Money in my Pocket

[Shawnhines]

So I understand that everybody says to put money back into the business... How are you making money for the home life? I have a Wife and 2 dogs to feed, what kind of extra money would this be if I put it all back into the Lawn Care??? Just thought I would ask so of you that seem to have it together....
Thanks

[N&CLandscaping]

I put almost all my money that I make back into my company. SInce im so young, I dont really have too many "home issues" to have. I pay for some stuff such as phone bill etc.. and I have money for dates and stuff like that. I usually give some money to my grandfather who helps me out ALOT!!! Otherwise I put all my money into my company to make it grow

[Grits]

I put almost all my money that I make back into my company. SInce im so young, I dont really have too many "home issues" to have. I pay for some stuff such as phone bill etc.. and I have money for dates and stuff like that. I usually give some money to my grandfather who helps me out ALOT!!! Otherwise I put all my money into my company to make it grow

This is great for a 16 year old. But it doesn't cut when you have a family to support. I'm 30. As of now I put all the money back into the biz. But I have a good paying job that allows me to do this. LCO part time. I also use personal money for the biz. But it is getting to the point where I really don't have to do that anymore. It's hard, for sure, you just have to make things happen.

[StBalor]

I put only what i can afford to back in my company.

[Tim Wright]

It's tough. I have family of wife and five kids, and a dog. Started with nothing but a borrowed push mower. It has been very painful, and still is right now.

You just buy for yourself what you need to survive, nothing more. Be prepared to have your wife not like you very much for a long time.

Tim

[lawnpro724]

I have wife and 3 kids, house, 2 boats, bike, and lots of other things and everything is paid for. I started back in 1990 with nothing I borrowed money for a trimmer and used an old ariens pusher and a broom for sidewalks and through everything into the back of an old chevy impala. Over the years as business grew I put money back into equipment and grew my business into a very large company only to sell it in 98 and go back to corperate world, after 3 years I got laid off and went back to lawn care. I had money in savings so I bought what I needed to get started and put money back into the business every year for new equipment and now the business is back and making good money. You have to pay yourself a set amount of money and to do that you need to look at how much it takes for you and your family and how much you need for day to day business. Lets say at your job you took home $350.00 a week and it takes you a $100 a week to run your business so thats $450.00 of the top. If you make $800.00 a week doing lawn care you will have $350 a week to set aside for new equipment. The biggest mistake I see many do in this business when starting out is spend what they make as fast as they get it.

[Shawnhines]

Wow this is alot of great info. Thanks Keep it coming...

[BTLS]

That's true. Don't out spend what you earn. I think we're used to "earning" what our parents were earning. Doesn't happen that way. This industry you almost always start off small and starving and before you know it, you're full, or close to it. It certainly isn't a get-rich-quick scheme. Lots of work and planning. In my opinion, it's virtually impossible to quit your job one day, start a lco, and expect to be able to feed and provide for your family. It takes time to build up a clientele.

[PTP]

My first year I gained over 100 accounts but I had to put 80% back into the business in order to do that - plus start up money.

It was worth it.

[Grass Kickin]

I think the bottom line is for guys who are full time and who have started from scratch, you find a way to put the money into the busines when you need to. Sometimes money is more readily available and at other times it is hard to come by, you do what you can. Anyone who is rich off of this business likely had some help along the way to be able to put it all back.

[Robert S]

yea i know what you mean. im going to try the mowing buisness with a push mower 73 chevy truck no trimmer yet because my day job ends in one week. also im trying to support my wife and kids. its not easy no start up money to speak off. very painful road and then theres others who have the world

[Shawnhines]

I have a full time jb so I am not going to be able to mow everyday all day. I will mainly be mowing the weekends. I already have a good truck just got to buy everything else. I thought about buying two push mowers when I can so when one goes down I can have the other one to fall back on. Maybe push brooms I don't know if I am going to buy a blower yet. I don't plan on spending more than about $4-500 at first. Build it as it goes, and of course as the Wife lets me go....LOL

[topsites]

At least for me, the whole thing you speak of didn't materialize for several years from the start...
I don't see how I could've visualized any of it my first 2-3 years...
And even if I did, it would've likely done me little good, because it's just the way it is.
Instead, it developed slowly, over time.

Still, an explanation won't hurt, here is how I understand it...

Lets say last year, I grossed 36 thousand dollars.
Roughly speaking, this all should come out to 1/3 labor, 1/3 equipment, and 1/3 taxes...
To define it some this includes labor, maintenance, taxes, parts, supplies, insurance, licensing fees, dues and fines, equipment and what have you.

It's still in the rough, I didn't quite see it until over 4 years into it, but what also needs to be accounted for is a profit, and that tends to be UP to 10%...
I know, (1/3 x 3) + 10% doesn't quite add up, but bear with me, there is a profit on top or after all of the expenses (labor is an expense).
The problem is, the IRS taxes profit heavily, as it considers this free and clear money (which it is).
So, here I have around 3 thousand dollars, where if I don't do something with it, I get to send an extra thousand dollar check to the tax department, leaving me with only 2 of the 3 g.

