Lack of hours

[mattingly]

Well guys, it is looking a little grim on <br>my front here. I have a ton of <br>classes/hours of school this semester. <br>Fridays are completely losted. Another day <br>I am in class until 4:00. Classes end <br>around May 13 or so. During the summer I <br>have all day. What I need to know is how <br>should I go about <br>scheduling/approximating/estimating the <br>number of hours I can work during school? <br>Mon. 9-1 in class<br>Tues 10-4<br>Wed 9-1<br>Thurs 11-12<br>Fri 9-5<br>I guess what I am asking is starting in <br>march what time can I work to/will the <br>client not want me there later than? How <br>many times will I probably mow in <br>march/april (live in zone 6). I figure if <br>worse comes to worse in march and april I <br>can split the client list in two and <br>schedule 1/2 on week 1 and 1/2 week 2 until <br>it becomes weekly. By then I'd have a <br>better gauge of time, clients, and almost <br>be done with school. By the way, I have <br>some great classes this spring:<br>contracts and bidding<br>landscape maintenance and installation<br>nursery management<br>soil science<br>history of landscape architecture<br>plant propagation and <br>herbaceous plants

 

[Jason]

mattingly,<p>Sorry I can't help you, I'm new to the lawncare game. But what I did want to know about is the zone 6 that you mentioned. Where do you find what zone you are in? What defines a zone(climate, growing season, etc..)? I live in eastern Washington.

 

[Charles]

I don't start a yard after 7pm.If I get there at 6:30pm. I will start and finish a yard up to 1/1/2 hours. Unless it is a commercial property or a vacant house. Then I will cut until dark. If it is dry I will start cutting at 8:30 am.<br>Charles

 

[jeffclc]

Just don't spread yourself too thin. You will have people mad at you, and you will get a bad rep, and you don't want that right off the bat. There will be plenty of time later to grow and expand.<p>Another thing, if you devote too much time to work, and not enough time to school, need I say more...<p>That is what I did in high school. All I wanted to do was make money. I would go out after school, and forget about studying and homework. All I knew was that I could make in one afternoon what my buddies worked all week at McDonalds for. As a result my grades dullered. I even &quot;felt ill&quot; on a few occasions, and had to leave school, I sure felt better out on the turf!!!<p>I would not recommend this to anyone. An eduication is too valuable to waste. Focus on that, and believe me, there will be plenty of time to work.

 

[mattingly]

To the post concerning zones, you can look those up in any gardening book. I would suspect that Washington state is zone 5-6. It is real easy to check they usually have a multicolored map that will display your zone. I agree with the above post. An education is the most important thing you can have nowadays. Now, I have had the opportunity to start the landscape maintenance business without getting this second horticulture degree. But, I decided it was too important to have and that this is the best investment in the future of this business. Don't worry, I have a lot of respect for those who are successful and haven't had any schooling, I just believe to be successful(I mean big time bucks) you need the degree. I also understant the importance of not spreading myself too thin. I just don't think too many people will want me to maintain their lawns on weekends. Well, that is my response to the above posts. Don't worry about the grades, I got straight A's in all five of my classes last semester.

 

[CustomCutLawnsLLC]

Stay in shool and finish.Those are some good classes.Go your clients and tell them what is going on.If you have had them a while they will more than likely work with you.Just don't kill yourself and get burn't out.I,ve kept about 30-40 accounts myself since 1986 and worked a fultime job during the day.It can be done.Good Luck.

 

[Lazer]

Your attitude will determine what times you can work more than anything. I would work until dark. Your customers will know you're in school and will have to deal with the postives and negatives of that.<p>I was in college full time, had 11 employees, 4 mowing crews, a landscape crew and still pulled a 3.8 GPA. <p>It can be done.