whats it take to get rich?

[woodie08]

whats it take to get rich? I heir 6 figures a year that sound insane to me. up in the northeast its seasonal. 7 months. it cant be in residential it must be commercial.how can you afford paying somebody 10.00 to 15.00 hr when charging 25.00 cut per residential that take hr to do? that 10.00 to 15.00gets ate up in gas, workers comp. and all kinds of things. or leaves you with a little that makes it not worth it ,so it has to be in commercial properties right? I know snowplowing can help but up here for resident its about 150.00 to 200.00 a season. how big does your company have to be to make six figures a year for your self?

[WHIPPLE5.7]

$25 for a job that takes a full hour. Most kids out of school for the summer looking for beer money wouldn't touch that. If you are taking a full hour it better be a pretty big lot.

[PlatinumLandCon]

Its possible doing it solo or with 1 other guy. You just need great customers, make smart decisions with the company's money, and QUALITY WORKMANSHIP. Its very possible in the market where I live, I'm not sure about american areas.

[FNG]

Wally world bicycle pulling a plywood 2' X 3' trailer with scooter rims and 2 mexicans pulling Red Ryder wagon with gas cans and cooler with cheap beer. Wally world 21" and a Ace hardware sring trimmer. Any yard $10. Satisfaction not gauranteed.
.

HEY! Stay out of my neighborhood! I saw you this AM. :nono:

R

[Carolina Cuts]

what's your idea of six figures? $100,000.00/year or $800,000.00/year.

I would think your operation would have to be bringin' in $500,000.00/year in order for YOU to be getting around $100,000.00./year for yourself...
remember, it costs alot of money to bring in a half a million a year. Specially if it's just lawn maintenance. 2 or 3 crews generating $200k+ a year each.
now ya got a lot of payroll, insurance, taxes, gas, equipment, etc....
Even a solo operation that brings in close to $100k will put out alot of money throughout the year. But I don't know too many solos that can do that kind of money. $30 lawns, ten a day, six days a week for 52 weeks is a little over $90k.... that's alot of work....

Maybe be possible in Florida. But you'd weigh 110lbs.

[JohnnyRoyale]

The only 'small' guy i know pulling in over 100K a year is designer, who subs out 80% of his installs. He hits hard, works 6-7 months a year, and spends winters in Costa Rica. Employes a couple of grunts for the summer, and didnt own a skid steer till last year. Doesn't cut a blade of grass.

I definitely make more than that net yearly, but I employ a few crews, and work year round-and have been at this for 15 years. The only residential we do is design/build and inground pools, the rest is all commercial/industrial/municipal.

At the numbers your quoting for an hours work, you'll never get there.

[TNT LawnCare Inc.]

One hour for residential and only $25 bucks ? Not gonna make it Bro.

[lifetree]

whats it take to get rich ? ...

The first pre-requisite is you have to be willing to lose your soul !!

[FNG]

whats it take to get rich?

Just like in Drag Racing, if you want to make a small fortune in this business, start with a large one.

R

[topsites]

The first pre-requisite is you have to be willing to lose your soul !!

Yeh and the mind, also.

[CAG]

the best i did solo was around 70k but i was also doing some landscape installs and a good snow year. at that time i owned probably 30k in equipment. now with 2 full time empolyees two part time and i work about 2-3 days a week in the field im in the low 6 figures every year. it takes two crews one mowing and one doing installs. the equipment it takes right now with deprecation is insured for 200k. the org purchase price was a lot more.. imo it would be rare to see a just mowing company net 6 figures with out mulitple crews. be sure you know what your asking for because the biz no longer seems fun after alot of growth in a few more years i will probably down size and try to keep life simple..

[Dave_005]

if you;re charging $25 for a yard that takes you an hr to do. then the First thing you should do is DOUBLE your price ! i have 2 yards that i do for $25 but neither of them takes me more then 15 mins to mow, trim and blow.

[ed2hess]

if you;re charging $25 for a yard that takes you an hr to do. then the First thing you should do is DOUBLE your price ! i have 2 yards that i do for $25 but neither of them takes me more then 15 mins to mow, trim and blow.

Does that include load/unload and half the drive time to the account?

[txgrassguy]

The first pre-requisite is you have to be willing to lose your soul !!

