Howdy Folks

[umissedaspot]

New member here. Ordered both books, and am looking for something to get a 22 year od into that cant make up his mind what he wants to do. I am going to take a look around and see what the forum has to offer on the boards. Steve J.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Hi Steve, Welcome to our forum! Are you looking to help your son get started with a business? What kind of interests does he have? What does he like or dislike? Has he been on the forum yet? Maybe he could share with us some of his insights as to what inspires him. I look forwards to hearing some more from you. One of the things I would say about this to a teen/young adult is now is the time to shine. Try things. Experiment with things. If fail to make a choice and experiment with something you are interested in, then a choice will be made for you by others and you are probably not going to like that choice. It seems that we have more of a chance at free will when we are younger and the older we get, the more responsibilities we have. The more others want us to act and behave in a certain manner. The less time we will have to experiment. Now is the time to explore!

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[umissedaspot]

Its my nephew, but he is like a son. Yeah, I am with you on the being young and able to experiment until you find something that you enjoy. Afterall, unless you love your work, you actually have very little in life.

I figure for 15-20K I can get him all he needs equipment/truck wise, and I'll read the books, cruise the forum, have him do the same and we can set up a business plan from there. I am in the northeast, so time is on our side. This will not be happening until next year.

One question about the books. When I ordered the books it said they would not be shipped until August 18th or something. Why the delay ?


Steve

[Steve]

I figure for 15-20K I can get him all he needs equipment/truck wise, and I'll read the books, cruise the forum, have him do the same and we can set up a business plan from there. I am in the northeast, so time is on our side. This will not be happening until next year.

If it were me, I wouldn't even spend that much. A little while back on here we had a post from a father who invested quite a bit of money to get his son started in a lawn care business and his son then went off and joined the Navy. So then his dad decided he needed to get the lawn care business started.

I think if something is given to you, you don't tend to appreciate it. If he has a car, I would get him a used trailer and a hitch. Then a consumer model mower, trimmer and a blower. Keep it simple and keep it cheap.

That would allow him to get out there and get a taste for making money. If he finds he likes the freedom and the ability to make a profit from his time, then you could always help him scale up.

We have had guys on here that started their lawn care business with a mower in their trunk! Check out the attached picture.

You never really appreciate things that are given to you but you do when you earn them. You being there to help him scale up as he goes would be so fantastic!

I have had many friends that were able to break through and really find success because of the help of a family member when they needed it.

Let me know your thoughts on all that.

One question about the books. When I ordered the books it said they would not be shipped until August 18th or something. Why the delay ?

Thank you for ordering. Hmmm I don't know actually. They handle all the printing and the shipping. They also should give you a ups tracking code you should be able to log in and see the status of the order. It usually gets out the door within a day. You should check to see if it did ship.

[umissedaspot]

Steve,
Actually I like the advice. It makes perfect sense to me. Maybe I will scale back my investment, and we'll fund future upgrades thru being fiscally responsible (money goes in back and we dont spend as we make). I had planned on a joint checking account, and now it makes more sense than ever.

As for me starting a lawn care business, thats not an option.....LOL I have a job, a very good job, and in no way shape or form do I have time or desire to mow lawns in my spare time. Would I help him out in a jam on a weekend or something, sure. I however am not able to be tied to any kind of schedule where I am depended on to go mow someones lawn.

His car is about shot, so I was figuring a 2 wheel drive, small size truck of some sort. Something in the 8-10K range. Then 5K for equipment. Open bank account (joint-requiring 2 signatures) and put 1K in there to buy gas and such to get started. Sound like a plan ?

As for the books, I'll look at my order and see if I can log in and get some more info. Thanks for the heads up.


Steve

[Steve]

His car is about shot, so I was figuring a 2 wheel drive, small size truck of some sort. Something in the 8-10K range. Then 5K for equipment. Open bank account (joint-requiring 2 signatures) and put 1K in there to buy gas and such to get started. Sound like a plan ?

I think you are going to be getting an award this year for worlds greatest uncle.

If it were me, I would get a crappy small pickup with an older flatbed trailer. Then I would buy some cheap consumer lawn mowing equipment and see how he takes to using that stuff first. See if he can get into the whole concept of running a business. See if he gets bitten by the entrepreneurial bug.

Then if he seems to genuinely become enthused, it would be so fantastic to have access to the money you were talking about to scale up as he needed. There is always need for more funding for scaling up.

But some of the humps he would have to get over are, will he go out and promote this new venture? Will he take pride in it? Will he appreciate it all?

Keep us posted on which way you decide to go. I bet there are many readers considering this same thing and you will inspire them as well!