Reasons why you...

[thelawnguy]

Just wondering why others have made the choices they have.<p>Myself, I work alone because I do not want to be burdened by employees. I was the boss once before, no thank you. I hire out as needed, a couple times a season, usually heavy equipment owner/operators. Plus its nice to work at my own pace without worrying about keeping someone else busy. I make enough working by myself to have a comfortable but not lavish lifestyle. I socked enough away in my previous career so that retirement planning is not an issue. Now I just save for the kids college fund. (And weddings-two girls).<p>Bill

[Toroguy]

Bill,<br>I find it nice to work alone, consider mowing a therapy. I hav'nt hit my capacity yet so am usure if I will add people to grow larger. Staying solo would be nice but lack a certain challenge.<p>When finished for the day I bore the heck out of my friends with nonstop grass talk.

[Charles]

I like working alone because I don't have to worry about anyone but myself. I use to have employees and found good seasonal help hard to find and keep. They did more damage to my equipment in one one month than I did in one season lol.

[Alan]

Personally I absolutely hate working alone. I'm one who enjoys having someone around to talk to during the day. I find mowing to be as boring as it gets. The reason I haven't taken the step to employees is that I can't afford to pay a wage that allows a person to have a comfortable living. Around here it is impossible to live on much under $10 an hour. Others are paying $7-8 but there is little more of a de-motivator than working all week and having to wonder how you will meet your basic needs on what you have earned. I worked for enough slavemasters myself that I will NOT put another person in that position. When I can see my way clear to pay good wages I'll take the step into employees. I'm 50 and don't really want to have to do the physical end of this for the rest of my working life, so at some point I have to get things together.

[steven Bousquet]

i notice the &quot;I work alone &quot; works well for many people, but if your goal is to build a company and provide jobs and services to the comunity working alone is limiting, I see the word working used alot, how about building, creating, thriving,exploding growth, thrilled clients, super outstanding employees, watching people prosper from your companies growth,buy homes,etc. one crew or eight crews whats the difference, as long as you are reaching your own goals. if you do want to grow but are not quite sure how to read the E-Myth.and if you don't really want to grow read it anyway. Have fun making money is only part of this business, you gotta have a life too.

[yardsmith]

I have had my wife work with me for the past few years; she donates her time to keep the $$ in the family, & keeps everything legal- like. <br>This year my wife is staying home with kids & I have a helper. I'm not big enough to need 3 people yet, & you all know how hard it is to find good help. Me & one other helps greatly in efficiency. On smaller yards, I mow & he trims. On big yards we have 2 big mowers going. Whoever finishes first trims & then other guy follows up with blower. Much faster than having equip. sit on trailer waiting to be used. I can get enough extra work done to offset the expenses of having an employee. Plus you can bounce ideas off each other, keep from any boredom, & the buddy system in case an accident occurs.<p>----------<br>Smitty ô¿ô<br>

[osc]

I sometimes wonder why I didn't stay small and solo but I must say that when I have a successful employee, it brings more reward and joy than than I ever imagined. <br>If I could find 5 people that knew how to follow directions to the tee, I would be rich and they would make a darn good living as well.<br>Don't get me wrong, I am not a slave drover and many have accused me of being too soft.<br>This is an area that I have really struggled with and many great opportunities have passed me by because I can't do everything myself.<br>I could work 8-4 play golf in the evenings and have weekends off and still make a pretty good living with no employees. But, I keep chasing these big deals that could set me up for life if handled correctly. In the meantime employees do provide a lot of headaches. The answer for what is right for you, well you will have to decide on that.

[gene gls]

I am back to working alone.I like the quiet of not hearing some one chatter all the time.I like things done my way.I no longer have to take that extra walk around each property to inspect for missed areas.The equipement stays in better shape.I have all the answers that I want to hear for any questions that may get asked.

[bw]

i would'nt mind having a business partner, but nobody i know is as excited about mowing as i am, as far as employees go, i don't really want them unless we can all get rich and i don't see that happening.

[lawngator]

Being part-time has a lot to do with my choice of working alone. After 8 hours of the office, there's nothing better than to go home and hook up the trailer. Also, I don't think I could trust anybody else to do the same quality work as myself.

[MOW ED]

I work alone and have for the last 5 years partially because I have another job on the fire department and my schedule is screwy. The other reason is that I sell my business on personal service, I go to all lawns that I have accounts for. I pick up some permium business because the college kids had races on the customers lawn. I would like to someday have a helper but I still would have to be on each lawn. I am not saying it is bad to have crews and employees but the mix has to be right, you have to have a foreman that is just like you. I appreciate the companies that have super employees and many crews but in my situation the way I do it works for me. <br>I recently had the opportunity to have my brother-in law help me during a day in the dethatching season and we kicked butt on time and it looked good. He is from out of town and visiting but he asked to help, I wish he stayed for a few more days.<br>Whatever works for you is whats right and I am glad I had the opportunity to try with a helper, if the right situation arises I might change.

[pro turf]

I enjoy working alone but I feel my work improves with a little help. I can focus on small detail without rushing out of a property because i feel i 'did enough'. also, i've been doing this for 17 years and sometimes becoming a laborer again is not the way to expand my business and knowledge. I do have my thoughts of scaling back on labor and instead of pointing my finger , I can get more involved and not get lazy. cheers.

[Lee Homan]

I'm curious to know what the &quot;one man operations&quot; back-up plans are in case of illness or injury. I'm also a one man operator and I have thought of this a few times. When I get sick with the flu or some other minor illness I just call my customers and tell them I will get to them as soon as I can, haven't had a problem yet. I feel like it's just a matter of time before something major comes up though. I have thought of taking out a disability policy for any major illness or injuries but haven't as yet.

[Charles]

I dont see how some people can get lonely doing this job. Unless you just have alot of commmercial property. I have to go through a maze of customer yimmer yammering when I get paid after finishing the job. I swear i could get another yard in if it wasnt for this. But it has its place in building customer loyalty. <br>Whenever I feel any kinda of sickeness coming on I cant wait to get to work. Because all that physical exertion and heat generated will cure about anything. I havent missed a day of work because of illness in the 10 years I have been doing this. I had the flu along time ago before starting in this business. I just went to the spa and lifted weights and i felt alot better and continued to get better. Probably gave it to everyone else lol. I think the worse thing you can do when sick is stay in bed.

[Toroguy]

Lee,<br>I have also wondered what I would do in an injury situation. Illness is like a rain day, but a broken leg would really mess things up. I would have to hire someone, although that would be a pain in the arse, better than the alternative (mowing ten foot high grass upon healing) or going out of biz.

[thelawnguy]

Colds I can deal with, I get an annual flu and pneumonia shot, I worked with three broken ribs last fall after falling out of the back of the truck, heck nothing the docs can do for that anyways just had to be careful how I moved my arm, if I broke an arm or leg or whatever I suppose Id deal with it, thats why I pay $600 a year for disability insurance, Im always turning away customers so if I lost a few Id have to start taking new work. <p>Overall, for me its not a big concern. Your chances of getting sick are less since youre not cooped up in an office anyways. Its the people contact that spreads germs not the great outdoors.<p>Bill