Aw BULL!!!!!!!!
Learn how to operate a business and the "magical" $100K/year is obtainable.
What is harder to quantify is the time you are willing to expend to reach it as your own boss.

[PlatinumLandCon]

Thats the other thing.... sometimes you're working 60-70 hrs per week if you factor in paperwork, estimates, even just mindlessly thinking about business stuff. A 9-5 is a straight 40 hours, thats it. If you can find a 60-70k job working 40 hours, technically you're better off, not to mention job benefits and less stress. If you get into landscape construction/hardscapes, you can net 150-200k for yourself with hard work, then its worth it IMO.

Overall, I think there's better opportunities out there. (The following might not apply to US markets this year...) I know 10-12 general contractors/home builders that net 200K+ and they work 50hrs during a busy week. When most of them have 2-3 houses on the go, they set off at 10am to check everything out and make sure its under control, make a few phone calls, then get back home in time to pick their kids up at school at 3pm.

IMO, 100k isn't possible when you're solo. With 2-3 well trained & well paid guys, 100k+ is very achievable.

[woodie08]

example say 20 bushes at $10.00 a piece so thats $200.00 bucks you estimate 15 miniautes to install each one that's about 5 hours. so how much do you mark up the bushes? 10%,20% why not 50%?If your average is $25hr for lawn maintenance residential should your rate go up for this type of landscaping or maintains you flat rate? this example is for residental not commercial pricing. the average rate in my area is about 25.00 to 30.00 a cut edge and blow. thats usually less than hr.this is just a one man crew... any imput would br great, the last thing I want to do is undercharge;)

[gandk06]

example say 20 bushes at $10.00 a piece so thats $200.00 bucks you estimate 15 miniautes to install each one that's about 5 hours. so how much do you mark up the bushes? 10%,20% why not 50%?If your average is $25hr for lawn maintenance residential should your rate go up for this type of landscaping or maintains you flat rate? this example is for residental not commercial pricing. the average rate in my area is about 25.00 to 30.00 a cut edge and blow. thats usually less than hr.this is just a one man crew... any imput would br great, the last thing I want to do is undercharge;)


I see you are new to the business. I don't thinks 6 figures is do-able from the get go. This is just like any other business, it takes time to build. Set a reachable goal for yourself and you may just get there.

[SDNCLAWNCARE]

It takes a long time..... Anything is possible given the right attitude and drive. Of course just like anything else, you need some luck involved also. Keep up the good work and great things will happen. I'm taking it slow right now.

[JFF]

I will say this:

You will never get rich from the money you earn. I suspect very few do.

Take the money you earn and invest it. That is where wealth comes from. Want to get rich? Take your profit somewhere money is the product.

JMO.

[Stillwater]

I won a lottery an amount some consider substantial. Sell your mower and buy some tickets

[JNyz]

example say 20 bushes at $10.00 a piece so thats $200.00 bucks you estimate 15 miniautes to install each one that's about 5 hours. so how much do you mark up the bushes? 10%,20% why not 50%?If your average is $25hr for lawn maintenance residential should your rate go up for this type of landscaping or maintains you flat rate? this example is for residental not commercial pricing. the average rate in my area is about 25.00 to 30.00 a cut edge and blow. thats usually less than hr.this is just a one man crew... any imput would br great, the last thing I want to do is undercharge;)

Not sure where you are going with this but the problem is some of you do not charge correctly. Every year nursery stock goes up and we continue to bring our prices down. If you are paying 200.00 for shrubs your price for the entire job should be 600.00 with a year warranty. Do not sell yourself short. This field of landscaping is an ongoing learning process. You can not mow a lawn for 1 hour and only charge 25-30 total which includes drive time and loading times. One hour of a solo operator is worth minimum of 75.00. Six figures is obtainable but you must maintain an hourly rate of 75.00-100.00/hour after payroll expenses and after that have your other expenses under control. You must also be able to bill out over 2000 hours per year. Solo guys can do it but their prices must be in line. If a solo plumber, electrician, hvac contractor or carpenter is billing out at 75-100.00 per hour why don't the landscape contractors. You most likely have more money in equipment. If we all charge the going rate our proposals will come down to the quality of our work and not the price. Too many of us sell ourselves short. Charge the going rate, do quality work with quality equipment and you should be fine.

[PlatinumLandCon]

I will say this:

You will never get rich from the money you earn. I suspect very few do.

