go on own or become and employee for short time

[Robc]

Today after working with a partner for 6 months I finally split from him. What a relief it is and will be. I ran my business for 2 years by myself pretty good. I decided to join up with my friend thinking it would free up time and make it easier to expand. It turns out im at least two times more productive than him and having a biz partner was not what i expected at all. So i have a question maybe you guys can help me out with- I have doing maintenance down pretty good. i do very good work, can run a crew, and bid jobs pretty good. except for huge commercial jobs. still havent made it up to that yet. but have been doing maintenance for a few years and have all my own equipment seperate from his,. Should i go on my own again which is easy for me to get started right back up and in bout 2 weeks would probably have a decent workload. or Should i go work for a landscape company for a while and gain some experience in the install/construction side so that i could learn how to bid and perform those types of jobs better? I would like to take my biz in that direction also but dont have the experience. Im limited to basic landscaping and maintenance. So im not sure if i should just keep going with maintenance or maybe go get some "paid training" for a while then come back with some more knowledge under my belt. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. It might seem like a easy answer. start making good money now or make a low wage but gain more experience and know how for the long run...?

[CHEESE2009]

Lawn care business tips

Go on your own! You could gain experience working for others, though for big jobs you might require a certain license/schooling. I say, do your own thing but plan some time in the less busy months to get an education on what you desire. Also, if you grow big enough with your lawns - you could always hire a contractor to work under you. As an owner, you don't need to know anything - just manage workers who have the skills! That's my plan anyway.... I still recommend studying as much as you can for additional skills, there is no loss in knowledge! If you do work for someone else, do it "espionage" style, learn how they work - improve their tactics for yourself and implement them into your business. It's more fun that way.

[Steve]

Today after working with a partner for 6 months I finally split from him. What a relief it is and will be.

Rob, can you give us a little more thought on why you split with him and why today? I think hearing more of what was going on in your mind will help us understand where you are now.

[Robc]

Originally Posted by Steve

Rob, can you give us a little more thought on why you split with him and why today? I think hearing more of what was going on in your mind will help us understand where you are now.

The reason why I finally said Im done that day was because we are still struggling form when he let things go and i was out of state for a couple years. he took over my biz then when i came back we became partners. so we dont have substantial capital built up. so every day i have to wait for him to bring us gas money in the morning.
At 8 in the morning myself and 2 helpers are ready to go and waiting for my partner to bring us gas money. 2 hours go by and he still hadnt showed up. I told the guys to go home and called it a day. Multiple times I have had to wait for him. He said he didnt know but its a daily thing. this type of thing going on day to day is why i finally got fed up. Im a get up early and get stuff done so i can enjoy the evening with family and what i like to do type. hes a roll out of bed at 8 or 9 or 10 and work late in the day off and on.
Billing went out a month late. i put in alot of work for almost no pay to help get things going.
plus i dont feel hes bidding right for money to go 5 ways. 4 people and the biz...it seems like we were just covering his own bills and breaking even.
there is a lot more to it like letting my truck get repoed that only had 1100 left to pay on it. and some other stuff...
He was always behind on everything and i dont know why. I used to do everything myself just fine so why not got back to that. expand on my own. it just took up alot of my time.

working for someone else would be a temporary thing to learn, Im not going to quit the biz and just give up. I want to learn more. Im 29 and dont know all sides of landscaping that i would like to know. i can do an install on a new house but i dont know how to bid it right yet cuz i dont have times down...i could hire someone to do all the work eventually but how am i going to bid it or know that that person is bidding it right if i dont know...

[Steve]

As you look at job you were working on with him, do jobs stand out where you felt he bid wrong? If so, what is your view on how such jobs should have been bid instead?

Also, as you move ahead, how do you feel you will do things differently?

Do you feel there have been lessons learned from this experience?

[Robc]

Originally Posted by Steve

As you look at job you were working on with him, do jobs stand out where you felt he bid wrong? If so, what is your view on how such jobs should have been bid instead?

Also, as you move ahead, how do you feel you will do things differently?

Do you feel there have been lessons learned from this experience?

Yes i feel that almost all of them were. One thing he had a bad habit of doing was feeling like he couldnt charge the customer to much. And he always wanted to include disposal fees in the bid when they should most of the time be seperate because you dont know exactly how much debris you will be collecting and disposing of.
I think he was bidding fine for him and a helpler but not for a 4 person split plus money for the biz.
Lesson learned is if you dont have your biz costs down exact at least have a general idea so you not losing money or breaking even.
Just you get a huge check from a customer doesnt mean you made any money.