Single owners

[rcreech]

I am to the place with my business that I am get overwhelmed at times being a 1 man show (although my Dad does help me from time to time). If I can do a good job of marketing and advertising this winter and in early spring..hopefully my Dad can join me full time next year.

I am just curios to how many of you one here are 1 man shows.

And for you guys that started out as 1 man shows and grew, are you glad your grew your business, or do you wish you would have stayed smaller?

Just dealing with trying to get help on Saturday's I can see where people are not dependable. They say they will show up and they don't.

I also heard that the paperwork is a nightmare...taxes, SS, workman's comp etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[carcrz]

I'm still in my prime, so I enjoy doing this stuff by myself. I could see here in about 10 years though hiring some employees once again. Like you said, the costs & headaches can be quite a burden. For me, I guess I just got tired of excuses & most of all, got tired of writing checks that I knew I could keep to myself w/ a few more hours & a few less headache clients. Overall, I am very satisfied w/ my move.

[RigglePLC]

I am a one man show. I like it fine. It can be lonely--but once you are OK with that it, works. Lucky my wife does most of the books. I send out the bills.

Remember you can always outsource certain aspects--like your bookkeeping. You can let a mailing firm send out brochures and Etc to generate leads, at the proper time of year. You can have a sweet voice at an answering service answer your phones.

[scweedman]

I was a one man show hired first full time this year before i just used summer
help. My full timer quite after 6 months and a raise. So i am back to summer
help. Summer help has its down side usually young and they only work may
to august. If you and your dad work well together thats great. Finding good
help to me is the greatest problem for most owners. Its hard to stay small
but its hard to find help to grow. Then you grow and you don't have the
help you are screwed.

[ampeg76]

first, weedman, nice fairtax linky, i've been reading about this and was surprised to see it in your sig:)


i'm solo also, i dread the day i have to hire help

[Rtom45]

So what do you solo guys do if you get hurt? I had a buddy who had to work hurt 'cause he had no backup. If he was hurt bad enough that he couldn't work he might have lost his business.

[rcreech]

I have really never thought about it....

If you think about it though, it's really no different then a larger buisness that may have five employees. If one of their people get hurt they are going to be behind also....and just leaves them to get more help.

If I got hurt, then I would do just as any business and hire help.

I have several friends my age that farm and are very familiar with using pesticides. I am sure they would help me in a pinch as we help each other all the time. A little training and I could turn them loose!

[americanlawn]

I started with one truck, one lawn, and me. No mowing - just lawn & tree/shrub app's. My wife (a bonded bookkeeper) did the books once a week, as she had a full-time job. Ended up with just over 200 customers the end of the first year (1990). Made a profit too. 2nd year, I hired a part-timer (Des Moines firefighter), and I started subcontracting mowing. 3rd year I hired a full-time guy. 4th year there were three of us. 5th & 6th years there were four of us. By 2000, there were eight full-time applicators and 3000 accounts. Currently, we still run eight full-time applicators doing just over 3000 accounts. 3 mowing crews mow (about 180 accounts), and I still use the same mowing subcontractor. For the past several years, pretty much all I do is run estimates, do service calls, as well as the tree/shrub applications. Three girls in the office (2 part-time & one full-time..my wife). In the early years, I often racked up as many as 88 hours some weeks. Now the most is around 65 hours (most weeks = 45 to 55 hours a week). Note: It helped that I had several years of previous experience with ChemLawn (not TruGreen), and have a wife that really knows the books. We raise our prices when appropriate, and we drop unwanted customers when necessary. The use of ride-on equipment has also helped keep our full-time applicators to eight. Just got July's production numbers -- my best PG Ultra applicator has brought in $74,000 since late March.

My reason for wanting to grow the business is because there will become a time when I will nolonger be able to physically do what I currently can do. Also, what if I get injured? Anyway, we have no long-term debt. We now own four properties (2 commercial & two residential) which are also paid off. Please do not think I'm trying to brag, I'm just trying to let you know "my story".

My advice: Go for it, cuz if you do a good job, you will grow. Take care man, and stay cool.

[rcreech]

American,

Sounds like you have a great business going!

Right now I am a little over 200 residential accounts and have several nice commercials and a school which is a little over 11 acres. My avg residential is 25K.

Looks like you have about 375 lawns per man. I must be weak as 200 keeps my very busy. I am thinking I may be able to add another 30 or 40 and that is about it.

What size are most of your lawns? How many apps do you apply?

My only concern with growing is hiring employees. I have heard horror stories from guys that have employees and just wonder if I should stay small so I don't have to worry about guys not showing up, doing bad work etc.

As they say....nobody does it like we do!

Do you have many headaches wity your guys?

[turf hokie]

First year solo part time working for another company

Second year 1 very part time part timer

third year (went thru two full timers that could get to work on time among other things) so I stuck with the part timer and worked my butt off.

year four got a second truck and hired a friend of mine to run it. (17 years experience and he helped me start a tree and shrub division) Ended up with so much work we hired a second full timer.

We are just about averaging the numbers that american posted per man so far this year. We may put another truck out next year.

The growth is a little to fast for me at times but it is hard to turn it down when it stares you in the face.

Unlike American however, we still have some short term debt. That would be one downside to growing quickly.

