Year One

[monkey9197]

IVE BEEN READING THIS SITE FOR LIKE A MONTH and decided to fiunally register and talk. i just started new company with a partner we both worked for other people before and now are doing it ourself. we have almost 20 definites and couple more unsures and still got 2 weeks of flyers to hand out before we start.our only means of advertising is door to door flyers we handed out maybe 1500 already. so how many clients are good for teh first year? my parteners brother in law been landscaping for years so he gives us all the guidance needed. all our equipmeent it paid off no debt or anything. everything looks nice as of now and just wanted to introduce myself haha

[tiedeman]

welcome to the site. The number of clients is often deceiving. For example, you could have 2 clients that bring you in $50,000. or you could have 20 clients that bring you in $50,000. So you should not go by the number of clients, but the numbers involved with those clients.

[swim]

Hello monkey and welcome to LS.

A little more information would be in order as well to help get a better #. How big is your equipment? What are you going to be doing?

[monkey9197]

all we are mainly doing is cleanups, mowing etc. , fertilization most people want scotts 5 step, gutter cleaning. nothing fancy residential areas are all we are aiming at. did a removal already. big things like large trees, and dificult projects we send to the brother in law because we are just doing this part time now till it gets large enough for full time operations.

[swim]

You did not comment on what size your mowers are and also whaat are the size of most lawns where you will be cutting?

[monkey9197]

we where going to get the larger ones 36 inchers maybe. but decided we dont need it yet. so we are getting 2 smaller self propelled ones because we would need them no nmatter what. all the houses are realatively small dont know exact sizes but they are real real small. no corners. and its out neighborhood every house is within a 3 min drive. our goal was only about 20-30 houses this year and even if we got 5 we wouldnt mind. we are in no rush its all on the side for now. all money is putting start up cost money back in our pockets and of course to buy the larger mowers for next season. we working for the long run we are young and have other money coming in

[tedk]

Originally posted by monkey9197
all our equipmeent it paid off no debt or anything.

Originally posted by monkey9197
so we are getting 2 smaller self propelled ones because we would need them no nmatter what.

It sounds like all of your equipment is not paid for yet.


Originally posted by monkey9197
all the houses are realatively small dont know exact sizes but they are real real small

How could you possibly have set up a price for lawns that you don't know the size of?

[charlies]

do you have a license to use pesticides commercially? if not, you may want to look in on the legality of putting down fertilizer on your customers' lawn.

[jajwrigh]

Question monkey,
When you say definites....do you mean customers who have signed service agreements or people who promise that they want your services? I'm not being a di**, but I want you to be aware of how people can work.

[lawnman_scott]

How could you possibly have set up a price for lawns that you don't know the size of? [/B][/QUOTE] Do you actually measure your lawns? I have only measured one once. And it was a lawn i already take care of. I did it to compare for another big estimate. I just go and look, and have my price.

[monkey9197]

deifinets as in signed cutting there grass in 2 weeks . prices are based on our eyes and if its too big, a corner, steep hills anythign that will be a pain for the price we wont give them a flyer my house is on 70x 100 i believe and most the ones we signed are 2/3's the size at most. all companies we contacted before we started dont even come to your house they give you a flat rate over the phone and if they come to your house and see its going to be a hassle they ask for money or just dont return your calls. pardon my language but people just want there grass cut and green no ones anal they just want quality service and the lowest price. we only have 20 - 30 houses so we can take our time and nut do shitty work. former company we did 100 houses in a 25 hour work week 2 man crew.

everything is paid off already or there is cash in our account for the equipment we are just waiting for the trailer to come in next week before we pick everything up. and we are licensed and insured for all services we do

[monkey9197]

Originally posted by lawnman_scott
How could you possibly have set up a price for lawns that you don't know the size of? Do you actually measure your lawns? I have only measured one once. And it was a lawn i already take care of. I did it to compare for another big estimate. I just go and look, and have my price. [/B][/QUOTE]



exactly what he said in my post i said u are lucky if any company here will even go to your house they just give u a rate over the phone

[charlies]

Originally posted by lawnman_scott
Do you actually measure your lawns? I have only measured one once.

yes scott,

i measure every lawn. so does my brother. we used to guestimate them, and it worked pretty good. and there is still a bit of guestimation even after we measure them, you know taking into account topography and routing. that is just our method though. many others, like you, do not and that's o.k. too, right? whatever works for you:D

[monkey9197]

charlies you atleast answered normal the other guy was giving a lil attitude like u have to measure no matter what. whatver floats your boat.

[Team Gopher]

Hi monkey9197,

Thanks for posting a little about your company. You never know how your story may inspire others. I wish you the best for this new season!

[tedk]

***************************************

Lawnman_scott - Since I originally said 'How could you possibly have set up a price for lawns that you don't know the size of?'...what do you think?

Edited: No personal insults and name calling please.
Jodi

[monkey9197]

alright thank you everyone. but is 20-30 good for a first year residential business?lol just curious what some other people here had there first year.



and also is there a site like this for residental properties cuz i feel everyone is mainly commercial

[WAGS LandL]

Monkey not everyone here is doing commercial properties. I mow
90% residential and make a good living doing it. My first year full
time, I started with 26 lawns and ended the year with 46 give or
take. The little lawns pay too and many times the difference is
that you see the decision maker on a regular basis and the
retention rate from year to year can be higher.
Good luck and take care.

[jajwrigh]

I would say most people on this site cut more residential than commercial because there are so many small businesses.

[charlies]

we do about 90% residential too.

monkey9197, depending on the size and complexity of the properties you do, picking up 20-30 residentials would be very good for your first year. for properties averaging about 1/2 to an acre, i think a crew of two can do about 40-50 or so in a 40 hour work week. just a rough estimate.

[monkey9197]

charlie well the houses around here mus be small cause like i said in a 25 hour wrok week 2 man crew knocked out 100 houses. working there a ss's off obviosuly no breaks all day. so maybe our houses are real small did 5 cleanups a day also

[Soupy]

Monkey, You need to talk to Jim Lewis. He runs a nice operation using only 21" mowers. He maintains very small properties like you mentioned and the larger mowers wouldn't really help much.

Here is his website http://www.lewislandscape.com/index.shtml