Help With Parents

[jhawk71]

I Need help convincing my parents to let me get a 36 belt drive. I have a pretty good buisness going and wanted to upgrade, although they are still a little fishy about it. They think I should wait another year. My cousin who has like 100 some odd customers said that i would be able to handle one and that i should get it. What are somethings that i could point out to my parents to get them on my side?
Any help wanted
Jhawk71

[Lawn-Scapes]

What have you already discussed with them? What are their reasons for the wait?

How many and how large are the accounts? What are you using now?

edit: What are you doing up so late???

[2 man crew]

I take it you want your parents to pay for some, or all of the new mower.
If so you should try to get in the habit of doing things without help from your parents even if it means you will have to wait longer to get a new mower.
It will make things a lot easier for you in the long run. You won’t need to worry about who thinks what is fishy and how long you should wait for something.
A little more info on your situation would be helpful.

[Scag48]

36 inch will increase productivity by alot. I have 5 new jobs this year which is great, but it's tough to schedule them for me because I've been so busy with other things and am not having a whole lot of time to do them. I am getting through it though. My point is that if I had a mower that I could get on all my regular residential lawns but will cut down mowing time by like half, that would be great! I could do what takes me 15 hours and cut it down to like 7, because I have 2 that I can't do any faster-already got a mower that covers them lawns. So just buy one. Or use one, let them figure out how fast you can really go on them and prove to them what kind of mower it really is. When I was looking at buying my Proline (now known as Groundmaster 120) my dad was skeptical that it would be a good choice. Well, the price was right ($1,000, can you believe that?!) and now I have 2 jobs that I can use it on. I've got a condo complex that I do in an hour and 15 mins and get $45, not bad for me! You'll find that you can do more faster and have time for shcool (I hope you go to school?) and other things of the sort. High school is a P.I.T.A if you ask me. I didn't have homework for a while and was in the duldrums now they're loading us up. Makes it tough to do business. I've got a 20-30 hour landscape clean up job to do in the next couple of weeks plus the weekly mows. Its going to be tough, but I'll make it. Can't deny $$$! Rock on!

[Esby33]

Will the 10-speed huffy pull that on a trailer? :D OK, just kidding, but yeah-it will deffinately increase your productivity. Who's buying this machine? If its you, then isn't it your decision?

[Rooster]

jhawk71,
Checking your profile and seeing your age, if as others have posted your parents are helping you with the purchase, or even if you have earned all the money yourself consider:

Sitting down with both your parents, explain to them the time it takes to mow your accounts now. Then figure out with a larger cutting width mower how much time you could save, therefore get more accounts etc.

Hope this helps, lets us know how it turns out!

Good Luck!!!

Rick

[jeffex]

create a business plan and submit it to your parents for approval . Include a payment schedule of paying them back the $2500 or so you will ned to get a 36 belt drive. x amount of $ per month in the months you are cutting. show them on paper how your productivity will increase. 1hr with the 21" per lawn vs 40 min with the wb. Find someone to bring thier walk behind over to your house and show your parents you can handle it. Wear steel toed boots and use all safety equipment on your wb including the deflecter. I'm a parent too and I wish my son were as eager as you. He is 13 and can handle our 48'" toros. He does a great job when I can get him to help. Good luck w/ parents They just dont want you to get hurt so show them you ARE safe and wear eye protection and hearing protection. Sign a promisory note for the loan with them for the mower.

