Vacations.....

[Joel B.]

For all of you single owner/operators out there: How do you take a vacation? If you are lucky enough to have business all week, how could you ever take time off without having someone sub for you? The grass isn't going to stop growing just because you are on vacation.

Just wondering,

Joel B.

[Bob Minney]

except for holidays vacation is Dec & Jan

[SLS]

Same as Bob. Winter.

For me vacation time starts December 1st and ends around March 1st.

Ahh.....3 months a year ROCKS! :D

Of course, being a solo operator, it feels like I work 2 years worth during those 9 BUSY months...whew!

[Joel B.]

Oops, forgot to mention snow plowing. What if you were plowing snow too? Couldn't really leave in the winter for fear it would snow while you were gone.

Thanks,

Joel B.

[DLCS]

I am partime but I usually take my vacations in the winter months. I don't snow plow so I just take my vacations in the winter. Last year I was able to get a weeks vacation, the first week of July. Since, all of my lawns were to dry to mow.

Mike

[Toroguy]

Joel,

You'll, well I would, go nuts trying to sneak in a vacation between snow events. Its not going to be enjoyable watching the weather channel while your on the beach in FL and an Alberta Clipper is headed to your area.

With no real time off during the Summer, I do not offer snow removal.

Late March or early November would be your best bet for "planning" time off in MN.

[ADMowing]

We take every other week off from October 1 through March 31 every year. But we are thinking about taking a whole month off this winter to visit some family. We'll run it by our customers and see if they understand. Not much grass grows then so it probably won't be a problem.

It is nice to have some down time during the winter months. But we make up for it during the summer months. We kind of only have two seasons down here in Florida -- at least for our business, that is!

Does anyone miss the job during the slower or dormant seasons? We do!!! Call us crazy, but we love our job!!!

[MOW ED]

We usually get a dormant period in August. I say usually because last year it was in July and September. It can give you an opportunity for 6 or 7 days if gets hot enough.

[Mowingman]

Usually take vacation in Dec., Jan., or Feb. In Aug. our mowing slows down due to drought conditions. I try to get away then for 4 or 5 days by skipping some properties and moving others around on my schedule.:)

[MacLawnCo]

I go to the Outerbanks in late July every year with my family. I sub all my lawns out to a friend for 80% of what I get. Its kinda nice to sit on the beach and make 20% for doing nothing. The sub just mows and goes, but I dont care and neither do the clients. Besides, he makes my work look better when I start agian.

Jason

[proline32]

Vacation pretty much starts here between november 1st, till march 1st. I'll have a few sporatic calls for leaf clean ups and I have a hand full of contract customers that I'll do twice a month but I can go 3 weeks between jobs.... just depends on the weather. I have to buget enough money to get me thru a winter.

[Got Grass?]

Last year w/ the severe drought I took off in Aug. for a week in Pheonix AZ. during a heat wave 120's there. Didnt mind coming back & working in 90degree temps but the humidity here is the real killer.

I may go away somewhere in late aug.- sept. again this year.
Lawns are slow, hopefully not brown, leaves are starting to change but not falling yet.

[ohiolawnguy]

What's a vacation? -:)

[TGCummings]

In '99 and '00 I took a week off in July each year. I just dropped a note to all my customers telling them I would be gone the week of XX/XX/XX and normal routes would resume the following week. Nobody left me for that reason and most folks told me they were glad to see me take some time off. Only had a couple of customers (out of 90 at the time) ask for a rebate for "time missed" and I refused. They paid and I still have them as customers today. Because my week is Monday-Friday I was able to take a 9-10 day vacation to anywhere I wanted.

I didn't do it last year and am not going to do it this year because we've been restructuring our business to keep the wife home from work and can't afford to go anywhere. When we can, I'll do the same thing or, hopefully, have employees to cover the slack by then...

[TLS]

We do in PA!

Almost like clockwork, come late July till mid August, I'm on an (at least) every other week cut schedule. Sometimes in bad droughts, its almost 3 weeks between visits! Then its usually only around the A/C pump out line thats even close to green!

