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Doing lawncare in college?

8K views 28 replies 8 participants last post by  John From Florida 
#1 ·
All,

I'm a 22 year old college student living in north Florida. I'm seriously considering advertising lawncare (although I'm limited to only mowing since I have no other equipment besides a mower), mainly on Craigslist, but am slightly intimidated and unsure of if I'll get lawns to mow, mostly because I'm limited to only grass cutting at the moment.

I'm interested in lawncare for a couple reasons, one being that it's an outdoor job, the other being that I would have the ability to work around my school schedule, which is a big deal to me.

I'd only be looking to cut maybe 10 lawns per week at most, but that's just an estimation. (I don't need to make too much money with this job. A simple weekly income and job is what I want.)

I'd be using a 22", self-propelled, home-owner type push Snapper, and would transport it to and from houses in the back of my '03 Mazda Protege.

With the details being provided, what I'm wondering is, is this a lofty idea for a college student like me, seeing as how I'd have no more than a mower to start with? Would I be wasting my time advertising only mowing and being unlicensed? Have you seen or heard of situations like mine turn out successfully?

Thank you in advance for your time, especially with someone like me with zero experience!

John.
 
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#3 ·
One hour later and only eleven views and no replies, I must be doing something wrong!
John,

I can assure you that there is a market for that service. The question is are you willing to accept the type of customers that come from mowing only accounts. Since you state you have only a mower I am assuming you do not have a edger or weedeater and blower?
If you had those items you might be able to create a premium small customer base willing to pay not have the large commercial mowers on their lawns. This way you could make a affordable wage per hour. Without being able to do the basic things like edging and weedeating you will find yourself getting accounts that want to pay very little and not on a consistent basis.

If you can gain access to those tools you should be able to gain 10 accounts easily at a min of $80 a month for a monthly total of $800. If not you will be doing work for cheap accounts whenever they call, which maybe every two weeks or every three weeks - which of course is going to require more work on your part but they will not want to pay for your extra efforts.

Michael
 
#4 ·
Thanks Michael.

You are correct about me not owning an edger, weedeater, or blower, although I do realize the importance of having these basic items, so I'd probably look to purchase them early on.

Another thing I'd be worried about is the image that would come with showing up to accounts with a mower sticking out of the back of my car. It seems like many homeowners look down on these sorts of laborers, people with no signs, shirts, or phone numbers to be seen anywhere on their person or truck (car in my case).

What's your opinion on that? Will I be scoffed at or belittled at first glance when the homeowner sees me drive up?
 
#5 ·
John,

I can assure you that there is a market for that service. The question is are you willing to accept the type of customers that come from mowing only accounts. Since you state you have only a mower I am assuming you do not have a edger or weedeater and blower?
If you had those items you might be able to create a premium small customer base willing to pay not have the large commercial mowers on their lawns. This way you could make a affordable wage per hour. Without being able to do the basic things like edging and weedeating you will find yourself getting accounts that want to pay very little and not on a consistent basis.

If you can gain access to those tools you should be able to gain 10 accounts easily at a min of $80 a month for a monthly total of $800. If not you will be doing work for cheap accounts whenever they call, which maybe every two weeks or every three weeks - which of course is going to require more work on your part but they will not want to pay for your extra efforts.

Michael
Thanks Michael.

You are correct about me not owning an edger, weedeater, or blower, although I do realize the importance of having these basic items, so I'd probably look to purchase them early on.

Another thing I'd be worried about is the image that would come with showing up to accounts with a mower sticking out of the back of my car. It seems like many homeowners look down on these sorts of laborers, people with no signs, shirts, or phone numbers to be seen anywhere on their person or truck (car in my case).

What's your opinion on that? Will I be scoffed at or belittled at first glance when the homeowner sees me drive up?
 
#6 ·
I am 20 years old and also in college. I started last summer with the 2 push mowers, trimmer and blower I already had. At first I had 3 lawns and just cut them myself but those people told others and they told others and so on. By August I had grown to 12 lawns and had been regularly paying a friend to help me since June. I charged roughly $25 per lawn and made pretty good money by the end of the season after gas, pay for the worker and repairs. Of course I also have a truck so its easier, but my dad did it when he was younger out of a station wagon.
I would look into a trimmer, maybe a cheap $80 Craftsman or something because having one of those will make your job look that much better. Same thing with a blower, just find a cheap one or just use a broom if you don't care about time. Too bad your down in Florida because I have like 5 trimmers I don't use.
Anyways, to get these lawns I made an appealing flier of the services I offered (I also played the poor neighborhood college student card) and I walked door to door in a 3 block radius. Doing that got me only 3 customers but that got my foot in the door and I moved forward from there.
Sorry for the extremely long post but I figured I could help because we were roughly in the same situation. Good luck!
 
