Tell Your Story (HOW IT ALL STARTED) [Archive] - LawnSite.com™

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GARRETTWOOD

02-05-2005, 12:44 PM

I have been doing lawn maintenance and landscaping for about 10 years now.
It all started in may of 1997 i took a job at Woodloch pines resort. At the time i started working for them there were 3 crews of 5 men that would go out everyday and take care of the grounds 2 crews to the private community which had about 250 homes and one crew to the resort. As the resort/community grew there was room for advancement. I was always the kind of guy that was there 10min. before i was to start each day. I was always willing to do extra. I was always in uniform/clean cut. When there was need for another crew/crew leader i was given the chance to run the crew. Soon the community had 350 homes and 3 crews of 5 men to take care of it. We did everything lawn maintenance, mulching, pruning, tree removal,firewood,snowplowing/shoveling. :help:( I ran the crew for six years
and always did the best job that i could) And in the year 2000 the company started to cut back on the help and soon we had 3 crews of 3 men to take care of 350 homes plus common areas. We just could not do the kind of job we use to do. We were told by our boss to take shortcuts and to stop doing some things all together. So this went on for a few years and the community really did not look like it did when i started in 1997. In my area there were about 30 rental homes. In September 2003 Woodloch was getting the ball rolling on there multi-million dollar spa project. They had some investors staying in the rental area that were not happy with the looks of the grounds
and they did not know if this was were they wanted to invest there money.
Well to make a long story short i was the fall guy for things i had no control over . I soon left and started my own landscaping company which has so far done very well . I just would like to thank the persons behind making me the fall guy :realmad: :angry:

P.S. When it all falls apart and it is not done in house anymore
GARRETTWOOD will be right behind you to take it over .
:) l

Patrick.B

03-02-2005, 10:22 PM

GARRETTWOOD sound like you had fun working for that company and now you working for your self and making your own money ,,,well thats great and hope the best for ya ,,,, i did trucking for 15 years and sure nice to be my own boss and not making my ex boss rich lol hes got mad when i left but hey ,,he'll get over it !!! ha ha ha

ajmctree

03-06-2005, 11:07 PM

We started out with no intention of going into buisness for our selves but this is how it went .(short version)
3springs ago we rented a power broom to remove the gravel off mine and my brothers yards .well we liked the machine so much the next day we went out and bought one .When we brought it home we were playing with it in my brothers front yard and a couple of his neighbors came over and said they would give us $30 to do there yard .After that we put an add in the paper and befor you new it the machine paid for itself.
We figured we were onto somehting and by accident found a fully established buisness for sale and they want to piece there buisness out .
Well i drove about 1500 kilometers and picked up 2 ryan aerators 2 bluebird dethatchers and a mclane lawn edger and some other small stuff .
That was 3 years ago now were looking at a mini skid steer and a hydroseeder .
Not bad concidering we had no plans for this ,

j fisher

03-06-2005, 11:20 PM

I had a full time job in a manufacturing plant. Worked 12 hr. shifts, so I had a lot of time off. Went down to my local Florist one day to order some flowers and got to talking to the lady who owned the shop. She asked if I new anyone who she could get to cut her grass. (Large commercial property). Since I had so much free time, I told her that I might be willing to do it. She calls me a few days later and asked if I was serious. I agreed. Loaded up my 36" Murray mower, homelite trimmer and a broom. (did'nt even own a blower), and off I went. Been going every since.

ajmctree

03-07-2005, 12:35 PM

J
Do you still do you other job or do you do th lawn maintenance full time.
I to work shift work and only work day shifts 2 times a week ,so it works for me.

Ajmctree

j fisher

03-07-2005, 03:44 PM

J
Do you still do you other job or do you do th lawn maintenance full time.
I to work shift work and only work day shifts 2 times a week ,so it works for me.

Ajmctree

I am full time lawn service.

ECS

03-13-2005, 01:30 PM

I had a job with a property management company and did a lot of big lawns and numerous other jobs for them. One day I went into the office and my boss fired me. So I decided to do the same thing I was doing but only for myself. In doing this I also took a lot of her clients with me. She not only lost me, but a lot of customers which gave me a great customer base to start with. I am starting small, but buiding with every week that passes.