Starting in Lawn care

[Hendey21]

This past month i have started throwing around the idea of starting a lawn car busines. I worked a a greenhouse for a couple of years and then did landscaping this past summer and it made me have the urge to start my own lawn care business. This coming spring, i have the idea of going to the greenhouse in which i used to work and put flyers next to the registers(still really good friends with old Boss). There are alot of people that go into this business in the spring and i feel that this will be a great way of advertising. I have a truck and thought about just purchasing a push mower, weed eater and blower. My money plan is to invest my own money to purchase this equipment and then in return pay myself back when i start earning money, i will put over half the money i earn while mowing into a somwhat business acount for gas, insurance and ect.. Tel me what you think about this plan?? My biggest hurdle is what kind of equipment i should get, ive been reading alot of reviews on mowers and blowers and im not sure what the best would be?? I would really appreciate it if i could get some info on what you think are the best lawn care equipment is!!!

[Greenside Lawncare, LLC]

Lawn care business tips

Stihl for trimmers, blowers

[MountainViewGreenskeeper]

Its mostly about personal preferenceand whats available. But as long as you go with commercial you will be ok. But also you got to start somewhere and commercial may not always be possible so do what you have to, to get yourself into it. Look to save yourself a few bucks by looking at larger walk behinds 30+ inchs rather then the riders(unless you have larger properties in your area).

Have you seen what the other companies are using in your area? Most companies use exmark and walker in our area. We dont as of yet... but looking around its a place to start.

[Steve]

Welcome to our forum!

Did the green house you worked at have their own landscape division or if not, how did customers get their plants planted?

If you could have them refer you work, you could really hit the ground running.

Maybe have a business card display and then give the greenhouse a % of the install maybe?

Your plan sounds good so far. I'd say keep it simple and cheap early on to give yourself some breathing room and see if you like the business enough to stick with it and scale up.

Was there any specific moment that made you decide to finally take the jump and start your own business?

[Hendey21]

Thankyou for your ideas!, also the greenhouse worked for didnt have a landscaping branch for their business, there was always a landscaper that wentin their for plants and i just needed a change so i called him spring time and then was working for him in the summer full time.
Like you were saying with the business cards Steve i plan on doing somthign with a flyer(or another advertisement along those lines) during the 3 years i worked there i was amazed at how many people went in their!! thats wha gave me the idea to advertise there i the spring
Alot of the companies around here use the 42in walk behinds which i would love to get but im still in high school so i dot think i can drop a couple grand on one of them, im gonna talk to local lawn moer repair service and see if they have any used ones.
I guesse the main reason why i felt the urge to start up mowing, was the fact that i really enjoy being outside and wanting to be my own boss. But by far the biggest thing was going to work with grouchy colleagues and bosses which didnt make the day very fun....

[Steve]

Well you are doing a great job. Start small, get a mower you can afford and scale up as you need to.

What other forms of marketing will you be doing? Do you have a truck or trailer that you can put a sign on? Can you get flyers out to your neighbors that live on your block?