Going from neighborhood mowing to a true LCO

[stephenslawncare]

Okay, right now, I am mowing around 20 lawns, all in my neighborhood, but I will be turning 16 this summer and want to get a truck and trailer. My question is, is there anything I can do now to make it a little easier on myself when I finally turn 16. I am mostly concearned in the areas of pricing. Right now, my prices are low, compared to most true LCO's and when i get a truck and trailer, I dont want to shock them with my new "professional" prices. Have any of you gone through this and what were your experiences? Thanks

[Whitey4]

You won't be a professional until you are licensed and insured, for starters. You are now the illegal low baller that hurts the industry. You pay no taxes.

I have no problem with a 15 year old doing a couple of properties for spending money, but 20? Consider yourself lucky no one has reported you. Yeah, you are worried about pricing? LOL.... that's what all low ballers worry about. Now you might have to compete on even ground with legitimate LCO's. You call them "true" LCO's! LMAO! At the age of 15, had you gotten caught you would have gotten your wrist slapped. At 16, the stakes go up. If you were in NY, they would sieze your equipment... all of it, and a truck and trailer. They might even hold your parents liable.

Am I being too tough on you? Some will think so, but reality is a cold splash of water on the face. Operations like yours make the whole indusrty less profitable for people that have to pay their mortage and feed a family while competing with illegal low ball lawn cutters. Think about it.

[stephenslawncare]

I already have a liscense and pay taxes and insurance is the first thing i am going to get @ 16

[Whitey4]

In NY, you couldn't get a license until you were 18, and even that would be hard to get. How can you get a license without insurance anyway? Do you mean a registered business name? That is something entirely different. Again, in NY, you could not get a certificate of authority to collect sales tax unless you were at least 18. I pay $450 for two years to be licensed. Just what state are you in? Havin some trouble here with your story. Doesn't add up. A business license without insurance? I'll eat my hat if that's true.

[jdmcat]

A business license without insurance? I'll eat my hat if that's true.

well get your fork, at least in my town, you don't have to have any insurance to get a license to mow, and that came straight from the mouths of the people at city hall. now get into anything that requires digging a hole and that's a different story.

[Whitey4]

well get your fork, at least in my town, you don't have to have any insurance to get a license to mow, and that came straight from the mouths of the people at city hall. now get into anything that requires digging a hole and that's a different story.

Problem is the good folks at city hall often have no clue what the state or county requirements are. In NY we have this thing called the "Consumer Affairs Office".... and even THEY didn't know what their OWN requirements were! No lie, true story!

[jdmcat]

Problem is the good folks at city hall often have no clue what the state or county requirements are. In NY we have this thing called the "Consumer Affairs Office".... and even THEY didn't know what their OWN requirements were! No lie, true story!

well, it's been my experience that no government agency knows what they're talking about. however there are guys mowing here that ARE legal and DON'T have insurance. i WILL have insurance before i do my first lawn, however. I'd rather pay the $300/year than have to pay that much or more to replace a window or sprinkler head.

[Whitey4]

No chit!? Legal without insurance? well call me corrected and surprised, with all due apologies! How bizzarre.

[greenmonster304]

In NY, you couldn't get a license until you were 18, and even that would be hard to get. How can you get a license without insurance anyway? Do you mean a registered business name? That is something entirely different. Again, in NY, you could not get a certificate of authority to collect sales tax unless you were at least 18. I pay $450 for two years to be licensed. Just what state are you in? Havin some trouble here with your story. Doesn't add up. A business license without insurance? I'll eat my hat if that's true.

I just incorporated and got my home inprovement licence for my town here in the great state of NY and I didnt need insurance to do it.

[born2farm]

so what exactly you saying us young guys need.

im 15 right now and mowwed around 10 yards last year. im looking at expanding in the spring of 09 cuz il hopefully have a truck and a trailer. if we cant get all these specials licenses then how did all you big guys start out.

thanks

[Whitey4]

I just incorporated and got my home inprovement licence for my town here in the great state of NY and I didnt need insurance to do it.

See, this is what I'm talking about. In Nassau and Suffolk, you still need a Consumer Affairs license. For that, you need a cert of authority to collect sales tax, liability insurance, workman's comp insurance (or a waiver affadavit if you are sole owner/operator or partnership with no employes) a federal EIN, I could go on.... that is a county office, not a town office.

