Purchase Lawn Care Business

[earthly]

Tomorrow I have the chance to purchase an existing lawn care business. The guy told me that he had been in business 11 years, has 350 chemical clients, 100 mowing, and about 20 irrigation. He said that it is about 50/50 residential and commercial. He does not have the contracts for this year, he said he sends out bids every year. So basically he is selling just BLUE SKY He only wants $7,000 for the list of clients or so called clients. I know that I need to find out how long they have been on the books, how many are residential and commerical and so on. But why is he selling so cheep? What advice can you give me and whats your opinion on the situation. HELP:confused: I could easily make back my investment in the first month plus more!

[BUCKEYE MOWING]

He must want out bad...Do you get any equipment for the 7g's ?

[ED'S LAWNCARE]

Boy this sounds like a scam, is there any equiptment with the purchase? If not run like fire... Just think how well 7k in advertising could do you are basically doing the same thing and still have to advertise....:hammerhead:

[earthly]

no equipment with this deal, he said he has to take care of his in-laws and doesn't have the time to do everything the right way, i have seen lots of there trucks around town and they seem to be a legit business, he said he would be willing to write letters to his customers saying i bought the business. He would sell the equipment to but i don't want it, it would cost extra. I only do landscaping and lawn care now, no mowing, i want the chemical clients residential. A company that i work with for mowing would go half with me and take the mowing so i don't know. He is meeting with a guy today and i have a feeling if it is as good as it sounds he will by it. I am trying to stay optimistic.

Or should i just:walking:away

[MacLawnCo]

You could easily make your money back simply by flipping his fert clients. There is big money out there now chasing fert clients. Keep digging. Acquisitions are a very valid way of growing your business. I aim to do one a year...

[earthly]

You could easily make your money back simply by flipping his fert clients. There is big money out there now chasing fert clients. Keep digging. Acquisitions are a very valid way of growing your business. I aim to do one a year...


how do you find them? has it worked out very well for you? and what is the average size company you buy?

[Mow Mony]

Tomorrow I have the chance to purchase an existing lawn care business. The guy told me that he had been in business 11 years, has 350 chemical clients, 100 mowing, and about 20 irrigation. He said that it is about 50/50 residential and commercial. He does not have the contracts for this year, he said he sends out bids every year. So basically he is selling just BLUE SKY He only wants $7,000 for the list of clients or so called clients. I know that I need to find out how long they have been on the books, how many are residential and commerical and so on. But why is he selling so cheep? What advice can you give me and whats your opinion on the situation. HELP:confused: I could easily make back my investment in the first month plus more!

sounds like an awesome opportunity. I would try to figure out someway to make it work if it is LEGIT, 7k in advertising isn't going to net you that many clients.

[earthly]

sounds like an awesome opportunity. I would try to figure out someway to make it work if it is LEGIT, 7k in advertising isn't going to net you that many clients.

i agree if it is legit! i meet with him tuesday (today) at noon, i wil keep you posted

[Rayholio]

that's $20 per customer.. even if you only keep 20% of them, it's a great deal...

ask for a non-compete, and you're golden!

[MacLawnCo]

Earthly, most of the time they find me. I tend to be outgoing and dont know many strangers. Consequently, I usually am one of the first to hear about things going down. Also, most competitors know that Im always looking to buy so they talk to me first.

Ive purchased solo opps before and just recently purchased one with a handful of employees.

If you have any questions, pm me and I will give you contact info.

[earthly]

Earthly, most of the time they find me. I tend to be outgoing and dont know many strangers. Consequently, I usually am one of the first to hear about things going down. Also, most competitors know that Im always looking to buy so they talk to me first.

Ive purchased solo opps before and just recently purchased one with a handful of employees.

If you have any questions, pm me and I will give you contact info.


he told me 7 on the phone i got there and he said ten minimum, what a joker and he did not have a client list put together yet. then on the phone he told me 350 chemical clients and now he said today 150 and then 110-115 mowing. somthing smells funny about this please help. what do you get from them when look at buying and how do you know if it is good? does this one smell rotten to you to ?

[MacLawnCo]

if you want to go deeper, PM me. I dont like going deep in the open.

You need to compare his revenue per (cost driver) to yours. Thats the technical answer for the initial investigation. The cost driver will be different for different segments of the industry.

[Rayholio]

he told me 7 on the phone i got there and he said ten minimum, what a joker and he did not have a client list put together yet. then on the phone he told me 350 chemical clients and now he said today 150 and then 110-115 mowing. somthing smells funny about this please help. what do you get from them when look at buying and how do you know if it is good? does this one smell rotten to you to ?

10 grand for 150 customers is $67.00 per customer.. still cheap..

I read that the industry standard price spent (in advertizing dollars) for each customer is around $200

I think anything under $100 per chem customer is allright, anything beyond that, you should look at the numbers very closely...

Again.. NON COMPETE.

[Trader Rick]

If it smells bad it usually is bad. I just bought a company out, paid 10% of last seasons gross for each account only if the customer signed a one year contract with us. The previous owner wrote a letter explaining the situation & introduced us. Prior to writing the letter we drove each account and figured what we would take to do the job, all of the accounts were mowing about 50% fert / lawn apps. and no sprinkler stuff. 100% of the customers made the transition. I was looking to gain 80% of them. We only took on 3 of their employees. You can grow easily by acquisition, but be darn sure you can handle what you buy or it could end up a big mess.
:weightlifter: