Great, another firefighter cutting grass :/

[Mattcrump]

I know what you all are thinking and it is probably all true. Hey guys, I'm Matt. And yes I am an alcoh... I mean firefighter. Ha, I know it's played out but I've got bills to pay, I'm a hard worker, relatively intelligent and I love being outside. That being said, I have just started my lawn care company called Fire and Lawn Rescue (www.FireandLawnRescue.com). I am based out of Birmingham, Alabama. I may be searching for a lot of answers right now but I am excited, driven and hard working. If I decide to start something I do it to the best of my abilities. I plan to be very successful with this company. I know that if people know I am a hard worker, honest and a firefighter I will have no problem getting business. Sorry for playing that card but why not use it to my advantage, right? I have two partners who are also firefighters and we are all on different shifts so it helps to spread the work out pretty evenly. At the moment we have 6 residential accounts and are picking up side jobs almost on a daily basis. Everything from pressure washing to gutters to irrigation installs. Today I may have hit the jackpot with a property manager and I will find out by the end of the week if I have 13 commercial properties in the area. I let him know that if he had the work, I would have the insurance, workmans comp, w9, as well as the man power and equipment to do anything he needs. God has blessed us so far and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if He continues to do so. Collectively we have about 12 years experience in the lawn care/landscape arena. I happened to stumble upon this site by chance and it has helped a ton. I am starting my first business so coming here has answered many of my questions and continues to do so. Everybody on here seems very helpful and very knowledgable. I thank you guys for sharing your experiences and I look forward to getting to know some of you and possibly even networking off of each other in the future. Please do not hesitate to say hey. Sincerely, Matt Crump

__________________
Matthew A. Crump
Fire & Lawn Rescue | Owner
Matt@FireandLawnRescue.com
205-999-3970

[turfmaster]

Lawn care business tips

Welcome to the forum. One of my employees is a fireman. Lawn care business is definitely a nice side gig for fireman.

[The Cleaning Doctor]

Are the partners true partners or employees?

If they are true partners then be sure to get every agreement in writing.

Partnership agreement with an exit strategy is the big one.

Also be aware, if running as a partnership and not an LLC then if one of you decides to buy a snow plow with a new truck for the business, then all of you are liable.

Sounds like you are getting along, just don't want you to fall in a ditch later.

Congrats and welcome to the forum.

[Mattcrump]

Ok, all 3 of us are equal partners. The trust is there but just to cover all of our butts I have had my attorney draw up an LLC for us and as soon as I have time I will take it to the probate judge to activate it. Also we do not have any employees as of yet. We would like to do most of the work ourselves if at all possible. At least for now until we are forced to hire help.

We are currently trying to figure out which licensing we need as well as what the best and most affordable insurance is going to be. Does anybody know how filing taxes will work under an LLC? We were told that we would have to file every quarter but then also told that we could file under an S-Corp? and do it only once a year.

This is the first time I have started a company so some of these issues leave me clueless as of right now. I am thinking an accountant would help answer a lot but at the moment I do not have the accounts to afford one. We are designing tshirts to sell to try and raise money for the insurance and licensing so its not a ton of money out of our pockets.

[The Cleaning Doctor]

Taxes for an LLC can be 2 ways

1. Tax as a corporate entity
2. Pass through to each owner as personal income

Quarterly taxes are required by all business types. This is at the federal level. Income tax, FICA etc.

Might want to talk to an accountant that can do those for you.

[MAKLawnCutter]

Welcome to the forum, first round is on me.

Matt

[Steve]

Welcome to our forum Matt!

Lawn care & firefighting seem to work well together.

What kinds of things have you been doing in your marketing so far to promote that you are all firemen? Do you find that doing so has been helpful in landing jobs?

[Mattcrump]

Originally Posted by The Cleaning Doctor

Taxes for an LLC can be 2 ways

1. Tax as a corporate entity
2. Pass through to each owner as personal income

Quarterly taxes are required by all business types. This is at the federal level. Income tax, FICA etc.

Might want to talk to an accountant that can do those for you.

Thanks for the information, I will definitely let the accountant know that these are some of my questions.

[Mattcrump]

Originally Posted by Steve

Welcome to our forum Matt!

Lawn care & firefighting seem to work well together.

What kinds of things have you been doing in your marketing so far to promote that you are all firemen? Do you find that doing so has been helpful in landing jobs?

Thanks for welcoming me guys!

Steve,

So far we have our name (Fire and Lawn Rescue). We have our mowers all labeled after Rescue or Engines. People find it humorous. We have a FB page and we are in the process of having t-shirts made. We printed up a few hundred flyers and hit the streets two days ago which have gotten us no business to this point.

My big marketing idea is to host a big fund raiser and invite all of the local fire departments to participate with us. We can find a worthy charity such as the childrens burn center or something of that nature and have our company who is run by three firefighters host a huge Firefighter Crossfit Fundraiser. With our connections we could raise a bunch of money for a great cause and very deserving kids as well as get our company name in the news, radio and paper. We would take no money from the event but it would be great press for the company.

So far those have been the ideas I have come up with aside from word of mouth.

Any pointers or suggestions?

[Mattcrump]

By the way, I was searching the site today and stumbled upon the Lawn Business School. Great idea and very helpful. In fact it was so helpful that I have called a meeting for tomorrow morning with the other two partners to go over some of the information in the first 4 lessons. I plan on finishing them all.

I am encouraging my guys to do a lot of reading as well as some other things that will help us grow as a company. I am making it a point to take at least one successful business owner out to lunch every week and pick their brains. Ask them questions that will help guide my decision making. I have also suggested to the other guys that they join this forum. There is so much useful information on here from all of you guys and it is very much appreciated and needed.