getting to big to fast

[ALLSIDES TURF &IRRIGATION]

hey guys last week i recevied a faxed invitation to bid several low income housing apartments. I took a look at them the following day and thay were spread out all over the place some 2hrs away (22-30acres).I do not have the man power or the equipment to do this bid high I thought,cath it next season when i might have more working capital. but yesterday i recived a call asking for my proof of insuranc and w/c so i faxed every thing over and thay sent me a sighn contract with a start date of the 1st. how am i going toget the equipment and the man power with out enought capitail.

[LoneStarLawn]

Why bid on something you can't handle quite yet?

Take the contract to a bank and get a loan...

[TLS]

Well first of all, your LONG NAME messes up my screen positions. Now that that is out of the way, you should only bid on properties that you can handle. This is why bids aren't renewed for established companies unlike yours. Commercials are all in the name of lowest bid, usually.... You must have seriously UNDERBID this contract and they are taking advantage of this/YOU! DONT sign it if you cant handle it! I dont mean to sound harsh, but I have been out bid by several newcomers on commercial properties. They get a different company every year. YES I was a newcomer the first year, but after 5 years, I lost the bid to a VERY low bidder. It has since been awarded for 5 yrs to a new company every year since. I just dont understand.?

Sorry to come on so hard ALLSIDES, dont take it personally, you just hit a nerve.

[Randy Scott]

Now you have a problem. I am starting new this year and never even considered bidding properties like that. Like others here said, you were the low bidder and that is why you got the job. You should decline the job but any way you do it you are going to look silly for even getting into that situation. Maybe tell them that things are going crazy with spring just around the corner and you filled up your schedule before they got back to you and you will have to decline the work and tell them thank you and sorry for any inconvenience. Just a thought! :)

[oneEXMARKfan]

"low income housing apartments" (I've heard that term before somewhere......I think) If any are near my area, I'll tell you which one's to stay out of (for safety reasons) Hate to see you lose new equiptment, and see any more homosides on the news. Good luck neighbor

[Edited by oneEXMARKfan on 03-18-2001 at 09:09 AM]

[HOMER]

Get to subbin' these things out!

[Charles]

I hope you included trash pickup in your bids. You will have alot of that and it may take more time than the actual cutting. Hope you also included gang pass fees and bullet proof vest in you contract. Dont sign it man, just by asking this question shows you in over your head

[oneEXMARKfan]

(You got that right Charles).....Trash alone wouldn't make it worth it.....much less HEALTH ISSUES! NO future in it.

[lawrence stone]

Originally posted by oneEXMARKfan
(You got that right Charles).....Trash alone wouldn't make it worth it.....much less HEALTH ISSUES! NO future in it.

Any what's wrong with spending hours picking up used syringes, crack vials, and smack wrappers.

One needs to look at the "fringe' benefits of this job.

There are lots of good cheap dope and sex at every jobsite.

What more could a contractor want?

[GREG R]

CONTACT SOME OF THE LOC'S IN THAT AREA, AND SEE
IF YOU CAN SUB IT TO THEM. THAT IS YOUR BEST BET.

[oneEXMARKfan]

LOL !!!!! You got me there Mr. Stone! Been so long since last season, I had forgoten all the "perks". [almost ready for this year.........already got my "temporary" gold tooth (and my hat with the big pink feather) unpacked....But it sure is tough tring to walk in these 6" stacks (got the ones with the goldfish in the heel....like my hero Super Fly)

[dmk395]

Wow sounds like Big Pimpin Lawncare to me.

[Toad]

SUBCONTRACT$$$$$$$$$$$

[lawnboy11]

Why did you bid it in the first place?

[kutnkev]

if you want to take full advantage of the situation, hire
the locals. there are always youngins and oldheads cold lampin. just walk up to them and ask if they want to work for you THERE . do that each place and you wont have a problem w/ anybody. you dont need to pay so many folks to ride around all day. just one or two for an hour or so for ten bucks picking up trash or other type labor. why do you think those big murals in the worst cities are NEVER damaged?

xmf- superfly did not have gold fish in his platforms. that was im gonna get you sucka. you need to brush up on your pimp history! you could get yo' cap peelt dissin' him!

[Acute Cut]

Turn around and walk away. Dont look back on this one. I would do exactly as someone else said and say you got filled up and cant do it now.

I lived in SC once and started my mowing life there by working with another company that some friends of mine had started up. We had two low income housing contracts. One didnt have too bad of an atmosphere. There was tons of lawn and bushes though. There was DEFINITLY ALOT of gargbage too. My friends lost that contract cause they missed two weeks due to bad scag mowers having to be in the shop too often.

the second contract was the worst. We hated doing it with a passion. There was barbed ware all over the place. Often times the "tennants" would cut it and leave it in the taller grass for you to mow over. I saw some kids one day playing "Stick the syringe in the dog". They were throwing syringes at this chained up dog. No matter how long we were there it ALWAYS looked bad. No matter how much rubbing and armor all you put on a piece of coal, it is still just a piece of coal. We had to each come back to the trailer every 15 minutes to make sure the equip was still there. weedeating was horrible. Ever weedeated INTo a broken bottle while wearing shorts?

