The point I would like everyone to takeaway from this video is that I layered my purchases strategically... meaning I didn't just go and buy lots of equipment without strategically and thoroughly thinking through each purchase with a "money in VS money OUT" filter... How are you doing this year in your lawn business??? I'm getting a lot of feedback that things are a little slow this year???
I cant keep up. Working on shrinking my service area, and im scared to let go of my lawns 10 miles apart and i know its necessary. Any tips? Scared to give up 1500 a month as a solo, but my closer customers are paying for it when it rains. Weekends are coming into play now.
@@Soso-db5gh I did that this season. I got rid of 20 customer's. The goal was 2-3 min average drive time between lawns. Any new customer's nearly had to be the next door neighbor of the exsisting customer. Increased my price of services and that made up for getting rid of the 20 customer's. My goal now is being more efficient on each lawn, from dropping the gate to driving off. Good Luck.
Update. Sent 15 messages on my distant yards. 200/month year round. Got to keep 5 since then I've replaced them all within 5 miles of my hub. Also, make friends with others cutting grass. Sent all 10 my buddy that was needing work. Then his buddy sent me another 4 leads.
I love your videos I've been a chef for 20 years I am leaving the industry on 3-months into Lawn Care I'm doing it solo I started with a 21-inch push mower a handheld blower and an edger I got all three off Marketplace for less than $300 after I got my first 10 clients I found a company that was doing mower packages outside of Ocala Florida and I upgraded to Echo trimmer edger Backpack Blower and a 32-inch walk behind with a 10-foot utility trailer I got the package for 4700 it definitely has helped save me time an energy I am still small and growing I only do about 35 laws a month at the moment I will be joining your Academy and following your postcard marketing next
Funny story. I was a meat manager for a few decades about 13 years ago. The company I worked at was going prepack and was taking pay from all meat cutters and no more full time. So they were offering buy out to get people to leave. I was already over the work and had been doing lawn care/ landscaping for about 2 years then. I kept saying I had enough work to leave but was nervous to do that. Well when all that came up I said I’m out and they gave me 11 thousand buy out to leave. Bought my dump trailer with that money. Still making money on that dump trailer 13 years later and was the best decision of my life. I always say thanks for buying my dump trailer and making the decision for me to get the heck out of retail business. By the second year I was making double then what I was at meat manager. It’s very hard work but I love it.
Great investment... EGO chainsaws... cutting up trees that fell down and removing them are huge money makers vs mowing lawns. I love mowing as well. But NorthEast region has a combination. I am starting with a push mower and other Ego equipment. I am slowly building up to get a truck and then a ride mower. FYI. Various states and HOAs are trying to have gas-powered lawn tools no longer able to be sold new or used in some developments. Gas owners are going to have to slowly adjust, just like the car market.
Great feed back brother for sharing- did small time many years back but made ends meet raising my son on my own - hustling with 36” Bunton 25hp kohler with velkie , 2 sthil string trimmers and echo edger with a Echo hedger - I am older now and the return and flexibility has got me refocused on returning. I work from home 1099 don’t start till 11:00 am so damn seems I can’t launch something. - need 5k per month to stop other job🤷♂️
The aerator comment is tricky. I’m in central Illinois. I can aerate in spring and fall and make decent money but yeah, it’ll sit 8-9 months. Renting a stand on aerator is $910 a week. Walk behind aerator is essentially a waste of time for most yards in my area. Just found your channel. Really good info.
Really can't find a good video for what I want to say. That new John Deere mower I put on one of the videos about in the comments. The steering handle broke and I just bought it May 19th. They told me that wasn't covered under warranty I have filed a claim to try to get my money back. But this mower might not give me a big ROI if things keep breaking and I have to buy new parts a lot. If they won't give me money back especially since this was on them I have bought my last John Deere product ever.i can't believe one of the most important parts on it isn't covered by warranty
I am wanting to get rid of my push mower. I have a yard just a few hoses away from me that I have to pushmow. I would like to get a zero turn mower that can get through a 42 inch gate. I need a 34 or 36 inch zero turn. If I can't afford a stand on wondering if there is a good riding zero turn to get. If you know of one please let me know.
