Startup Gear and Solo Operation

[getdown]

Hey guys. Couple of question.

1. How many typical suburban lawns can a solo operator service? Also, when you guys say you have accounts (residential), you charge additional for services besides just mowing, correct?

2) Is this a good starting setup? I was planning on just starting out with a 36" belt driven mower w/sulky, a 21 inch mower, a quality (stihl, etc) blower, and trimmer, and edger. What do you all think? Is the 36" a good piece to center my business around when starting out?

[cgaengineer]

Originally Posted by getdown

Hey guys. Couple of question.

1. How many typical suburban lawns can a solo operator service? Also, when you guys say you have accounts (residential), you charge additional for services besides just mowing, correct?

2) Is this a good starting setup? I was planning on just starting out with a 36" belt driven mower w/sulky, a 21 inch mower, a quality (stihl, etc) blower, and trimmer, and edger. What do you all think? Is the 36" a good piece to center my business around when starting out?

Look at the Kombi units from Stihl.
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[KS_Grasscutter]

I'd rather have a hydro drive or even a stand on. In my area a solo guy could do around 60 pretty reasonably, but would need a 48 or 52" zero turn as well.
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[A&A's Landscaping]

in my eyes a 36 is good to start with because it can get every where you need to get to on the average lawn. but it also depends on your area, how big are the yards, are there alot of fenced in areas, do you think it would be more economical for you to get a 48 and look into getting a exmark metro 26, or possibly check out the new toro 30 inch push mower, but if you find a good 36 in good shape and low amount of hours i would say get it because if you decide this is what you want to do youll need one down the road to get into fenced in areas anyways. cutting all your lawns might be time consuming now because your doing it with a smaller mower. also you should look into the kombi units from stihl as cgaengineer said because you can get alot of attachments to one motor unit.

[Duekster]

Originally Posted by cgaengineer

Look at the Kombi units from Stihl.
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I like the Kombi unit for it's versitility but it is pretty heavy and not as powerful / light as some other dedicated Stihl units.

[NOVAMowing]

I'll throw in my 2 cents. This is VERY similar to my first "commercial" setup. I had a 36" belt-drive, dedicated Stihl line trimmer, sidewalk edger and backpack blower with a 6x10 open trailer.

Do you know the average size of the lawns you are targeting? I was targeting 1/3 acre lots in big neighborhoods. Travel time is a KILLER! If you set it up right (as far as lawn size and customer proximity to each other) 50 is doable without killing yourself. Thats 10 per day.... At 45/mins per lawn (inc. travel time between lawns) your looking at 7.5 hours per day 'in the field'. If you can get $35 per cut, this setup will gross you $52,500/per year for just mow n blow! without knowing all the variables, I'd say you ought to be able to net a minimum of $40K. Not bad for maybe 35 weeks work.

[cgaengineer]

Originally Posted by Duekster

I like the Kombi unit for it's versitility but it is pretty heavy and not as powerful / light as some other dedicated Stihl units.

We have 3 of them, two of which are 130's no need for anymore power with these units...even for the tiller attachment. The weight difference I would guess is about 1/4 pound or less. I remove the guide wheels off the straight shaft edgers since we run them as deep as they go. This cuts down on more weight than the coupler would ever make.
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[hurrikanelandscaping]

Originally Posted by cgaengineer

Look at the Kombi units from Stihl.
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Kombi system is awful for anybody doing really heavy duty commercial. Kombi uses two shafts vs. one like a normal dedicated unit meaning there is more to wear out. Buy a Stihl FS90R and the gearbox attachments for that. Not kombi.

[cgaengineer]

Originally Posted by hurrikanelandscaping

Kombi system is awful for anybody doing really heavy duty commercial. Kombi uses two shafts vs. one like a normal dedicated unit meaning there is more to wear out. Buy a Stihl FS90R and the gearbox attachments for that. Not kombi.

Great idea...than the gear box attachments get full of dirt...did you Actually think before you wrote this? You must have never owned a commercial Kombi...we own and use 3 of them, have all attachments except sweeper. The shafts do not wear out, only the threads on the bolt that tightens the coupler.

I'm betting my Kombis get used more in a day on one of my commercial jobs than your FS90 sees in a week.

Don't listen to this guy...
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[GreyFlames]

Make sure you think about your image when you are starting out. It will help you grow your business. Keep your equipment and truck clean. Get a simple and clean logo, a printer can design this for you, and have it printed on vinyl decals. Don't use a car magnet, it just looks cheap. Make sure your phone number and website address are displayed prominently and easily read. Customer referrals and neighbors seeing your truck are your cheapest sources for growing.

As you start getting estimates, you should really focus on your website. A better website will help convert more traffic into estimates. This will boost your growth without spending more time, effort, and money on your marketing. Additionally those estimates will be more likely to convert into customers!

Good luck!