleep well for a couple of nights, waking at 3 a.m. and wondering if I would dare drive to the site to work

I do however have equipment, mainly tractors that I can hardly wait to get to a job site in the morning to use them.

[jasonw]

Originally Posted by picframer

Sometimes depending on the equipment I just bought, when this was delivered to a jobsite back in, I believe May, I didn't want to go home after using it for the day and I didn't sleep well for a couple of nights, waking at 3 a.m. and wondering if I would dare drive to the site to work

I do however have equipment, mainly tractors that I can hardly wait to get to a job site in the morning to use them.

When I got my tractor I picked it up on my way to my dayjob. It sat on the trailer all day but I took everyone out to show it to them, When I got home I didn't want to start it up and wake the city up so I left it on the trailer but marveled at it most of the nite. I think I put 50 hours on it on my property in the first week before ever sending it to a job lol

[Steve]

One of the benefits of being an entrepreneur is that you get something out of what you do. You should love what you do, after all this is a business you created! You could have created anything you wanted and you created this.

It can't just be about money. Doing anything just for money leaves you with a hollow feeling. If at the end of the day, you have a couple of extra bucks in your pocket but the day was a miserable experience for you, you need to rethink what you are doing.

You only have a limited amount of time and even less productive time, so you had better focus on finding something you love, something you have an interest in, something that you can't wait to wake up in the morning and get to work on, otherwise at the end of the day, you will not feel good.

For some, the excitement will be in purchasing new equipment or toys. That is great as long as you can afford it.

I think you hit on a big key point though, you have to ask yourself what excites you? What interests you?

What was the last thing you did that was exciting? What are you looking forwards to in the future that is exciting? These things can be small or large.

[picframer]

Interesting points Steve, when you put it that way....

My greatest excitement is the look on the clients face

Designing a landscape project from scratch

Being told there is no way we can move a rock, doing it with no problems

Seeing the end result of Silviculture, that is a big one for me

Falling a massive tree within inches of where I wanted it to go, that always puts a smile on my face

Giving kids rides on the machines, seeing them light up and then giving them a John Deere shirt, you have no idea the impact this makes on them, their parents, friends etc.

The constant comments and emails, telephone calls, that to me is what makes this work worth my while. If I didn't wake excited to "Get Er Done" I would sell the company in a heartbeat and I have been made offers that would represent a 40% return in just two years, but for me it's not about money anymore, been there, done that, I have to have fun and I do almost every hour of every day.

The only part I didn't like was the lawn mowing, just too many headaches for what we made and scheduling around weather. We kept a few but sold over 90 accounts, man that was for me, a big load off, it wasn't about money, it was taking all the fun out of the work we do.

Staff pressure washed a massive house on the ocean yesterday, 1.5 million ++, man it was a mess, when the clients came home last night and I was there around 5, they were shocked, not only paid the bill, gave each of the two employees $100 cash and insisted we stay for supper which we did, things like this is what makes my day.

[Steve]

That is a fantastic insight and it might help others reading this to develop their bigger business plans.

See early on in a businesses life, you sit there and try to think of services you can offer to the greatest amount of people. You do this because you want to give yourself the best chance at allowing your business to survive and make a profit.

As you go though, it is possible, you start to want more out of it. Once you start surviving off your business, you then look to enjoy yourself more. Get more out of life and your business.

Some may find that they really are challenged to create the perfect lawn cut. Some may find their brains dull to work they deem monotonous. That is when you start to look for more of a creative outlet.

Designing a landscape project from scratch

Being told there is no way we can move a rock, doing it with no problems

Seeing the end result of Silviculture, that is a big one for me

Falling a massive tree within inches of where I wanted it to go, that always puts a smile on my face

Giving kids rides on the machines, seeing them light up and then giving them a John Deere shirt, you have no idea the impact this makes on them, their parents, friends etc.

All these things are creative outlets! They are a new excitement. You get a sense that you are doing something positive. Helping someone feel better. Solving a problem of theirs. Each day presents a new problem that you need to utilize your brain to solve.

When this goes on in your day, it's tough to think of your day as dull or monotonous.

Purchasing new toys can help break the monotony as well.

But there is a difference. One side of it is solving a problem and making money from it which will keep your business in good health. The other, which is purchasing things, will cost money and if you don't have the money to pay for it, can lead to the demise of your business.

So as with everything, the key to success may be to pace yourself. Mix and match these activities to remain healthy and keep your mind thinking.

[picframer]

It's been a desperate long day however, take this for what it's worth.

I have had two cents to my name, I have been worth well over a million, my sense of happiness if you will never changed.

We sometimes strive for more money to make us happy, it will not happen.

We all have to make money, if tools is what turns your crank in this business, I think you will fail as you need to see the bigger picture, what can you do, with what you have to put a smile on a clients face, business, equipment etc. will come after this.

[Steve]

When you put it all into a nutshell, do you think if you get out of your business something that doesn't cost you a dime and if you are able to give to others, through your business, something that doesn't cost a dime, is that where true happiness lies?

Is it in the transfer of emotion? And ultimately are we all looking for that? Feeling good because we helped someone else feel good?