Take the money you earn and invest it. That is where wealth comes from. Want to get rich? Take your profit somewhere money is the product.

JMO.

This is true. Using yourself, you can't get rich. Using yourself AND your money, you can make millions. Money makes more money if you're smart with it and be patient.

[CALandscapes]

I will say this:

You will never get rich from the money you earn. I suspect very few do.

Take the money you earn and invest it. That is where wealth comes from. Want to get rich? Take your profit somewhere money is the product.

JMO.

Absolutely true.

[Dunn's]

money$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[grasshopperslawn]

I am grossing 164k a year with a 3 man crew if I am lucky I will get 45% of that

[jsw2008]

It does take several years to build up your customer base. Even starting out I only did one yard for $25 and none now for that. I now bill an hourly rate of $45-50, which is the max my area will support because of the wonderful lowballers. I started doing this for extra money 3 years ago. I just finished my monthly accounting and I made more this month than my whole first year in business (I didn't make much the first year:D ) I run solo and plan on staying that way. If I continue to grow at this rate I will gross 6 figures in a year or two, but it will be several more years of very steady growth to net 6 figures. So, basically what I'm saying is I think 6 figures is attainable with hard work for anyone. And I only work 20-30 hrs/week for now, but that will have to go up to 50-60 in order to hit a 6 figure net.

[topsites]

All right I got this one, here's what you do:
1. Earn money.
2. Spend less than you earned.
3. Save that.

Voila

[Stillwater]

what topsites said...........

[Grits]

You are a lowballer. Raise your prices or get into a different line of work. Some people shouldn't be running a business and you seem to be one of these people. You might get pissy over my post, but I don't care about your lowballer feelings. Quit hurting the industry.

[Stillwater]

leave it to grits to tell it like it is.....the truth is often (gritty)

[Grits]

leave it to grits to tell it like it is.....the truth is often (gritty)

I think my post was edited too. It got better.

[bradfordmick]

Consider selling the far out accounts so you can save a small fortune on gas, we used http://www.tradeyouraccounts.com to sell and we stopped the low balling bids id prefer to nothing than give my services away.

[PlatinumLandCon]

Or you could work for a landscape contractor for a few years to learn what to do, then do landscape construction. You'll make 6-figures in only a few years if you bang out consistent, high quality work. Word of mouth is king.

[DeepGreenLawn]

First of all quit low balling everyone with $25. If you don't know how to price properly then you probably should go work for someone first and learn how to do the job correctly. I charge $25 to cut the lawns in my neighborhood and they are all 2k sqft or less. 10 min max and I'm done. I did 5 yesterday in about 2 hours and walked away with about $125 in my pocket.

If a lawn takes an hour to cut then your loosing your a%&. Just think of all the money your losing by not charging properly.

[Frontier-Lawn]

high prices and low overhead :waving:

[mikeylikesit5805]

I live in the NE Ohio region too, and most people dont pay for much more than 25-35 for a 1/4 acre lot. I only have about 10 lawns, but i make about 300 bucks a week. Which isnt all that bad for working part time.

[Grits]

I live in the NE Ohio region too, and most people dont pay for much more than 25-35 for a 1/4 acre lot. I only have about 10 lawns, but i make about 300 bucks a week. Which isnt all that bad for working part time.

I wouldn't piss on a 1/4 acre lot for $25. Raise your prices. I charge minimum $45 for 1/4 acre and I don't do anything for less than $35.

[DuraCutter]

whats it take to get rich? I heir 6 figures a year that sound insane to me. up in the northeast its seasonal. 7 months. it cant be in residential it must be commercial.how can you afford paying somebody 10.00 to 15.00 hr when charging 25.00 cut per residential that take hr to do? that 10.00 to 15.00gets ate up in gas, workers comp. and all kinds of things. or leaves you with a little that makes it not worth it ,so it has to be in commercial properties right? I know snowplowing can help but up here for resident its about 150.00 to 200.00 a season. how big does your company have to be to make six figures a year for your self?

You won't get rich cutting lawns, except for the top 1% of lcos.

The rest are EARNING A WAGE!!!!


Simple as that...okidoki

:)

[Sal200]

I wouldn't piss on a 1/4 acre lot for $25. Raise your prices. I charge minimum $45 for 1/4 acre and I don't do anything for less than $35.

