Landscaping Business...

[bgott]

My lawn lady runs a landscape business with a $10 used lawn mower and a $20 used weedeater and whatever $20 dollar a day wino or druggie she can find for labor. Now, I'm sure you want to run a little higher class operation. That example is just to show you don't have to necessarily spend a ton to get started. You can start out small and add equipment as you figure out what you need or what might be cost effective.

 

[billfires]

DDT, I got quotes for doing commercial work with my NH 1920 of $350-400 for landscape policy but as soon as I mentioned the BH, I was asked if it was going to be deeper than 3 feet. I told agent that it would, price jumped to between $1500-2000. My primary use was going to be digging graves but the insurance cost made this economically unfeasable at this time.

Bill C

 

[jinman]

<font color=blue>whatever $20 dollar a day wino or druggie she can find for labor</font color=blue>

How does she find these guys? Do they stand on the street corner with a "Will Mow for Blow" sign?/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[ejb]

Probably as much or as little as you want...assuming you already have a truck or car capable of transporting some hand tools and a push mower, you could get started with small jobs.

In highschool I started a pretty successful mowing/yard service with a few rakes, an old pickup and $300 riding mower I bought used.

I was just trying to make enough money for college, but as the cash comes in (and when you start small it can be all cash), you can reinvest the money into newer bigger equipment that can handle more and more jobs.

Its like anything else, do a good job on the small jobs for people and word of mouth will get you more clients and bigger jobs.

Take a look at your local want-ads. Here in mass we have the "wantadvertiser" weekly that every week has many "landscaper going out of business" specials where you can pickup good stuff cheap.

Unless you have plenty of cash, I'd start small and use the cash generated to get bigger as opposed to plunking down a nest-egg from other earnings with the hope that you can get enough work to justify.

Good luck.

 

[PaulinSD]

While I'n not a landscaper, I provide mowing and building lot clean up work. My largest customer is South Dakota's largest developer with six subdivisions and a total of 250 lots, ranging from 8000 sf to 1.5 acres. We mow all the unsold lots. Spring and fall we do lot clean ups. This makes the lots more presentable to possible buyers, and keeps us from mowing rocks, concrete, etc. Last year, it took us 3 weeks to make a complete round, which was about 90 acres.

List of equipment:

1992 C-3500 dump truck
2001 tandem axle trailer
2000 single axle trailer
1986 JD 1050 tractor
1995 JD 955 tractor/fel (bought fall 01)
6' Befco rotary mower
5' KK rotary mower
6.5' JD 25A flail mower
JD 90 boom flail mower
DR Field & Brush mower

We also mow railroad right of way, bulk cement plant, and a quarry operation. We have no residential customers. Commercial insurance on the equipment is just over $1000, and $300/year for contractors insurance.

Paul

 

[DDT]

billfires
Thanks for the insite. I will ask my agent about this!!!
DDT

 

[bgott]

I think most of them are related to her. She has an 8 to 5 and does the lawns on the weekends or nights. I was going to buy her a decent mower but one of her family would steal it.

 

[smilingreen]

Derek,
I just went full time in my business this spring. I used to be a engineer sitting in a dark, boring cubical. So far, I am doing a lot of land scaping, dirt grading, replacing bushes, mulching, driveway grading, bush hogging and assorted stuff. I purchased insurance for my business and it was around $1600.00 per year, full coverage on all equipment. I have a JD 790/FEL, 6' grader blade, 5' box blade, 6' landscape rake, 5' bush hog, JD 335 Garden tractor/54" deck, assorted hand tools, line trimmers, blowers, 18' 12000# tandem axle trailer, 12' 3500# single axle trailer and my 26' x 40' arch building, since it houses all my equipment. Make sure when you talk to your insurance guy that you tell him where your equipment is stored. My home owners insurance policy would not touch my arch building, since it stored the business equipment. If you had a fire where you store your business equipment, and the existing structure was insured under your home owners policy, your home owners insurance may "burp" on you when it comes time to collect on a claim. They can legally do that! Also, don't forget your county or city business license. You will need that to be a reputable business. Get you a good landscaping software, also to run your business side of your operation. Very valuable tool for about 300 bucks. E-mail me if I can be of any help to you. I live in the Middle Tennessee area, which some areas are flat, some are extreemely hilly. Some projects I refuse to take on right now, based on the hills are too steep for my 790. Might have to look at some of those hill side mowers!

 

[ByuBill]

<font color=blue>She has an 8 to 5 and does the lawns on the weekends or nights.</font color=blue>
There are a few comments that I would like to make here but they wouldn't be very nice so I'll just bite my tongue for the most part. I would think that you would be applauding this lady. She has a full time job and works nights and weekends also. She could be selling drugs or standing on the street corner somewhere. I'll also bet that she finds the cheapest labor that she can because you pay her so little. Probably the only reason that you keep her as your "Lawn Lady" I don't suppose either that she controls what her relatives do with their lives. I was always told to do the best that you can with what you've got. I guess that is what she is doing to make ends meet. My hat goes off to her...
Enough said. Have a good'un
Bill

 

[ByuBill]

With those comments I achieved 'Silver Member' status. Maybe I shouldn't have bitten my tongue so hard, /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif or maybe a little harder. I appoligize if I offended anyone. I just didn't think that some of the comments made had anything to do with starting a landscaping business.
Have a good'un
Bill