advice needed with growing business (too rapid???) HELP

[Smokey5826]

I have been reading on here for a long time, absorbing as much info as possible. I have been in the field for 15+ years and started on my own in 2002. I have had pretty steady customer growth since then, nothing huge - 30 accounts for weekly lawn maintenance (since for 2002 - 2008 I was also holding down a full time job also). A friend approached me a couple of weeks ago - hes moving out of state and gave me his accounts - free and clear. He mailed a letter to all of his customers (with a letter from me introducing myself) stating the circumstances that he is out and I will be replacing him. All is fine and dandy - I outsourced a few of his accounts due to location and travel time and figured out that 39 of his accounts will be with me this upcoming season (his 39 accounts are all located near each other but 20 miles one way from all my own accounts), giving me a total of about 69 weekly lawn maintenance accounts. Keep in mind, I am currently a one-man LLC operation. Everything was looking great for this upcoming season - thinking about hiring a helper, someone to train the right way with the correct level of quality that I expect.

Well, his high school friend has a landscape company also (no weekly lawn maintenance, he did all the mulch work, bed edgings, gutter cleaning, pressure washing, minor hardscape work that my friend passed on to him). This list is of 50 or so customers that get almost all of the services above on a yearly basis - 40 hours a week (2 man crew) for about 26 weeks. He (guy#2) is getting out of the business due to a great family job offer (office job) in this miserable economy. He wants $500 for the list of customers / his website certificate / company phone number / etc...

Both, my buddy and his friend have no problem signing a non-compete...

Here is my question - I really don't have any capitol $, 1 truck, 1 commercial mower, and the misc 2-cycle equipment...enough equipment for a 1-man operation, but that's it. I was tossing around the idea of a Sub-contractor (with own truck / equipment) to do either those 39 accounts located 20 miles away or the hardscape jobs... I am really getting caught up in this and don't know where to start with my thinking process. I do definitely want (and already have) my buddies 39 accounts, but feel I can't pass up the other mulch / hardscape accounts, etc.. for the $500.00.

I am a very organized person, I don't think that the computer / book-keeping stuff is the problem. I am just afraid that I might be 'biting off more than I can chew' due to the lack of capitol $, or whatever...

Thoughts / suggestions from others in the business would be greatly appreciated... I know this is really long, I felt that everyone should have a basic background knowledge of me. Thank you for your time, thoughts, comments, and help in advance.

P.S. - I hope I picked the right category to post this in.

[hseeder]

Well Smokey first of all congratulations. The fact that your buddy feels so strongly about your character and work ethic says alot right there with giving you the accounts he had, keep in mind it will still reflect on him. As for the other option, I personally feel that for $500.oo you would be crazy not to. It is easy enough to train a couple guys to do edging and lay mulch, the only other equipment you would need is a truck - figure for something decent about 2500, you could use a landscape trailer - 1500 high end used to haul the material, then a wheel barrel or two, couple rakes and shovels. The hardscape work is a bit more entailed, is it just pavers or is he into walls as well? Either way, it is fairly easy to pick up on, you just have to be very attentive to detail, especially when preparing the base, it is all in the base, wouldn't;t build a building on a crooked foundation sort of thing. That is a bit more involved. However, you could rent the additional equipment, from home depot etc until you could purchase your own. There is really good money in hard scape. Example, here in NY last year, average fora versalok wall was going 45 a square foot. Yo can run through the sites of the manufacturers and get some great advice on the construction, Versalok actually puts out a installation manual you can get from your supplier free of charge with every bit of information you could need right down to how to build a good solid grand stair case, lighting towers etc.

As for the man power, if your buddy with the mulch and hardscape had a crew chances are they will stay if you talk with them, explain to them you need reliable experienced guys to continue to handle the projects. Then you look at adding a couple more guys to your maintenance end as you will increase your exposure, and and as a result your client base.

MY advice, if yo do not absolutely have to, don;t pass these oppertunities up. You just got offered a huge hand into making it in the industry. I would wish upon a falling star for an opportunity like these. Good luck I know it seems like alot, but it will definitely y work out for you in the long run.

[Smokey5826]

The hardscape jobs were mostly mulch, gutters, etc... Not really any retaining walls or patios - every so often, they installed a gravel path with stepping stones, but nothing like paver patios / retaining walls. Basically just bulk materials and man power. I already own a trench master bed edger (the walk backwards and pull bed edger).

[hseeder]

So you have a Brown, boy you can not go wrong there, sounds really like it is all down hill then, you have the more expensive machines, maybe a sod cutter, but easily available at a rental center that is where I bought the one I had. As I mentioned before, the man power seems like it is the issue, and you could easily convince either the established guys to stay on, or train some one to use your edger. In mho, you would be kicking yourself down the road not to. Maybe a dump trailer is in order or an insert for a truck, that way you could haul the mulch easier and faster, I saw a neat insert -dumpomatic- that is really low priced comparable to the electric hydraulic ones, and doesn;t have to be permanently installed into your truck.

[Az Gardener]

I respectfully disagree with hseeder. My business floundered until I got focused on a core model and learned to say no. It appears your friend stayed focused on his core as well or he would have been doing all the work he is referring to the other guy. I was operating an improvement crew for a while and found I was actually loosing money. Because that is not what we are good at.

I suggest you have enough on your plate learning how to hire and deal with employees. The added burden of a second crew out there doing work you are liable for is a bit much to take on.

You may consider doing the simple work that you can complete with your existing crew or even adding additional labor on heavy days. For example client B wants mulch or power-washing so you coordinate to do it while you are there on regular service day. Someone calls out of the blue, you explain you only offer theses add on services for your regular maint clients. Helps you build your core business.

Just my thoughts. Good luck!

[Tyler7692]

The hardscape jobs were mostly mulch, gutters, etc....

Mulch and cleaning gutters are definately NOT even related to hardscaping...

And technically, cleaning gutters has nothing to do with landscaping.

[Lawn Freak]

I wouldn't think it would be too much to handle if you have the help.

[DLAWNS]

Are you going to keep your full time job or are you prepared to go full time with your company. These opportunities would be very hard for me to pass up. It's really hard in my opinion to give you a definite yes or no answer.

[Smokey5826]

Mulch and cleaning gutters are definately NOT even related to hardscaping...

And technically, cleaning gutters has nothing to do with landscaping.

I didn't ask for a clarification or definition of hardscaping - let me just call it odds and ends jobs outdoors... Why don't you try giving people valuable input - sharing your wisdom, instead of frustrating others with comments like these...

Please stick with my original post -

Thoughts / suggestions from others in the business would be greatly appreciated... I know this is really long, I felt that everyone should have a basic background knowledge of me. Thank you for your time, thoughts, comments, and help in advance.

[Smokey5826]

Are you going to keep your full time job or are you prepared to go full time with your company. These opportunities would be very hard for me to pass up. It's really hard in my opinion to give you a definite yes or no answer.

I will not be keeping my full time job.

[DLAWNS]

If I had to go one way or the other, I would say go for it. It sounds like you have all your ducks in a row so to speak, and the price is right.