How to get the money to get started.

[Grassboy]

I am working on finding the money to pay off all this equiptment I am buying. I don't have a 6 months no payment deal. So I need to come up w/ $6000 somehow. I am not stupid, its just that I don't want to rely on my father for a loan. Also, what is a general loan interest rate for this kind of loan?<br>Thanks,<br>Grassboy

[Charles]

I don't understand your post Grassboy. Did you buy the equipment without a way to pay for it? Are you still thinking about buying the equipment and worried about financing? If it is the latter and you go to a bank. They will require you to either show you have an income to show that you can pay back the loan. Or you can get your dad to cosign with you to get the loan. Meaning he will gaurantee that you or he will pay back the loan. The rate of interest will depend on if the equipment is new or not. If it is new you will get a better rate. Now rates have gone up. Some dealers have made volume deals with the banks. Rates will probably range from 7( now doubtful) to 12 percent. <br>6000$ financed for 3 years at 10% interest will give u payments of 193.60$ appx.4 yrs payment 152.18$<br>

[CA Enterprises]

Grassboy,<p>Check with your local Chamber of Commerce. They can send you in the right direction to get State and Federal help to start your new business. Some of these loans are lower interest and a little more flexible than the bank. Most banks are either not going to go the money for the fact you can't show that you have experience in this field making a profit and if they do they'll eat you alive with 12%+.<p>Good Luck,<p>Adam:)

[Toroguy]

Grassboy, Pay cash for a 21&quot; mower, cheap blower and trimmer. Push that mower, keep pushing, then take the $6000 you make over the season and pay cash for your better equipment next season. Patience grasshopper, I mean grassboy. You still have forty years to build your company into what you envision.

[Youngster]

I agree with toroguy. I'm 17 right now. I only have a few lawns, but am growing constantly. I have about $600 invested in my equipment right now. I hope to use that until I grow bigger and can afford more. i wouldnt jump into this full force unless you want to continue doing this for a long time. Just my opinion.

[Dingo]

Im 17 and I jumped in head first ive got over $8k invested and im doing great. Im getting ready to buy a new truck. That means im spending even more money!!! It really doesnt worry me cause you can always sell it, but im not going to. I would say if you are going to get in the biz jump in the deep end dont play in the kiddy pool cause you wont get fare fast. just my thoughts

[scottlawns]

just my opinion but to jump into big dept at 16 would not be fun,always worring about the payments and hope to hell you dont have a drought,take it easy,and buy slow,i quit my job building car motors after 10 years and went to work with a buddy in the lawncare...all summer why i worked i bought stuff,and by fall i had a 52in greatdane...a aeirater...a lawnboy...a trailer..2 trimmers and a back pack blower and a 96 F350(i did add some of my own money)but winter came and we only plowed 7 times...im so glad my stuff was paid for so i could enjoy the winter without worrying about the payments...so all i can say is take your time and buy slow,i wish you luck.<p>scott

[HOMER]

Johnny Cash sang a song entitled &quot;ONE PIECE AT THE TIME&quot; I think he was referring to &quot;stealing&quot; parts though. I wouldn't advise that, just do it one piece at a time.<p>Two years ago I couldn't envision needing a 20' trailer, but I got one now. I also didn't think I would fill it up, but it is. I now haul my 21&quot; in the back of my truck, no room for it in that short trailer! <p>Only buy what you can pay for, I wish all mine was paid for but it's not. I made it through the winter just fine and business is great, I bought last year and won't be buying this year at all, may have to get a trimmer or something small, but no purchases larger than that.<p>A journey of a 1000 miles begins with the first step! Not sure who said that, I think it might have been that confused guy.<p>Homer

[Charles]

Thye contrast from this post is interesting. On one hand you have your one foot in and one foot out people. Then you have your jump in all the way and dont look back people. I have read about the rich and how the got rich. Those are the people who are fearless and are not afraid to even risk bankruptsy. Look at donald trump. Rich man and then bankrupt then rich again. Many of the wealthy failed many time before they suceeded. But they were not afraid to at least try. All the grassboy ask is how to get the money. Grassboy sounds like a go getter. Many are telling him not to aim high but to keep one foot. If you go through life afraid to fail you will always be average.