Oh, and lets not forget the wonderful tennants there. they were very scarce in the day time (Not implying anythign, just stating a fact) and would complain that we woke them by mowing so early. 9 am. The OWNER and MANAGR told us to be gone by 530 EVERY DAY! He said to NOT be there any later because our safety was in jeapardy after 530 and there was noone that could help us. One day we left at about 545. our truck was Surrounded, literally, by about 35 people looking at our equipment and asking how much money we had. Even after we loaded up we had some problem getting out. They didnt want to let us out. The manager even told us that there were darn near weekly murders there and that sometimes when ambulances and firetrucks came into the area, that they left with bullet holes in them. The owners of the lawn business were firemen in another part of the city but knew from pals nearby that the story was true.

I could go on for hours about this place. It was one of the scariest places i have ever had to work. Two years later i was delivering pizza at night and had to deliver there. I was offered sex and/or drugs for payment. Then onmy way out i got surrounded (TWICE, by different groups) by about 100 pple who wanted to know who i was and why i was there. My x-girlfriend was with me at the time and i thought we were gonna die.

No contract is ever worth that much hassle and fear of death. I would STRONGLY ENCOURAGE you to W.A.L.K. A.W.A.Y!
Did i make myself clear or shoule i put more spaces between the letters so you get the message even more strongly. For the love of GOD MAN< WALK AWAY! (Was that over the top?)

[Acute Cut]

Have you decided on a course of action ALLSIDES?

[landscaper3]

First problem you have is man power!!! Second problem is equipment to properly maintain!! Third at 4 hrs you will need to add at least $125.00 on the bill each week for fuel and time, Fourth if a property management company is the people in charge (RUN-RUN-RUN) they are not loyal and go to the lowest bidder EVERY YEAR!!!! We work with many to fill in vacant spots when needed. One of the mistakes Lawn Maintenance and other companys do is bite off more than they can chew and those are the one who go belly up! If your looking for more business and are somewhat new stay with the residential and build up your cliantell and work your way up to commercial accounts when properly staffed and equipment to maintain. Try nebs for door hangers or make up some flyers, distribute say 2000 you may get 50 or more accounts that are more local!!!!

[jjfehr]

Someone told you to take the contract to the bank and get a loan. Now, after everything that you have learned on lawnsite, I think that you can tell by yourself that you will not have this account for more than a year, so I hope that you intend not make any money on the account all season so that you can have the equipment payed off by then end of the season.

Top 10 reasons that you won't have the account next year....
10)you got under bid
9)you are now broke because you under bid that bad
8)you have become a statistic (another murder in the projects)
7)your truck is on blocks at the end of the day missing rims
6)you become a drug addict and don't want to work anymore
5)you are tired of removing graffiti from your vehicle
4)you want to stay away from the crack ***** that you knocked up!
3)you are afraid her pimp might kill you so you stay away!
2)the property manager pays you then robs you for the money he just gave you(you can't tell him that you don't have any)
1)you are trimming along the fence (that is 12' high with barbed wire) and you run over some dog s##t and hits your
face, then you realize that it is not dog s##t!!!!!!!!

[65hoss]

RUN AWAY FROM THIS FAST!!!

Last spring I was doing HUD houses. Care to guess where these houses are located? Memphis is rated 3rd in the country for murders. Gang infested areas. I took our lives in my hands everytime we cut. I would actually stand out front with my S&W 45 while the cutting was being done.

And the trash, what a disaster! Never know what your going to find after you run over it. These people have no idea what a trash can is. Nor do they care. Glass colt 45 bottles everywhere.

After 3 months I decided the money wasn't worth the risk I was taking. Nothing is worth your life. Lucky for me I had an easy way out. But if you sign that contract, you may very well be stuck. Get a nice big fire in the fireplace and throw that in and watch it burn. Tell them you never received it and are to full to handle anything else.

[KDJ]

Find out were the local Pawn shop is so you can pick you're tools up after the job.

[Runner]

I wonder what ever happened to this guy? He may have gotten really bummed out at the realization that everyone gave him. :rolleyes:

[bobbygedd]

if u think u cant handle it, dont even start. what i did for the last 5 yrs has been so counterproductive. took on more than i could handle and couldnt get it done. ended up only makin it to my weekly acounts every 2 weeks, pissin people off, and getting a bad rep and losing customers. new motto is every customer, every week. when that becomes manageable, add on what u can. if u think u cant do it, dont try. and crack viles and ripple bottles? no way