I wouldnt piss on one either for 25 dollars. Haha. I also charge a minimum of 45 dollars for a 1/4 acre. But most of my 1/4 acre lots are 50 a week. This includes cut with grass catcher, trim, edge, blow and weeding of beds.

[Stillwater]

I wouldn't piss on a 1/4 acre lot for $25. Raise your prices. I charge minimum $45 for 1/4 acre and I don't do anything for less than $35.

Well pissing on the lawn falls into the irrigation subsection of my contracts so I charge more

[Grits]

Well pissing on the lawn falls into the irrigation subsection of my contracts so I charge more

:laugh::laugh::laugh:
Good one!

[jkason]

what's your idea of six figures? $100,000.00/year or $800,000.00/year.

I would think your operation would have to be bringin' in $500,000.00/year in order for YOU to be getting around $100,000.00./year for yourself...
remember, it costs alot of money to bring in a half a million a year. Specially if it's just lawn maintenance. 2 or 3 crews generating $200k+ a year each.
now ya got a lot of payroll, insurance, taxes, gas, equipment, etc....
Even a solo operation that brings in close to $100k will put out alot of money throughout the year. But I don't know too many solos that can do that kind of money. $30 lawns, ten a day, six days a week for 52 weeks is a little over $90k.... that's alot of work....

Maybe be possible in Florida. But you'd weigh 110lbs.

Bump that number to $40 - $120k with 2 weeks off
$50 - $150k with 2 weeks off

Seriously, the only people in the northeast that mow lawns for under $50 are either clueless, desperate or illegal.

[rcreech]

Question is....what really does the word RICH mean?

Money isn't everything and I think everyone knows that.

I have a little money but most of all I have a good business, awesome family, love what I do everyday and have Jesus Christ.

I guess I consider myself RICH, but I don't have much money! It is the other things in life other then money that shows how much success you have really had.

Just my take!

[Grits]

Question is....what really does the word RICH mean?

Money isn't everything and I think everyone knows that.

I have a little money but most of all I have a good business, awesome family, love what I do everyday and have Jesus Christ.

I guess I consider myself RICH, but I don't have much money! It is the other things in life other then money that shows how much success you have really had.

Just my take!

This is just something poor people say to make themselves feel better.







just kidding! I agree with you.

[tomflan947]

you are way to cheap if u are using a pushmower 38 an hour if you are using a 60" commercial mower at least 65 dollars an hour

[Hoppy's Lawn&Landscaping]

whats it take to get rich? I heir 6 figures a year that sound insane to me. up in the northeast its seasonal. 7 months. it cant be in residential it must be commercial.how can you afford paying somebody 10.00 to 15.00 hr when charging 25.00 cut per residential that take hr to do? that 10.00 to 15.00gets ate up in gas, workers comp. and all kinds of things. or leaves you with a little that makes it not worth it ,so it has to be in commercial properties right? I know snowplowing can help but up here for resident its about 150.00 to 200.00 a season. how big does your company have to be to make six figures a year for your self?

I think He meant to say if he is doing yards that are that small and only pay 25$ a yard how can you pay an employee 10 an hour , Well its simple if the yards are that small that it only makes you 25 an hour then its a SOLO job so what you need to pay anyone else ? RIGHT and if it takes you an hour you better be getting 60 Dollars and then paying a guy 10 an hour if he knows what he is doing that makes you makeing 50 dollars a yard and by the time you take out GAS and Wear and Tear you may make 20-25 dollars MAYBE...Thats my guess at it at least...

[creeper]

It's very easy to bang out 6 figures. Just not your first few years. It's all about building the business. Strive to always go forward and do quality work.

I started out with with only me. 2 mowers and one truck. Worked 40 hours a week on my regular job and cut on the weekends and nights. I didn't take a penny out of the business for the first couple of years and just build the business. Later, I Took on my high school buddy as a partner.

After that 6 figures is a cake walk... Heck, I had one of our smaller apt. complexes that paid us 65k a year for grass cutting and mulch, not bad for the crew to bang out once a week in the AM. They paid piece meal for anything else. I had one corporate location that paid us 40K just for grass cutting and mulch. I kept two machines there and send two guys there once a week for a full day.

If you do good work for a reasonable price and show up each week the accounts will come. We lost one account in a neighborhood where we cut every lawn that was commercially cut. We got under cut by $5. We let the lady go because she was already getting the lowest price and was a pain. 2 weeks later she called crying to be let back in on our busy schedule as the budget guys never showed. I've gotten more jobs because we were the only landscape company to call back.