[slagerlawncare]

well said charles...<br>grassboy..tell your dad you know of a way for early retirement....ask him for the loan.

[geogunn]

grassboy--how old did you say you were? you've indicated that you were 15/16 or thereabouts in previous posts and that you can't even drive yet. mobility in the early days could be a problem for you.<p>I hope I'm wrong in case you are being genuine in your request for information, but you are a minor and I don't think there is a bank this side of ecuador that will make you a loan of any amount for anything. if your father signs/cosigns a loan for you then it is the same as he made the loan. you aren't on the hook, he is.<p>further, I dont think anybody is going to sell you an expensive piece of anything. it takes money to transact buisness whether it is cash out of pocket or from a loan. you are indicating you have neither.<p>again, in case you are for real, I suggest you ask your father for what ever you need to start in the grass buisness.<p>my appologies in advance to any forum member that might think I am not being helpful. I am, however, being honest.<p>good luck.<p>GEO<br>

[dylan]

Here in Canada, students can get small business loans for 5-7 thousand dollars from the government and a major bank.<br>They are repayable at the end of the summer and the rates are low. Maybe they have something like this in your area.

[Grassboy]

Hey all,<p>Charles,<br>I am still thinking about buying/ in process of buying, and I am just worrying about financing. Hey, can I get a 6 month loan? If so, how much interest would I have pay it off?<p>Dingo, <br>MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!!!! If a person just goes into business half way, they'll never find success. Business is a complicated and time consuming thing. If you don't put forth full effort it'll never work!<p>

[GrassMaster]

Hello Grassboy:<p>Everybody had to start somewhere. Start out with the min. & work your way up. It's Ok to pay cash as you go, most of these guys probably started the same way.<p>If you pay cash as you go, until you get a season under your belt, you will find out later it was the best thing to do!<p>Besides that I've been following your post & there is no reason in the world that you will not be a very big success!<p>If you try hard & keep comming back to this forum, you might be able to pay cash by mid summer. Then you will have no worries later about how you are going to make the payments.<p>You are at the beginning of your life, make the most out of it. You are already ahead of a lot of people, time will take care of the rest.<p>I wish you & yours the very best of everything.<p>----------<br>GrassMaster - Home: www.lawnservicing.com<br>My Start Up Page www.lawnservicing.com/startup/

[little green guy]

I'm 16 and I've been doing landscaping for about 5 years or something. I started out with a 21&quot;, an electric trimmer and a yardcart.Now I have 4 commercail mowers, 3 trimmes, 3 backpack blowers push blowers, a trailer and about a hundred other things. I owe nobody money. As i needed more equipment i bought more with the money i was making. If you finance something, what happens if you don't make enough money as you thought and can't make the payments. like for example the drought last year, nobody in my area cut grass for a month and a half. I have never bought anything without having the money first. By just diving in you are taking a big risk. Why by a 6,000 dollar, top of the line mower when you can by a good used mower for about $1,200? By spending less money in the begining you are taking less of a risk and you will make more money bacause you will not have all those payments to make. Then as you make more money you can upgrade your eqipment. Just my thoughts.

[Charles]

I don't really think Grassboy is sticking his neck out that much. Seems that he lives at home. He done alot of research on what he wants. if he spend his summer paying off the 6000$ and not spend all his money on the honeys. He will be okay and free and clear next year and for along time. NOw if he buys a el cheapo mower and otherequipment and they stay in the shop most of the time. Grassboy will become grassolman pretty quick. Grassboy most loans can be paid off with no prepayment penalty. Ask the bank loan officer.

[Toroguy]

Grassboy,<br>Your goals and choice of profession are admirable. However if you only have a handfull of customers, making payments and paying interest on two much equipment, may not be wise. If you have a large base of customers and are refusing work because of too little equipment, then its time for bigger and better. Just because you build it, doesnt guarantee they will come.

