How many Fert accounts before hiring a technician?/ keep growing

[teamgreendude]

Morning Guys,
Here is my situation I'm just about half way through earning my four year degree in horticulture in a college town two hours away from home. It's been a struggle to hand over control of my company and focus more on school(yes it sucks!). For that reason Management thinks growing would be a waste of time, she only thinks i should keep it small and grow it once I'm done with school. I honestly don't want all of my equipment just sitting and rotting to pieces. Yes i can see were she's coming from but I'd rather keep the mowing side small because that sucks up a lot of time for two people. So I'm writing up a business plan to chart my growth fro the next ten years, in order to do that I'm trying to get a sense of ideas. My plan to grow right now would be the Fertility division and our tree Care division. My question for all the large lawn guys is How many accounts would you need before hiring a lawn Technician? I've got the truck, spreaders, sprayers(backpack) with the exception of a two hundred gallon tank I'm working on buying. So with lawn care(Fertility) and for any Arborists on here How much work did you have before you bought your first chip truck(f-450-550, chevy 4500-5500) or brush chipper? Thanks guys I'd really appreciate any help or advice.
Thanks,
James

[P.Services]

you could always go with artificial insemination, maybe a egg donor, get on medication to up your rate, however it may be genetic and you never will be able to up your fertility.

[macgyver_GA]

Originally Posted by P.Services

you could always go with artificial insemination, maybe a egg donor, get on medication to up your rate, however it may be genetic and you never will be able to up your fertility.

I'm sure you're looking towards the future from what it sounds like. I'm the same way. However, if you don't even have a skid sprayer yet, you're pretty far away from hiring a tech.

[teamgreendude]

Originally Posted by macgyver_GA

I'm sure you're looking towards the future from what it sounds like. I'm the same way. However, if you don't even have a skid sprayer yet, you're pretty far away from hiring a tech.

Well not exactly I'm buying one next year because we just landed another 15 Fert & Weed clients for next year. Plus I've also got another 10-15 interested people who are signing up with us for Tree & Shrub Care.

[teamgreendude]

Originally Posted by P.Services

you could always go with artificial insemination, maybe a egg donor, get on medication to up your rate, however it may be genetic and you never will be able to up your fertility.

I'm sorry, i didn't understand that. I don't speak Jacka$$. Fertility is a term used to better describe Turf Fertilization & Weed Control Services.

[Green Scape]

Everyone needs a little guidance every once in a while. Honestly, you're the only one who can answer these questions. You will know when you can't keep up, and when it's time to hire, IMO, you are trying to do too much too soon. Grow gradually, focus on one division at a time.

[teamgreendude]

Originally Posted by Green Scape

Everyone needs a little guidance every once in a while. Honestly, you're the only one who can answer these questions. You will know when you can't keep up, and when it's time to hire, IMO, you are trying to do too much too soon. Grow gradually, focus on one division at a time.

I'm just focusing on the lawn division for now and I'm still doing tree stuff, just not nearly as much in the turf department.

[teamgreendude]

Originally Posted by GreenI.A.

hard to answer how many accounts you need first. We have a couple of routes that have large segmented properties where you can only get one or two accounts done in a day. Two days later the same guy may be working in an area with postage stamp size lawns where you can bang out 4 accounts without having to move the truck. On days like that a sing;e guy can may treat 20-25 accounts during the day. When I started up, I was doing all the applications, but I wanted to concentrate on also growing the business towards other parts of the industry as well. So I brought a tech on full time, when he wasn't doing apps he was out doing sales bringing in new customers.

Originally Posted by teamgreendude

I'm just focusing on the lawn division for now and I'm still doing tree stuff, just not nearly as much in the turf department.

Should of said not nearly as much in the Tree Division.

[jrs.landscaping]

How many people do you employ? Can one of your employees do part time work on fert?

[teamgreendude]

Originally Posted by jrs.landscaping

How many people do you employ? Can one of your employees do part time work on fert?

Currently I've only got three part timers, so I'm trying hire on a full timer because I'd like to grow more on the Fertilization side. For the mowing I eventually plan to have a crew do commercial grounds care and maybe a little residential.