Question for Solo LCO's...

[mister_snowplow]

Simple question...how many clients do you typically service in one day? I'm just trying to figure out when I go full-time (hopefully in 3 years) how many clients I should be able to service in a 6 day work week? Thanks!

:waving:

[jt5019]

depends on the size of the lawn.I can normally do ten lawns but they are a variety of sizes... some take an hour and a half with a 48 ztr. some take 20 mins.

[green thum]

Usually i can handle between 6-8,without killing myself.that is with a 60"ztr and a 48" w/b.solo of course.

[topsites]

What they said above is very true and I have a few things to add:
- Depends on time of year. In spring, 10/day is easy, in summer it is not possible and in fall it is difficult (due to shortening days), not to mention the demand swings WAY DOWN in summer and picks up noticeably in fall but the busiest season by far is spring.
Furthermore, any machine of mine is ONLY gone over in its entirety in early March, thus as the year moves along, my machines (the wb's anyway) get a little slower as they wear down. Unfortunately I don't have the time to do FULL-blown nitty-gritty go-over-every-nut-and-bolt maintenance throughout the year so that suffers. Of course they get greased but bearings and belts? SHeeee !
- Depends on equipment AND experience. In my first year, 5-6 / day was average during spring and 8 was all I could do with what I had and what I knew. Today, the figures have improved considerably but I'm in my 4th year and one builds stamina (endurance) over time as well.
- Depends on your customer base, specifically the SIZE of it. In my first year, even if I had WANTED to cut 10/day it hardly made sense with 20-some grass customers... Today I have 50-55 grass customers thou I hear say some new guys are able to start out with that many, but I was not able to do it.

[stevesmowing]

It depends how big they are and how close together they are. I have 18 homes that are all within a one mile radius and I can cut them in about 6.5 hours in the summer. In the spring when they need to be double cut they take longer. This is with s 60ztr and includes the basic mowing, trimming and blowing off. Driveways and sidewalks get edged with the trimmer

[QualityLawnCare4u]

I do dang good to get 5 or 6 done but mine are scattered over 3 different counties. I have as of late picked of some new ones that are on the same street, saves gas and time BIG time.

[Green-Pro]

Like others have stated depends on size of lawn, travel time, etc. Most of my lawns are all in the same town. The best I've done solo has been fourteen, but these were all residential of varied sizes. The worst I've done is two, but these were some larger commercial props.

[lqmustang]

Once again I will say as the others have already. Route density and having the best equipment setup for your situation will determine how much you can do. I do all my cutting in 3 days. Day 1 - 14 stops. Day 2 14 stops. Day 3 - 11 stops. Most of these days are about 8 - 9 hours long. Accounts range from 3k to 2.5 acres.

[sildoc]

Equipment, Size, How close they are, Heat, Rain, Spring, Summer and many other variables.
Day one- 26 Lawns 8.3 hrs average
Day two- 6 Lawns 7.2 hrs average
Day three- 21 Lawns 7 hrs average
Day four- pick up loose jobs in spring or rain day or schedule odd job or shrubs
Day five- Odd job, extra jobs, bidding, day off, maintenance.
Day 1 and 3 My larges lawn is 5000 sq ft and trim edge mow blow catch what weeds there are and maybe lay fert.
Day 2 smallest is a little over an acre and the largest is 5.6 of turf.
This is solo although In the spring with cleanups and such I usually hire a part time guy to keep me caught up with the mowing side.
Times are averaged most part from feb to July.
Spring sucks being solo and trying to keep up. Growth of 10 inches are not that uncommon and most grow about 5 a week. Just plan ahead and you will get a good schedule and rhythm.

[twj721]

Just depends on how much you want to work in this heatthat we are having I cut it offa t noon or a little after so that puts me a doing 1 large job or 2 small jobs

[Elite Lawn Care]

try to stay in one area on a given day, focus your efforts on trying for more than three houses on a block or street and keeping all your clients on that day within a mile of each other. on my best day I travel to the next town over (115 miles round trip) and once I am there all my jobs are withing 1/8 th of a mile from start to finish, on that day I have 10 residential and commercial contracts and takes about six hours to complete all of them (solo). On my worst day I have 7 contracts and takes 5 hours to complete all of them even with driving 15 miles to the farthest job. The biggest killer in time is traveling and it is also the most expensive in regards to fuel and labor. For myself I have days designated to one area only for service. think about the time spent traveling in a day, for me one hour of travel time is 95+ dollars of lost income for fuel and labor. In that one hour in one neighborhood you could pick up three extra yards with some minor effort if you are willing to try.