Starting (and Fastlaning) a lawn care service business

[CareCPA]

You should be keeping all receipts and entering all your expenses in a bookkeeping system.

Anything connected to your business should be expensed: labor, equipment, parts, repairs, tools, fuel, office supplies, software, regulatory filing fees, legal and accounting fees, training/educational materials, travel mileage, travel expenses, customer meals, organizational dues, online subscriptions, taxes, marketing materials, postage, shipping costs, damage payouts, everything.

You should interview any accountant you are considering hiring. They vary a lot in how helpful they are. Especially since you are new in business you need an accountant who is willing to give you advice and help you shape your tax strategy. An accountant who has experience in handling contractors would be strongly preferred.

This is a pretty good list, so I won't clutter the thread with too much extra here.

Are you running payroll for your guys? I think you'd have trouble making the argument that they're independent contractors given your level of control.

Do you have a separate bank account for the business? You may have mentioned this earlier, but I didn't check every post. That will make things much easier at tax time.

 

[Paleo]

I use an independent contractor for my vacation rental cleaning business. I get the customers and tell her when and where the jobs are. She runs her own crews which she hires, fires, trains and supervises. She provides her own tools and cleaning supplies. I pay her; I have no idea how much she pays her crews. She also works for other people, which solidifies her independent status. I do an occasional inspection after the cleaning is completed but mostly not anymore since she does an excellent job.

 

[minivanman]

Nothing stops them, but a lot of times, guys usually in this case, do not like dealing with a lot of customers. They just want to do the work and get paid. LOTS of guys HATE dealing with 10 or 25 or 100 or 250 customers.... they just want to mow.

But let's flip your question.... what is going to keep an employee from stealing your customers?

 

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[minivanman]

You just accept it. In the house cleaning business I only had a few girls that stole any accounts. I always figured the time I spent on messing with them taking accounts, I could go get more..... but I never told anyone that...ssshhhhhh

 

[minivanman]

I'm not sure what his schedule is. He doesn't offer any upsell. Does the job and on to the next. I think all of his customers are repeat these days. Back a few years ago he said he didn't have to advertise anymore. He probably told me how many people he has working and maybe when he does it but I don't remember now and neither me or my friend has talked to him in a few years.

 

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[minivanman]

Good job on no custom work. In the house cleaning business we never did custom work and it made it really simple and 1 reason things usually went so smooth. Me and the office worker knew exactly what was being done, the QC person knew exactly what to check and the worker never had to guess at what needed done. We did the same thing at every house. Now we did have 2 plans.... GOLD & SILVER. Something to think about for yourself is the same. With the GOLD, offer something simple and make more profit on the job.

 

[minivanman]

I don’t know. Good question. I’ll try to find the program. You could probably call a local parole officer and ask about that program. They wouldn’t be involved but they might know some details. Plus, I know lots of hard working felons who are great people and no one will give them a job. It’s crazy. A workforce that business owners ignore. Not all of them are, of course.

Back in the 90's my friend owned a large plumbing company and most of his workers were on work release and then once they got out, they usually stayed working for him.... for awhile anyway. There were some that went on to be licensed plumbers and straighten up since they had a good job.

 

[NaPal]

Out of curiosity, are you renting the equipment and doing this on the side? Or, do you own the equipment and do this full time? (I ask because you referred to work during the coming weekend). Also, how are you getting clients (marketing)? Do you offer any additional services like dethatching? Thanks for the input!

Someone I know very well has a 30" walk behind aerator w/ sulky. I went and picked it up about a month ago and it costs me a 6-pack every time I pay them a visit

Yes, I do it on the side. Weekends and evenings. If I could aerator 4 hours a day, every single day, I'd quite my job in a heart beat. This weekend I made the same amount in 8 hours, that I get paid to work 40 hours at my weekday job.

How I get Clients:

1. I had an explosion of clients when I posted on my house developments Facebook page. I got like 10 houses booked almost immediately after I posted. This is a new development so lawns are maybe max 2-3 years old. I attribute this do my neighborhood rapport and giving a neighborhood discount.
   
2. Craigslist has brought me nothing but cheapskates wasting my time. Which makes sense to me because people on Craigslist are looking to get a deal, not pay a premium price. This is odd though because @Johnny boy says 90% of his customers come from Craigslist.
3. I've gotten 1 client with Google Adwords. I'm going to start focusing on fine tuning my ads.
   
4. I've gotten 1 client through a referral from my Google Adwords client. ($500 yard)
5. I've tried several local Facebook groups for selling stuff with ZERO hits. I think this is the same thing as Craigslist. People are looking to get a deal.

I can definitely tell you that the clients are out there! You just have to find them. The people who are actively looking for the service want to get a deal, so these are not the clients you want. The trick is somehow connecting with premium clients that are not actively looking for the service, but have the disposable income to write you the check, and care about their lawn.

Also, if anyone's ever looking for an aerator check out www.stingerequipment.com - WSO 2.6
They're hands down #1 right now with no chains and full hydro equipment.

 

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[minivanman]

Just remember, it's not always where you place an ad, it's the words in the ad. It only takes 1 misplaced or wrong word to make the ad go wrong, unfortunately most ads have several misplaced & wrong words in them.

