How much profit?

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

These are the results of a poll that was done here. Notice only 2 out of the 5 are still active members. 90% of lawn care businesses fail in the 1st year. 0-25,000 15 78.95% 25,000- 50,000 2 10.53% 50,000 - 75,000 1 5.26% 75,000 - 100,000 0 0% 100,000 + 1 http://www.gopherforum.com/showthread.php?t=12913 Maybe some of the guys that joined since can vote in the poll to make it more up to date.

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South Eastern Connecticut Landscaping /Lawn Care /Pressure Washing /Snow Removal /Gutter Cleaning
52" Brutus/52" Super Surfer/44" Pro Line/60" ZMaster
EB630/EB802/EBZ7150/EBZ8000/BR400/Billy Goat 8Hp
FS55&90/FC95/km110/L322&326/TR2350S
HC150/HC155/CHTZ2460
CS440/MS290
Case 1816 Skid

[PVMS]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by wat5150 LOL!!! Indeed. Jesus kid you need to get real. We are lucky in that regard over here. We don't get snow in any of the capital citys, and its not too hard to target and get $4-500 a day all year round.(not rainy days of course) I have talked to a few guys that survived our 14 year drought, and they just put on an extra 60 or so clients and got through. I cant see that having 45 clients to be enough. I need around 100 per worker (averaging $50 jobs)

[LawnBoy0311]

I think you've missed the mark completely on running a business. Lets start off with a simple question. Whats the only thing needed to make your car/truck go? HINT: this also has to be put in a mower, and does not rhyme with "foil" or coil".

[xandrew245x]

Geez guys, I never said I would make $300 a day, I just read somewhere if you could easily make $300 a day, but I have little experience so I really wouldn't know.

I didn't start a business to make a lot of money, I started this business because its actually something I like to do. But if I can make more money at my full time job, than whats the point.


Also, I don't understand how you can't make decent money with this job, my wife's step brother works for a lawn care company and gets paid more than I do! He has 3 employees and pays them all $15 an hour or more. I know the owner of the company makes a pretty penny too.

[wat5150]

Look, no one said you cant make money at this job. You definitely can. You just need to understand that once you start getting into multiple clients (like 40-60 or anything like that) you will need to hire people. You will need insurance. You will need more equipment. Your expenses will be higher. Dont listen to anyone that says there is no money to be made. There are some big time guys around my area that do very well. You just need to understand all your overhead. You can make money but it costs you money to get there. As you grow you will understand this. If you already have your equipment than you are well on your way. Just do some research. Dont rely solely on this forum. Maybe speak to some guys in your area, thats the best way to get a handle on whats going on where you are. But dont listen to people say there is no money to be made. You can do it you just need to understand all the variables.

[LawnBoy0311]

Originally Posted by wat5150

Look, no one said you cant make money at this job. You definitely can. You just need to understand that once you start getting into multiple clients (like 40-60 or anything like that) you will need to hire people. You will need insurance. You will need more equipment. Your expenses will be higher. Dont listen to anyone that says there is no money to be made. There are some big time guys around my area that do very well. You just need to understand all your overhead. You can make money but it costs you money to get there. As you grow you will understand this. If you already have your equipment than you are well on your way. Just do some research. Dont rely solely on this forum. Maybe speak to some guys in your area, thats the best way to get a handle on whats going on where you are. But dont listen to people say there is no money to be made. You can do it you just need to understand all the variables.

100% correct. You can make money doing just about anything. Just be GREAT at it. Lawn care is a service, like a restaurant, or even Peapod (the grocery trucks). People will always continue to pay for a service if its worth while to them. There is a saying "you have to spend money to make money"...but be smart how you take that. Mowing townhouses with a ZTR would not apply to that quote. Manage your expenses and stay within budget. Thats where most people fail. By wanting to start your own business, it shows you have the drive to do it. Thats the hardest step because its not for everyone. Like I said before, don't quit your day job and take things slow. Who knows, maybe by the end of next year your burnt out and want nothing to do with mowing. Take it slow, collect some profit, and keep that "money hungry" drive going.

[xandrew245x]

Thanks guys. I know one guy thats in lawn care, he does trimming for my grandma, I would be doing it but she didn't want to drop him mid season. He only charges $40 to do almost 2 hours of trimming, that seems a little cheap in my opinion, but hes been in business for 4 years.


I'm defiantly going to finish this year and see how I feel about it.I know it takes money to maintain a successful business, if I decide to do this full time, I want to just have enough money to be comfortable with life.

I guess the whole name of the game is to be smart, there is no point taking your trailer and all your equipment to a lot that could easily be push mowed. It would more profitable to just put the mower in the best of the truck and drive there with that.

I think the main reason I want to have my own business is because I don't want to have to rely on my parents business, like I said, I am going to be running it one day, but I have seen a decline in the business over the last couple years that it really has me worried, this is my livelihood, both me and my wife work here, so if this goes under we are pretty much **** out of luck.

If I run my own business from the start, at least I have some sort of control over how its ran, nothing against my parents,but I can't stand how they run this business. Running a business is in my blood, my grandfather ran a business, my dad, and now me, the problem is I really don't know much about running a business and that scares me.

The reason I ask so many questions is because i'm afraid that my business is going to fail due to my lack of knowledge.

[Simmo]

Originally Posted by PVMS

We are lucky in that regard over here. We don't get snow in any of the capital citys, and its not too hard to target and get $4-500 a day all year round.(not rainy days of course)
I have talked to a few guys that survived our 14 year drought, and they just put on an extra 60 or so clients and got through.
I cant see that having 45 clients to be enough. I need around 100 per worker (averaging $50 jobs)

I agree with you 100%... 100 clients is the magic number i target per worker also. We are very lucky over here to attract a large amount of clients fairly easy! Although our cost of living is much greater, more people are working longer hours in Australia and is the reason why most people have the cashflow to pay for mowing... as a result of working longer hours they are time poor but have spare cash.

One thing that does suprise me is the frequent of mows in the USA. I only have a hand full of weekly customers (in the peak of summer) and the majority are bi-weekly in summer... 3 weeks in Spring and Autumn and 4 weeks in winter (now).

I am starting to understand why getting clients can be difficult in the USA if you are targetting weekly mows, alot of competition and the economy is tight.

In saying that.... A successful business will flourish in any market. A successful business needs to be either:

1. FIRST to market
2. Be the BEST in your industry, or
3. DIFFERENT.

Simmo.

[xandrew245x]

How could 1 worker handle 100 clients, that's 14 a day 7 days a week

[xandrew245x]

I'm going to make an excel sheet to keep track of expenses and profit for the remainder of the year, if I turn a profit, then I am defiantly going to continue on into next year.

I use my personal truck as my work truck, so I use gas driving every where else, should I just keep track of the gas I use driving to and from jobs, or should I just count it every time I fill up my truck?

I know I use less than a gallon driving to my moms house, my grams house, my moms rental house and the other guy I have mowed for twice. They are all within a mile of eachother.