[Chilehead]

I am solo and love it! I have shared the problems of no-shows as well as guys who work their heart out, but can't cut a straight line to save their life(had to let them go). Right now, I am doing about 40 residential accounts in terms of grounds care/chemicals. I also will do irrigation, all types of landscaping, and hardscapes(my specialty is retaining walls). As a solo-op, I find that saving the money from the 5-7 projects I do aside from grounds care allow me to enjoy a 3-month sabatical in the winter. However, I still find work to do part-time in the winter. It's great!

My best advice to anyone working as a solo-op, is to do everything it takes to live far within your means. You must fund your own retirement, health care, and welfare. I live in a small house with a small yard. It lets me save money due to small mortgage, utility bills, and property tax. I drive a used truck. This means small truck payment, and cheap insurance. I grocery shop at Aldi's (very cheap). I am able to support my family (me, wife, 2 kids) on $2000-$2200 a month. The several thousand a month left over goes in the bank. On paper, I'll be a millionaire by the time I'm 55. You can do this or better if you want to.

In this biz, you don't need to impress anyone but your clients. They don't give a hoot about your equipment--just the results they provide. Treat them like gold, and you'll flourish in prosperity. One last tidbit: if you ever want a $1000-$1500 a year raise, all you need is 1 more small maintenance account. Us solo-ops have the best job in the world!!!!

[rcreech]

Chilihead,

I can tell you are a smart man and have your head screwed on tight!

That is some very sound advice.

"He who lives with a little, will have a lot"


Thanks to all of you for your info!

I agree that being small is great...but sometimes you see all the $$$$$ that could be made and it makes it look tempting!

I will probably stick with the plan and stay small and enjoy life. There is more to life then money!

[ampeg76]

Chilihead,

I can tell you are a smart man and have your head screwed on tight!

That is some very sound advice.

"He who lives with a little, will have a lot"


Thanks to all of you for your info!

I agree that being small is great...but sometimes you see all the $$$$$ that could be made and it makes it look tempting!

I will probably stick with the plan and stay small and enjoy life. There is more to life then money!

my thoughts to:) to remain rather small, that is!

[americanlawn]

American,

Sounds like you have a great business going!

Right now I am a little over 200 residential accounts and have several nice commercials and a school which is a little over 11 acres. My avg residential is 25K.

Looks like you have about 375 lawns per man. I must be weak as 200 keeps my very busy. I am thinking I may be able to add another 30 or 40 and that is about it.

What size are most of your lawns? How many apps do you apply?

My only concern with growing is hiring employees. I have heard horror stories from guys that have employees and just wonder if I should stay small so I don't have to worry about guys not showing up, doing bad work etc.

As they say....nobody does it like we do!

Do you have many headaches wity your guys?


Sounds to me that you are doing things right. I did not want to be pushing a spreader twenty lawns a day at age 60, so that is why I tried to grow and hire more full-time operators as needed. I used to do a "budget" the first 5 or 6 years, but after that, I just "went with the flow" and never looked back. I figure people who need "budgets" are those who have unsucessful or questionable businesses.

My last three years with ChemLawn (NOT TruGreen), I was the commercial sales manager, so when I started my own lawn care company, several commercial accounts stayed with me because they trusted me. This helped jump-start things.

I'm guessing our average lawn is about 8000 sq.ft. This excludes large properties. Lawns that are 10,000 sq.ft up to 25,000 sq.ft. that are "easy", we use PG ride-ons. Larger ones, we use Spyker 220 electric spreaders or a LESCO Z-two sprayer/spreader.

We offer five app's (excluding grubworm prevention) plus about 400 fall aerations each year. Probably 80% of our customers take all five "rounds" (an old ChemLawn term). The rest take 4 or 3 or 2. maybe ten customers take one shot a year.

Keep in mind that as you aquire more customers, your route density gets tighter (less drive time).

Regarding employee probs....we always have that. Some years are better than others. Last year, instead of 8 applicators, we were down to only five by late August, so we increased their production commission to 3%. ($4000 per week = $120 on top of their weekly salary). Currently we're down to seven applicators, and we will probably not hire another this year. If we get behind, we'll simply raise the commission. Personal employee headaches are either handled by me or else my wife.

Example: One of our two female applicators recently fought for custody of her 2 kids. We paid for her to fly to Phoenix three different times this summer. As of two weeks ago, her kids are here - with their Mom. She drops them off at our home every morning before going to work. My wife takes them to our office everyday where they watch movies or play in the yard. School starts very soon, so this is a short-term inconvenience.

We also loan vehicles when theirs are in the shop. We also finance vehicles for employees. I could go on, but........hope this helps. Bottom line: Go for it. I know you will do well.:usflag:

[ArizPestWeed]

Learn what jobs are easiest and make you the most $.
Be selective .
Fine tune your or stream line your work
Don't work for problem or high maintenance people







I am to the place with my business that I am get overwhelmed at times being a 1 man show (although my Dad does help me from time to time). If I can do a good job of marketing and advertising this winter and in early spring..hopefully my Dad can join me full time next year.

I am just curios to how many of you one here are 1 man shows.

And for you guys that started out as 1 man shows and grew, are you glad your grew your business, or do you wish you would have stayed smaller?

Just dealing with trying to get help on Saturday's I can see where people are not dependable. They say they will show up and they don't.

I also heard that the paperwork is a nightmare...taxes, SS, workman's comp etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[mkroher]

american, can you finance a new vette for me?