Can you help a kid?

[ToughAsStihl]

Hey guys, I am 15 and will be 16 in the summer. I want to start a small lawn care/landscaping buisness. Not very big, so I only have to mow a couple days a week. I have been mowing a couple lawns for the past couple years but that was only with a small 21in mower. I want to get enough buisness so I can do it the right way like insurance and a buisness licence. I dont have my drivers licence yet so that could be an issue so I can drive my self places.

What I would like to know is the best way to go about doing this. What equipment should I get what equipment should I hold off on for now? I already have a Stihl FS90 trimmer but I need a mower, I was thinking maybe a used 48in walkbehind. I guess I will need a trailer if I am going to do anything outside my development (which isnt very big). But that means I need one of my parents to go with me and they both work full time.

Thanks for the help!!:)

[mcwlandscaping]

I had my parents drive me around up until i got my license last september, what a relief that was. I think you are on a good track though right now starting out with a real commercial trimmer and you have the right idea about a mower. Starting with a 48" allows you to tackle a very wide variety of lawns while still using your 21" for really small stuff and gated yards.....that's what i do. I am also 16 as well. I will be getting insured and licensed (finally) in a few short weeks and let me tell you, you are going to need to do more than mow a few lawns to be able to pay for that and to still make a profit.

So, get your name out there with some type of advertising, try to be a little different than others in your area, that'll get you some attention and then prove yourself by doing good work at competitive prices and dont' lowball!!

Like i said though, you are off to a great start and your mind is heading in the right direction based on the questions you are asking and the goals you are trying to achieve!

[Nathan Robinson]

SLOW DOWN! Wait until you get your drivers license and have your dad teach you how to drive a trailer first. You will need a blower, push mower, trimmer, and that walk-behind if that what you want. Save your money now. You will need it. A business license and insurance is not cheap. And as pointless as that may sound to you now it is important. If you want to do it the right way you will need them. Dont go buying equipment that will just sit. Save your money until you NEED the equipment. Come winter time lawn providers sell machines way cheaper! Spend your first few hundread dollars on prof. door hangers. Flyers are cheap and you will need to set your mowing aside from the other people. I would advise you to go work for a small mowing company before you venture into business on your own. Learn the proper way to stripe, do leaves, what height to be mowing and all of that. While your there save everything you can. At age 15 surely you dont have many bills. Go to plan-itgraphics.com and have him design your logo and marketing material. That wold be a good idea for you to do now and get all that balderdash out of the way!

[ToughAsStihl]

Yeah, my dad doesnt know how to drive a trailer. I can drive a trailer the best of anyone in my family. Luckily in Vermont you can get yout learners permit at 15 so I have almost a year of driving. I have the trailer driving down really well. I can back trailers almost as well as I can go forward. Thanks to learning on really short trailers. The problem is I dont have any real money right now. I just bought my truck and it ended up needing a frame swap so I have to make some money.

[mcwlandscaping]

Ouch, that had to set you back some $$$!!! where in new england are you btw? What kind of truck did you get?

Just head out and find some lawns around your area and within a couple mins. driving that you can get and mow with the 21"er for now, save some money, then invest in the commercial WB.

[ToughAsStihl]

Vermont, I bought a 1984 Toyota Landcruiser FJ60. The body is in good shape but he frame is toast. It didnt seem bad when I bought it a month ago in MA. but when I brought it up it must have shaken a lot of rust off and now there are holes. :(

The problem is where I live everyone has larger lawns like 1-3 acres. So a 21in is SO much work and people around here dont pay all that well. I borrowed a family members ZTR and did one in about 30min when it would normally take me 2 or so hours.

[Nathan Robinson]

sell it! get a new truck. Work and make your money this summer. SAVE SAVE SAVE man!

[ToughAsStihl]

Uh, you dont just sell a Landcruiser because of some rust. Shes a really classic and to get one rust free would be more then I want to think about. Plus I already bought the frame. Luckily my brother has a cruiser also, actually a rust free 1985 FJ60 from MT that he paid a lot more for then I did.

[ToughAsStihl]

Here she is, even though it is so off topic but she looks nice. Dont you think? Now back to the original question.

[M&SLawnCare]

A 21" and a trimmer is all you "need" to start a business.

Unless you have a truck, a trailer would have to be your first purchase if you want to get bigger equipment. Next I'd look at getting a 36" W/B. You'll still be able to do most gated yards with that, its affordable (look for a used one), and it will dramatically increase your productivity over a 21". Thats all you need. You can skip a blower for now, or even pick up a cheap residential one if your really short cash. The most important thing to remember though is let your business drive your purchases. Don't just buy a ton of new equipment if you don't have the customer base to support it.

