Ever think of doing something else?

[Green Acres]

I was thinking today what it would be like to own just a little store like a pizza shop or something. I think it would be nice since you wouldn't have rain days or have to deal with the 90+ temps. If you had your choice would you stick with lawn care or do something else? If so what would you like to do? I'll probably end up sticking with lawn care since I'm only 21 I fiqure by the time I'm 30 or so I should have a pretty good buiness going.

[Acute Cut]

I wont even go into the details of how many jobs i have had. In the past i have held 3 jobs regularly and perhaps a 4th if i am really hurting for money.

now i quit all my jobs and just mow lawns. LIFE IS GOOD!

In short, ill stick to mowing.
Acute Cut

[kutnkru]

In the off season I always find employment somewhere else to make sure that Im not missing the "BIG picture". To date I have not found a better office environment than when Im mowing or landscaping, and I havent found something I enjoy more than working outdoors in the elements. I would rather shovel snow than have to be caged in a office.

Kris

[TJLC]

I admit there are days here, when I think to myself, WHY am I'm I doing this?. Then I think to myself, WHY, I am doing this. Then I continue mowing. Hope this makes sense. Down here if you don't have your own business, it's very hard to make it. Been there, done that. My wife is marketing manager at a local hosp and loves it. I need to be outdoors. She is also the smart one in the family. LOL

[awm]

I try to think of other ways to turn a profit with existing equipment.Thats one reason i opted for a exmark z.
I hope it gives more time to do this as it keeps my work
more interesting.

[moonarrow]

I have had many different jobs in my life,even a couple of other business. lawn and landscape is something I have always wanted to do and never did until 48 years of age. I'm glad I finally did it, and love it, the only problem I have is that sometimes I get to thinking about it and wonder why I wasted the first 48 yrs

[Eric ELM]

I know exactly what you are talking about. I wish I was 21 and know what I know now and had Lawnsite.com to guide me along even more. I grew up on a farm operating all sorts of equipment and this is about as close to that as it gets. When I was young, I always wished we had a diesel tractor like the other farmers and now I have 2 diesels. :)

I just wish I would of gone straight from farming to doing this, instead of working those "real jobs". :)

[Just Cut]

For the past 7 years I had one of those jobs with so called job security. My ex boss was convinced that my job was going to be 1# in my life. even above my family. When he found out that I had a business He persisted all the more. I no longer work for the man and I am looking forward to full time in the lawn care business.

Ron

[Trimline]

Thanks for the reassuring posts guys as I will be 21 in two months. I feel that I am at the crossroads of my life. I am aboout to embark on my first full time season with my partner. We both took the semester off school to give business a chance.



Hope to hell it works!!!

[syzer]

Good luck, my brother and i started up late last summer picked up a couple accounts and a couple leaf accounts, more then I thought. We both love it and should be both quiting this year depending on what happens. I'll be 22 in march so I know how you feel. Hope everything works out.

Chris
Precision Landscaping.

[guntruck]

Brother let me tell ya!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dont go for the pizza shop hehe, lord what a headache. My parents own one and i see what all goes on there.......too many problems to mention trust me stick with the lawns!!

[dmk395]

I am 21 also and will graduate with a bachelors degree next winter. Until then this is part time, but I cannot wait to go at it fulltime.

[dan35]

I love both my jobs. Next week, Nov. 14th-18th, I will be working my 2nd job at Datona International Speedway! It's good to have the best of both worlds.

[VLM]

I've had too many jobs to count as well. I've done all the **** jobs, framing, landscape labor, mover and some good ones too. I knew when I worked for my friends Mom in her antiques shop when I was in high school that owning my own bisiness was the thing for me. After spending 5 miserable years as a financial analyst and making tons of money I was so dissillusioned I just quit and have been doing my lawn bus. ever since. I used to say I've never been poorer but I've never been happier, but now even the money has come. Life is perfect! If this is the life for you, you may have to find out the hard way as I did, but you'll come back to it. If you don't LOVE the actual work, the serenity, the autonomy the simplicity, then you should try something else.

