Lawn Care Forum banner

what kind of work do you do?

2.9K views 19 replies 19 participants last post by  kutnkru  
#1 ·
hey all. last year i was cutting about 40 lawns beginning of the year. ended with about 20 and did minimal side work. this year i am only cutting i believe about 15 lawns and am doing plenty of side work. i am much happier now only having to cut grass one day a week as opposed to 2 or 3 days a week. this year i have help, we are doing much more side work, getting a lot more fert accounts. money is better. etc. just wondering where you guys get your money from. with regards to landscaping. i know that grass is steady, however you cant make a lot of money cutting grass. not in my opinion at least.
 
#2 ·
My money comes from everywhere. I like the mowing money, because you can count on it. You know that you will at least make X amount of dollars per week. But, I do everything from light construction to heavy landsaping. Sometimes it is just hard to find time to do the big jobs. Sprinkler system upgrades is about the best though in my opinion. I like to go in and fix others mistakes because there is good money in it.
 
#6 ·
I too have changed the scope of my business over the years. This year I am mowing 1 day a week for 40 weeks. April-June I will aerate and lay sod the remainder 5 or 6 days. Sept. and Oct. I will be aerating/seeding fescue 5 or 6 days a week. November and Dec. I will be doing leaf cleanups 5 days a week. July and August I will just piddle around to keep from getting burnt out (which is what happens when I would mow 5 days a week)

It works out a whole lot better for me this way, because there is more money in aerations and sod, and the operation costs are a lot lower. When I was mowing 5 days a week, I had 2 aerators sitting in the garage collecting dust.

Another thing that I didn't like about having a full week's worth of mowing accounts was that if it rains for 2 days straight it messes up your schedule, and the phone rings off the hook.

Obviously things are different in different areas of the country, but this works for me. In fact, this may be the last year I mow.
 
#7 ·
well most of my money came from cutting last year. but this year i will do 5 to 1 with just mulching, instalation, and other landscaping. if not more. i did about 9k in sales in april which is more than i did last year in april, may, and part of june, do to landscaping. just got 3 more bids approved for mulch have to turn in 2 more tommorrow, already approved (well 99% chance) and i don't come cheap, i like like to make around $40 a hour when i do that kinda work because i bust my a$S doing it so i can get as much done , but don't cut coners.

hoping for 55k in sales this year not bad for a 18 year old (gunna 19 on on may 9). right on pace with it now
 
#10 ·
I agree with the last 2 guys, if you have an efficient route with productive equipment a solo guy can make at least 100K gross. I make great money when landscaping but since I don't try to get this work it is infrequent. Mowing is so nice because you know you will get the check every month.
 
#14 ·
I am the Grounds Maintenance Supervisor for Orange County. So I mow for them all day, then on the evenings and weekends I get in all of my customers. I use have only one job, my business. But then I fell into a job for the county, so I just blend it all together. Has worked out pretty good.
 
#16 ·
MAN, here we go with the 100 grand gross solo guy stuff again.yeah, working 200 lawns alone a week.i do 40-45 lawns a week mowing.SOLO.big to small.ranging from $20-$50 cuts.i also try to sell hedge trimming,aeration,thatching,seeding,fall leaf removal,fertilization,and mulch.all mostly done by myself.no time for any landscape jobs,and hardly any time to get this other stuff done,but i try.looking for a good (ha,ha,ha,)helper to work one day a week.
 
#17 ·
I have 17 commercial accts. & 23 Residential accts. 20 of the accts are full service, with the others ranging from just mowing to most all services. I have added a part time person this Spring to help out with the odd jobs, untill things slow down. I also do light landscaping for my existing customers but stopped taking on any new accts. as of April 1st. My accts. range from 2000Sqft - 4.5 acers.
 
#19 ·
I have about 50 accounts. I do the mowing for about 40 of them. I mow 2 days a week and do landscape work the other 5 days a week. Over the next 4-5 years I would like to get to the point where I am no longer doing any mowing at all. my two mowing days of the week are my least profitable days out of the seven work days per week and I dont exactly enjoy mowing!