due diligence

[MillerIn503]

40 years old, with some start up money in my pocket. Found this site frequently while doing the diligent footwork. Only experience I can recall of doing lawn work, is from my teen years. Having been in the restaurant industry(front of house) for over twenty years, it is time to get outside. The thing is, I have a lot of questions and know many more are to come.

My searching has brought me this site often and believe I have made my initial big buy decisions here. Believe I will be starting with the Honda HRC216HXA and the Stihl KM 130 R. I already have a full size truck(no trailer), and will be purchasing the big costs(mower and Kombi) when I feel I am ready to dig in satisfied when I am ready. As the saying goes "Failing to prepare, is preparing to fail."

That all being said. There is so much more I obviously need to know. For instance, as a sole proprietor, what software would be recommended to start? Being so green, what literature would be recommended for the man starting solo with little to no experience hands on, and will only be taking on residential accounts to start. The reason being on that one, is that I will be taking Landscaping Technologies courses at PCC(Portland, OR) while beginning my career transition(required here in Portland if you want to make more than $500 a year from one client). What are some of the tricks of the trade, so as to not ruin myself with the school of hard knocks???

Basically, I believe I have found the right place seeking for answers. The thing is, so much has been said in here. If any of you would be so kind as to maybe copy and paste some url's with your own sound advice. That would and will be so appreciated. Thank you LawnSite, I think some good mentoring will happen here.

[MillerIn503]

Have found this thread http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=13339 to be quite helpful for the newbie, with some sound advice all around(subscribed to this thread for sure). Any other quality thread/url's you experienced lawn care professionals have, please share on this thread as well. There is so much quality advice in here. Some shortcuts will be nice.

[8rickyj]

Originally Posted by MillerIn503

40 years old, with some start up money in my pocket. Found this site frequently while doing the diligent footwork. Only experience I can recall of doing lawn work, is from my teen years. Having been in the restaurant industry(front of house) for over twenty years, it is time to get outside. The thing is, I have a lot of questions and know many more are to come.

My searching has brought me this site often and believe I have made my initial big buy decisions here. Believe I will be starting with the Honda HRC216HXA and the Stihl KM 130 R. I already have a full size truck(no trailer), and will be purchasing the big costs(mower and Kombi) when I feel I am ready to dig in satisfied when I am ready. As the saying goes "Failing to prepare, is preparing to fail."

That all being said. There is so much more I obviously need to know. For instance, as a sole proprietor, what software would be recommended to start? Being so green, what literature would be recommended for the man starting solo with little to no experience hands on, and will only be taking on residential accounts to start. The reason being on that one, is that I will be taking Landscaping Technologies courses at PCC(Portland, OR) while beginning my career transition(required here in Portland if you want to make more than $500 a year from one client). What are some of the tricks of the trade, so as to not ruin myself with the school of hard knocks???

Basically, I believe I have found the right place seeking for answers. The thing is, so much has been said in here. If any of you would be so kind as to maybe copy and paste some url's with your own sound advice. That would and will be so appreciated. Thank you LawnSite, I think some good mentoring will happen here.

The first thing I did was make friends with a bigger company. We became good friends and pass work on to each other

[MillerIn503]

Thanks 8ricky... I think that is great advice. I am sure I will be screening jobs that are just to much for the solo, and they will maybe be passing up jobs that are just not worth the time of the larger more established business. As I am sure the customer likes you saving them time on trying to find another reliable/quality business that suits their needs. Always a good idea to be friends with the big dogs, vice versa. You never know when when one hand can scratch the others back, for any reason. That is just good business practice sense, all around.