[HOMER]

There comes a time in everybodys life that they have to finance something! Try paying cash for your equipment when your trying to support a family of 5! Learning at an early age how to mangage your finances will only add to your lifes education. Ya, its tough, but if you want a house or a new truck or anything else one day you, unles your a rich kid, will have to finance it. My daughter wanted a car and she saved enough for a down payment, we went looking and found one she could afford by working her part time job while still in high school. She made every payment, paid the insurance premium, and put gas in it all by her self! She just left for the Air Force and will be able to get a nicer one now. She learned resposibility at 16, not 22-23-24, too late by then.<p>Point is, you have a golden opportunity to establish some credit, learn that those payments come every month, and never have to buy your groceries or pay the power bill. Do it while your at home, by the time you've graduated the stuff will be paid for and then your still in great shape because you can devote full attention to your business and build it to a level you want it. Its great to pay everything in cash but sometimes that ain't how it works for some of us. I am not contradicting my earlier post. Buy and pay for one item at the time. Finance the mower and pay cash for the accesories.<p>Homer

[richard]

pay cash for your stuff and don't try and go legit with your &quot;company&quot; don't pay state taxes or collect sales tax and pocket all the money...no bank to send loan payment to etc. ...be a ROUGE LANDSCAPER ...you'll retire by the time you're 30 and start payin' taxes at 25....go sick!!! PS stay away from housewives they'll be all over 18 and tan...

[cjcland]

yea that sounds good i know i have never heard of a business going under because of tax fraud.....<p>----------<br>CJC Landscape Management<br>Winter Haven, Florida

[Charles]

For all you naysayers about establishing credit. Try to buy a house with no credit history. Good luck!!! Around here you its hard to find a nice home for under 80000$. Try to pay cash for that. By the time grassboy tries to buy a home it will be 100000$ or more for a nice home. Like Homer says pay your bills on time. Establish good credit. You have to make payments to do this. Interest on your equipment can be tax deductable. Its hard to even buy a car with no credit history.

[Dingo]

the reason you buy the 6,000 mower is that it is faster, does bettet job and wont stress you out as much cause you dont have to worry about it breaking down. you dont save money you just cut back on money being spent which will cut back on money that you could earn. If you buy a old slow mower and you plan to put in a full days work you will do less jobs than you would actually do with a big rider. Therefor you are actually loosing money because you are still putting in the same amount of time. If you really want to make it in this biz you can. Time is worth money dont waste it.

[SLSNursery]

If you can get money for what you plan at 10% or less, get as much as you can, as fast as you can. <p>A lot of good points have been made on both sides of the table. I agree with most of what GeoGunn stated. Personally, I started by paying everthing off when I was a minor, and now (I'm 30), after establishing good credit, I either finance or lease items, based upon tax ramifications. By your age, I already paid for enough stuff to have a running business, then I started to loan and repay in order to establish credit. If this is your plan, then go for it. If you have worked at this and haven't saved enough money from prior years to pay for some stuff, then you should not loan the money. Those no money down deals require excellent credit, and even then, after 6 months of no payment, the interest accrues and they try to whack you with 18% interest. If you want to get credit, get a credit card and pay it off every month. If you want to get money, earn some first and put it in a savings account. Then take a loan against it, to prove to the bank that you have the cash flow and means to repay a debt. Then, develop a business plan (by now you will need way more than 6 large). Good Luck.<p>----------<br>Phil Grande - Soundview Landscape Supply - http://members.aol.com/slsnursery<br>Ivy League Landscaping - http://members.aol.com/scagrider

[HOMER]

When I bought my Scag I financed it through Sheffield. They offered a 6 pack plan that would allow you to skip 6 payments by sending in a holiday ticket vs. the payment. This was a real big help when I was starting out. Look at all your options, listen to the posts, then do what your Daddy tells ya! No matter what you do you'll need his help so don't leave him out of the picture, he might appreciate the attention.<p>Homer

[southside]

Highly unlikely that any bank will deal with<br>a 15-60 year old.Work with what you have and<br>upgrade when you have the dollars.If your Dad<br>co-signs the loan agreement and things go<br>ass up then your Dad will be hung out to dry.

