Finally getting settled in....

[dougcaskey]

Hi guys...Just wanted drop in and say hey..This is my third year in business and each year has gotten better and I have learned alot from the forums...I am now at a point where I need to make some decisions though...Employees ? LLC instead of sole propietership ? Most of you know what I mean..As the business grows you must grow with it ..It's just intimidating at times trying to make these decisions...Let me know what you all think and how you decided too grow your business"s...I also strated using the Gopher software too keep my customers and billing organized...What a great program... I also have a website up and running, I'm evaluating the cost to see if its worth having or not, let me know what you guys think about websites....check it out if you get a chance...caskeylawns.com

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Last edited by dougcaskey; 07-17-2012 at 03:05 PM. Reason: added more

[hawthornelawncare]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by dougcaskey Hi guys...Just wanted drop in and say hey..This is my third year in business and each year has gotten better and I have learned alot from the forums...I am now at a point where I need to make some decisions though...Employees ? LLC instead of sole propietership ? Most of you know what I mean..As the business grows you must grow with it ..It's just intimidating at times trying to make these decisions...Let me know what you all think and how you decided too grow your business"s...I also strated using the Gopher software too keep my customers and billing organized...What a great program... I also have a website up and running, I'm evaluating the cost to see if its worth having or not, let me know what you guys think about websites....check it out if you get a chance...caskeylawns.com Hey man good to hear your doing well. You will want to keep your website. Online presence is always important. You may not think anyone is contacting you from your website but youd be supprised. In todays time most people search things online

[Hedgemaster]

I was going to say the same. Even the most basic of websites is better than not having one.

I've had luck with people finding me via my Google Places listing as well. (which provides a link to my own site)

[CHEESE2009]

People have also found me on Youtube.

Make a stupid little video, put your town in the name of the video, your company name in the description... use tags to add other things bring up your presence.

[wat5150]

Youtube is a good place to get your biz noticed. I posted a link a while back from this guy who sells info on getting ranked, etc. Anyway I got a bunch of good advice from his free info. He mentions youtube as being a great way to get your name out there. I will look for the link.

[Steve]

What are some of the hurdles/concerns you feel you are facing when it comes to hiring your first employee?

[dougcaskey]

Taxes...Insurance...whether I need to hire a cpa to do everything such as payroll, etc...just seems like alot to deal with, maybe it's not as much of a big deal as I think it would be, looking for advice from someone who has already been there...

[Steve]

A member a little while back talked about using a staffing service to provide him with employees and they took care of payroll/taxes for that employee. All he had to do was send the staffing company a check. So maybe that could be an option too.