I can never "guarantee" the EXACT week, but just about every year I make it down to the Outer Banks (OBX) (Nags Head) without any customer complaints. Heck, most I dont even tell. Just check my machine every night, and call back if theres a problem.

I know I'm not the ONLY person that does this!

No possible way I could ever chance going away during the "SNOW" season. We will be guaranteed a blizzard if I ever did! Shoulda tried that this past winter!!! :rolleyes:

[LAWNS AND MOWER]

With some creative scheduling, I can take off 3 days (Fri-Sun) for a mini-vacation. When, not if, the drought comes this summer, I might try to take off to the Outer Banks for 5 days. With the kids going back to school so early (Aug. 8th), it seems like the summer vacation season is getting shorter and shorter.

LAWNS AND MOWER

[JimB]

Ok, here's how you do it, I became friends here with 2 other landscapers in my town and were all in the same situation, we need time off sometimes, I know it's not that easy to become friends with other landscapers cause everyone's tring to protect their precious accounts but once you get past that point, it can happen. When I go away on vacation in the summer, they cover for me and I do the same for them, it works great for me and maybe not for everyone but it's well worth the effort.



...jim

[cowman66]

wow jim that sounds good...too bad noone around here would do it with me

[johnhenry]

We shut down on the 3rd week of dec and start getting geared up around feb 15 with mulching jobs. We just kick back and sit by the fireplace and relaxxxxxxxx

[brucec32]

Here's what you do. You call up your competitors and ask them if they'd like to take over your lawns for you for a couple weeks, introduce them to your customers, then jet away for tons o' fun at the beach!

Ok, seriously. Just work around it. There's always a way. Surely your work load is lighter sometimes. Here in GA it gets dry by late August, and rates at the beach go down mid-month, so I can take a 4 or 5 night jaunt out of town over the weekend and still get my work done the M, Tu, W before the trip and the W,Th, F afterwards. I can even stay gone 6 nights if I'm willing to work the next weekend. I'm going to Navarre Beach Florida in August. I have several weeks in Jan/Feb where I don't work at all, so I use that time too.

Don't overbook your schedule, unless of course you're willing to pay the price by never having time off. Keep your load manageable and you'll stay at this longer and not burn out or wear your body out.

[Mowingman]

I also have two good friends who are friendly competitors. If any one of us needs a little help to free up a day or two, we get one of the others to cover our properties. We have been doing this for the last 4 years and it works great for us. Right now I am laid up from hernia surgery and they are picking up some of the work my 3 guys can't get done by themselves.We all get in a bind from time to time, and it is great to know you can call in some help without worrying that they will steal your customers.:D

[65hoss]

December and January are vacation months.

[Brickman]

Usually no vaction for me. During the summer I do not have time to play. During the winter I do not have money to play. So I am screwed any way I look at it.
I do try to take a few days off during the summer. This year I am hoping to take a few days off around the 4th of July. Then again for Expo 2002. The last Wed in July we have what is called Cheyenne day. Most biz close for at least half a day. The last few years I have been taking the whole day off. That has been pretty nice.

[darryl gesner]

I only schedule mowing for Thursday and Friday and do side jobs Monday through Wednesday. I don't work Saturday unless I have to and never work Sunday. So all I have to do is not book any side jobs for a week and I can take off for 5 days. We just went camping last week at a local state park. We bring 2 cars and I stop at the house every day for about an hour to get the mail, feed the cat, return any calls and run to the bank if needed. It's close enough to a vacation for me and suits the wife and kids just fine. We plan to do the same thing in August before school starts again, and hopefully will get away for some weekend trips as well.

[JimB]

:dizzy: Hey Bruce, maybe my advice sounds stupid to you but it actually works for me, 2 long time friends of mine are landscapers here and we do in fact help each other out and it works just fine.
Bye the way Bruce, are the Braves ever gonna take a world series from my Yankees ?
SEE YA!!!


...Jim