Too much equipment will sink you

[Steve]

Here is an image to print out and tape to your monitor. Look at it whenever you are considering buying a piece of equipment you don't need. Too much lawn care equipment will sink you.

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[musician/lawnman]

Lawn care business tips

I agree. I hated that first period of time when I was using junk equipment though. So I worked hard to grow it fast so I could upgrade. But still, it's sound advice. Most start-ups don't make it for very long. So why get stuck with $20,000+ in gear just to realize this isn't for you? Start small, Baby steps....

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[Steve]

Chuck,

Another post made me think of this. Tell me, what is your view on aerators? Do you own one or rent one or not perform this service at all.

At what point would you suggest a lawn care business owner purchase one?

[Little's]

I never have even had a request for aerating. I think if I was going to do something like that, I would plan in advance and schedule a day where I could set up 20 or so jobs to do and rent one. I think that is the only way you can make it profitable.

[justin_time]

Originally Posted by Steve

Here is an image to print out and tape to your monitor. Look at it whenever you are considering buying a piece of equipment you don't need.

Too much lawn care equipment will sink you.

First of all I don't feel like swimming, the water is getting very cold

Second of all this is all true, look at me now. I almost have myself set and it's only my 2nd year of business and I am just getting settled in with my payments and equipment.

[musician/lawnman]

Steve,

I do not own an aerator, I think to the right clients it's a valuable service but to most down here they don't care. Our soil here is mostly sand with high acidity... the ground doesn't really "pack" like it does up north. The only people with nice lawns here spend an average $100/month on lawn cutting + $60/month on fertilizer & pest control services + the water bill for properly irrigating..... Most are not spending in the $200/month range on lawn care alone right now. I haven't pushed aerating & really haven't done much fertilizer either... alot of em don't care as long as the **** in the yard is green (lot of weeds instead of grass....) & cut to look pretty good.

Well this was my first season and have done really well . When i was putting everything in place to get going i had to make a decision on what type of equipment to start with and how much i was going to spend. At this time i was doing handyman work and was wanting to switch to lawn care because housing took such a dive, and so did the work. So after all the research i did this is what i went with: A new resd. Toro zero turn 42" with a 21hp Kohler ( $2400.00) A new Echo trimmer ($199.00) A used Echo back pack blower ($100.00) A used echo edger ( $75.00) A new Anderson 8x10 trailer ($1050.00) Trimmer racks ($69.00) Racks welded on ($35.00) 2 5gal gas cans and 2 2.5gal can ($ 54.00) rakes and ext.. i had, truck i had, Insurance ($159.00) down $69.00 a month lic ( county & city $45.00 & $34.00

Now i Spent $4220.00 on getting equiped. Now I ran an add in the penny saver that cost me $97.89 for 8 runs (1 month) Web site (www.volusialawncare.com ) Built and hosted ($99.00) built it myself with some help from Gopher And some help with content from a gopher member (thank you again) Then i had 5000 door hangers printed ($173.50)

So to get started i have a total of ($4590.39) invested.

I got started the first of july, well really mid june with 3 of my handy man accts i cut with a push mower. Any way All this equipment has done very well, even cut 5 ac with the toro the grass was 2 ft tall held up great.
Well , I now have 58 accts, 6 annual accts made all my start up money back and have $3692 saved towards a new commercial mower that i should have enough for if as planed by mid July next year.
Hope this gives some insight to those thinking of starting up. And again thank you Steve for all your help, and Thank you Chuck for all your help when i was getting started, your insight was what got me going in the right direction.

[Steve]

Sherman, you are very welcome.

Looking back now, if you could have done some things differently in your start up phase, what would they be?

[musician/lawnman]

Sherman,

No problem at all brother! Glad the advice helped get you going & off on the right foot. Glad I could help. You need to give me a call before you buy that new mower.... I've found a machine I am really impressed with that you should check out.

Originally Posted by musician/lawnman

Sherman,

No problem at all brother! Glad the advice helped get you going & off on the right foot. Glad I could help. You need to give me a call before you buy that new mower.... I've found a machine I am really impressed with that you should check out.

Chuck I will, I have been looking at so many options, still have not figured out what would work, and handle the job best.
Look forward to your input, thanks.