re: starting a landscaping/lawn cutting business

Don't scalp the St. Augustine (except the first cut in the Spring). It needs a thick pad to thrive and beat the heat.

Offer monthly billing. That's one thing I really like about my guy. I don't have to hide money under a rock for him weekly or have him show up at my house after work.

At my suggestion, he emails me a monthly bill for lawn, leaf, etc., and I send him an e-check. He started doing it for all customers a few years ago, so I guess it works for him as well.

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Start small with your neighborhood and try it out. If you enjoy it and want to do it after, then go ahead. Advertise for pet waste pick up, you wouldn't believe the amount of ppl that will pay or fees ppl charge.

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i give my nephews a dollar per turd and i'm pretty sure they are shitting in my yard at night or poaching dog turds out of the neighbors yard.

The younger one filled a shoe box with dog turds to prove he picked them up and his momma found them under his bed. she was a little upset with me

Great timing considering in another month or so there won’t be any yards to cut

Become a sprinkler master

Let’s see:
Low start up costs
Low skill level needed
Very competitive market.
When we hire commercial lawn cutters they do a lot of scientific work like soil samples etc....
What I’m trying to say is going out and spending 20k on a trailer and equipment and planning on taking in 100k a year isn’t really in the cards unless you are a really good marketer/salesman. Think of lawn care like selling insurance.

To really make money, you need to offer a quality package. Ie total lawn care (cut the lawn but also keep lawn looking good). Don’t just cut and trim and move on. You should be able to explain to customer why you need to scalp the yard on one of the first few cuts of spring, why it will need to be aerated once per year; pre-emergents, granular vs liquid fertilizers; bug/grub protection; fungicide; Humic acid; etc.

To me that is a more compelling offer. Basically a one stop shop for all lawn care. High quality work than the Hispanics that just come through and knock out the yard in 15 minutes.

Also, on the door to door thing - respect the neighborhoods that have a no soliciting sign.

ETA: another great source of contracts are HOA or POA. They usually hire out annual contracts with more fluidity to change each year to lowest bidder.

A couple I know in my town in Corpus set one up and they're doing ok

Let me preface this by saying both of these people might be considered complete losers in every aspect of their lives

If they can make it work it can't be that difficult. But the caveat is that there is a pretty hot market for new housing in that area of town and they are under cutting their competitors. I use them because they're cheaper than the other people in the area.

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Consider buying a tractor. Bush hog, grade lots, form driveways and house pads, sod, etc. Easier to get started and you'll make $125-150 an hour.

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There are guys all over Craigslist advertising tractor work for $40-75 an hour. You can't compete with Bubba on his Massey 135 with no insurance.

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Jon Ham

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pics of girl?

I know a guy who’s in the lawn care business. He says his 2 biggest headaches are retaining reliable help and having to chase people down who owe him money.