How long have you been in business ?

[TLS]

It has probably been discussed before, but for all the new guys.....How long have you been in business? Also for those like me, who started real young as the neighborhood mowing boy, list that also.

I started at 10 y.o. mowing my (Mom & Dads) lawn. Dads 1968 Cub Cadet 12hp Kohler 48" Cut, Hydrostatic. Old push mower, Agway weedwacker.

At 11y.o. I was mowing 2 neighbors lawns in addition to my lawn. That was 1981, 20 years ago!

I turned 18 in 1988 and registered Tommy's Lawn Service as a Ficticious name with the State of PA. This is my legitimate start due to being underage. So its been 13 years for me.


I know that there are some old timers here, lets see who has been at it the longest!

[Runner]

Tommy, for the amount of time you've been in the business, it sounds as though you are doing rather well. What gets me are the guys who have been in it for 6 or 7 years, and are doing almost a million a year. You know the type; like we read about in the magazines and stuff. I have a friend of mine who has been at it for 7 years now, and he does about 3/4 of a million a year at this time. Myself, I've been in it (on my own) for about 17 years now and I do well, let's just say not NEARLY that much. :rolleyes: Anyway, I still enjoy the work, and one thing is for sure; I don't have HALF the headache!

[John from OH]

I started mowing lawns 29 years ago at the age of 10. I started my current company after college and incorporated in 1985.

[Lawn-Scapes]

About 10 years...

1st year ('91-92) in Maryland, then down in Florida for 5-6 years and now back in Maryland for the last 3.

[HOMER]

started in 96, still working on the million.

[Currier]

This is my tenth year.

[Eric ELM]

I started mowing right after dirt and grass seed were invented. :D

I started mowing on the farm with a 7' sickle bar mower and the tractor 50 years ago at the age of 8 and I also mowed our 1 acre lawn with it. ;)

I started my lawn business in 1985

[gusbuster]

Eric and others,
My story is similar.

Started working for my father(after school and Saturdays) since age 8. He's been in the business since 1960. I went on my own in '83.:cool:
John

[Scotty]

I started my lawn service in 1983, I still have customers from when I started 18 years ago. Time is flying by.

[Scag48]

I started mowing my own lawn at the age of 8. Last year was my first year in business. I'm doing okay for being a newbee at the biz. Don't have a ton of jobs but I'm working on that part of business. Like I've said many times before, I'm standing out from my competitors and am getting more jobs for it. I'm also targeting larger properties now that I have my Groundsmaster. It's been fun though and I'm gonna keep working on having the best biz in town.

[Russ]

Full Time 4years, 2yr. part time before that.Worked for other guys 6 seasons before I took the plunge. I'm still trying to decide if this was the best thing I've ever done or the worst. Seems to change day by day.

[AB Lawn Care]

7yrs full time......part time.....I don't even want to guess!

[TGCummings]

10-11 years, off and on, working for my step-father's company. Seven years in business for myself. One year of knowing how wrong we did things the previous 16... :(

-TGC

[Holloway Lawns]

I started at 13 and used an 21" MTD with an elctric trimmer pulling the mower and trimmer behind my bike going door to door.

[grassyfras]

i strted at age 12 as the "neighborhood lawnboy" i still am this is my 3rd year and i strted with a toro recycler i still use it great mower no bagging. Im up to 14 accounts with all comercial equipmeny(blower mower and trimmer) today thinking about getting a comercial bush trimmer and getting rid of the homelight

[Avery]

Been in the plant industry for over 20 yrs. Started my own company 6 years ago (had to get my nerve up). Don't want to say what I gross and get Homer stirred up again! Suffice to say I was well into six figures my second year.:dizzy:

[GreenQuest Lawn]

well if I add in the mowing of the parents lawn I have been at this for 20 yrs. BUT in reality 10 yrs ago when I was 19 I got my first job for a Lawn Care. The first place I worked for 3 yrs then switched companys. the next place I worked for 6 yrs. Learned all I needed to know about the LC industry, as well as learning to run all types of equipment, repairs, ect. so that brings me up to last March. told the boss my situation, I left on very good terms, in fact I gave him 6 mo. notice. Then hooked up with my wifes boss, he had money to loan, & I needed some. So I jumped in with both feet. SO 20 yrs since I first ran a mower, 11 yrs commercially mowing, and just over 1 yr in business for myself.

[slabpile]

been in the biz for about 7 yrs, always for some one else. He took care of me well, quality equipment, a company truck, school ect. I took care of him by increasing the maintaince property's three fold (sorry not a million here). Now i am the grounds keeper for a school district. for me to go into buisness for myself now i would have to take a cut in pay so i guess im happy working for some one else.

[muxx]

I am working on my 13th year. :blob3:

[CLARKE]

I started the love to mow in 1980 with two small lawns, In 1985 i got started with small side jobs and about10 lawns. this is the year i met Eric. He helped me out with a job at Wendys in Hampshire pushing
some dirt around with his small 36 inch JD and a plow blade on the front. After that he and i got started building our bussiness. Both of us over the years have stayed small less than 50 or so lawns and both of us are still very happy at what we do.So 15 to 20 years for me.

[Charles]

Been in this biz for 10 years. Wish i had took that right turn in albercurci(however u spell it)

[Jusmowin]

Have been in the biz for 6 years now officialy, before that I mowed and trained for a large horse farm for 12 years. As for the million a year, no thanks I just want enough to pay the bills and put some away for alot of rainy days!

[cutntrim]

This is our 11th year. For the first 5yrs I was attending university and planning to become a physical education teacher. I've got my degree hanging on the wall (it's in Latin so I don't know what the hell it says), and student debts that when combined with my wife's, should be paid off by the time I'm ready to retire. I even went to teacher's college for part of a year before finally deciding to dive into my real interest...working outdoors for myself. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't have been a lot easier, and less stressful going into teaching, but I'm happy being my own boss.

[Eric ELM]

Cutntrim

I clicked on your website link and this is what it says:

You are not authorized to view this page
You might not have permission to view this directory or page using the credentials you supplied.

What's up with this? :angry: