New to the site

Hi my name is Ben and I own a real originally named Lawn Care company called.......Ben's Lawn Care. haha, you like that originality don't ya! Anyway, I have only been in business for about a month. I have 6 yards that I take care of, or will be taking care of come March/April. But, the guy I bought my mower from owns a lawn care business and said that he is swamped this year, and said that he would give me some yards. Also, I did a gutter cleaning job for a guy who owns a landscaping business. He said he is over mowing and that he will also give me some yards. So hopefully I will get 20 or more yards from those two come march/april. Look forward to learning alot from this website.

[swstout]

Lawn care business tips

You seen to be off to a real great start. Steve

[Steve]

Hi Ben,

Welcome to out forum!

What got you interested in starting your own lawn care business?

Well I have been mowing since I was about 10 or 11 for my grandparents. When I was about 13 I did it for a couple summers to make some money...i think to buy a bicycle or something. Anyway, I worked for another lawn care company for a couple years. He had about 60 residentials, city contracts, apartment contracts, condo contracts and a few other commercial ones. I moved to a differant city about 250 miles away and the jobs are scarce so I decided to start a business and provide a job for myself and eventually a couple jobs for somebody else. Plus I love mowing grass....it's like getting paid to play sports (somewhat) I mean do what you love and make money....what better combo could there be hahaha

Hey you guys got any ideas on reeling in some real estate agencies for some yards. I'd like to get up to 40-50 yards this year if at all possible. it seems like there are a lot of houses for sale here so I thought it might be an idea.

[Steve]

I worked for another lawn care company for a couple years. He had about 60 residentials, city contracts, apartment contracts, condo contracts and a few other commercial ones.

Oh interesting!

What do you feel you learned most from that experience and would you recommend to others to work for a lawn care business first before starting your own?

Well the owner wasn't around a whole lot so I learned to talk to and take care of the customers needs. Also learned to take care of equipment issues such as break downs/repairs and general maintenance. I think everyone should work in a business before they start one, that way they can learn the ins and outs of the business. And learn what it really takes to make money. I learned alot about speed versus quality in my 1st year. If you try to do jobs fast so you can get to the next jobs you'll spend more time fixing mistakes later and risk losing customers. If you take your time and have some pride in what your doing the money will come because the customers will be satisfied and recommend you to friends, neighbors and relatives.

[Steve]

Great stuff!

A lot of times when an employee decides to go and start a business on his own, they tend to find a lot of things pop up that they didn't expect.

Did you find this to be the case?

What issues were you least prepared to deal with when you made the jump?

What were the toughest parts about it?

Originally Posted by Steve

Great stuff!

A lot of times when an employee decides to go and start a business on his own, they tend to find a lot of things pop up that they didn't expect.

Did you find this to be the case?

What issues were you least prepared to deal with when you made the jump?


What were the toughest parts about it?

1. Getting customers(I'm sure once mowing season kicks off they will come alot quicker)
2. Estimating jobs(luckily I have learned of this site! haha!) but i have gotten better and faster at it
3. Some costs were higher than I expected and some were lower
Just trying to sort through the chaos of getting legit is tough enough! Lots of paper work and research. If your planning on starting a business....be prepared to fill out a lot of paper work! hahaha

[Steve]

2. Estimating jobs(luckily I have learned of this site! haha!) but i have gotten better and faster at it

What tips did you learn to make your estimation process more accurate?