dumb question?

[mikey]

hi
starting out in march.have 2 22" small mowers nothing commercial like x mark or any of the other big boys have a weedwacker,rakes,echo blower,hedge trimmer,tarp.Question is this:Ive did landscaping over this past summer cuz i got layed off and am getting married in june so i could use the xtra $$$
i am going to begin advertising next month,although i should have already started...I think all i want is 20 lawns a week just to start off and cut 4 per day this way here i could spend a little more time on each lawn.we charge in my area about 40 per cut
so i figure with my little overhead all my equipment is paid for.
$800 a week is really good $$$ or $3200 monthly is ok.thats double than what i made for my full time job.I know 20 lawns sounds like very little but im thinking low end i dont wanna say ill get 100 lawns per week but you never know im going to target high end neighborhoods.Can i do 20 lawns comfortubly?



go pats!!!!!

[GREG R]

Lets not forget :
insurance, taxes, vendors lic, workers comp, gas, oil,
weed whipper string, blades, office overhead, time spent
on billing and estimates. now figure your overhead

Yes you can do 20 yards a week, but it depends on the situation. Are you driving from place to place or are you walking.
Are you mowing 10 acre lots with those 22" mowers or 4000sqft
lawns.

I'm not trying to be mean but there are so many varibles
in this industry its hard to see your situation.

[scagman]

Skys the limit for me. Why would you want to limit yourself especially while owning your own buisness? When I first started out with a 21" I wanted all the lawns I could get.

[JimLewis]

I agree with scagman. $3200 per month sounds good to you now but like Greg said, you are grossly underestimating overhead costs. Even if you choose not to have a license, insurance, etc. initially you will be surprised at how much overhead you will have.

4 / day? My first year I was trying to get 10 or more per day. Is this going to be a hobby for you or a real business? Why aim low? Sure, I think realistically 100 by the end of your first year would be very difficult. And since you won't have your ducks in a row it would be a real pain to manage. But 20 as a goal seems a little low.

And remember, it's not the amount of time you spend per yard that matters. It's how good of a job you do - period. Do what you say you'll do and do it well. But do it as fast as you can. If you have extra time go lay some flyers on doors. You'll be better off spending your extra time getting more business than you will trying to throw in a bunch of extra stuff just to impress people.

Don't get me wrong. It's great to go the extra mile. But you don't need to spend a ton of time at each house to do that.

Aim high. Plan on working 6 days a week, 12 hours a day. Get things off to a good start now while you are still fairly young. No reason to get things off to a slow start on purpose. You already said you could use the money. So go get it!

btw, 20 your first year is a reasonable goal if you were just starting out and knew nothing about the business and had zero help. But with the resourxces you have available to you at this web site, there's no reason you can't have at least double that if you pay attention.