And that's for those of us who managed to spend all our money...
There has been a year where, at the end of the year, I have a lot more than a few thousand left over, and this money has to disappear, and legally so.
So, it gets spent, I usually buy stuff that's on sale between 30-50 percent off, and I usually get a TON of stuff like that while things are slow...
In essence, I've just invested a few thousand dollars that, as the supplies get used up, give me an ROI of the saved % divided by the time it spent sitting.

For example: If I spent a thousand dollars on blades and belts and I found these on sale at 30% off, and it takes me 5 years to use these parts...
In this case, I just earned roughly 6% APR on my money (but actually more, because the supplies get used up throughout this time frame, still I like to keep things simple).

Meanwhile, the situation with taxes has not really disappeared, it has merely been postponed for some time.
So then comes a time where the owner needs to start thinking about retirement funds and the like, so as to defer the situation some more.

Hope that made sense.

[apowell18]

You pay yourself a "salary" or "labor" cost as part of the business expenses. This is what you live on...you put the profit back into the business...

I have a wife and 3 little ones as well...gearing up for first full time year...not much in the form of profit for those of us in this situation...use your head and realize that you may need to get a part time job at Home Depot or Lowes to help out with bills...It's tough being the man of the house...good luck to you.

[echeandia]

Have your wife get a job while you grow your business.

[Prestige-Lawncare]

Years and years ago (probably around 34 years ago ... and I am 54) ... someone told me ... "Plan your work and work your plan". I have always done that, and it seems to somehow always work out.

You basically know what you need to live ... and if you don't, I am sure your wife will tell you ... and that is your starting point. This is the very least you shoot for ... your goal you have to reach to survive.

People on this thread have said they have kids .. they have dogs ... they have kids and dogs ... boats .... houses, and so on. I do too! I am a single father with two young teenagers at home, two dogs, a mortgage, truck payment, RV payment, etc. This is my goal. I know what I need to survive, I know what I have to make, and I make it. People would ask me ... what if you don't make it? My answer was always (and still is) ... I WILL make it. There are people out there who make it, and I will always be one of them. You've gotta have the drive (the kids and dogs like to eat and a place to sleep) ... you've got to have perseverance, and you have to have faith in yourself that you are one of the successful ones in this business. There are lawns to mow and maintain out there ... go and get them.

I spent 30 years in the corporate world ... full of brown-nosing, back-stabbing, kiss-a$$es. You can deal with those kind of people and make a decent living as I did for so long ... or you can enjoy life more ... work outdoors, on your own, and make a decent living.

Good luck! You can do it if you are in a half way decent market, and you have the drive. Remember ... you ARE the Best Damn Lawncare company in your area. (wait ... is that a sports talk show?)

* Now I'm sure some on here are going to disagree with me ... but this is what works for me, and how I run my company. The image you portray in your business plays a lot in how you are perceived by you customer base in your market. I like to have people say .. "That guys got his $hit together" ... and I do.
.

[Robert S]

thanks. for all the good input.good luck with your buissnes

[Shawnhines]

I want to say thank you for all the remarks everyone has put in this forum. I know that it is helping me out and I am sure it is helping others out as well.

[Ga.GrassCutter]

I started out part time,, 1st season, ended it with 15 customers, which i started the next spring with, with in 2 wks, i was up to 40 customers, word of mouth, I keep enough money in my business to operate on, the rest goes for living and savings, the winters are slow, i work for a friend that does heating and air when slow winter comes, some of the savings gets used. I'm 50 and know i will be working till i'm in the grave, but it's better than working for some big Corp, making them richer. You've got to have faith in yourself and the man up above. Do a good job and people will refer you.

[Howard Roark]

Years and years ago (probably around 34 years ago ... and I am 54) ... someone told me ... "Plan your work and work your plan". I have always done that, and it seems to somehow always work out.

You basically know what you need to live ... and if you don't, I am sure your wife will tell you ... and that is your starting point. This is the very least you shoot for ... your goal you have to reach to survive.

People on this thread have said they have kids .. they have dogs ... they have kids and dogs ... boats .... houses, and so on. I do too! I am a single father with two young teenagers at home, two dogs, a mortgage, truck payment, RV payment, etc. This is my goal. I know what I need to survive, I know what I have to make, and I make it. People would ask me ... what if you don't make it? My answer was always (and still is) ... I WILL make it. There are people out there who make it, and I will always be one of them. You've gotta have the drive (the kids and dogs like to eat and a place to sleep) ... you've got to have perseverance, and you have to have faith in yourself that you are one of the successful ones in this business. There are lawns to mow and maintain out there ... go and get them.

I spent 30 years in the corporate world ... full of brown-nosing, back-stabbing, kiss-a$$es. You can deal with those kind of people and make a decent living as I did for so long ... or you can enjoy life more ... work outdoors, on your own, and make a decent living.

Good luck! You can do it if you are in a half way decent market, and you have the drive. Remember ... you ARE the Best Damn Lawncare company in your area. (wait ... is that a sports talk show?)

