The Grass Doctor

Any and all tips on starting Lawn Care business?

Hello!! I am 18ys old and i am researching on how to start my owwn lawncare business in the Dallas/ Ft. Worth area. i do have some Money to start with, which can buy all of the equipment and do some advertising, but any tips about ANYTHING please tell me. i am very conserned about legal stuff too so if you know about that, tell me please!! i do want to be able to cut at least 200 lawns a month(repeat customers, imnot saying i want to do 200 ppls lawns bi weekly/month, just a estimate figure.) and i do have some ideas about advertisement(Dallas Morning News, Flyers at local doughnut and coffee shops, tell all of my adult friends....) but any help please tell me. i am very interested in commercial lawnscaping too!! im just looking to start up and with hard work, be able to have enough $$ to be comfortable. Please help me with this, any info positive or negative, please help me with anything you know. Thank you everyone!!

Public Comments

1. Check the area where you plan to work and see if a permit is required, next see if you are required to have liability insurance before starting to work. Next you need to know an awful lot about lawn care, plants, etc. and need to have good salesman skills. Present prospective clients with a list of references, tell them about your experience, etc. You could print up some cards, the magnet kind with your name, phone number and leave them around the area where you want to work. (if you just drop off a card, they will likely toss it away but if its something they can easily stick up someplace they will have it handy if they need their lawn taken care of. Good luck to you
2. Congrats on making the plunge into owning a business! What I'd say is to target a certain neighborhood first instead of having to drive all over the city between jobs. (When you expand, you can afford to hire help.) You have probably figured out that you'll need a truck and/or trailer, mower, edger, hedge trimmers, pruners, whatever you need to offer services. You might want to read up on plant care in case people want advice on "What weed is that?" or "Should I have you prune my roses right now?" The gardeners we use are super intelligent about what they're taking care of and are very meticulous about cleaning up debris. They get $44 every time they come out which is every two weeks. Stay very organized in terms of scheduling and billing. You might want to check with the city to see if you need a license to do this, at least in CA people have to put their license number in their ads to show they're legit. Get business cards and hand them out to everyone you interact with, even the cashier at a store. Newspaper ads are expensive, I agree with doing flyers and dropping them off at houses. I swear we get 3-4 business cards or flyers every week on the doorstep for a service. We found our gardeners through our neighbor. That word of mouth is great since they only have to park once and can do 3 lawns since I recommended them to another neighbor. If you really want to be serious about this, get a tax ID number with your business name (free) and a business checking account to keep personal and business money separate, it makes tax time so much easier. So I say go for it and best wishes for success. Owning you own business is the best feeling ever.
3. http://vistaprint.tellapal.com/a/clk/Mn7xc whatever u decide 2 do you should get them from this site because they give u stuff for FREE!! it has their website written on the back of some of the stuff very tiny but not everything & u pay shipping and handling and its a few dollars if u get 21 day shipping but i always get my stuff in about 10 days. you can order up to 10 free items and they have a lot of specials if you actually have a business its great! i just got an order today for my website http://www.TheKinkyBoutique.com with 250 business cards, 140 address stickers, 100 adorable big post cards that were great quality, one mug, and 1 tee shirt all for $12 shipping, and i got 5 bucks off for referring someone. you get $5 everytime someone you refer buys something. you can choose gift cards for the cash or else use them for vista bucks.
4. What you're talking about is a Commercial or Residential Lawn Care Business. Personally I prefer the Residential end myself. The equipment needs are basically the same for both and can be costly. The thing you have too remember is time is money and the equipment you purchase should bought with that in mind. Keep your routes tight and cut down on travel time. The first thing I would do if I were you would be to check on the cost of Licensing and Insurance for the Business. Next would be the Equipment you will need: Truck and Trailer a good ZTR, a Walk Behind Mower, Back Pack Blowers, Trimmers, Edgers, Hedge Machines and the hand tools necessary for the business are all things you'll need to run a successful business, say nothing about (Back up Equipment remember time is money and down time is something you can't afford) gas and oil and everything you need to maintain all that equipment, and I hope you're a mechanic and can do your own maintenance. Total the cost of everything mentioned and ask yourself a couple of questions, How long and how many jobs or accounts am I going to have to work to pay for all this ( it's called your overhead) and still make a profit. It's a scary proposition and investment. Another piece of advice or warning, Remember the Lawn-care Business is a cut throat business and I've seen a lot of businesses go under because of the competition so be-careful with your choices.