Thanks!

me too...great info for me.....

Great info

I love it Randy.

@@abdulnsheikh7009 personally it’s pretty low risk compared to other businesses. Just buy a cheaper mower, weed eater, edger and blower and get started

Did you do it yet? Good upside and minimal downside. Need under $1,000 to start. Get insurance though from a place like next insurance to start and upgrade/change as you get bigger.

I agree. I learned very quickly this business is to labor intensive to kill yourself. I also don't want a huge multi million dollar operation. I want enough money to be wealthier than the average person, but less stressed than all.

Thanks! I tend to post more during the fall and winter months as I have more down time for the grind of the day to day operations. You should see more consistent content from me at least until Spring =)

Awesome, glad to hear you're having some success in the industry. It really is a great industry to be in. Thanks for watching and I wish you success in the future.

Thanks! I was pretty excited to put this video out there, because I don't know of any other companies who are putting out actual numbers for others to see and get an understanding of what's realistic under different business strategys.

You’re welcome thanks for watching

You're welcome. I value the time that anyone spends watching the videos, so I really try to get to the point as quickly as I can without wasting too much time. Thanks for noticing.

I couldn't agree more about not forgetting to live life. Here is a video I did on this topic.. If you haven't seen it, I think you will enjoy it. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Y6yZm92YmZfblIE.html

Keep crushing it. Run your business w/ a good plan and you'll come out ahead of all your college classmates. w/ no student loan debt.

Oh, and you need to take at least one or two accounting and finance courses... You'll hate them probably... But I promise, it will be THE BEST INVESTMENT you will make in your business. Do it.

I think there's a lot of value in watching videos and studying what other business owners are doing in other related industries. I learn from house cleaning businesses, real estate businesses, and other mom and pop shops. It's very wise to stay open and look outside our industry as to what is working for others.

Thanks for the kind words and support.

Hey, it's always nice getting feedback. Thanks for the positive comment.. it lets me know people are watching and getting the info.

Thanks for the feedback. It's nice to know there are people out there getting the information and using it.

I started the beginning of this summer working full time and doing my own thing on the side and have way threw I told them I quit because I wanted to build my on business so I have a lot to learn about the business side of it again thank you now I'm just trying to buy better equipment hopefully next year I can do that

Thanks! Maybe you'll stick around =)

It's tough at first, but once you get rid of some of the dead weight in your business it's crazy how fast everything improves from your profit to reduced stress. Good clients are out there.... just have to make room for them.

How was the first year of business?

Good luck to you!!!

Thanks for the suggestion. I think this is the route the channel is going to go.

Does it stay busy November through March? This is the down time for me in Washington D.C. When the grass doesn't grow. I would Like to Do Away with the winter work all together and Move somewhere new to do lawn care if the right opportunity arose. I love having my own lawn care business but I just can't stand The cold weather and am seeking opportunities out to relocate. I know this a long shot but if you would have any interest in taking an experienced owner/operator on during the winter months, I would love to give it a shot

I target only a few zip codes, and then only certain neighborhoods within those zip codes. We probably service a 12-15 mile radius. The one exception where I will travel for one or two homes is if those homes are in a promising neighborhood that I want to have a lot of homes in. I will give it a few months with heavy post card saturation, being seen in the neighborhood, and talking to neighbors. If I can't land numerous homes within those neighborhoods I will refer the original client to another lawn care service.

Thanks for your insight.. Ya, there are just some stress factors that are easier to control than others.. For example it's a lot easier to drop a stressful client and replace with a better client than it is to say drop a stressful employee and replace with a new one. I figure I'm gonna reduce all the things that inject stress into the business as much as I can.. it has caused us to grow slower, admittedly though.

Thanks!! I'm glad you find value in them and hope you find success in your business.

Yes, I believe Jonathan has read it. I have read it (listened while mowing actually) because I think Jonathan recommended it in a video a couple years ago. Great book!

The Pumpkin Plan is currently sitting on my desk. =) Yes, I was wondering who all may have read this book before... Fantastic read by a great author.

@@FloridaTurfPros maybe I didn't listen to the book while mowing - I just searched my email - I got it from Audible on Jan 24, 2017 at 3:06 AM - probably right after watching your video recommending it! Lol.

