TEAMWORK

[HOMER]

Heres another question, has anybody ever teamed up with a competitor, who by the way is a friend, and worked jointly on each others accounts to ease the labor costs and keep each other caught up? Have a friend with as many accounts as I have and we have kicked it around for a few months but haven't decided how we could work it out. It wouldn't be a &quot;partnership&quot;, just teaming up to help each other.<p>Any suggestions?<p>Homer

[ProCut Lawn Service]

A friend and I started working together and it worked good. We were both solo operators so we got the work done alot faster. We were going to eventually combine into one business, but he ended up moving out of state and gave me all of his accounts.<p>----------<br>ProCut Lawn Service<br>Lakeland, Fl

[scottlawns]

i team up with a buddy for clean ups,we both just each do about 40 accounts and just bill out are own costumers.i think it works great this way becouse you can always remain freinds instead of going into bussiness together could cause problems,so for me and him it works great.

[Charles]

If you split the money with the partner evenly. I don't see how you could make any extra money to make this worth while. So you do 2 times the work. Whats the difference in money?

[Eric ELM]

One thing you will gain is someone else to push you along on days when you get that feeling of &quot;I think I'll just sit here for a few minutes and rest&quot;. Another advantage is if he has different specialty equipment than you, you can figure out a way to share like an aerator or what ever. It can also be a good way to loose a friend.<p>----------<br>&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.townserver.com/elm/&quot;&gt;Eric@ELM&lt;/a&gt;<br>

[Charles]

Ya that true eric especially if he turns out not to be as good and hard of a worker as you. And too what if you use your large equipment more than he does? Okay you use you weedeater so much time. I use my mower so much time then we switch, sound like a headache to me. When I work I never take breaks except for a short lunch and driving. I never would want to get into a habit of goofing off.

[Alan]

I swap work with a friend in the business. I guess I should swap equipment for labor, as I am more mechanized for cleanup than he is, so I might work for him for a day or two and he helps me for most of a week. He says he's happy with the deal as he ends up spending about as much time as he would if he did all of his work by hand. It comes out very good for me as I get companionship during the day. I'm a lone ranger for now and it get's damn boring talking to myself all the time.

[lawrence stone]

Homer forget about a partner. What you need is good labor and high margin work.<p>How will cutting your income in half be of<br>any benefit?<p>If you need <br>help just ask a question in this forum.<p>You have quite a big investment in the choppers. You have to be doing something right.<p>You need to get a pesticide license.I would also get an indoor bug license if I was as<br>for south as you. The accounts you presently service have a bug guy (Dales bug o rama).<p>Why not just take that business from Dale.<br>Since Dale can't cut arceage your will be<br>able to negoatiate with you new termite, fire ant, etc customer from a postiton of power. Turn your small dixie into a spreader/sprayer.<br>

[HOMER]

Great response! I would not be splitting any money with this person, we would keep our own money and work jointly at each others accounts. The fellow I'm speaking of is a lot younger than I am and a real wiry kinda guy, very hard and fast worker. It would in no way become a partnership, been there done that, got stuck big time. If we did merge we would generate nearly $200,000.00 per year by the end of next year and be one of the largest in the area, but still not appealing to me, more headaches. If we did anything it would be to synchronize our routes and be working in the same area as much as we could, finish mine/his and move to the next area. I think we could keep each other caught up and get along, if not, no big loss, we tried.<p>Homer

[Richard Martin]

I actually do this a lot with two other small lawn companies in my area. When one of us gets far behind or has an equiptment loss of some sort we will call one of the guys and work something out. It is usually on a per-hour basis. If we're giving up an account we will call and see if the other guy wants it. We also have a non-competetive agreement of sorts where we do not bid against each other or try to take the other guys work. It is working out for the time being because they are building houses left and right in our area. And yes, we do get together occasionally and swap war stories over beer on Friday night.

[GrassMaster]

Hello Everybody:<p>Partnerships: It's none of my business, but they very seldom work out & always a headache.<p>But, there is an exception to the rules, I would never do it, because I don't approve of this.<p>I have a friend that has formed quite a few partnerships & has always came out a winner everytime, Like I Said I do not approve.<p>Him & his wife will pick out a business they want to get into & they will have no experience in it.<p>What they do is, they put up all the money & find someone that knows a great deal about it, then they will each have 1/3 shares in the business. Get the picture him & his wife always own 2/3 of the business.<p>They have all kinds of papers drawn up, then later on down the road, when they've learned enough, they buy out the other 1/3, milk it for every dime they can, then they sell it. In most cases a lot down & owner finance the rest.<p>They have gotten back several & make a killing. Like I say, I do not approve of this at all. They have done this quite a few times over the past 20 years. At one time they had 3 business's at one time.<p>They are millionairs, but I'm fine just the way I am!<p>----------<br>GrassMaster - Home: www.lawnservicing.com<br>My Start Up Page www.lawnservicing.com/startup/

[ZYAL8R]

what kind of businesses have they started?

[HOMER]

Uh, Ya, I would be interested in what other kinds of biz's they started too. <p>Homer

[cjcland]

who wants to be a millionaire?<p>----------<br>CJC Landscape Management<br>Winter Haven, Florida