I might be leaving the business scene slowly need advice

[jsslawncare]

Originally Posted by larryinalabama

I never want to go back working for the"MAN".

Me EITHER!

[Patriot Services]

Have you ever taken the time to seriously evaluate what you want to do with your life? You seem very conflicted and indecisive. Maybe the stability of a regular job is what you need right now. Sometimes you have to start over and reinvent yourself. Your still young, self employment will always be there.
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[RodneyK]

Working nights 11p to 7a and for the man, no thanks...

[aka lawn]

I have worked nights for over twelve years. Was great for the first eleven years. Now i hate it. Make more then what they are offering you per hour. But after all the years of nights it has got me burnt out. Started my business this past spring in order to tell the man what he can do with the job. That is something to think about

[MV Property Care]

Originally Posted by larryinalabama

I never want to go back working for the"MAN".

If you work long hrs for somebody your bound to thier rules. If you want to work long hrs for your self you can always get something to eat or quit when you want to. I have 20 years of factory work. I can't punch another time clock. I can make more money by myself.

[PremierT&L]

Originally Posted by larryinalabama

I never want to go back working for the"MAN".

Bingo. That would be close to impossible for me at this point.

[RSK Property Maintenance]

Originally Posted by soloscaperman

My friend drives a Beer truck and recommended me to a 11PM -7AM night job Monday - Thursday. It pays from $15HR-$19HR and some nights you have to work 15 hrs loading the trucks up with cases of beer&wine. (Talked to the recruiter today)

I love the 90% of my business but not snow plowing anymore. I am afraid if I leave the plowing part I may end up hurting my business future with my customers. I may have a friend that I will transfer my plowing accounts to and not be threaten with him doing the mowing, mulch, cleanups because he owns a transmission shop.

What hurts me is I have a few customers that would be hurt. I have this one old lady about 95 years old that no one can stand because of her way of dealing with people and her pricing is based from the 1960's. I live about 1/4 mile from her and I don't mind and she is getting bad where she can't really walk. idk what I am trying to say but I need some opinions. I do like snow plowing but not when we get more then 5 inches of snow and the crazy cold hours and the money is like beer money compared to the overhead WHICH MY OVERHEAD IS NOT AS HIGH AS MOST GUYS! The lady asked me but you own a business are you looking at seasonal or full time? I told her that I am getting out of the plowing business and if I like this job I will sell my business or give it to another landscaper.

sounds like you just need to advertise, advertise, advertise, if you really aren't making enough money and bills are piling up, then maybe dropping the snow plowing is what you need to do. But I got 10 new accounts in the past 30 days for plowing, maybe even 15 i haven't actually added them all to the list yet. and Its anything but beer money. Even last year my first year advertising I had 22 snow plowing accounts and was averaging 130-140hr and I would plow for about 10hrs with a small storm up to 6" I average about 3 driveways per hour and they pay well. well enough to not care about the 8 or 9mpg i'm getting in my f350 diesel with my new tires that i paid 1350 for that will be worn out by next december. the first few years can be tight. I have all kinds of low ballers in my area, new ones popping up every day. lots of illegal mexican workers trying to steal my work, but the truth is alot of people around here will only hire other white people, and they pay extra for some one who speaks english. Especially a hard working younger person like me. and with a setup like mine, they know i'm serious.

[hackitdown]

Raise your plowing prices until it makes the work more attractive to you. Plowing customers are a dime-a-dozen. With some strong pricing and a tight route, you can make good money on your own terms. For example, here are my plowing terms:

- No plowing until the storm ends.
- No guarantee that we will have you plowed out by any particular time of day.
- No shoveling
- No clearing mailboxes
- No free spring repairs on plow damage
- Charge for staking
- Whiners get cancelled

Being tough on terms means that many customer will not hire you, that is the trade off. It takes longer to build a route, more advertising is required. Keep it local, don't drive more than a few minutes, it isn't worth it, and service suffers. It took a few years, but I do pretty well money-wise, and I can do my route alone in 4 hours.

Another idea is to just hire a guy to plow for you. I hired a retired guy to plow last year. He was pumped to make $20/hr using my truck. There are lots of experienced people out there that want to work.

[jrs.landscaping]

You can't make plowing attractive, I've tried many many times. I agree with Grandview, dump the plowing, take the night job and do lawns in your free time. Plowing IMHO is something to do in the winter, and a money pit. If I could get away with it I'd dump all plowing accounts and break even sitting on the couch.

[NC Greenscaper]

Originally Posted by soloscaperman

This might be the answer. If I say I got another job they will think I will be leaving the normal landscaping maintenance at some point. I know Krazy cajun I hate working for the man they make you work harder for less and you get the blame from the people higher up. I have already seen 10 more wanna be landscapers after this Hurricane Sandy. I could always date a slam pig and have her help with my business but I am not like most guys. I will make sure that if I get the job I will put 90% of my income into my business. I am going to build a business savings that will last me a year or two if things go wrong. I will then put part of the money also into buying a second mower and truck. I will tell my customers that I will not be snow plowing this season for personal reason's I guess. Hopefully they will realize how much better I am versus the other guy.

It seems to me like your straddling a couple fences. What does your heart tell you to do. Make up your mind and put all your energy into that decision. If you want to mow grass only then find a way to make it happen. There are parts of every business that I don't like to do. Working a hand truck on a dock all night loading beer doesn't really appeal to me either. But I would do it if I needed to.