Starting a Business with my L3901

[JMER817]

I did this as well on the side some years ago. You will be surprised at what companies charge to put in new lawns. That is what I concentrated on. Go buy yourself a Harley take, expensive but worth it's weight in gold. Buy the other attachments as you need them. Find a good place to buy your seeds, fertilizer, and other landscaping stuff for wholesale and then charge the customer retail price. So you not only make money on labor but also materials. Watch out for septic tanks that are only buried 2 inches under ground, and that cable wire that was covered by pushing dirt over it with a foot. Do u have a dump trailer? Will need that too to haul debris off.

 

[K3901]

Thanks to everyone for all the help so far. has really given me a great starting point and i appreciate it a lot! another question i came up with...do i need to get a lawyer to draw up some kind of contract and get customers to sign before starting work? or is a signed estimate good enough to protect me from someone that ends up not wanting to pay. dont want to find my self doing work for free because of some stupid paperwork.

 

[HarryVanderpool]

I did the rototilling, mowing business for a couple of years in the 1980s as a second job.
The best tip I can give you:
Walk the field first!!!
Look for stumps, junk, boulders.
Walk the field, and then look right into the customers eyes and ask if there are any hazards or debris to be aware of BEFORE you agree to the job.
Where is the septic tank? Is there a sprinkler system or hoses hidden in the grass?

I was called out to a house one time to till the lot next door.
When I walked the lot, I see that it is covered with very large chunks of asphalt, bricks and rocks.
The lady became VERY ANGRY when I tried to explain that I could not till right over those objects.
She all but threw me off the property.
Approach each and every job as if there are hidden problems. Look carefully and take care of yourself first.

The best jobs that I had were return customers.
For example, a couple that had an orchard that they liked tilled every so often.
Best wishes to you!

 

[tractorshopper]

That tractor figured over it's useful life and fuel, etc, will likely cost you $45/hour of life expectancy just to own it. My point being, you need to factor in the cost of tractor ownership to your price per hour. You may need to repair or buy a new one some day when you've used this one up and you shouldn't be working to make "extra money" while taking life of your equipment away at a rate higher than you're "making" (unless you really need some quick cash).

Example - If I need to make $25/hour for my time as an operator, I'd start at the $45/hr cost of ownership, then add my $25/hour labor charge if you see where I'm going with this. Otherwise, you're treating your equipment as a sunk cost and not even covering the fact that you have to own this equipment to be able to do these services. You want to add equipment to offer more services? Then you need to charge more early to save up for the equipment.

I don't do this for a living and am just throwing my opinion out there. I'd probably charge a flat fee of $100 locally just to bring the equipment to the site (covering my loading/unloading time, gas for the truck, and time on the road), then charge $80 to $100 per hour to cover ownership and wear and tear of my tools, my time, my insurance, risk, and my put back for the next attachment or repair or new tires, etc.

These numbers are real fuzzy, but I'm just using them to make the point. You change the numbers however you see fit to match your situation. Keep in mind, autoshops charge $70-$100 per hour for a mechanic's time. Sure he has tools and investment in those tools, but your tools are a lot more expensive.