* Now I'm sure some on here are going to disagree with me ... but this is what works for me, and how I run my company. The image you portray in your business plays a lot in how you are perceived by you customer base in your market. I like to have people say .. "That guys got his $hit together" ... and I do.
.

Good post!

There's people who LET things happen in life, and people who MAKE things happen. Choose the correct group from above, and BE that person, all the time, everytime. THAT is what they cannot teach you in business school.

[PatriotLandscape]

My accountant says you should pay yourself a fair wage for being laborer/foreman/owner then put everything else in the bank to pay for gas/tools/etc. and then in the lean months take the owners draws to supplement. Some people make the mistake of only having one bank account so the co-mingle the funds that is not a good decision.

[Ric3077]

Get rid of the dogs...

[toac]

Get rid of the dogs...

then who's gonna crap on the carpet and chew on the couch?

[DoetschOutdoor]

I started out riding a murray lawn tractor 2 miles to the rich neighborhoods when I was 11yrs old working for several doctors every saturday. One thing led to another and when we moved from GA to Illinois when I was 14, I knew that I wanted to have my own lawn biz. Like some others have said, it can be a slow process or you can get 100 accounts your first year. My biggest thing is money management. Last year I blew about 10k on float trips, boating trips, strip club trips, etc. and didnt end up with the amount of money in the bank as I definately should have. This year I am getting an accountant, tightening up my routes, making sandwhiches the night before to cut down on fast food money, going to invest alot, etc. all in hopes of ending up with more money in the bank at the end of the year. I have the exact same attitude as prestige...you always have to say you will make it and then get your ass in gear to follow through.

[JS Landscaping]

Probably the biggest thing is to budget yourself. Find out your costs for living, all your personal expenses and pay yourself enough to cover that. Then takes whats left and re-invest into your business. Put your head down and work and make your company grow. As long as you are making what you need to get by as a minimum of what your are bringing in, you can take whats left and re-invest. Come up with a business plan, and stick to it. It seems like a business is like a child, you start out small, you take time to grow, you learn mistakes along the way and over time you keep growing, learning from your past mistakes. Im going into my 3rd year of business, and even tho im only 20, ive learned a ton of what NOT to do these past 2 years, mainly in the bookkeeping and financing end of the spectrum. As far as my business is going, 3 weeks ago I took over another company out of my area, trippling the size of my company. I already have the employees lined up for this spring and we are already booked up for march and april with landscape installs in addition to our 60 residential lawns and 14 med-large commercial properties. Remember good things come to those who wait, after a horrible season last year which included being on crutches for 2 months, loosing a best friend to being hit by a train while ridding his dirtbike, having horrible employees and a hard time finding better ones, to non paying clients, the thought of giving up on this field crossed through my mind a few times. But i decided to stick it out, and put my head down and just focus. Now this year is looking to be the best it has ever been. I have a whole new system of doing things mainly to some of the great ideas and info i have gotten off of this site. Its just like the old saying goes "if at first you dont succeed, try, try again." There will be many highs and lows working for yourself, but the road will smooth out and things will get easier, its a learning proccess. Best of luck to you, never give up on your dreams.


James
JS LANDSCAPING

[CA CLT]

[B]

* The image you portray in your business plays a lot in how you are perceived by you customer base in your market. I like to have people say .. "That guys got his $hit together" ... and I do.
.

This is the best quote I've read on this thread Prestige.

I started my first company with a 1974 Chevy truck and $2,000. It was wildly successful, so it can be done. I had the right attitude though if not the right image. Also, people could sense that I was and had been completely immersed in the industry, and had a wealth of knoweldge. To not have the right image and limited knowledge is a tough deal. Above all though, one must have the attitude it takes to win! I'd sold that first outfit in 1998. With the lessons learned in the Fortune 500 environment, and also from building another successful business, I'm building another LCO right now. I'm blessed that I can support the family from our other business while we grow the new LCO.

Good luck to all. This thread has some good stories and good advice.

[Prestige-Lawncare]

This is the best quote I've read on this thread Prestige.

I started my first company with a 1974 Chevy truck and $2,000. It was wildly successful, so it can be done. I had the right attitude though if not the right image. Also, people could sense that I was and had been completely immersed in the industry, and had a wealth of knowledge. To not have the right image and limited knowledge is a tough deal. Above all though, one must have the attitude it takes to win! I'd sold that first outfit in 1998. With the lessons learned in the Fortune 500 environment, and also from building another successful business, I'm building another LCO right now. I'm blessed that I can support the family from our other business while we grow the new LCO.

Good luck to all. This thread has some good stories and good advice.

Thanks! That's just me, and how I think. You may be a very good LCO, and there are some here in my market. I may not be better then them ... but I am every bit as good ... at least in my mind ... and how I run my company. Now there are others who are by far better then I am in hardscaping and landscape construction ... but I do not do much of that anymore anyway. What I do ... I do well. That's just me ... and how my father raised me. He would always say ... (and you have all heard or said this a hundred times) ... If you are going to do it ... do it the right way, and give it your best.
.
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[Grits]

then who's gonna crap on the carpet and chew on the couch?

The kid!!!