Business General Liability Insurance

[Dougster]

I don't know Doug, I know you hate it hear, I have lived hear most of my life. Spent several years in California, You think it is expensive hear. I have always been able to make a great living hear in several different trades. I don't mind paying taxes because I take advantage of what the state offers. {snip} There is money to be made hear in this state.

Charlie, we exist in very different worlds... light years apart apparently... but I respect your opinion and I especially respect your ability to have survived and even thrived in this extremely costly & corrupt state. You have figured out how to make it here. I haven't. You win, I lose.

The jobs numbers are near & dear to me because I was laid off 7 months ago for lack of work. With zero job prospects for me here in MA, I have turned to making it on my own with my struggling little plowing and tractor business. Still, under a best case scenario, my income will be down this year more than 80% over last year. I can't last here long as the last of my savings will all be gone before year's end. My ballon mortage comes due near the end of next year. With sky high property taxes and no ability to refinance, I will be forced to sell and move. "Live Free or Die" state, here I come.

Please read the Globe article again before you blame Mr. Bush. National level unemployment numbers are at historic lows. Only Massachusetts is bucking the national trend. It boasts the worst jobs performance of the 50 states. Dead last. That was the whole point of the article.

Dougster

 

[Timber]

I feel for you being Laid off and trying to make a go on your own with your tractor and a landscaping business. I am not sure exactly were you are but I would suggest selling your skills from Hingham down the coast to Duxbuy. One thing I have learned in order to make good money you have to sell to people with money in the 1st place. Charge high in that area too and do good work and you can do well. Print up a bunch of nice Flyer's and spend a day posting them in public places, Coffee shops and delis, and supermarket bulletin boards. A 1/4 page add in in the town specific phone books work well too. Don't bother with the News Paper. These customers are Repeat so once your in your good. Liability insurance is cheep for the most part. You can get away with paying almost no state and federal taxes too with a good accountant. You can also get a low interest small business loan to get you going. Use the state resources to help you. Sit down and make a plan of what you want to do and ask questions. We have local members hear you can pick there brains and ask for help. You can do this and make it work. By the way keep that Backhoe to yourself when looking for insurance. You want your business under Landscaping. You tell them what they want to hear and don't volunteer any information they don't ask. This is the time of year to launch this venture

 

[Dougster]

I feel for you being Laid off and trying to make a go on your own with your tractor and a landscaping business. I am not sure exactly were you are but I would suggest selling your skills from Hingham down the coast to Duxbuy. One thing I have learned in order to make good money you have to sell to people with money in the 1st place.

I'm too far west for those rich coastal towns, but I know exactly what you mean about targeting the richer towns. I did find, however, that this approach is much more true of landscape-related services than it is of snowplowing. In fact, it was just the opposite with snowplowing. The rich folks I targeted all blew me off... while the working folks signed me up, paid on time and were all very well satisfied. I have the emails & letters to prove it. Just too bad there wasn't any real snow!

By the way keep that Backhoe to yourself when looking for insurance. You want your business under Landscaping. You tell them what they want to hear and don't volunteer any information they don't ask.

Ha!!! I'm afraid the backhoe is a little hard for them to miss. But you are right... as little as $1,250 for landscaping insurance and quotes up over $5,000 in some cases for excavation insurance. Turns out I was able to talk them down into a range of $1,800 to $2,700 depending on where I went and how they viewed the big picture of what I was trying to do. I opted for the cheaper policy, but like I said... I'm not at all confident I am adequately covered for everything that I do.

Dougster

 

[Timber]

LOL hey thats OK don't worry about the minimum coverage the bottom line is you have coverage. You never want to use it regardless of what you buy. Ok so you have insurance thats great now this is what I would do now bear in mind I have no Idea the details of your skills or your circumstances. It is real busy in the landscaping world right now and I understand you want to take advantage of your Hoe. Personally Visit every landscaping and excavating business you can find near you and offer yourself as an insured subcontractor. Now you operate like a business and you get a 1099 at the end of the year. There are big advantages working like this. 1st it gets you up and working and learning the business and generating revenue. It also lets you start developing you own clients and gives you the options of working them into you schedule. Don't exclusively specialize and do the lawn mowing even if you have to hire a kid to do the cutting. The more people that work for you the more money you generate. What you want is that weekly customer and the more the better. Then all the other stuff you want to do is gravy. You all ready have an advantage with the Hoe. Most landscapers can't justify owning one but they all need them now and then. and that Grapple will serve you well to. Speaking of which contact all your Tree service contractors also. You will be so busy you won't know how to get your work done without putting people on. Come fall you Lay people off thats business. You might even Like subcontracting better than dealing with Home owners.

 

[Dougster]

LOL hey thats OK don't worry about the minimum coverage the bottom line is you have coverage. You never want to use it regardless of what you buy. Ok so you have insurance thats great now this is what I would do now bear in mind I have no Idea the details of your skills or your circumstances. It is real busy in the landscaping world right now and I understand you want to take advantage of your Hoe. Personally Visit every landscaping and excavating business you can find near you and offer yourself as an insured subcontractor. Now you operate like a business and you get a 1099 at the end of the year. There are big advantages working like this. 1st it gets you up and working and learning the business and generating revenue. It also lets you start developing you own clients and gives you the options of working them into you schedule. Don't exclusively specialize and do the lawn mowing even if you have to hire a kid to do the cutting. The more people that work for you the more money you generate. What you want is that weekly customer and the more the better. Then all the other stuff you want to do is gravy. You all ready have an advantage with the Hoe. Most landscapers can't justify owning one but they all need them now and then. and that Grapple will serve you well to. Speaking of which contact all your Tree service contractors also. You will be so busy you won't know how to get your work done without putting people on. Come fall you Lay people off thats business. You might even Like subcontracting better than dealing with Home owners.

Your suggestions all make good sense and are pretty much the plan I am following... all except for the lawn maintenance thing. I'm just not in a position to become a general service landscaper. It may make sense financially, but I have personal & business limitations I'm dealing with that make that a non-starter. For now, I must remain a one-man show and that means being a specialty contractor or sub-contractor to general service landscape contractors. My business plan calls for me to eventually get into Title V work and even home heating oil tank removals somewhere down the road. It is where my engineering & regulatory background can be brought to bear most effectively on the tractor & backhoe business. The big question is whether or not I can survive long enough in MA to make that happen here? Or whether it will have to wait until NH to come to full fruition? The reality is that I am going to have to move there someday anyway... there is no choice given my retirement finances situation... so how much I can achieve here vs. achieve there is a major consideration in how I approach this whole crazy thing.

Dougster

 

[Jstpssng]

Ha!!! I'm afraid the backhoe is a little hard for them to miss. But you are right... as little as $1,250 for landscaping insurance and quotes up over $5,000 in some cases for excavation insurance. Turns out I was able to talk them down into a range of $1,800 to $2,700 depending on where I went and how they viewed the big picture of what I was trying to do. I opted for the cheaper policy, but like I said... I'm not at all confident I am adequately covered for everything that I do.

Dougster

I could be mistaken; but at the end of each billing year you may go through an audit to determine just which activities you engaged in. Your rate may be adjusted up or down based on what risk categories apply.

 

[Dougster]

I could be mistaken; but at the end of each billing year you may go through an audit to determine just which activities you engaged in. Your rate may be adjusted up or down based on what risk categories apply.

Perfectly fine with me. I'm not trying to fool anyone or take any unnecessary risks. In fact, I want my insurance to be as applicable to my actual work as possible. This is a rare case where price comes in second to getting exactly the coverage I need.

Dougster