Theirs nothing wrong with having your parents transport you. Schedule very tight routes so you can be dropped off at one job and get a few nearby done before needing to be transported to the next location. That worked for me, but just make sure you work everything out with your parents first and have a solid plan. You don't want to purchase a trailer and some equipment, only to have nobody to drive it for you ;)

Off topic, but as far as the truck, you mentioned the frame is toast. How "toast" is toast? If the frame is truly shot then what you have their is a parts car, also known as a 4k lbs boat anchor. :( Bad body panels are mostly an aesthetic issue, but a bad frame is a structural and safety issue that can't just be patched or bondoed (and forget towing with it if theirs any hint of structural weakness). Before you even think of doing a frame swap get some quotes. That will easily run into the though sands, and if you plan to do it yourself be aware its a HUGE undertaking. You pretty much have to completely gut the vehicle to do it and theirs a lot more to it then unbolting and rebolting parts. One thing about cars when your talking about rust, the problem is always 10 times more complicated and more expensive once you start than what you expected. I have my associated degree in auto technology, worked in a dealership for 3 years, ase certified, and have a 1970 (in many pieces :( ) chevelle. I learned that lesson the hard way so wanted to give you a little heads up.

[CutsForLess]

Son I love to see a boy willing to work, I have to make my boy go with me on his days off from school, but I am determined to teach him that it takes work to survive. He now understands how long it takes to earn the money that is spent on his xbox games and four wheelers. Before I started making him go with me he would always just say buy this for me, now he understands there is more to it than just writing a check. I applaud your efforts and hope you do well.

[ToughAsStihl]

Off topic, but as far as the truck, you mentioned the frame is toast. How "toast" is toast? If the frame is truly shot then what you have their is a parts car, also known as a 4k lbs boat anchor. :( Bad body panels are mostly an aesthetic issue, but a bad frame is a structural and safety issue that can't just be patched or bondoed (and forget towing with it if theirs any hint of structural weakness). Before you even think of doing a frame swap get some quotes. That will easily run into the though sands, and if you plan to do it yourself be aware its a HUGE undertaking. You pretty much have to completely gut the vehicle to do it and theirs a lot more to it then unbolting and rebolting parts. One thing about cars when your talking about rust, the problem is always 10 times more complicated and more expensive once you start than what you expected. I have my associated degree in auto technology, worked in a dealership for 3 years, ase certified, and have a 1970 (in many pieces :( ) chevelle. I learned that lesson the hard way so wanted to give you a little heads up.

Thanks for the heads up, but I already know exactly what to do. Dont worry A LOT of research has been done. Luckily for me a Landcruiser isnt a very complex vehicle. Leaf springs on all 4 corners, the only thing difficult will be making sure I label every one of the seemingly thousands of vacuum hoses.

[CoreyD]

yea id get rid of that landcruiser and get a pick up.... i use my jeep cherokee and i wish i had a pick up so i wouldnt have to put trimmers and blowers in my back seat... but then again if that landcruiser has rust on it... it aint worth much $$$$ now.... it aint worth much down here anyways

[ToughAsStihl]

Nah, there is a reason I got a Land Cruiser. I dont want a truck, IF (and I wont) sell the cruiser I would buy a Jeep YJ. The cruiser has a good towing rating, an engine that can go 300,000 before needing rebuilt and one of the best offroading platforms every made. I bought the cruiser as my first vehicle and I have become really attached to it. If you think back to your first vehicle, do you remember what pride you had in it? How excited you were to have your own car? Well I do and I am.

Back on topic.

Is it to late to start advertising? I think this late spring and cold wet weather is working to my advantage. I think I am going to print out some fliers and start passing them out tomorrow.

[CoreyD]

Nah, there is a reason I got a Land Cruiser. I dont want a truck, IF (and I wont) sell the cruiser I would buy a Jeep YJ. The cruiser has a good towing rating, an engine that can go 300,000 before needing rebuilt and one of the best offroading platforms every made. I bought the cruiser as my first vehicle and I have become really attached to it. If you think back to your first vehicle, do you remember what pride you had in it? How excited you were to have your own car? Well I do and I am.

Back on topic.