Look into a walk behind I just upgraded a month ago from a push to a 32 worldlawn walk-behind I got a brand new for 2000 it does a great job I will move up from that to a 36 or a 42
Just this past Thursday switched from a regular riding mower to a residential zero turn. I have just used it for 2 days and I can already tell that I will be able to do 8 to 10 yards a day. It is a John Deere Z325E with a 54 inch deck. Did I make a good investment with that? Should I be able to handle a lot of yards with it. I have been getting a lot more yards which is why I got it.
just keep it maintained. when I bought my personal zero turn, the sales person (yeah, i get the irony here) said that the entry commercial zero turn had better spindles to the blades. it's still going after 9 years.
@@jetah50 Thanks for the advice. I wanted to get a commercial one because starting to get alot of lawns. But the riding mower I had went to unfixable and had to get something right away. I couldn't afford a commercial one but one day if I keep growing going to get one. I went from 4 last year to 10 this year in 2 months time. So if I keep this pace by either sometime this year or next year residential won't be good enough.
yes, I can make a video on this. In the meantime I would say put out an ad on social media contractors groups in your area... your area or town will have a facebook group for contractors for your area... there is a learning curve and you have to kinda stumble your way through an awkward hire or two... If you're maxed out as a solo guy it's really the only option left... hiring.
I currently feel like my entire lawn schedule is solely based off of having my 2 employees. It's a scary thought if one or both call in sick/leave. And finding employees doesn't seem easy these days. Anyone have any advice or encouragement on what to do? Thinking about scaling back a little bit next season - there's just no room for error right now and I don't like it! Is that common for a lot of you guys (no room for error)?
How many lawns are you mowing a week? I would say pay them well. Buy them lunch once in a while. Maybe hiring a 3 employee to substitute if one quits or is sick.
I agree with ORLawnandlandscape, surprise lunches, treat then well, LISTEN to their concerns and suggestions, and show them that they are important. If they do find something better, have faith and be supportive. Oh and we throw in some fun things to keep stuff interesting. I sold Harleys for a while and our GM would offer sales spiffs. So I’ve adapted the concept for us. We have friendly competitions….I let them see who can guess the closest to how long it takes one of us to cut a certain area, or whoever walks the most steps as verified by each persons cell phone, or some kind of trivia like different grass or weed type recognition…and then I pay out an extra $20-40 depending on what it was. Oh and one more tip, I always give any tip money that customers add in straight to my crew and don’t keep any of that. They earned it and it’s good they know I appreciate them and our customers appreciate them. Maybe there’s something in my response that you can implement. I hope you stay safe, prosperous, and cool this summer! - Trae Kiss My Grass Lawn Care
@@ORlawnandlandscape We are mowing anywhere from 12-20+ lawns a day depending on property size. We have small residential up to larger commercial properties. I do occasionally buy lunch if the day or week is going smoothly with no broken windows, late starts, etc. Thankfully, I did just hire a 3rd guy that starts tomorrow, bringing us to a 4-man crew. Once he finds the groove with us, I feel like we can tackle our schedule even more efficiently!
@@TheLayinLo Thanks for the feedback! I do buy lunches occasionally, treat them well, give out cash bonuses after a hard day or long week. I do like the friendly competitions to make the day more fun!
Question, I have an opportunity to buy about 30 clients from another business that is taking another job opportunity, how do you buy clients from another business?
good question I have the opportunity to buy 15 but I was wondering how to price to see if I was getting a good deal the guy was asking $8,000 for the he said it brings in 2200 a month, but what guarantees if they stay I don't want to spend eight grand on them and then they all drop
The Gravely that he uses is a 36 inch deck you can get through the back Gates I use a 32 walk behind it is maybe half an inch on each side smaller than the average sidewalk I do a lot of small yards
Off topic....Jonathan, who builds your videos and does all the editing? I am thinking of building a UA-cam channel and I am looking at ways to do it. Use my time or hire an editor. Thoughts? BTW I been with you since the beginning my man! lol
I almost wish I would have bought my ditch witch before the mowers! Not gonna lie that 980/ month stings but our production rate is so hard to beat and we are charging more per hour and getting more work done. I got a call from another landscaper telling me I’m hurting the market by doing unprofitable work. When I told him he can come by the office anytime and I’ll show him our ytd 22% net profit margin he piped down very quickly!