You might think you are all legal and licensed, but you aren't. Sounds to me is what you got from the town was a permit, which I also need for each town I will perform work in. I'd suggest you go to the NY state site, and click on the "small business-starting a business links".

By the way, operating without a Consumer Affairs license here can carry penalties of equipment seizure (including your vehicle), fines and jail time!

Suffolk also has a short but simple test you have to take. I'd also suggest going to the Suffolk county web site and click on licenses and permits. Ignorance of the law won't get you off the hook, but they would likely go easy on you the first time you got caught. To get caught, all you need is one customer complaint to the county Consumer Affairs office.

I still have a hard time believing that one doesn't need liability insurance to be 100% legal... anywhere.

[dKoester]

Keep your own nose clean!!!!!!!!!

[Grass Happens]

In my county office, all i needed was 5$, a correctly filled out form and to have the DBA published once a week for three weeks. About a month later, I got a pretty certificate in the mail saying i was a legal business. They didn't ask me if i was digging or anything. I also didn't even have insurance yet, because i needed to prove i was a legal business first...

[Whitey4]

Well, I sure don't lay claim to what is needed elsewhere, but for Long Island, I darn sure know. Not sure what the fee for a Consumer Affairs license is in Suffolk, but in Nassau it's $450! And that's a fact! Rip off, but that's what it is!(That is good for only two years to boot!)

[ed2hess]

You won't be a professional until you are licensed and insured, for starters. You are now the illegal low baller that hurts the industry. You pay no taxes.

I have no problem with a 15 year old doing a couple of properties for spending money, but 20? Consider yourself lucky no one has reported you. Yeah, you are worried about pricing? LOL.... that's what all low ballers worry about. Now you might have to compete on even ground with legitimate LCO's. You call them "true" LCO's! LMAO! At the age of 15, had you gotten caught you would have gotten your wrist slapped. At 16, the stakes go up. If you were in NY, they would sieze your equipment... all of it, and a truck and trailer. They might even hold your parents liable.

Am I being too tough on you? Some will think so, but reality is a cold splash of water on the face. Operations like yours make the whole indusrty less profitable for people that have to pay their mortage and feed a family while competing with illegal low ball lawn cutters. Think about it.

Actually I don't mind the neighborhood kid cutting a few lawns eventually he will get out and we get a chance to pick them up. Normally kids get lawns that people want more handson and lower prices but after he does it for a few years and leaves the people never go back to doing their own. The kids actually develop business that wasn't there. And I am not turning him in to the nanny state overlookers.

[M&SLawnCare]

Every state is different on how to become legal. In Jersey of all places, we do not need insurance, or any liccense to do lawn care. I had to go to the county clerk office and file my DBA name (50$ if i remember correctly), then fill out the paperwork online with the state (15 minutes and free) and thats all it took. Now granted thats a sole prop so I didn't need workers comp, EIN (both of which are required if you have employees), and the paperwork is much easier because in reality were considered "self employed" not "bussiness owners" in the eyes of the tax guys.


Point being you need to specify where you live, specifically how you want to be set up and what your plans are and maybe someone can help you thats from that area. However do NOT completly trust anything that someone says here without backing that up from your own research from your state tax sites, or better yet based on what an attorney tells you.

[GravelyGuy]

Actually I don't mind the neighborhood kid cutting a few lawns eventually he will get out and we get a chance to pick them up. Normally kids get lawns that people want more handson and lower prices but after he does it for a few years and leaves the people never go back to doing their own. The kids actually develop business that wasn't there. And I am not turning him in to the nanny state overlookers.

I guess I've never looked at it that way. Probably true, once people stop they don't want to go back to doing it.

[jdmcat]

let me clarify something... just because you're not required to have insurance, doesn't mean you shouldn't get it. by all means, GET INSURANCE!!! if you want to be a "true LCO" you really should have insurance. trust me, if you think you can't afford it, i'm here to tell you that you can't afford not to have it. 1 Mil. liability is at the most $500/yr. that's $41.67/mo. If you're mowing full time, you can cover that cost in an hour.