Who would quit a job making $58000 to do this?

[Exact Rototilling]

There is absolutely no way I'd quit a $58,000 net a year job day shift job with benefits and retirement I could even half way tolerate to blindly throw all discretion to the wind to do this.
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[MDLawn]

Originally Posted by Mgardner

it would be nice to come home and do things with the family instead of working till dark....

I can't speak from experience but if you've been in this 14 years and this is still the case something has to be wrong. I know a seasonal industry has its busy times but there are many landscape business owners I have met that do not live this way.... Not a chance I would give up something (full time job) if it meant that I would have less time with my family. I can take less money, but not less time. I understand starting out you need to put the leg work in and after 5 years you should have some control. I'm going to be testing the waters, so to speak, in the next couple/few years to see the demand for services. If nothing exists I will remain part time, as I have been for the past 6 years. If it's truly a poor mans market then I'll just keep it as extra income and nothing more.

The biggest thorn in my side is I chose my current profession over another, believe it or not I had a choice. I moved last year and my neighbor has the exact "another" career I was looking at. The last 3 years his salary was $140,000+ with benefits and mucho time off. Current gig has me taking scraps from the table. I was such an idiot. That will keep me kicking myself for life.....

[Big C]

Think Big!!....you know people often admire the self made millionaires of the world, the Donald Trumps, Sam Waltons....those guys seek freedom, freedom to do what they want, when they want. Then theres the Joe Blows of the world who wish they could make money and be their own boss but are too scared because they value "security" over "freedom". There is no such thing as job security (just ask the people who were laid off by big corporation diring the reccession). Many so called business owners think small and are to affraid to commit to their busineses, to do what it takes to succeed, they find it easier to go to work for someone else, and wait for the retirement system or the government to take care of them, only to be laid off after 20+ years of faithful service to a company that only saw them as a number from the very beginning. In order to become sucessful one has to loose the Joe Blow worker mentality and think like a businessman. The worse thing a person with big dreams can do is the ask advice from small thinkers....because they will talk you out of your dreams everytime. We all must do what is best for us and our situations.

[MDLawn]

Agree....... That's why I think after this year starts I'm going to limit myself with lawnsite. It's been a great resource for the past 5 years. I'm "restarting" myself and this needs to be part of the restart. The fact remains that it's an open forum and I don't know if I'm conversing with a kid living with his mom and dad, someone who has no vision, uneducated or educated, cares only about pulling the start cord and engaging mower blades and driving a "cool" truck vs actually being a business owner. Yes you hav to do those tasks to start but i dont want to be riding a mower in 3-5 years. Also for the ones that seem larger do they have their stuff together? Often times you hear bad things more than good. The really good ones on here have one thing in common. They spend very little time on LS. Sure they post some amazing things and advice but they're too busy working on their business rather than in it. I won't leave for good but will surely be limited. Again it's a fantastic resource if used correctly. But it is very distracting and all the negativity and amateurism (for lack of a better word) is not good for moving forward. I wish everyone well and those that have helped in my other theads, Thank you.

Good luck this spring to all.
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[205mx]

Originally Posted by MDLawn

Agree....... That's why I think after this year starts I'm going to limit myself with lawnsite. It's been a great resource for the past 5 years. I'm "restarting" myself and this needs to be part of the restart. The fact remains that it's an open forum and I don't know if I'm conversing with a kid living with his mom and dad, someone who has no vision, uneducated or educated, cares only about pulling the start cord and engaging mower blades and driving a "cool" truck vs actually being a business owner. Yes you hav to do those tasks to start but i dont want to be riding a mower in 3-5 years. Also for the ones that seem larger do they have their stuff together? Often times you hear bad things more than good. The really good ones on here have one thing in common. They spend very little time on LS. Sure they post some amazing things and advice but they're too busy working on their business rather than in it. I won't leave for good but will surely be limited. Again it's a fantastic resource if used correctly. But it is very distracting and all the negativity and amateurism (for lack of a better word) is not good for moving forward. I wish everyone well and those that have helped in my other theads, Thank you.