#8 · (Edited)
A lot of successful companies start out really small & with not very much equipment. Don't let that detour you from your goals! I wanted to let you know about a really inexpensive way for new lawn care businesses to advertise. Door Hangers can be very effective way to get your name out there and start building your customer contacts. Our Door Hangers are really unique because we offer both our revolutionary Band-It and Stick-It products with them. Take a look at our video to learn more & call us with any questions you might have. We have a lot of hot specials right now & one we offer that might help you get started is 1,000 Door Hangers with Band-It for only 99.00! Keep our chin up and remember that many profitable businesses start out small! :) http://www.adeasprinting.com/Door-Hangers

Robin Christopherson
A'DEAS Printing
Home of Band-It & Stick-It® Products
www.AdeasPrinting.com
robin@adeasprinting.com
(316) 269-2494 ext. 200
(866) 251-3181 fax
719 S. St. Francis
Wichita, KS 67211
 
#9 ·
I am 20 years old and also in college. I started last summer with the 2 push mowers, trimmer and blower I already had. At first I had 3 lawns and just cut them myself but those people told others and they told others and so on. By August I had grown to 12 lawns and had been regularly paying a friend to help me since June. I charged roughly $25 per lawn and made pretty good money by the end of the season after gas, pay for the worker and repairs. Of course I also have a truck so its easier, but my dad did it when he was younger out of a station wagon.
I would look into a trimmer, maybe a cheap $80 Craftsman or something because having one of those will make your job look that much better. Same thing with a blower, just find a cheap one or just use a broom if you don't care about time. Too bad your down in Florida because I have like 5 trimmers I don't use.
Anyways, to get these lawns I made an appealing flier of the services I offered (I also played the poor neighborhood college student card) and I walked door to door in a 3 block radius. Doing that got me only 3 customers but that got my foot in the door and I moved forward from there.
Sorry for the extremely long post but I figured I could help because we were roughly in the same situation. Good luck!
Thanks DVF, and thanks for even mentioning having extra trimmers! I'm finding there are some incredibly nice people on this site.

Seeing all the responses and hearing stories of how others who got started were in my same position makes it seem doable.

My only concern now is doing what you did, only here in Florida. I've been hearing time and time again how cheap the market is here, people are offering services for as cheap as $10. That destroys the market.
 
#10 ·
A lot of successful companies start out really small & with not very much equipment. Don't let that detour you from your goals! I wanted to let you know about a really inexpensive way for new lawn care businesses to advertise. Door Hangers can be very effective way to get your name out there and start building your customer contacts. Our Door Hangers are really unique because we offer both our revolutionary Band-It and Stick-It products with them. Take a look at our video to learn more & call us with any questions you might have. We have a lot of hot specials right now & one we offer that might help you get started is 1,000 Door Hangers with Band-It for only 99.00! Keep our chin up and remember that many profitable businesses start out small! :) http://www.adeasprinting.com/Door-Hangers

Robin Christopherson
A'DEAS Printing
Home of Band-It & Stick-It® Products
www.AdeasPrinting.com
robin@adeasprinting.com
(316) 269-2494 ext. 200
(866) 251-3181 fax
719 S. St. Francis
Wichita, KS 67211
I'd probably do a mix of door hangers, Craigslist ads, newspaper ads, and general Google ads.
 
#11 ·
Thanks Michael.

You are correct about me not owning an edger, weedeater, or blower, although I do realize the importance of having these basic items, so I'd probably look to purchase them early on.

Another thing I'd be worried about is the image that would come with showing up to accounts with a mower sticking out of the back of my car. It seems like many homeowners look down on these sorts of laborers, people with no signs, shirts, or phone numbers to be seen anywhere on their person or truck (car in my case).

What's your opinion on that? Will I be scoffed at or belittled at first glance when the homeowner sees me drive up?
John,

What the home owners think of you will determine if you get hired or not. So it does matter a little. This however does not mean you have to show up with all the newest equipment and maxed out credit to match.

Take your time and grow as you can. If you have a push mower, trimmer and edger and a blower you are well on your way. I would make sure to get entry level commercial grade handhelds if you can swing it as they will hold up and be a good investment in the long run. All said new this will run your roughly $1500. Although this is a big investment at this time you should recoup your money quickly. As you grow - a walk behind mower or a smaller Zturn maybe needed.

As I think I stated before. If all you have to start out with is a push mower, try to get the handhelds and blower, then use your lack of a bigger mower to your advantage. Market yourself as one that push mows lawns with a small residential mower. There is a market out there for those that think the Zturns up there lawn. With this people they will be willing to pay a little more than the average for a lawn service. This is your niche.