Did you ever figure it out? Expenses are easy to calculate after doing some jobs and easy to predict prior to. Vehicle payments are fixed. Say you have a $500/month truck payment. Vehicle gas is easy to project based on estimated mileage needed per week divided by estimated MPG divided by cost per gallon. Driving 300 miles per week at 15 MPG is 20 gallons needed. 20 gallons at $5/gallon is $100 per week or $400/month (rounded). Vehicle and business insurance is also fixed and know by calling your insurance company (call it $3,000/year). Estimate oil changes, tires, and other maintenance items as needed and adjust when things change. Assume a set of tires per year at $1,000, 10 oil changes at $100 each for $1,000 per year and now estimate other items at whatever (call it $2,000). So now you have yearly vehicle/insurance expenses of (500x12)+(400x12)+3000+1000+1000+2000=$17,800/year. Round up to $18,000 is $1,500. Actual on-site expenses are just as easy. You know the cost per month to buy (if bought on credit). Assume it is $200/month or $2,400/year. There are stats for fuel consumption per piece of equipment but assume it is 1.5 gallons per hour of use. The equipment probably only runs for a 3/4 hour per hour of work time (you're driving to the job, loading, unloading etc). 40 hour work week uses 30 hours of fuel at 2 gallons per hour so 45 gallons at $5/gallon is $225 per week or $9,000 per year (most likely less). Equipment maintenance should/could be figured at about $10/hour of run time so about $1,200 per year basing on the above 40 week period. Trimmer line can be included in the $1,200 as well as all 2-stroke oil and any plugs/belts. $2,400+9000+1200=12,600 (round to $13,000) or $1,083/month. Total yearly operating expenses before salary/wages/taxes is $18,000+$13,000=$31,000. You need $31,000/year just be able to mow/trim 40 hours of lawns per week for 40 weeks. $31,000 year/40 weeks/40hours=$19.375 per hour needed just to break even. You will need to pay/be paid a minimum of $25/hour including taxes, insurance, payroll taxes etc. As a business owner (even if you are the only one working it) you need to add in profit margins for the unexpected as well as "profit". A minimum of 30% should be added above all expenses. The expenses are $20 in operating expenses +$25 in worker expenses totaling $45/hour. Add in 30% profit margin minimum of $15/hour gives you a minimum necessary income of $60/hour for 40 hours per week. Since mow times vary, it would be prudent to pad the per hour rate. That is why many charge $75+ per hour. 40 hour work week with 15 minutes between of driving/non-billable production means there is only 30 "mowing" hours per week. A lawn that takes 15 minutes to mow/blow/trim needs a minimum charge $25 but most/many companies have a $35 minimum rate. That is 3 lawns per hour. However, I understand you can't average 3 lawns per hour for 8 hours doing 24+- lawns per day as a 1 man shop. It seems like it is closer to 15 small lawns per day per person. Yes it is somewhat contradictory I know. 15 lawns per 8 hour day at $35 each is $525 per day or $62.625 per hour. With these numbers and assuming no other expenses, you will make a decent hourly rate and add about $16,000 per year to the company savings account. It gets more profitable if you streamline things as well as get route density along with charging a bit more money. I hope this helps people.

Sound advice. Truthfully, I would love to have a shop and hope to some day. I figure you can't go wrong with investing in land anyways. Thanks for the comment and insight.

Thank you, and thanks for watching. I'm glad to know there are individuals like yourself seeing the information.

Slow and steady wins the race =)

AJourneyOfYourSoul true but, don’t invest in something you don’t know how to do.... construction takes more guys, more materials and is technically a finite job. Lawn mowing will be done at least all spring and summer and can lead to all those other landscape jobs

A quick google search shows that construction industry is only around 20-30% profit margins too. And that’s the good ones. The low ones show right around 10%. There are sooo many moving parts to that business too. Many variables that can cut your profits down by huge percentage points in lawn care it is so much easier to make up profit margins. Construction has to deal with a multitude of suppliers that they depend on to make the job happen. We depend on our crews and our one to two distributors to get our equipment. So effort is way more in construction.

Dandy Lawn and Maintenance Haha, I absolutely HATE trampolines. And yes, the worse is when the yard starts off as an easy square then turns into an obstacle course at the end of the year. We all have the same difficulties. 😂

Leaving a negative review because a company respectfully chose to part ways shows more about the individual leaving the review than the company they're writing a bad review about. The most important thing is to always remain professional in all interactions w/ clients. Keep accruing good reviews... make it a part of your routine w/ existing customers and or customers moving and leaving on good terms.. Most anyone searching through reviews will know when a negative review is unfair or unreasonable.

@@FloridaTurfPros Thanks for information. We will stay active in our reviews. We are having a drawing live on KZfaq this Sunday for all clients who choose to do a review this year. We asked them for a honest review to help our company be better for the future. Can't wait for your next real video.

Elite Lawn Care Specialists LLP Wow!!! What a great idea to gather more reviews!!!

@@FloridaTurfPros Thanks a lot

I started card on file our second year in business. I still have 15 clients who don't use it. About 250 that do. I've only had two occasions where new clients didn't go with us based on card on file requirement... and I have a very good feeling that requiring card on file weeded those bad ones out.

I will admit that 29% will not be sustainable for much longer. I don't see any where else we can reduce non-billable time and as we grow those margins can only shrink. Thanks for the insight and comment.

@@FloridaTurfPros If you got business background and understand margins you will be just fine. Only add top line revenue if it translates min 20% to bottom line. By next your you will be doing $400k with 26% margin and little stress! 👍

Florida Turf Pros I’m a Novice here (starting my business in March with marketing campaign) would taking on commercial work help you maintain or even exceed 29% profit margins?

@@Cozmicsaber Did you find the answer? I'm thinking no. Some/many commercial businesses are ball breakers and can eat into profit with demands.

My accountant does my P&L’s. She uses quick books t generate the reports.

Most do, but I'm dead on with this video.

When your side hustle PROFITS more than your main job plus a little extra.

I started 4 years ago. My service area is about 15-20 sq miles depending on which way we're going =)

Basic accounting videos found on KZfaq would be a great start.

I'd suggest to some that if they want a shop, buy property where you can live and have a shop on site. Or, buy a commercial shop and then open a small engine repair facility (or any other facility) there as part of the area. Lease it out if you want. This way, the expenses of ownership are supplemented or even covered.