what kind of work do you do?

[lawnboy82]

hey all. last year i was cutting about 40 lawns beginning of the year. ended with about 20 and did minimal side work. this year i am only cutting i believe about 15 lawns and am doing plenty of side work. i am much happier now only having to cut grass one day a week as opposed to 2 or 3 days a week. this year i have help, we are doing much more side work, getting a lot more fert accounts. money is better. etc. just wondering where you guys get your money from. with regards to landscaping. i know that grass is steady, however you cant make a lot of money cutting grass. not in my opinion at least.

[KD'sLawns]

My money comes from everywhere. I like the mowing money, because you can count on it. You know that you will at least make X amount of dollars per week. But, I do everything from light construction to heavy landsaping. Sometimes it is just hard to find time to do the big jobs. Sprinkler system upgrades is about the best though in my opinion. I like to go in and fix others mistakes because there is good money in it.

[Craig Turf Management]

I'm mowing so much, that I don't have time for landscape projects. I can make more money scaping though. Maybe I need to hire someone to free up more time for other projects. I would really like to get into some irrigation work. I refer several clients per year to irrigation contractors.
Bill Craig

[little green guy]

I do about 25-30 lawns and landscaping. I make so much more landscapeing than lawns. We do pavers, plantings, clearing retaing walls. I usually do alot more landscaping in the summer when the grass slows down. The lawns take a long time in the spring and don't leave as much time as i'd like for landscaping.

[1MajorTom]

90+ grass customers and climbing each day.
Spring clean-ups, hedge maintenance, core aerations, and mulching. Will expand into other aspects as the business continues to grow.

I work bankers hours with Matt, and he will work into the evening if need be.
VERY busy this season.

[NateinAtl]

I too have changed the scope of my business over the years. This year I am mowing 1 day a week for 40 weeks. April-June I will aerate and lay sod the remainder 5 or 6 days. Sept. and Oct. I will be aerating/seeding fescue 5 or 6 days a week. November and Dec. I will be doing leaf cleanups 5 days a week. July and August I will just piddle around to keep from getting burnt out (which is what happens when I would mow 5 days a week)

It works out a whole lot better for me this way, because there is more money in aerations and sod, and the operation costs are a lot lower. When I was mowing 5 days a week, I had 2 aerators sitting in the garage collecting dust.

Another thing that I didn't like about having a full week's worth of mowing accounts was that if it rains for 2 days straight it messes up your schedule, and the phone rings off the hook.

Obviously things are different in different areas of the country, but this works for me. In fact, this may be the last year I mow.

[joshua]

well most of my money came from cutting last year. but this year i will do 5 to 1 with just mulching, instalation, and other landscaping. if not more. i did about 9k in sales in april which is more than i did last year in april, may, and part of june, do to landscaping. just got 3 more bids approved for mulch have to turn in 2 more tommorrow, already approved (well 99% chance) and i don't come cheap, i like like to make around $40 a hour when i do that kinda work because i bust my a$S doing it so i can get as much done , but don't cut coners.

hoping for 55k in sales this year not bad for a 18 year old (gunna 19 on on may 9). right on pace with it now

[GREG R]

"how ever you can't make alot of money cutting grass
in my opion"
depends on what alot of money is to you.
think small----be small
think big -----be big
well into the 6 figure range for me in just mowing.
65% mowing 20% landscape maintenance 15% winter services

[lawnman_scott]

You can make ALOT of money just mowing, i have about 160 customers and still growing. I only do landscaping for existing customers, and not because i want to, i figure i have to. I know there is great money in it, i just dont have the time.

[Barkleymut]

I agree with the last 2 guys, if you have an efficient route with productive equipment a solo guy can make at least 100K gross. I make great money when landscaping but since I don't try to get this work it is infrequent. Mowing is so nice because you know you will get the check every month.

[baldbeefman]

I'm a professional firefighter. I work one day on, two days off. I can pretty much take off when needed from one hour up to the whole shift if needed. So if I take off one shift, I'm off five days in a row. Works for me.

[AB Lawn Care]

Mowing in the summer/blowing in the winter.

No gardening.....I HATE gardening!!!!!

[Currier]

This year the plan is to continue mowing like crazy and growing accounts, then next year we will limit our service area to about a ten mile radius. I too plan on cutting back on the mowing in order to free up time for aeration, sprinkler repair, and small (high profit) landscape jobs.

[Mike (MLC)]

I am the Grounds Maintenance Supervisor for Orange County. So I mow for them all day, then on the evenings and weekends I get in all of my customers. I use have only one job, my business. But then I fell into a job for the county, so I just blend it all together. Has worked out pretty good.

[Fantasy Lawns]

I agree with lawnman_scott .....we only do landscape ....sod ....palm-tree or bed work for existing customers ....they are the ones whom pay the bills ;->

[LJ lawn]

MAN, here we go with the 100 grand gross solo guy stuff again.yeah, working 200 lawns alone a week.i do 40-45 lawns a week mowing.SOLO.big to small.ranging from $20-$50 cuts.i also try to sell hedge trimming,aeration,thatching,seeding,fall leaf removal,fertilization,and mulch.all mostly done by myself.no time for any landscape jobs,and hardly any time to get this other stuff done,but i try.looking for a good (ha,ha,ha,)helper to work one day a week.

[GreenQuest Lawn]

I have 17 commercial accts. & 23 Residential accts. 20 of the accts are full service, with the others ranging from just mowing to most all services. I have added a part time person this Spring to help out with the odd jobs, untill things slow down. I also do light landscaping for my existing customers but stopped taking on any new accts. as of April 1st. My accts. range from 2000Sqft - 4.5 acers.

[GREG R]

Don't have 200 account and
not solo either

[Evan528]

I have about 50 accounts. I do the mowing for about 40 of them. I mow 2 days a week and do landscape work the other 5 days a week. Over the next 4-5 years I would like to get to the point where I am no longer doing any mowing at all. my two mowing days of the week are my least profitable days out of the seven work days per week and I dont exactly enjoy mowing!

[kutnkru]

We are swamped with mowing, and will be doing enhancements to landscapes only.

We will continue to do retaining walls and hardscapes in addition to our maintenance programs (aeration-power raking-fert/weed cntrl/lime-overseeding).

Kris