As you grow save money and invest in a walk behind or small Z turn - something in the 34 or 36 inch size that allows you to still get into small gated back yards. This will allow you to be quicker and more profitable vs you push mowing accounts most likely.

That is just my suggestion to get started. Work with what you got but do get the handhelds as trimming and edging are something that most home owners will expect to be completed. Then everything else is grow as you can.

One last piece of advice. Do not go out and buy all the expensive equipment and trailers until you know that this is going to work for you and that you will enjoy doing it.
 
#12 ·
I think at a bare minimum in Florida you will need a string trimmer, and a handheld blower or push broom with a dust pan. I would spend the $150 on a commercial straight shft trimmer. You can do both "weedeat" and edge for now with this with some practice. Also, you should buy a pair of flat hedge shears, long handle cutting shears. Not having that stuff will cost you business and not having the hedge stuff will leave a lot of money left on the table. I'd say you need to invest the $250 bucks minimum before going out to get work. Trade your car for a truck too. You can always make money with a truck in Florida.
 
#13 ·
Thanks DVF, and thanks for even mentioning having extra trimmers! I'm finding there are some incredibly nice people on this site.

Seeing all the responses and hearing stories of how others who got started were in my same position makes it seem doable.

My only concern now is doing what you did, only here in Florida. I've been hearing time and time again how cheap the market is here, people are offering services for as cheap as $10. That destroys the market.
Yea I hear ya. It's the same up here but I have found that people are willing to pay a little more to help a kid go through college, hopefully its the same for you. Just take it a week at a time and do a lot of walking door to door. I found that worked best for me. I tried leaving fliers on doorsteps but they sat there for weeks and I got no calls. It was only until I talked to people face to face and introduced myself that people became interested.
 
#14 ·
Yea I hear ya. It's the same up here but I have found that people are willing to pay a little more to help a kid go through college, hopefully its the same for you. Just take it a week at a time and do a lot of walking door to door. I found that worked best for me. I tried leaving fliers on doorsteps but they sat there for weeks and I got no calls. It was only until I talked to people face to face and introduced myself that people became interested.
I've been hearing that from others, too. Connecting with the potential market is the best way to get your foot in the door, however, I'm not sure walking door to door as a form of advertising would be something I myself could do. Not that I have a problem marketing my business, rather I'm not big on solicitation. In my neighborhood for example, we have on occasion random tree or lawn service guys come knocking on our door advertising their business. For the most part it seems like most of the neighbors have a negative sentiment toward this form of solicitation, although that may be so only because they people who take to this form of marketing are typically low-ballers, six of them at a time hopping out of the back of a truck. Perhaps if a dapper, well put together man showed up instead, these neighbors would react differently.

Part of me realizes this in your face approach works many times, while the other part thinks the customers who are most willing to pay will already be looking for a lawn service before someone comes knocking; in a sense they don't need to be offered a service via door to door marketing, because they'll already have contacted an lawn service.
 
#15 ·
Yea that makes sense. I almost didn't do it because of that reason. But it was that or door hangers which are fine too but when every other lawn care service also does door hangers you get a bunch piling up on your door step and I feel like nobody takes time to look through them. I found that the first 3 people that hired me weren't looking for a lawn service but when I talked to them they thought twice about it. Well, whatever you do good luck with it! Let us know how it goes!
 
#16 ·
Yea that makes sense. I almost didn't do it because of that reason. But it was that or door hangers which are fine too but when every other lawn care service also does door hangers you get a bunch piling up on your door step and I feel like nobody takes time to look through them. I found that the first 3 people that hired me weren't looking for a lawn service but when I talked to them they thought twice about it. Well, whatever you do good luck with it! Let us know how it goes!
Hey, thanks for the honest help! It's encouraging!

What do you think about creating an outstanding Craigslist ad? There's a guy on this site that apparently got his start through Craigslist only, and did very well with it as a sole means of advertising. The trick of course would be to create an ad that was different from all the rest. A person would have to be innovative.
 
#18 ·
Hey John, I recently graduated from Slippery Rock University in Pittsburgh Area of Pennsylvania. You can without a doubt run a business during college! I am 22 years old, and I started when I was in high school getting bigger. Every single weekend of college, I drove an hour home from school to go get all 52 of my yards done. I hired a couple of my brothers friends from high school to work for me and we busted our butts on Saturdays and Sundays, but we kept all the customers happy. You can do it, it's just how hard you are willing to work. Now I'm graduated, no loans for school, and I have my teaching degree and also a great lawn care business. Save up some money after doing a couple lawns then buy your other necessary equipment. (blower and weed wacker)
 
#20 ·
Hey John, I recently graduated from Slippery Rock University in Pittsburgh Area of Pennsylvania. You can without a doubt run a business during college! I am 22 years old, and I started when I was in high school getting bigger. Every single weekend of college, I drove an hour home from school to go get all 52 of my yards done. I hired a couple of my brothers friends from high school to work for me and we busted our butts on Saturdays and Sundays, but we kept all the customers happy. You can do it, it's just how hard you are willing to work. Now I'm graduated, no loans for school, and I have my teaching degree and also a great lawn care business. Save up some money after doing a couple lawns then buy your other necessary equipment. (blower and weed wacker)
52 yards during college? That's quite a feat. Congrats on that! The more I read and chat with people in this business, the more I realize the only thing stopping me is myself.
 
