Thinking about starting up in Georgia Need some thoughts about my concerns

[Titan31]

1. How long does the season/money making last? March-September or can it last longer? I think I have seen people still mowing in late october??

2. Is 50 accounts without low balling feasable?Starting from scratch.

3. How big of a concern is the weather gonna be in Georgia.We have had some droughts.

4. is there work out there for sodding jobs to supplement the lawn care?

5.Is the demand for Spring and Fall clean ups out there?Does it pay decent?

6.I live in West Georgia(not atlanta) I have not seen that many Lco's out this way.Is it un-tapped or no business?If anyone is from around here.

7. One of my main concerns is the down time in the off/slow season..Can this be made into a full year round job here in the south.


Thanks for the help

[topsites]

1. Until the work is done, speaking for myself I start ...
Well it's hard to say, I take about a month off in winter, yes.
I start doing maintenance on everything sometime late February or March, all of the equipment, the truck,
the trailer, the cars, this takes forever and it never ends so I take time out to really concentrate on that.
Then around middle of March I get a few calls and usually by April I'm busy...
... Summer is slow, too!
The heat slows everything down, prepare yourself for a slow July and August.
After that, long story short I take Thanksgiving and Xmas off but I work into January.

2. No, yes, you have to take what the market will bear, you will see what I mean.

3. You should be fine, still a bit dry but without guarantees I believe we're all right for a few years.

4. This is a highly technical, specific, labor and finance intensive job...
No offense but unless you really know what you're doing I'd stay away from sod, we're talking thousands
of dollars and the liability... Speaking for myself, in 8 years I've never done sod.

5. Yes, no, see number 2.

6. Expect heavy competition, most of it entrenched and experienced.

7. Bank your money, regardless of how it works out there will be slow times.
This is essential in business, if you can not save money then either learn how or stay out,
because I'm not trying to scare you but there's times (like now) we have to go for years on a slow spell.
So, before you open up...
Pay off every dang bill, get to where you have no outstanding loans,
no car payments, the insurance paid in one lump sum, and so on...
Only thing you should have is the mortgage, and the monthly bills like the electric.
Once you get to that point if you haven't saved any that's fine but at least start saving.

Hope that helps.