How much is TOO much??

[eslawns]

I'm hoping some of you guys who run 1 man shows can help me.

How many yards can one person reasonably expect to do alone?

Right now I have 43 lawns to do every week, but 4 of these are large commercial accounts, and I have a contract for mowing overgrown lawns in the city which means 5-10 extra a week. With all the extra work (mulch, one time cuts, shrubs, etc) I've had this year, I'm having trouble staying caught up. My wife says I've bitten off more than I can chew. Have I?

BTW, I'm not considering getting any permanent help this late in the year. I just want to see what the other owner operators think is a reasonable workload.

[Lawn-Scapes]

How big are the lawns?

Obviously you have too much if you're having trouble keeping up.

I have 30 that average about an acre. 9-10 hrs/day Tues. thru Fri. I'm not sure if I want to fill Monday with more lawns or keep it open for extras or a make up day.

[kutnkru]

I figure that a solo operator can knock out 15 (8-10m/sf) lawns per day with travel time in less than 10 hours. If you have 2-3 clients close at hand this number can be increased to 25. I think that anything over 22 is TOO much. These figures are for a 48 wb, using a bagger.

When I started cutting on my own, we cut Wed thru Fri for Residentials and Mon-Tue for Comm/Ind Accounts.

Saturday was maintenance or make-up if weather post-poned the work week.

Although you are not looking for additional crew assistance, if you get into a bind, you might consider day-labor or contacting fellow LCos to see if they are slow enough to spare a laborer for a day.

Hope this helps.
Kris

[fivestarlawnken]

Being solo also, Possibly you have got too many.I would keep Monday open for maint,rain,repairs etc.This winter are going to go through your accounts and keep all or let go of your non-profit,pain the a@@ accounts etc.Sounds like your making the money this year!!;)

[crs]

I agree with TSG it all depends on the properties. Yesterday, I serviced eight accounts in a little over six hours. Today, I serviced five accounts and worked a little over nine hours.

You just have to find out what your comfort level is and try not to get too far from it.

Good Luck!

[TJLC]

I only have 15 residential accounts that avg 10-15m /sq. feet. I also have 6 commericals, one of which consumes most of my time. During the season, it's all I can do to keep up. I've turned down about a dozen yards this year. 8 hrs. in the heat is enough for me.

[awm]

not to offence to any type of machine,as ive used most and
really liked a lot ofum. but a solo with a z raises the potential
earnings by double or more.thats saying that in an 8 hr day
the difference is that much.plus you not dead at the end of the day.
let me qualify the statement by stating that my experience does not include much velke riding. my back just couldnt handle it as im fairly tall. i used to have a friend that was in luv with his.
later nowTM

[GrassChopper]

When I started, I was using a 52" w/b and working about 12 hours a day. I bought a 48" Wright Stander and work less than 8 doing the same accounts. Alot to be said for a Z mower.

[thelawnguy]

I started this season with 60 accounts (solo) and soon burned myself out. I put the whole buisness up for sale and started training for a new venture while still mowing, now I find out two weeks before school starts that the BOE redistricted so I have two kids going to two different schools at two different times (am and pm) so ended up selling close to half my accounts (meeting with the guy today to finalize). Had to turn down the new job, kinda sucks esp after two weeks training 5 hours a day.

I will have 30 residentials left while shuffling kids back anfd forth from school and daycare. For me this will be a full plate. A lot less money but my family comes first.

[HBFOXJr]

Haven't used them, but college kids sometimes have a day with no classes. Possibility.

[lawnboy82]

It all depends on how large each account is, what they require, and what kind of equipment you have to work with. This is just as all the other guys in this thread have stated. Keep in mind- you can probably do 100 lawns a week if they are all real small and lined up, no other work besides cutting. Now if you have one big place, that requires a lot of landscaping to be done, or landscape maintenance that could theoretically keep you busy all year long.

[eslawns]

Half of my residentials take 30 mins or less to do. Of all the others, only 3 take more than 1 hr. The overgrown lawns I do for the city vary greatly from 3,000 sq ft to over 25,000.

The commercial accounts are...

... a bowling alley (5.5 hrs)
... a TV station (2.5 hrs)
... the TV transmitter (3 hrs EOW)
... a diesel repair place (1.5 hrs)
... a business park (1.5 hrs, but next door to the diesel place)
... a retirement home (2 hrs, but 30 min each way drive)

My wife has taken over all the office duties and relaying things to customers. I work up the quotes and she handles the rest.

I guess everybody in the family is just used to getting me to do the errands so they don't need to tak off work. I don't think I've gotten to the breaking point yet, but I'm close. Nice problem ti have.

[John DiMartino]

ES lawns,you didnt say what equipment you are using.If you have a W/b.you might be able to save 1-2 hrs a day with a 60 or 72" ZTR,that would more than pay for it,and get you home sooner.If you have a hi speed ZTR now,at least 60",then maybe you should "trim the fat" a litttle.Raise prices a little then if some drop,you still make the same money in less time,or raise the prices on your worst accounts,so if they drop,you dont care

[eslawns]

John, this is the real kicker. I just (June) got a Z, and had started raising prices even before that. I even told one lady $40 a wk for a lawn that takes 30 min's and she said OK. :eek: Last year I'd have done the same lawn for $30. I called all the people who have been needing a price increase, and not one has cared. I even called the lady who runs the old folks' home to tell her I couldn't do it any more. She offered me another $20 a cut. Two of my new people told me that I was hired before they ever heard a price! I was the only person out of 10 or more who showed up. One lady said I was the only person who even called her back. I hope things are going this well next Spring. I will definitely be hiring a helper.

