I Hope it's Okay, To Ask this??

[tjsquickcuts]

Great thread....
I run two 3 man crews......Just started my second truck at the beginning of the summer. Each crew is responsible for making $600+ daily, 5 days a week, usually about 8 to 10 hours daily depending on the route or if we are doing a landscape job. By giving each crew a daily total, I basically set my salary. It took a lot of planning, playing with numbers, and hiring a GREAT accountant. My daily cost are estimated @ $775 daily. Some days we go over, some days we are under....all works out usually in the end. I always get deposit plus more on all landscape jobs, and since I work on all my landscaping projects at the end of the day, not having to pay extra labor cost, unless its a huge project, and I spend the necessary time needed to ensure quality and unique craftsmanship.....But enough with all the yadda yadda....Heres my breakdown so far this year....

Lawn Maintenance ---- $218,750

Squirt and Fert ---- $36,785

Landscaping ---- $42,067.34

Leaf Blowing ---- $22,345
&Spring/Fall Cln-ups

Misc. ---- $9,333.32

Expenses ---- -$135,625

Landscaping ---- -$19,756.66

Sub Contracting ---- -$7565

Misc. ---- -$18,354.67-(new truck, nice down payment and double and triple payments, New Mower, Trimmer, etc...)

Great thing about my area is there are so many high end neighborhoods that dont mind paying for great service. I am still cheaper then some of the bigger LCO here, but dont have the same over head they have so it sorta balances out in the end I guess....But we have had a great year....Never imagined when I started this thing 3 1/2 years ago I would be where I am right now. My first year my gross numbers were 19,755....so you can imagine what my net was...So for all you start-ups out there....dont give up, and keep your customer service just as good as your consistence and quality. I am proud of what I have establish, and just hope I can maintain and keep up with growth without burning out first.....I have heard and seen alot of guys call it quits for different reasons.....Well Happy Thanksgiving....We didnt get finished tonight until 10:30pm.....So i need to catch up with my dreams.....

[firefightergw]

There was an article that I read in a magazine. Won't remember it because it doesn't apply to the topic. Anyway, the article was on the stages of growth and the obstacles that an owner must overcome to reach the next stage. It was suggested that a company doing $350K a year in maintenance revenue would have about 6 full-time guys during the season. From my experience, that is about right.

I run a two man crew that generates about $120K in revenue during the season. Multiply that by 3 and you get 6 guys at $360K a year.

Rodfather lives in NJ where worker salaries and the over-all cost of living is more than it is in Texas. I believe NJ is more than Florida too but typically in Texas maintenance guys start out at about $8 an hour and make upwards of $12-$15 an hour.

[Robertsonslawnsinc]

TJSQiuckcuts

what are you doing for advertising???

[rodfather]

Originally Posted by firefightergw

Rodfather lives in NJ where worker salaries and the over-all cost of living is more than it is in Texas. I believe NJ is more than Florida too but typically in Texas maintenance guys start out at about $8 an hour and make upwards of $12-$15 an hour.

My maintenance guys make $17.50 an hour and their foremen $22.50 an hour alone.

[tjsquickcuts]

Originally Posted by Robertsonslawnsinc

TJSQiuckcuts

what are you doing for advertising???

I go door to door in the winter, usually knocking on about 4 to 5 hundred doors a day. Makes it easier to sign people up on the spot then over the phone. During the year, we try and stay very consistent, and provide top notch work. We have acquired some many accounts from other LCO because they are inconsistent with their service. I have and try to keep a personal relationship with all my customers, keeping them informed with everything that is going on with our monthly news letter, and I try to talk to everyone at least once a month either on site, or over the phone. But going door to door has proved to be the most beneficial way to acquire accounts. Once we get one house in a neighborhood, I know we will pick-up more within a few weeks. I feel bad a lot of times taking accounts from other smaller LCO's who most times are charger less, but I hope they take it as a lesson learned like I had to learn and step their game up.

Oooh, and let me not forget to mention that the growth here in Atlanta is so crazy, its hard to keep up with all the neighborhoods going up....I am sure there are over 200 neighborhoods that I havent even touched, but will in January, are at least try my damnest to get to....Well let me get back to my :drink up:

[Robertsonslawnsinc]

Originally Posted by rodfather

My maintenance guys make $17.50 an hour and their foremen $22.50 an hour alone.

Holly Crap !!

[Robertsonslawnsinc]

TJSQuickCuts
door to door eh?
man... I did that when I first started out..
But I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to force my self
to go do it with all my free time right now,,
so what all is in your monthly letters?? I like that idea?

thanks man.

[tjsquickcuts]

Originally Posted by Robertsonslawnsinc

TJSQuickCuts
door to door eh?
man... I did that when I first started out..
But I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to force my self
to go do it with all my free time right now,,
so what all is in your monthly letters?? I like that idea?

thanks man.

Yeah door to door is a b*%@h, But by far the most effective.....We had a great day today, picked up 7 new high end accounts....and was able to get them all done today so that just made signing the contract even easier. But as far as the news letter, just talk about a lot of different things, changes, and misc info. My first letter of the year talks about due dates for payments, schedules, and things like when to water, best time for springs and summer color...I mean just misc things just to keep customers informed on all changes, updates. I also have Yard of the Month....My customers love this and it sorta sends a subliminal message to all my other customers that they need landscaping done do that they too will have a chance to be Yard of the month.....I also have coupons for different things depending on the time of year. Try it, I think you will find it useful....just try and stay on top of it, because my first year, we only got out 4 issues. This year, I worked it into my schedule to get it done.

[fiveoboy01]

TJ,

Excellent ideas! You've just given me a few things to work on for the upcoming season.

Thanks for sharing with us, and congrats on doing so well in such a short time

[tjsquickcuts]

Originally Posted by fiveoboy01

TJ,

Excellent ideas! You've just given me a few things to work on for the upcoming season.

Thanks for sharing with us, and congrats on doing so well in such a short time

Thanks man, and its been a lot of work, a lot of planning, and just trying to find a edge on the next man you know. The newsletter idea was by far one of the best. Its funny too, because when my customers have company, they are all blown away with the idea of their landscape company having a newsletter. Really gives us a big company image. I have learned so much from the web site as other, and just wanted to put my 2 cent in.....I have networked with a lot of other guys in my area, all who wanted to know why my lawns were still glowing green and everyone else is tan. Helps me keep rolling all year, and attract alot of attention when I start my marketing campaign. I have basically self taught myself everything about this business so far, just surfing to the end of the Internet every night, reading all I can get my eyes on. Learned so much on the information hwy, and still learning more and more everyday.