Is it to late to start advertising? I think this late spring and cold wet weather is working to my advantage. I think I am going to print out some fliers and start passing them out tomorrow.

yea well.... your truck has rust on it and im sure that wouldnt help it when pulling a trailer..... and any truck/car whatever can go over 300,000 miles without being rebuilt if you know how to keep the oil changed, and dont gun the heck out of it all the time....take care of it.... anyways back to the real topic.

its never to late to advertise, you can do more in this biz than cut grass..... cut grass in the spring and summer, and do leaf removals in the fall and winter, and alot of other odd jobs you could do to....
go around and knock on doors.... thats what ive done and ive had a few one timers and i have 2 weekly's now

[supercuts]

SLOW DOWN! Wait until you get your drivers license and have your dad teach you how to drive a trailer first. You will need a blower, push mower, trimmer, and that walk-behind if that what you want. Save your money now. You will need it. A business license and insurance is not cheap. And as pointless as that may sound to you now it is important. If you want to do it the right way you will need them. Dont go buying equipment that will just sit. Save your money until you NEED the equipment. Come winter time lawn providers sell machines way cheaper! Spend your first few hundread dollars on prof. door hangers. Flyers are cheap and you will need to set your mowing aside from the other people. I would advise you to go work for a small mowing company before you venture into business on your own. Learn the proper way to stripe, do leaves, what height to be mowing and all of that. While your there save everything you can. At age 15 surely you dont have many bills. Go to plan-itgraphics.com and have him design your logo and marketing material. That wold be a good idea for you to do now and get all that balderdash out of the way!


easy, hes only 15! as far as im concerened im not going to say you have to have insurance, a licence, and dont care if you lowball. what i will say is good for you to try and work your butt off. at 15 i dont think the IRS will be after you, nor do i think anyone is going to try to sue you if you damage something. if anything, you can probably sue them for being allowed to use tools on their property that you are not legally supposed to use until your 18!
so, there is a place for everyone in every industry. there are people who arent willing to pay much and if those are the customers you get and your happy with the money so be it. that is how i started, if you can pull off the same rates as me with almost no overhead, you doing an unbelievalbe job. if you do make a "career" out of this and turn 18 i would reccomment insurance and pay your taxes. but as long as your in school, i wouldnt worry too much.

as for your question, a nice used WB would be a very very wise investment. if you make enough with it, perhaps going for a ZTR down the road will be even better. after that a truck is always nice but without a licence its kinda pointless. prioritize and you'll have a great opportunity to do great.

[fiveoboy01]

Nah, there is a reason I got a Land Cruiser. I dont want a truck, IF (and I wont) sell the cruiser I would buy a Jeep YJ.


Well I'm glad to see a motivated kid on here. Lots of my friends kids are lazy and don't want to do jack.

That being said, your landcruiser is not going to be ideal for the type of business you're doing, and you'd be much better off with a pickup truck.

[rfed32]

hey man what i would do is pick up a nice but used 36-48 in and i would try to find a smaller trailer for sale for a couple hund 4x8 or 5x8 that would fit a wb trim mower fine...just get out there and work with what ya got. u seem like u have a good head on ya so work hard and ull be fine ur in the right direction. good luck to ya...by the way i like the yota use to have an old 4runner but blew the motor it was my funin truck

[ToughAsStihl]

Well I am going to start getting some fliers and business cards ready. Should I state some sort of incentive like "one free mowing for every referral" or should I say "first mowing free with every one year mowing contract?" I was thinking I could put a business card on every flier so that they could give it to someone they thought would want my services. Or is that just a waste of time and money?

I found some good deals on equipment. The problem is I am finding better deals on equipment bigger then I currently think I should get. Like a bobcat 61in ZTR for $2200. Should I just bite the bullit and buy equipment or should I keep waiting until I find smaller stuff?

The lawns around here are either wide open and large or small and technical. So it would be nice if I could have both a walk behind and a ZTR but I dont think I could afford it unless I got more accounts. So do you think I would be better off with a 48in w/b or a 61in ZTR? I think I know the answer but I will ask it anyway.

Also, where is the best place to try and get customers? I would like some commercial large open areas that are easy to mow. But I dont really think I should do commercial without insurance, agree? So should I pass around fliers in upscale neighbor hoods with those ridiculously small yards? Or should I try and find people with larger yards?

Sorry to write all that but I want to get this under way soon!

[Rizzo]

You aren't likely to get a commercial account without insurance. Don't buy the larger equipment until you have the accounts to support it. You may make more profit by taking several closer spaced small accounts with the equipment you have now.

Nice looking truck!

[ToughAsStihl]

Yeah I figured that I shouldnt do commercial without insurance. Right now the whole process is stopped at the point of transportation. I think I have found some equipment but I dont have anyone to go with me for transportation. So until then I dont think I should pass out fliers.

Thanks for the complement on the truck.

[AllAmericanlawn]

At your age do it any way you can. LIVE and LEARN! Sounds like you are on the right track though.

"Not all advice is good advice."