Fireman Gus

[Fireman Gus]

New to this forum. Been in the lawn care business 30+ years. We do weekly lwn mowing, weed control and fertilization. Will do other jobs such as hedge trimming, sprinkler repair, etc when we have time. Starting in 2012 we have 300+ weed control and fertilizer clients and 110 weekly mowing clients. My son and I have 1 other part time help.

[willshome]

Lawn care business tips

Hi how do you run your 110 weekly lawns, the 3 of you go in one truck or do you each run a truck.

[thegroundscrew]

Welcome to the forum! You and your son will learn a lot here and will give great advice.

Why did you make the switch from a fireman to owning your landscape management company?

Since you've been in the business for 30+ years what advice to you have to offer young guns like me?

What are you secrets of the trade?

[Fireman Gus]

I first started while at the fire department on my days off and just continued. The schedule for the yard mowing can be hectic. We have two trailers and work from there. Sometimes I run part of the route by myself at other times my son and I run together. On the days I run by myself it is on yards that has to have a push mower in the back yard and those days my son and our helper are doing large yards (1 acre and up). Our part time helper is a high school student and only works three days a week. Some good advice I can give young guys just starting don't try to grow too fast. Only take on what you can handle. Check all options before expanding.

[Sprinkler Buddy]

Welcome to the forum Gus.

[Steve]

Welcome to our forum Gus!

Check all options before expanding.

What kinds of options should newer lawn care business owners be looking out for?

[Fireman Gus]

Can you handle the work, do you have the cash to buy new equipment or do you have to finance, and the one of the main ones- do I really want the extra work and am I willing to spend the time required to do the work. Also remember not to take too much time away from family-they are what's really important!

[Steve]

Also remember not to take too much time away from family-they are what's really important!

That is a great point and I think it spotlights the difficulty of trying to run a part time business when you are already working a full time job elsewhere.

Ultimately you only have so much time and if you have a family, you can do a lot of damage to the relationships in the family by not being around do to too much working.