[richard]

most companys go down after 2 years and most 16 year olds change their outlook on life as soon as they start to shave...keep overhead low and establish a base...next year you can get the mondo mower and really take off...for now i would only take what i could hold and hold tight....if you got your ass kicked due to drought it could be a bad scene as you retreat back to dad's garage...plan your seasons...say 'okay, now i'm gonna take these houses and now i've got my first acre and now a wide deck makes sense' always advance slow unless you know the coast is clear! you're on the right track to your future be patient and don't believe everything you read on the internet...

[cjcland]

richard<p>i am curious what causes most companies to go under after 2 years, june will be 2 years for me what causes them to go under? not saving money for equipment? taxes ? burnout please let me know what i need to look out for<p><p>----------<br>CJC Landscape Management<br>Winter Haven, Florida

[Grassboy]

Hey all, <p>WOW! This has been the best response to any of the posts I have made on this site. Thanks everyone! I was at first offended by some of your comment, BUT then I found out that it was my fault some of you say some of those things because I barely provided any info on my business. I really don't have time to write out the details now, but someday I will get around to it. Thanks for the compliment GrassMaster. It is very encouraging to hear that someone else thinks that I am handling this the right way. <p>Charles-<br>What about &quot;no prepayment penalties&quot;?!!! On a loan??? A no payments for 6 months deal?? I don't get it. Please explain. <br>Thanks everyone,<br>Grassboy<p>P.S. keep the discussion going.

[Charles]

Grassboy,no prepayment penalty, mean you can pay extra on the loan each month or pay it off at anytime without being penalized for doing so.

[richard]

operator burnout...routine, quality drops, but the biggest thing is paperwork..and taxes

[GrassMaster]

Hello CjcLand:<p>This is a little off topic for this post, but personally speaking cjcland.<p>I think the reason a lot of companies go out of business in the first 2 years is they don't save enough money. This I think is the # 1 reason.<p>Just because a person makes enough money to pay all the bills then they take the rest & pay themselves the difference of whats left. I think this is a BIG NO NO!<p>I know it's hard to pay yourself a very small salary & let those bucks build up in the bank. But if you don't the Big Bear will get you sooner or later.<p>It's OK to pay yourself just say $500 a week or so & have a extra 10K to 12K in the bank or more. When you get to that point, life will be a lot easier. Because you are not having to worry that much about finacial problems. That's when you can pay cash & also buy in quanity.<p>Since I was self employed & it almost killed me mentally I tried to train my self to put at least 25% in savings at all times or more. Then this gave me enough for taxes & unexpected expenses. <p>Then when I got through a year after taxes I would then put that in a seperate account. It will surprise your self how fast it adds up!<p>Then when I had plenty of reserve cash, I would give my self a raise. Sometimes I would just dip a healthy amount out of savings for items for the house hold or whatever & pay cash. Borrowing money can put a bad hurting on you.<p>It worked for me & I never regretted it once!<p>----------<br>GrassMaster - Home: www.lawnservicing.com<br>My Start Up Page www.lawnservicing.com/startup/

[snake1040]

Grassboy I am 18 I have been mowing for the past 8 years I started out with my dads 21&quot; honda. I mowed for about four years with it I was mowing somewhere around 13 yards a week when I was 12 and bought some other equipment. I would buy homelite from wal-mart. A few years later I bought a 12x5 trailer brand new and put some baskets on it and a weedeater rack. Then I bought a used woods mow-n-machine for 600 dollars, all my 2-cycle equipment was echo. I later sold my woods and bought a gravely 36&quot; walk behind for 550 dollars and mowed for one year with it while I wasn't making any payments I was saving my money to get some new equipment I had thousands in the bank it gave me some security when things broke the only downtime I had was the hour it took me to go to my dealer and get a new one. I am going full time this summer and have money to get going. There are things you are going to need money for besides equipment. Just last month I bought a brand new toro z-master. Starting out with my little 21&quot; mower to a trailer full of equipment and one of the most prestiges lawn services in my area. I got here by not jumping in the deep end but letting time do its work. Keep your equipment nice, say yes mam/sir, don't use foul language on the job, and your yards in tip top shape and the money and epuipment will come. Also keep your level of professionlism whenever in public places even if your not working. <p>--------------<p>Exquisite Lawn Services<br>Floridia

[little green guy]

I agree with everything snake said. I did pratically the same thing.