When I retired I had 185 residential lawns to cut each week(which generated more the 6 figures), which was more as a loss leader as the side work generated more income. Then all the commercial accounts, really kept us hopping and I'm glad I retired.

BTW, if I had a lawn that paid $25 then it should not take any where near an hour to do. Our $25 lawns took a two man crew about 12 minutes to complete. A 2 Man crew should do a couple of acres in a hour, complete. If their not producing like that then they are goofing off.

[nobagger]

whats it take to get rich? I heir 6 figures a year that sound insane to me. up in the northeast its seasonal. 7 months. it cant be in residential it must be commercial.how can you afford paying somebody 10.00 to 15.00 hr when charging 25.00 cut per residential that take hr to do? that 10.00 to 15.00gets ate up in gas, workers comp. and all kinds of things. or leaves you with a little that makes it not worth it ,so it has to be in commercial properties right? I know snowplowing can help but up here for resident its about 150.00 to 200.00 a season. how big does your company have to be to make six figures a year for your self?

Man if it takes you an hour to do something, its not worth 25 bucks! We are a smaller company but for the past few years we've cleared 6 figures but that still does'nt mean anything. After you pay all of your expenses thats the majic number. It wont happen over night, probably not in the first few years. All I can say is I cant wait til' our equipment is paid for!!!!!

[Allens LawnCare]

I will say this:

You will never get rich from the money you earn. I suspect very few do.

Take the money you earn and invest it. That is where wealth comes from. Want to get rich? Take your profit somewhere money is the product.

JMO.

I agree....Real estate has dumped out here. You can get a 3 Family for a steal and have it paid off in 15 years, if you do it right that's $2500-$3000 per month (sitting on your hands) until the day you die, and unlike a 401k that has it's ups and downs with a 6-8% return (Or you could lose it all) The home is yours and even if it burns to the ground, you have the insurance money

[topsites]

I know at least one company that's in a different Industry, I am sure they pull in well over $100,000...
But I take a look at their operation and they don't look that much better off than mine, that is, other
than the fact they have a lot more of everything.

So I think we have to take certain things in consideration, it is all relative,
to gross $400,000 is one thing, but it doesn't necessarily make one rich either.

Still hard work for not a whole lot of money :p

This is true. Using yourself, you can't get rich. Using yourself AND your money, you can make millions. Money makes more money if you're smart with it and be patient.

I think patience is the hardest part, on the one hand it takes more than a few years so one really has to have
that ability, on the other one does not want to become complacent then find oneself in that rut...
I am finding, years and years into it, slowly it SEEMS to be coming together...
But it's hard, and it takes time, a lot of time.

I did finally see it yesterday, if things keep going the way they are now...
I left the house at noon... :p
Came home it was dark...
Grossed $300'ish

I got to thinking...
What if things come together?
Say just throughout spring, work from sun up to dark like in the olden days.
$4-500 a day, two thousand a week easy, every week,
say from April- June that's 13 weeks x 2 = 26,000
Hmmm crap ...

Well that's still only 52g a year :p

But it beats my current record by a mile which that's all I'm after,
this is what I mean by it is all relative, have to take things in stride,
can't jump from earning 30g a year straight to 100 it doesn't work like that,
just have to do this one day and one yard at a time.

[ALarsh]

A rule of thumb, don't come to lawnsite asking how to get rich. :)

[FordLawnLandscape]

I wouldn't piss on a 1/4 acre lot for $25. Raise your prices. I charge minimum $45 for 1/4 acre and I don't do anything for less than $35.

AGREED !! My gates DONT HIT THE PAVEMENT for less than $35.00:nono:

[Braveheart]

[QUOTE=Carolina Cuts;2301141]what's your idea of six figures? $100,000.00/year or $800,000.00/year.

I would think your operation would have to be bringin' in $500,000.00/year in order for YOU to be getting around $100,000.00./year for yourself...


THAT'S 20%! Maybe if you do the work yourself - I have employees do the work, only a 12% profit margin, but I am able to grow to as large as I would like! Last year grossed $789,330 and netted $86,350 (just under 12%) - also, you have to consider that I work less then 10 hours per week! Worth it to have others do it!!!