I had an interesting experience!

[Fordpowered]

I am working on purchasing lawn equipment for my own landscaping company, I started with plowing over the winter. I decided to apply for a landscaping laborers position that was on craigslist.Well it seemed good since it was just down the road until: When I got there the owner told me he would not be around the rest of the day , but that I would be driving one of the trucks with a foreman that had no license. We went and finished a mulch job, we stopped at a gas station, the foreman was counting change to get a soda, he told me that they shorted him $100.00 dollars in his paycheck.I asked why and he said someone hit something with one of the plow trucks over the winter. So the owner has been pulling money out of everyones checks to pay for the damage. We then went to another house, spread 6 yards of mulch, when we were done the "foreman" told me I was off the clock as of right now. I said what we still have to bring the truck back to the shop and unload. He said "we dont get paid for driving from the JOB site to the shop . Needless to say I dont work there anymore.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Welcome to our forum and WOW what a story! As far as I know, an employer can't deduct from your salary like that to pay for equipment damage. It seems like everything else he is doing is wrong as well. What is your take now as far as competing with such a company? Do you feel that since you got an inside look at how they operate, things should be a lot easier?

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[Fordpowered]

Thank you steve! Yes it has given really good insight on what not to do.If and when I can hire employees, I would never do anything like what I was told about this company. Not only do they screw their employees, but I did notice that their equipment was really beat up and i was told if I drive the dumptruck, do not park it in a driveway because it leaks diesel all the time. I was totally blown away. I only worked there 1 day, I guess my plan of working there to build up money to buy more equipment is not gonna happen!

[shadrach]

I am sure the way they treat the employees is reflected in the way the employees treat the equipment. I never understood guys paying minimum wage and treating people badly that they expect to take care of $5000 - $15000 pieces of equipment.

[Steve]

Were there any other crazy stories that stand out about the way this business was operated? It seems like this business owner is on track to win the worst business owner of the year award.

Do you have any thoughts on how he stays in business?

[Fordpowered]

Well an alarm kinda went off in my head when I got there and the first thing he told me was I was going to drive the one ton and follow him to the job site. I never even filled out any paper work or anything. I would never let anybody drive my truck that I did not know. Also the brakes in the dump truck did not work properly and same with the one ton I was drivng I really dont know how he stays in business.

[Steve]

It will be fascinating to see how competitive they will be as you start to scale up and gain new customers in the area.

You could so make some great marketing material from such an experience. Pointing out the downsides of such competitors and how you are different. Being what they are not should really help you gain customers.