You say all that you got from Craigslist and Facebook groups were cheapskates yet you like the people in your neighborhood that you offered a discount to.....? What's the difference?

 

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[minivanman]

I like FREE!! I'd use the buy/sell/trade groups if I was building a lawncare business. But, the thing about using those groups is that Bob will always jump in to under-cut your price if you give a price in the open. So do what not many others do... Tell people what you do and how you can help them, then ask them to send you a private message.... then CUT OFF NOTIFICATIONS. That way, Bob can't stick his nose in your business. If Bob wants a customer he will need to make his own dang ad.

I handle customers who pass like this >>>>> quickly move on trying to get another customer BUT write their name down exactly like it is on Facebook. In 60 days check back with them. Note for this: I never delete a private message or a text. I have private messages from 10 years ago. I have emails from about 15 years ago.... I would have emails from longer but Yahoo! used to have a limit on how many you could have. I have every text that anyone has ever sent me.

Why can't you aerate and fertilize and add a helper on to mow? Your goal is to be out of the field in a very short time. Hire a very flexible person. He might help you with 1 yard on Tuesday and 2 yards on Thursday to start. But just a warning.... keep 3 other people on deck because lots of times they don't show up so have 3 people you can call in a pinch. You can easily add on enough lawns fast enough to have him mow himself. Then add on more lawns to have him a helper. I wouldn't put more than 2 guys on a crew though. At that point you could add on a helper to help you with your work and quickly get OUT of the field. This should not take all summer.... 60 days max but hopefully 30 days. Personally, I like the quick in and out jobs. If it gets too technical you can't hire just anyone to do the job. Anyone can mow but not anyone can do the landscaping jobs. The next 20 businesses that you see/go in to, notice the IQ/laziness of the workers these days..... do you think they can handle much? The 3 lawncare businesses that I sold were mow/trim/edge/blow/go. We did nothing else. Need a hedge trimmed? Sorry, gotta head to the next mowing job. Big lawn mower = big maintenance costs so just use the calculator to tell you if it will be worth it or not. Where I am at, there is no lawn that you could use that big of a mower. All the residential companies here use 22" mowers for our postage stamp lawns.

Hopefully Yardbook is treating you well. The guy that started it is really nice. I love vans for about everything. Even LCM has some vans his company uses for residential lawns. I see them when I travel to the northern part of the metroplex.

Everything I tell you is how I would do it. I go about a lot of things different than a lot of people but it works for ME. What works for ME, might not work for YOU. So be cautious and make your own good decisions that fit YOUR business model.

 

[USN-Ken]

There is a dude in my town who has a mowing side business that is getting big through word of mouth (literally no marketing at all).

He wants to sell it because it was just a side hustle that’s now eating up too much time.

2 zero-turn mowers, two push mowers, two blowers, two weed eaters, the trailer, and 32 existing customers on annual contracts (worth roughly $31k gross)....all for $20k.

I’m considering buying his gear because of this thread.

But the price per lawn seems to be about 1/3 Of the prices discussed in this thread. I think because it’s the Midwest (Iowa).

Anyway, this is a motivating thread. Please share as much as you are willing.

Appreciated.

 

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[sparechange]

There is a dude in my town who has a mowing side business that is getting big through word of mouth (literally no marketing at all).

He wants to sell it because it was just a side hustle that’s now eating up too much time.

2 zero-turn mowers, two push mowers, two blowers, two weed eaters, the trailer, and 32 existing customers on annual contracts (worth roughly $31k gross)....all for $20k.

I’m considering buying his gear because of this thread.

But the price per lawn seems to be about 1/3 Of the prices discussed in this thread. I think because it’s the Midwest (Iowa).

Anyway, this is a motivating thread. Please share as much as you are willing.

Appreciated.

You would have to be a moron to buy a lawn care business for 20k.

Go cold call or knock on doors with your own equipment. (I've done it myself) Not hard

 

[minivanman]

Realistically, if you sign up 1000 people a day, in 2 days you would have 100% of your town signed up.

 

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[sparechange]

30 customers is nothing give me 20k and I’ll give u 31

 

[ZCP]

2 zero-turn mowers, two push mowers, two blowers, two weed eaters, the trailer, and 32 existing customers on annual contracts (worth roughly $31k gross)....all for $20k.

put a spreadsheet together to see what assets you are buying and what revenue stream you are buying. see how long until you get your money back.

then ask yourself (not others) if you could spend $20k to get you off your a$$ and running a business or if you have the personal motivation and skill to get all the equipment and 32 contracts yourself. How long will it take you to get to that level? what would be the $ and time invested to get to the same point?

Would the profits for that period of time pay for you to buy the business?

either way .... start or buy/run a lawn business and get going. quit wasting time.
do something now!

 

[Johnny boy]

Update: Even with the systems I've set up there's still almost too many people reaching out for lawn care. Only signing up people for year-long contracts. I have to get a new place this year too.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Update: Even with the systems I've set up there's still almost too many people reaching out for lawn care. Only signing up people for year-long contracts. I have to get a new place this year too.

