Foreman thinking about going on his own next year

[WNYlandscapes]

Alright I'm a new user but have been reading the forums for years. I'm currently a foreman for a local landscape and lawn cutting business. I work there part time and I work full time as a city corrections officer. I'm thinking in the spring of 2013 I may start my own business, just a small lawn cutting company and do minor one or two day landscape jobs. I figure I will start small until I get a decent amount of accounts, while still holding onto my full time job.

I'm figuring the first year I will work alone with just a 36" Metro w/b, a toro push and also a few handhelds. I wanna go legit though, pay taxes and get insurance. Hopefully I can get about 20- 25+ accounts my first year.

My only problem is that currently my boss, the owner does all the estimates and all the payments. So I'm hoping to do a lot of research on the proper way to bill customers and conduct estimates. Currently I know that where I work they bill up front for 30 cuts a season and people are allowed to make monthly payments. But he has a well established company for about 18 years that includes green houses, deli, ice cream shop and produce section.

Any input from anyone or suggestions would be appreciated.

[ReddensLawnCare]

Search and read the book the emyth: the landscape contractor first
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[GreyFlames]

First make sure you did not sign a non compete when you started your job. While they can be difficult to enforce, it could cause some headaches.

It is a great idea to hold your full time job and start the business on the side. I am a big fan of starting small to test the waters and figure out what works without wasting extra time and money.

To grow fast you need to keep track of and understand the effectiveness of your marketing. This includes advertising you pay for and other strategies that don't require money. Come up with a couple ideas of how you are going to get customers the first year. Then keep track of your time and money you invest for each different method. Any paid advertising you should start out small and give it enough time to have an effect.

Every time you receive a call or lead from your website you always wish to ask how they heard about you. Write this down, then you can compare the results with the investment of time and money. You will soon be able to see what is working and focus your efforts there.

Start the next year with your winning ideas and come up with some new ones to test. Test and Measure! It will help you grow.

Best of luck.

[jrs.landscaping]

Estimating/billing will get easier with time. As a foreman you must be able to gauge how long a property will take to service. As an owner take that knowledge to estimate how long a property will take you and what your hourly rate is, and remember to factor travel into the price. Like I said it will come easier with time.

[WNYlandscapes]

Originally Posted by jrs.landscaping

Estimating/billing will get easier with time. As a foreman you must be able to gauge how long a property will take to service. As an owner take that knowledge to estimate how long a property will take you and what your hourly rate is, and remember to factor travel into the price. Like I said it will come easier with time.

Yea, I mean right now I can gauge how long a lawn will take and what mower I need to use on it its just the pricing issue i need to figure out and more of the billing, paperwork and clerical side of things.

[jrs.landscaping]

Originally Posted by WNYlandscapes

Yea, I mean right now I can gauge how long a lawn will take and what mower I need to use on it its just the pricing issue i need to figure out and more of the billing, paperwork and clerical side of things.

Go with quickbooks, they have a tutorial to help with billing. Also talk to your accountant and see what advice they have for managing books, billing, and anything to do with the paperwork side of things. To figure out an hourly rate look at local companies websites ro figure out there going rate. Just figure: your time, gas, cash flow etc.... roll this into an hourly amount. We like to be around $45 PMH for mowing.