#21 ·
Yeah my friends laughed at me for going home on Fridays instead of staying at school and partying...but I was the one making $800 a day and coming out of school with no debt! I think the best way to get more yards is just networking. Go to vistaprint.com and make business cards that look professional. I asked my good customers if they knew anyone looking for lawn care and gave them like 10 business cards to hand out to their friends. I also got tee-shirts made for the first time this year. They were only 8.75 a shirt, and i got door magnets for my truck which were 60 dollars. You can do it.
 
#22 ·
Yeah my friends laughed at me for going home on Fridays instead of staying at school and partying...but I was the one making $800 a day and coming out of school with no debt! I think the best way to get more yards is just networking. Go to vistaprint.com and make business cards that look professional. I asked my good customers if they knew anyone looking for lawn care and gave them like 10 business cards to hand out to their friends. I also got tee-shirts made for the first time this year. They were only 8.75 a shirt, and i got door magnets for my truck which were 60 dollars. You can do it.
A good friend of mine also recommended vistaprint. This is sounding more doable each day. Thanks for the advice!
 
#24 ·
Hey John,

I started with the same situation. I am currently a college student in the western suburbs of Chicago, and started officially last year. Im majoring in Air Traffic Control and that has nothing to do with this business.

The year before (2010) I helped a buddy out that had about 20 residential lawns and did it with a 22" mower from the back of his truck. I took over his cash business while working another job and made it official in 2011. Quit my other job, still going to school full time and made it a really successful business already (I believe)

I would recommend to get a small truck like a dakota to start with, maybe sell you car? But you dont have to, everyone starts somewhere. Make sure you do have a trimmer, thats a must, a blower helps, but a broom will do if your waiting a few weeks for cash flow.

As for advertisement, take advantage of the flyers you can create on word or something. I printed them out at school because they were free. I have received around 7 people this year alone from craigslist, using the college student idea. vistaprint.com is amazing, join their email subscription and you get 90% of everything for free just pay a little higher for shipping because its coming out of Canada. I used Adeasprinting.com for the doorhangers and ordered 5,000 for a great price. So far that has grabbed a bunch of people.

You can do it!!!

If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

I forgot to mention to start a website for free, you can do that with a bunch of free sites. Just google it. Mine is from webs.com I purchased a domain name now, check it out if you want. llclandscaping.net

Joe
 
#25 ·
Hey John,

I started with the same situation. I am currently a college student in the western suburbs of Chicago, and started officially last year. Im majoring in Air Traffic Control and that has nothing to do with this business.

The year before (2010) I helped a buddy out that had about 20 residential lawns and did it with a 22" mower from the back of his truck. I took over his cash business while working another job and made it official in 2011. Quit my other job, still going to school full time and made it a really successful business already (I believe)

I would recommend to get a small truck like a dakota to start with, maybe sell you car? But you dont have to, everyone starts somewhere. Make sure you do have a trimmer, thats a must, a blower helps, but a broom will do if your waiting a few weeks for cash flow.

As for advertisement, take advantage of the flyers you can create on word or something. I printed them out at school because they were free. I have received around 7 people this year alone from craigslist, using the college student idea. vistaprint.com is amazing, join their email subscription and you get 90% of everything for free just pay a little higher for shipping because its coming out of Canada. I used Adeasprinting.com for the doorhangers and ordered 5,000 for a great price. So far that has grabbed a bunch of people.

You can do it!!!

If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

I forgot to mention to start a website for free, you can do that with a bunch of free sites. Just google it. Mine is from webs.com I purchased a domain name now, check it out if you want. llclandscaping.net

Joe
Thanks Joe, that was a very thorough response! After seeing all the responses to my original post, there's no denying the possibilities in this. The major step would just be deciding to do it, getting my name out there in the form of advertising, and not being afraid to sell myself.
 
#26 ·
I do not wish to sound like a party poo-per. But, If you only have a push mower and a car how many times a day or week are you going to want to lift that mower and put in the trunk? Also having gas cans rolling around. What about insurance? If you discharge a rock and hit someone you will be working for free after college. Oh and do not forget your city, state and federal government you will need to claim your income. How about sales and use? Is it required in your state? In the end maybe it would be easier to go and work for a lawn company. Just my opinion
 
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