Hello from Washington

[Robc]

Hey i haven't been on here for about 3 years due to a vacation I was forced to take from previous bad choices in life. But i started my own lawncare/landscaping biz with alot of time spent on here getting help from the people on here. It was Green Image landscaping but now its called Backyard Escapes. Before i left i turned everything over to one of my friends and he kept it going and grew the biz. And he grew it to big to fast, learned alot from mistakes, and now its me and him starting fresh this season with probably just one or two employess instead of 8. Steve you've done alot on here since i been on here a few years ago and I really like what youve provided on here to help us out!

[Paineless Creations]

Lawn care business tips

Welcome back to the forum. Where about in Washington are you? I am located in the Tri-Cities

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[Steve]

Hi Rob,

Welcome back!

Can you tell us about some of the business and life lessons you learned throughout all this experience and how you are using it to improve yourself now?

[Robc]

Originally Posted by Paineless Creations

Welcome back to the forum. Where about in Washington are you? I am located in the Tri-Cities

I am about 30 min north of Seattle in Marysville...

Steve-Before I left I was running the business by myself but I had one employee working for me. Now it will be myself and my friend who is now also my business partner. But from what I have experienced so far if you go in together with someone to do business together make sure you have the same work ethic and goals. We will be hiring 1 or 2 guys because there is so much work its hard to keep up doing jobs, the mainetance route, bids, and the rest of the administrative/paper work for just the 2 of us.
I'm still trying to figure out if I enjoyed running the business by myself better than with a partner. Everyone has ways they like to do things and we have our differences but there also is alot of potential that I can see between the 2 of us.
Getting work and doing it is easy to me. Its figuring out how to run and grow your business the right way - successfully is what will be a learning curve for me. But i guess I will be going off what he has learned while I was gone .My partner has already experienced this - growing to fast and losing control of the quality of work that was being done by people working for him who dont care about what they doing because its not there business... And budgeting money and staying busy through winter...

[ToastedToad]

Greetings to another Pac Nor' Wester. Over here on the Olympic Peninsula.

Good luck on your new start!

[Steve]

This is very interesting. Let's take a deeper look at it.

Its figuring out how to run and grow your business the right way - successfully is what will be a learning curve for me.

Are there certain parts of growing your business the right way that stump you?

My partner has already experienced this - growing to fast and losing control of the quality of work that was being done by people working for him who dont care about what they doing because its not there business

How was he operating things? How many employees did he have and how was he managing them?

Where do you feel he went wrong and how do you feel you would do things differently now?

[Robc]

I dont know if its really that I'm stumped. I think its just actually going out there and doing it. I think its a delicate balance of knowing when to make that jump and having everything to support taking the next step. I know growing to fast doesnt usually work out to good. While I was gone he experienced this. For now it will just be hiring one or two guys. This will open up more time for bids, sales, and staying on top of paperwork and getting more work done. We will be growing slowly and not much this year because this is basically a fresh start for both of us

While I was gone he had 8 employees and they were poorly managed. He had a huge county contract and all the Jack n the boxes in out county. Plus a whole bunch of residential over 150 and a couple of HOA's. Alot of what was suppose to be getting done at customers properties wasnt getting done due to the guys being lazy. All of the equipment, trucks, and trailers received a severe beating. Customers requests werent being attended to causing people to cancel service.
So alot of the money made was put back into payroll, taxes, L&I, and repairs on trucks and equipment. Poorly managed and under paid employees was a big problem.
I think having fewer higher paid guys that care with a smaller but profitable customer base is alot better. And thats what we will be focusing on now and possibly shifting more towards landscape construction.

Does any of this kind of answer your questions Steve?

Hey Toaster Toad! It rains more on the pennisula than here... that must not be to fun

[Steve]

Yea it's amazing how everyone's dream is to make big money and get as many accounts as they can. In fact there seems to be this mad dash race to do this. But no one ever seems to think about all the back end stuff that needs to be run and organized in order for everything to work properly. No one ever thinks a business can implode until it actually happens to them.

[Paineless Creations]

Originally Posted by ToastedToad

Greetings to another Pac Nor' Wester. Over here on the Olympic Peninsula.

Good luck on your new start!

Hey are you near Hansville/Kingston. I might have some work for you. Let me know

[SpokaneSRC]

Welcome back Rob. Good luck with everything. Sounds like you have a good idea on how to make things happen.
Hi to all fellow Washingtonians. (Not sure if that's what we're called).