Good luck this spring to all.
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Honestly I agree. LS is a major downer. I get depressed every time I sign on.
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[MDLawn]

I've listened to some of the big guns here and purchased recommended books or contacted recommended mentors and/or consultants. I've come to realize this. If you want good information you need to do two things. First, research, meaning put in the ground work to find the right people. Second, it costs money. I laugh when a mentor suggests a book that may have a $50 price tag and people scoff a it. Yet that scoffer will dump thousands into their hotrod diesel pickup (exhausts, tuners, lift kits, etc....) that does nothing to help their business. Or they'll attack these mentors for not just laying out a full business plan and a how to manual for everything that mentor has done. I even witnessed a member tell one of the more successful memebers who does ten $250,000 to $500,000 projects a year that he's doing it all wrong and mowing is the best thing and everything else is dumb. Seriously that's what transpired. The big contractor gives so much advice and doesn't care if you mow lawns or do massive installs he's just trying to guide people to where he's had success. These are the people I want to listen to. Theyve gone down a path im interested in, owning a business and not working a self employed job. I don't mean to offend anyone just stating what I've seen. Some want that self employed job and that's ok. But it seems that's 95% of LS. I think this will be my official last post for a while as I reconstruct my business plan and talk with my mentors and catch up on much needed reading.
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[Landrus2]

Hey KSE 1221 Are you buying. Business or just stating out solo.
If you starting solo keep your Job

[OUTLANDER]

Originally Posted by kse1221

Simple question.....

Who would quit their job making $58000 to start a landscape maintenance business. thats with 401k matching 6% and paying $315 for health benefits a month. Just curious.. how many crews would i need to make this in the business?

I would,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, but you shouldnt

[Exact Rototilling]

Well....there are some nuggets in these last few posts.

We always hear about the success stories here on LS [best move ever, never regretted it...blah blah] most of the belly up failures go away quietly if the truth was really told.
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[Mgardner]

Originally Posted by Big C

Think Big!!....you know people often admire the self made millionaires of the world, the Donald Trumps, Sam Waltons....those guys seek freedom, freedom to do what they want, when they want. Then theres the Joe Blows of the world who wish they could make money and be their own boss but are too scared because they value "security" over "freedom". There is no such thing as job security (just ask the people who were laid off by big corporation diring the reccession). Many so called business owners think small and are to affraid to commit to their busineses, to do what it takes to succeed, they find it easier to go to work for someone else, and wait for the retirement system or the government to take care of them, only to be laid off after 20+ years of faithful service to a company that only saw them as a number from the very beginning. In order to become sucessful one has to loose the Joe Blow worker mentality and think like a businessman. The worse thing a person with big dreams can do is the ask advice from small thinkers....because they will talk you out of your dreams everytime. We all must do what is best for us and our situations.

Maybe some decent weather and some early jobs will get me out of this rut. Been here before as winter keeps everything sitting ,including the plow truck. We used to make good money with snow so we didn`t sweat winter ,but have had two in a row that made me empty out savings to pay overhead.I`m not alone, this area is in bad shape and I can say many have thrown in the towel and their stuff went to auction. We are froze up solid still, last yaer we had our first cutting at this time. Its froze up and when the sun comes out its soup. My heart tells me to step up to the plate and swing the bat again. Maybe this will be the year we get OUR breakout , we surely feel its been earned the hard way. I wouldn`t trade the setbacks, the breakdowns, the bad weather,the awsum customer base for security but its tempting me. It took years of total commitment to my customers to have these folks who keep us every year . To walk away from it makes me want to run into someone who will get in my face and wake up the man that was once thrilled to be a business man. I need to figure out where that guy went. They had pay per view UFC Sat nite and a feller there was telling me I could get right on and make 18 an hour , health ins. matched 401K , air conditioned and it got the gears turning thinking about the easy way out. Thats not my nature but I am human, and like the old saying goes, Don`t look a gift horse in the mouth".