[turfguy]

YEA WELL I HAVE A GREAT NO FRILLS GOV JOB WITH GREAT PAY,BENNYS,RETIREMENT, VERY MELLOW BOSS.......BUT I LOVE MY SIDE JOB MORE AND MORE EACH DAY. EVERY FRIDAY WHEN I HOOK UP MY TRAILER AND LOAD UP MY MACHINES PEOPLE SAY "WHATS WITH THAT CRAZY GUY GRINNIN EAR TO EAR" NOTHING BEATS WORKING FOR YOURSELF.....I CANT WAIT TILL I RETIRE SO I CAN WORK FULL TIME AT THIS.......PRETTY FUNNY HU

[Bama]

I couldn't resist replying to this post. When I first started my business, I had a complex because I kept thinking, "I'm just a grass-cutter." My wife's parents seemed to look down on my career choice. They were not happy that their daughter is married to a "lawnboy". Let's face it, there is no statis in cutting grass, but I would not trade my lifestyle for any job. I soon realized that I'm not just a "grass-cutter", I'm a business owner. When I changed how I saw myself, I soon realized that other people followed suit. Now, it's not uncommon for friends and relatives to come up to me and say that they are proud of me for starting my own business.
I schedule my time. Not many people can say that these days. So to answer your question, Yeah one day I might do something different. But, with God's help, I'll always be self-employed. I don't plan on ever filling out a "job application" again. After being self-employed, I can't even imagine having a boss!!
BAMA

[HOMER]

I just wish I'd a been born rich instead of so dang good looking! Then I could be mowing my own 20 acres, piddlin' in the beds, layin' in the hammock, loungin' by the pool, soakin' in the sauna, travelin' the countryside looking for all of you guys (ya'll) and possibly helping other folks realize their dreams a little sooner in life!

P.S. Don't waste a large portion of the only life you have on indecision and procrastination. A person willing to battle all the odds will eventually be able to realize what life is really about and get his/her priorities in line.

If you can't stand the heat(literally)do NOT get in this kitchen!

[Edited by HOMER on 02-08-2001 at 11:30 PM]

[BUSHMASTER]

Hey don't get me wrong...but see i have this nack...for bbq..ribs from the time working in a resturant to cooking at comp. picnics.....when i cook people don,t say much cause thier too busy "piggin out" oink oink.....and maybe soon i'll be making cheeze off that talent for myself... after all thats how i got here.......

[bobbygedd]

well, i myself have been working in the graphics field for 18 years now, i make great money. ive been in the lawn biz about 6 yrs, and people always say, whats wrong with that guy, cutting grass all day, then working all night at his other job. they just cant understand the satisfaction of starting and building a succesful business, in my case it was with no help at all, no guidance, no knowledge , nothing, and with the crappiest equipment u could ever imagine, but i always said, u can slow me down but u cant stop me. today i have a pretty good business going, and with all your help, u guys have taught me so much, i am sure by next spring i can say adios to that printing press and never look back. i like that saying, fresh cut grass smells like success, good thought. later, BOB

[Twotoros]

I'd love to have a own a small pub in a nice little town not to far from a big city, sell some micro brews and tasty pizza pies and hire someone to mow my lawn. They better be cheap though after all it's just lawn mowing!!!

[Runner]

Originally posted by BUSHMASTER
Hey don't get me wrong...but see i have this nack...for bbq..ribs from the time working in a resturant to cooking at comp. picnics.....when i cook people don,t say much cause thier too busy "piggin out" oink oink.....and maybe soon i'll be making cheeze off that talent for myself... after all thats how i got here.......

Great! We now know who's gonna be in charge of the culinary end of the LS Picnic! :)

[JimLewis]

Sure. I think of doing a lot of other things. And if I can't make the money I want to in landscaping within the next 5 or 10 years I will jump into something else.