[David Gretzmier]

The absolutely hardest thing to do is raise prices. when you are getting behind, make it a point to raise one a week to do two things. to make more bucks for the same time spent, or make same bucks for less time spent by keeping some at higher price and losing others. try to raise the most hated or least dollars per minute, then "non multiples" and then the ones with bad drive time, and finally multiples. if you are keeping most then you were too cheap to begin with. keep going up. remember grass don't grow in the winter and you need to maximize profits constantly when the grass does grow. Dave g

[LAWNGODFATHER]

David answer me a question?

How do you raise the price on one a week?

I mow every one on a contract. Each contract is for a season. I give a price for a season not each week I mow. 1 acc may take 20 min. the next week it may take 27 min. the next 17 min.
If you keep raising your prices and the customer get pissed at you you now became high priced LCO, or "I never know how much he is going to charge me this week", or even "I wonder if he is going to raise my price thiss week or the next week, if he does I will find some one else to mow for me". And your word of mouth selling is gone. Kepping customers is called "retension"
If your keeping customers it's not because your too cheep. It's because you do a good job. If you keep raising prices on them how do you retain customers? If you get behind you charge more to show up? I don't know if you were just venting or what? But what you said doesn't make sence. Can you clearafy that for us?

LGF:blob1:

[GreenStar]

how big is this bowling alley?are those numbers correct?i'm not trying to bust your chops but are you using craftsman or mtd?

[Lawn DOG]

Why wouldn't you hire help? Are your accounts not profitiable enough to afford this luxury? If so, your probably doing your work too cheap. Your wife might be right and maybe you have just taken on more than you can handle. I hope you are making atleast 3 or 4K a week. Remember anybody can get lots of work but don't work yourself to death for free. I don't know enough details about your business but it does sound like you would quilify for some help. Get some temporary help maybe.
Just my 2 cents.

[Lawn-Scapes]

At 3-4k a week he should have 2 crews of 2 at least... no?

[Lawn DOG]

TSG, I was trying to be nice but I do more than that with one crew.

[Lawn-Scapes]

Lawn Dog,

Let me get this straight... you do $4,000 a week with one 2 man crew... That's incredible... no that's unbelievable.

Wanna share... What's the secret?

[Lawn DOG]

I would have to say it has everything to do with the ability to manage. Of course there are variables to every equation but when I started with a push mower in the back of my POS car I saw a market and found what the current LCO's weren't providing. You will find that alot of clients are willing to pay the bigger price tag but you will have to sell yourself and your service. I have not spared a dime when it comes to quality and our apperence. This has made us very desiriable to the right people. It took several years but I only cater to the wealthy. There are alot of people in this industry who are satisfied with making 1or 2k a week. Many of them are on this site but I will tell you that they are just touching the tip of the iceberg. Listen to the advice you hear here but remember that alot of the people you are talking to are still trying to become more profitable and work less. I have read alot of post that I would never consider good advice but you could even say that about mine. I have learned alot over the years and am still learning but I have learned how to be profitable. Just try to weed out the good advice from the bad is hard enough. Sorry I just kind of babbled on but this is a hard question to answer easily.

[eslawns]

Lawn DOG,

I'm sure you know your business, but I also know mine. There is a dramatic shortage of available labor here. Running a crew means hiring 3 people to get 2 to show up and 1 to work. Every day I count a dozen new pickups with mowers in the back and signs on telephone poles offering lawn mowing for $25. Most of the people who would make good employees are trying it on their own. I have a friend who is a crew leader with Brickman. He said they usually hire 150% of the labor they need, unless they can gt H2B people.

BTW, it's usually the larger, crew driven companies are the ones who underbid big jobs. Last year I put in a quote on 2 apartment complexes. I know the manager, and she showed me all the quotes after I was informed that I didn't get the contract. All the ones from small LCO's were in line with mine, so I know my quote was good. I estimated from actual measurements and from the drawings. I was underbid by $3000 a year on each comlpex by the one of the biggest outfits around here. They hire most of their people from the work-release program at the city jail. The rest are H2B workers. Sorry, but I don't hire convicts.

I unserstand what you mean about high end clients, and have shifted the focus of my business to that end. Ironically, it's some of the wealthiest people who take up the most time with quoting work, and who tend to be the stingiest. In one neighborhood, I see a few guys with Murray mowers cutting lawns I quoted before. I agree with you about appearance, and have been experimenting with uniforms, color brochures, and different types of advertising.

But as far as my getting work because I work cheap, that just ain't the case. I get the work because I'm a good salesman and I do what I tell people I will do, in spite of the fact that I am usually the most expensive.

What I was trying to ask in the original post was how many hours a week I can reasonably expect to work. I've never had a 40 hour a week job in my life, and I want to try to keep from getting in over my head.

[Lawn DOG]

eslawns, It is not going to be easy to stay under 40 hrs or at 40 hrs in this line of work. The weather is too unpredictable and unless you only accept a certain amount of work. There is always gonna be just one more job to add. Before you know it your working a 80hr week. This would be a better question for some of the other solo operators out there. It has been awhile since I have operated solo.