[llama]

I am the owner of a Lawn Care company in Alabama. I have been in the industry nearly one year now. I have done all the work in the afternoons and weekends until now. I have got a contract with a company to cut all of their yards (residentials only) every 10 days. This has added about 50 jobs every 10 days to my workload. I make very good money as a purchasing manager so I do not want to quit until next spring. I family friend has been working for someone else in the business for 5 years. He has made an offer to use my equipment and he will cut all the yards for me for a percentage of the gross.

Now for my question, What is an acceptable percentage that I should pay him? The total revenue should be approximately $6000 a month for all of the properties.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[BSDeality]

why not pay him by the hour? foreman/drivers around here get $12-15/hr. if you give him a % you won't make any money.

 

[Lawn-Scapes]

How many hours per month will it take?

 

[llama]

about 100 hours (& about 1000 miles round trip)

 

[B&B LAWN]

llama,
what part of bama you from

 

[llama]

hokes bluff, actually

 

[o-so-n-so]

I would do the routing, scheduling, and managing. Pay for all fuel, oils, grease and repairs/maintenance to equipment for no less than 50% of gross money.

He must..Do quality work, be on time each service, keep equipment greased, keep you informed of operation on a daily basis, and not lay in bed all day for 50% of gross money. If he should need to hire help, it comes out of his cut.

If you get complaints on quality...a monetary penalty should be in place. ( $20.00 a complaint) If he does a great job for you then you should have a monetary bonus in place. ($200.00 a month for each month with no complaints)

 

[o-so-n-so]

llama, I come through Hokes Bluff 3 nights a week while on my Full Time Job.

 

[fblandscape]

How big are these places? I would break them up into 10 days if I was you. Forget about paying somebody a percentage. Find someone who wants to make a couple bucks for a few hours of work in the afternoon and the two of you bang out like 10 a day after work.

 

[tiedeman]

don't pay him a percentage. If you can get another truck, hire someone on, and pay them per hour.

 

[goose]

I would pay him by the hour. If you have that much business , just manage it , let them do the work.My crews do about $15,000 a month year round. Just a little more growth and you will have a full week.

 

[rodfather]

35%...your scenario is like one I had when I first started out 9 years ago. Be sure to monitor their quality and performance closely. Done correctly, this can work our very nicely for the both of you.

Good luck.

 

[Turf Technologies]

Last year I used my own truck no equipment on my end and made 50%. If I could go back to that I would!