Mainly, I think about becoming a painting contractor. My best friend owns his own painting contracting business and some days he makes $9000 profit. Yes, PER DAY! Other days he only makes $2000 profit. But either way you cut it he makes a butt load more than I do and the work isn't that difficult. It's definitely a lot more seasonal than my business is and he can't work on a rainy day where we can. But the total per year is still a lot more, even after you take into account all of the down time.

[dmk395]

I hope to own a nice college bar, maybe meet an MBA good looking MBA wife. LOL

[TJLC]

Down here for me it's $6-7 per hour working for someone else or lawncare making 3 times as much and having the satifaction of working for myself. No brainer.

[BUSHMASTER]

I'll be glad to flip my BLADE and chop the butts and split some ribs...need hickory wood......

[Bassman]

This is my third business I've owned. It is the first that I have truly enjoyed. I made much more money previously but got to the point with employee problems, cash flow problems, well... just lots of problems to the point that I dreaded going into work every day. I decided to simplify my life. Hence, I'm in the lawn/landscape maint. biz. No more dealing with pompous, inflated egoes of C.E.O.'s of other companies for business. There were a hundred things I was required to do in order to maintain or increase market share on a daily basis that were a pain in the ass. That kind of stress,(after much reflection), was not worth the monetary rewards. I am being brutally honest so don't take this the wrong way. I made a 6 figure income but didn't like the heat in the kitchen so I got out. The problems that I encounter in this business are miniscule in comparison. I am a one man show and will probably stay that way for the foreseeble future. In answer to the question, "Do you ever think about doing something else?" Not anymore, but I used to on a daily basis. Something else may develope to perk my interest in the future but for the time being I just want to enjoy life as it is right now. It is reported that the vast majority of workers in this country don't like their current jobs. I'm not one of them any longer.
Bassman

[Edited by Bassman on 02-09-2001 at 08:19 PM]

[osc]

Any stigma of doing "yardwork" seems to have gone by the wayside. Lawn and landscape is big business and people know that now. I had a few wierd looks when I started ny biz with a college degree in another field but after building the business up a few notches, people really seem to admire what I do.

[Vibe Ray]

Originally posted by Twotoros
I'd love to have a own a small pub in a nice little town not to far from a big city, sell some micro brews and tasty pizza pies and hire someone to mow my lawn. They better be cheap though, after all it's just lawn mowing!!!

VERY FUNNY TwoToros!!!!

And JimLewis, I don't care how much painters make, I'll stick to lawn and landscape!!!

I am VERY glad to have realized that I love to do this at a very early age!!!(17). I have never really had a job working for the "man", but I have worked with my dad for many many years and I absolutely HATED it! Honestly! I mean it was nice nice to work with him, but I hated it! BTW he is a self-employed general construction worker (mainly renovation and repair). So I have had my share of painting as well! I guess you can say I have experienced being "stuck", because it was a job for me where there was absolutely no quitting it! My dad wouldn't have let me quit it. By doing so, he has taught me that I never want to work for anyone ever!!!


[Edited by Vibe Ray on 02-10-2001 at 12:37 AM]

[Paradise Yard Service]

I can sum this up with a very definitive answer. I LOVE MY JOB, I LOVE MY BOSS, I'M SELF EMPLOYED.

Keep the professionalism in the profession and you will be the one smiling as you go to work each morning! I see many, many grouchy, half dead excuses for an office worker go to work each day (in Hawaii no less!). I know they make good money, but I don't see them enjoying their nice landscapes! In fact, I bet I spend more time in their lawn (not much) than they do!

Well, I better be careful what I say cause not all office workers are grouchy (my wife works for State of Hawaii!).
This reply comes from an ex bartender who just loved the business, but got tired of sending people away half-crocked hoping they make it home O.K.. Got out, and never looked back.
Geev-Um Brah!
Aloha,
P.Y.s.