Can you automate the response to outreach, put them on a waiting list and raise your prices?

 

[tuko]

This is gold to me. I've started a cleaning service and almost everything between OP and repliers in here is fantastic advice. Thank you all!

 

[EVMaso]

Great thread, great stuff Johnny Boy. I especially appreciate how you listed out your automated process for handling leads. That kind of process is applicable to basically any industry.

Also from reading your other posts I appreciate your style. No BS, no fluff, straight to the point.

 

[reedracer]

Btw, I thought of a marketing ploy. Offer clients and their neighbors 5% off for each contiguous neighbor. That way you can do say ten lawns at once. The 5% is off each new price so for $50 full fee it would go
0 neighbors $50
1 $47.50
2 $45.13
3 $42.87
4 $40.83
...
10 $31.51 ea. Basically, you make $315 without having to move the truck

 

[minivanman]

Especially 5%. Now if you gave them 10 free mowings for each customer they got you, they MIGHT get you a couple.... but then you gotta mow them 10 times for free. But like Johnny said, ain't nobody got time for 5%..... or even 25% or 50%. But I will give you credit.... that was a GREAT marketing ploy in 1963!

 

[Merging Left]

It's like my dreams have killed my old self. I won't let the reverse be true.

Wisdom right here. Congratulations on your first complete year in business, and thank you for taking us along with you.

 

[nickgraham1234]

The secret is efficiently handling the “obligation” part of a lawn care business. Organizing the work to get it done efficiently and getting paid for the work on time. Your success will come down to whether or not you can have the right formula that will make you either a profitable company or a failing company. It has little to do with having a nice website. The simple decision to only take credit cards up front has been a hundred times more valuable to my bottom line than the quality of my website has. Think about that.

Good points. The industry I am looking into is window cleaning and a couple of other services, as I live in a very high income area on the coast. Its also a college town, so plenty of clean cut young employees for the future . There is definitely competition, but I am going to make an ad like you said and see if I can land some jobs to start. One thing I've noticed is most of the other companies in this haven't ever scaled by hiring teams etc. I guess they built themselves a job, not a business. I never pictured these types of businesses as scale able until I came across your thread. Thanks again.

 

[srodrigo]

I spent many, many afternoons sitting out on a dock in sunny weather looking out over the water thinking about how lucky I am.

I don't think this is luck. It's the old serving a need with great execution. It's well deserved.

This was the year that I have "found" my purpose. It's not "mowing lawns", but I'm born to be a businessman. This shit gets me fired up and I'm addicted to it.

And this is the difference between you and most of us who haven't 'made it' yet.

 

[Johnny boy]

Hi,
I ve read the thread months ago. Its still inspiering.

I thought about that since years, as a friend of mine works at a facility manager servive and even would jump in as an employee, If I started.
But your business, only caring about lawn, is great.

How do you manage the different sizes of the properties?
Do you allways take 120 or does it depend on the size?

I would be interested to see your internet occurs. Is that possible?

The thing I would be interested in, is, whether that business model would work in Germany, too.
The pros here offer lawn mowing at 500€ per year for 500 m² lawn. That would be narrow!

price depends on lawn size but I adjust based on time it takes to do it, since time is my expense. I don't understand your question about how we manage the different sizes.

Message me I'll link you to our site. Made it myself.

It might work in Germany. Find out by posting ads and seeing how things go.

 

[Johnny boy]

@Johnny boy Amazing journey so far. I'm curious how often do you run into trouble with your tools breaking down on you both physically or mechanically? And say if there was a Pick-n-Pull for lawn mowers would you pay a visit v.s. ordering a new part online.

Yeah stuff breaks down. I just buy a new mower or whatever broke. I don’t have time to care about fixing it.

 

[Johnny boy]

Congrats for your initiative and success, and thank you for sharing with us, It's quite motivating

Wait another couple years it’ll be a lot more motivating when I’m driving a lambo from cutting grass

 

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[Johnny boy]

I'm currently working on a side-business which requires a large amount of time upfront without any payoff for the foreseeable future. I'm thinking of copying your business model for Cleaning/maid Service in my town of 350,000 people in Sask, Canada. Have you considered offering cleaning services throughout the winter months?

Two different businesses

Not in the foreseeable future no

 

[BlackSuperman]

Johnny, I’ve been following this for a while and it’s incredible where you started and where you’re at now. Truly inspiring!

 

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[Brrr]

Nice one, I found a really similar thing with my production guy, he's made the business twice as efficient on production and so I am happy to pay him the 40 hour week even if it was 35 in reality. Just as long as the work doesn't get sloppy.

We have a lot of variance in work demand and lots of teenagers working a few days a week and I've just started using some software called RotaCloud. On top of the usual rota, it lets you create "open shifts" that anyone can "claim" after they get the notification. It's made it really, really nice to manage people's hours and everyone is happy to pick up extra work here and there. I think the girls can also swap shifts with each other on the app and it tracks the hours they've worked at the end of the month.

Might not work for you, but I would recommend something like this if you know people that want to do work every now and then but where it is not practical to employ them fully.