[jhawk71]

Thanx guys
I have around ten customers and am really busy in school and sports so i needed something to get my mowing done faster. Right now i have a commercial 21" toro, most of my accounts take about an hour with everything. I do it all by myself. Although i have 1 customer that takes me about an hour and a half to 2 hours. I t always seems that the wont stop growing i cut it every 4 days. And with the rain we have had nostop 4 days I m really far behind. Also i will be paying for it bymyself. Money from previous years. I've have told them about what my cousin has said and what you guys have said in previous threads. They just think i should wait another year to see then if i am still serious about it. Well i mean this is my third year. Also they think in the fall when school starts back up i wont be able to keep the lawns in good shape and get good grades. i get all a's now and keep all the lawns in good shape in the heart of growing season. And also i told them that in the fall it will start not to grow as much. Another things is i am getting like a new customer every week for the last week or so (people putting it off when it 10" tall) and my mom just tthink i have to many and should say no to any more. I mean thats money i would be lossing out on. Im pretty sure that my dad will let me get he says it is up to me, but my mom has the final word in on it so tonight i will try and i will probally go demo it tomorow and if they say yes tonight i will buy it tomorowI do a pretty nice job on my lawns because i really dont have that many. I am really serious about htis and want to pick up another 5 -10 customers next year if i could. THere are just so many lawn companys out there its hard getting new customers when you cant drive cross town to mow a yard. Well if you could give me anymore things to point out to then tonight orr any other times i would appreciate it.
Thanx
Jahwk71

[Toroguy]

Many good points by everyone.

You will learn more life/business lessons with your mowing operation/venture in one year, than most of your classmates will learn in their lfetime.

In Rich Dad Poor Dad, Kiyosaki made a great analogy...

"Why climb the corporate ladder, when you can own the ladder".

...something like that?

Dont fall into the instant gratification trap. Earn your way to the top.

[grassyfras]

Maybe what you should do is raise your prices and count on loosing a few customers alowing u more time for school and sports but still making the same or more amount of money. Sometimes I think I should of done that before I got my 36".

[MikeLT1Z28]

well, first, enjoy your youth and time in school. you won't get it back...

ok, on to the question here. you will get a great cut with a 36" and you will get it done a lot faster. what you really need to ask yourself is it worth the investment? will you plan to take on more customers later? first you need to justify the cost before planning any further.

[jhawk71]

Well i know i will continue and i am garraunted to pick up as many customers as i want, because my cousin has notified me that this is his last year and at the end of the year he will be selling off his acounts. he says that he will give be 1st choice and a better deal cause i am his cousin and all. He is the main kid operated lawn organazation in our area. So I will try to pick up some to get me to around 20-25 do u think i could handle it. how much can i expect to pay at the end of the year when he sells me some of his acounts. They are once a week. And range from 20-35. i would probally pick up the 25-30 range how much can i expect?

[mdb landscaping]

By getting the mower, you will get your accounts done a lot faster. Dont burn yourself out though. you have a long time ahead of you to make money. its nice to have some side money, but dont take on so many that its not fun anymore. even with ten accounts, you could pay it off quickly, so id go for it. as far as paying for accounts, ive talked to many people, and its not the best option. the customers arent guaranteed to stick with you, so you could pay for the customers and then they leave. just slowly pick up customers as you go along.

[jhawk71]

Thanx guys they said yes but i just have to find the right mower now. Got to do my research, what do u guys prefer i might go with exmark.

[MikeLT1Z28]

i say go with the exmark metro 36". that's what i run and many others here do too. you can get them some places for $1999 plus tax and then a mulch kit is another $100 and well worth it. i did however just notice you are 13, and while i don't have a problem with it, i will say this. make sure your prices are in line with every other LCO, make for certain you get insurance and find out from your insurer if since you are a minor what liabilities your parents would have. if you were to somehow accidentally hurt someone or their property they technically would be liable since you aren't 18 yet. find out about a business license and what age you have to be to have one. check all the possibilities. there is a lot more to it then just arriving, doing the job, collecting the beans and leaving. you probably know this already though from experience or reading here.

good luck in whatever you do, glad you aren't just another teen who likes to sit around all summer and play video games and sleep. kudos.

[wilawns]

you said your cousin is getting out why dont you wait till next year and maybe buy one of his smaller mowers?

[MikeLT1Z28]

now there's a good idea...