Top notch idea for starting up a business, opinions please.

[Mr. Magpie]

Equipment issues aside, I want to deal with the truck issue.

Those small UHAUL toyota trucks with a box on the back..... pack all your accounts into preferrably one, maybe two days a week, rent that thing out at $20 a day..... BINGO. You don't need to purchase, insure or maintain a vehicle, yet you are able to have a secure (closed box), reliable, efficient vehicle *with a ramp*, A/C, room for a crew (I guess) and big mower. Guys, that is a measley $80-$160 a month, and it completely covers the truck issue.

This could be the homerun idea for some start-up ops for young guys or guys in a pinch with bills and such. Heck, you could EVEN STORE YOUR EQUIPMENT AT THE FACILITY, ride your damn bicycle to the store and load your equipment into the truck in the morning.

All you have to have is an agreement with the owner to have that truck secured for that day or two a week. And, since you are only working one day a week, you could try and hook up with another lawn guy in the area, work on one of his off days, and simply rent his equipment from him fro that day, or two. BINGO again.

Let me know what you think, if there are any loopholes I have missed, ect.

[Brianslawn]

are you going to call your biz uhaul mowing. i financed and insured my first truck for that price and had it payed off in 10 months. why dont you just concolidate with another lco and cut costs across the board? even eliminate most of yours. :confused:

[willretire@40]

u also have to pay per mile for the u haul

[richmadmax]

How is it going to look pulling up in a uhaul? Not that great. I would hire the kid down the block before somebody pulling up in a uhaul. Sorry.

[YardPro]

How is it going to look pulling up in a uhaul? Not that great. I would hire the kid down the block before somebody pulling up in a uhaul. Sorry.


i agree

bad idea

[yardmanlee]

Agrees w/ richmadmax !!!!!!!!

[1MajorTom]

Some say image doesn't matter. But in this case, i'd say it does. If I was a customer I just don't think I would feel comfortable with a lawn service pulling up in a uhaul. To me it would send up a redflag as someone that may be "fly by night"
Just my 2 cents.

[topsites]

u also have to pay per mile for the u haul

yeah lol, ain't nothing in the world rents for $20/day flat heheh

and a +++ to the person said it looks fly-by-night.

[Mr. Magpie]

Whoa, that hurt!

First of all, remember, one is only going to do this for between 2-8 months or so, you know, starting up......

Man, it's funny, my bro and I made great profits and great customer service with our crashed up truck and small mowers for years with no problems.... sometimes I forget the whole image thing. It doesn't matter to us at all. But, yeah, that is REALLY ghetto. If you show up for the estimate in another vehicle, and you yourself look the part, clients tend to not care when they see a subpar truck pull up the next week for the job, but a uhaul may be over the top......

I was wondering about a per mile charge. I think there isn't one until a certain amount of miles, right? I'll check their site.

Brian: What kind of truck was it? You usually need full coverage when financing, did you have that?

[Mr. Magpie]

Also, Brian, did you give any money up front for the finance?

And, I believe it is a $1 per mile charge too... that throws a wrench in this whole thing.

[Brianslawn]

Also, Brian, did you give any money up front for the finance?

And, I believe it is a $1 per mile charge too... that throws a wrench in this whole thing.


97 ranger. got for $5000. put half down. 2 year loan on rest but had made enough that year to pay off the remainder early. payments were little over $100/month. full coverage through state farm. $0/$250 deductibles comp/collision.

with the uhaul your slogan can be "our biz is rapidly moving"

[Scotts' Yard Care]

I don't know how well this would go over but having said that, a guy in our area drives an old flat bed with crunched fenders and orange on black primer type paint :D He doesn't seem to have any problem getting and keeping accounts. Your results may vary.

[GreenUtah]

Of course in Payette, beat to $#!% trucks from farms are common enough to make people acclimated to that look. Say you wanted to roll over into some of the neighborhoods in Ontario and you'd like to make just a little more than the 10 bucks a week HillBilly Bob's charges to bring his goats over for their half acre lawns. What will you do to distinguish your company from his? That landcare branch in Boise is eventually going to make it over to you as they hit nampa and caldwell, would you like the old flat bed to be your company's image when there starts real competition? Yes, I know you were making fun of billybob.

[bohiaa]

Well I guess you could get cardbord or something and tape over the word UHAUL and take a magic marker and write in your Co. Name.

[GreenOasisLI]

Don't forget, should you get into an accident, the rental company will disclaim coverage as you violated your rental contract by using the truck for commercial use.

Take it from an insurance adjuster getting into the lawn business. :blob3:

[DBL]

buy a cheap truck with ramps and load the mower in the back and grow from there and then the truck is also one of your assets where the uhaul is not and crappy work trucks will always come in handy if you grow and dont need it anymore

[daveintoledo]

if you ae using a rider or z, this is way too dangerous...just get a used trailor

[fearthedeere]

There's no sense in wasting money on renting a truck a couple days every week for a year when you could just keep that money and put it toward buying your own truck.

[ProMo]

uhaul lawn service has saved me a couple of times my last episode was when my f150 spontaniously combusted.

[Scotts' Yard Care]

Of course in Payette, beat to $#!% trucks from farms are common enough to make people acclimated to that look. Say you wanted to roll over into some of the neighborhoods in Ontario and you'd like to make just a little more than the 10 bucks a week HillBilly Bob's charges to bring his goats over for their half acre lawns. What will you do to distinguish your company from his? That landcare branch in Boise is eventually going to make it over to you as they hit nampa and caldwell, would you like the old flat bed to be your company's image when there starts real competition? Yes, I know you were making fun of billybob.

of the guy in the old truck at all. We used to have huge lawn maintenance outfits come over from Boise but they priced themselves right out of the market :D We had our 60' maple tree topped and we chose the company with the faded paint job older trucks simply because he does a much better job than the other tree services with fancy equipment. Substance over appearance always wins out in my judgement.

[daveintoledo]

that has validity, but not with a uhaul....... and the milage cost "which they do not advertise" would kill you. Except in some rare emergency, this is a very bad idea, financially and professionally

[bigviclbi]

I rent u-hauls ALL the time to haul plants, shrubs, and trees for installs. Never has a customer said a word and usually they say wow that's a good idea (I think w/out sarcasm :D ) I'm not sure about maintenance though, but I would figure its more about the quality of work than it is what truck you are driving.Budget gives me a contractors rate of 39.99 a day and .30 a mile.

[yardmanlee]

I have to admit that enterprise truck rental saved my but back in may when a lady ran a stop sign and t- boned my truck ! they gave me a 2005 f250
super duty 4wd extended cab . it was the only company that had a truck
w/ towing capabilties and it was just a plain white truck and the best thing
was I didnt have to pay for it !!! had it for 45 days

[westwind]

Anytime you are doing business, you must carry a liability policy. you must provide this information to u-haul before they will give you the truck. Getting caught w/o insurance would be a grave mistake. starting your business by cutting corners is not a good idea in my opinion. Looks very un-professional as well. ;)

[daveintoledo]

I rent u-hauls ALL the time to haul plants, shrubs, and trees for installs. Never has a customer said a word and usually they say wow that's a good idea (I think w/out sarcasm :D ) I'm not sure about maintenance though, but I would figure its more about the quality of work than it is what truck you are driving.Budget gives me a contractors rate of 39.99 a day and .30 a mile.

in a emergency maybe... but 40 bucks a day would make a pretty nice truck payment?????not counting milage....not quite the same as renting one every day for general lawn service...