![16 YEAR OLD GAINS 110 LAWN ACCOUNTS IN 4 YEARS [HOW HE DID IT]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Q4_rKFx7BKY/mqdefault.jpg)
The point I would like everyone to takeaway from this video is that I layered my purchases strategically... meaning I didn't just go and buy lots of equipment without strategically and thoroughly thinking through each purchase with a "money in VS money OUT" filter... How are you doing this year in your lawn business??? I'm getting a lot of feedback that things are a little slow this year???
I cant keep up. Working on shrinking my service area, and im scared to let go of my lawns 10 miles apart and i know its necessary. Any tips? Scared to give up 1500 a month as a solo, but my closer customers are paying for it when it rains. Weekends are coming into play now.
@@Soso-db5gh I did that this season. I got rid of 20 customer's. The goal was 2-3 min average drive time between lawns. Any new customer's nearly had to be the next door neighbor of the exsisting customer. Increased my price of services and that made up for getting rid of the 20 customer's. My goal now is being more efficient on each lawn, from dropping the gate to driving off. Good Luck.
Update. Sent 15 messages on my distant yards. 200/month year round. Got to keep 5 since then I've replaced them all within 5 miles of my hub. Also, make friends with others cutting grass. Sent all 10 my buddy that was needing work. Then his buddy sent me another 4 leads.
I love your videos I've been a chef for 20 years I am leaving the industry on 3-months into Lawn Care I'm doing it solo I started with a 21-inch push mower a handheld blower and an edger I got all three off Marketplace for less than $300 after I got my first 10 clients I found a company that was doing mower packages outside of Ocala Florida and I upgraded to Echo trimmer edger Backpack Blower and a 32-inch walk behind with a 10-foot utility trailer I got the package for 4700 it definitely has helped save me time an energy I am still small and growing I only do about 35 laws a month at the moment I will be joining your Academy and following your postcard marketing next
Funny story. I was a meat manager for a few decades about 13 years ago. The company I worked at was going prepack and was taking pay from all meat cutters and no more full time. So they were offering buy out to get people to leave. I was already over the work and had been doing lawn care/ landscaping for about 2 years then. I kept saying I had enough work to leave but was nervous to do that. Well when all that came up I said I’m out and they gave me 11 thousand buy out to leave. Bought my dump trailer with that money. Still making money on that dump trailer 13 years later and was the best decision of my life. I always say thanks for buying my dump trailer and making the decision for me to get the heck out of retail business. By the second year I was making double then what I was at meat manager. It’s very hard work but I love it.
Scag offers a great deal to 1st responders and Vets....15% off. That was the deciding factor in my choice of a V-ride.
Great investment... EGO chainsaws... cutting up trees that fell down and removing them are huge money makers vs mowing lawns. I love mowing as well. But NorthEast region has a combination.
I am starting with a push mower and other Ego equipment. I am slowly building up to get a truck and then a ride mower.
FYI. Various states and HOAs are trying to have gas-powered lawn tools no longer able to be sold new or used in some developments.
Gas owners are going to have to slowly adjust, just like the car market.
Great feed back brother for sharing- did small time many years back but made ends meet raising my son on my own - hustling with 36” Bunton 25hp kohler with velkie , 2 sthil string trimmers and echo edger with a Echo hedger - I am older now and the return and flexibility has got me refocused on returning. I work from home 1099 don’t start till 11:00 am so damn seems I can’t launch something. - need 5k per month to stop other job🤷♂️
The aerator comment is tricky. I’m in central Illinois. I can aerate in spring and fall and make decent money but yeah, it’ll sit 8-9 months.
Renting a stand on aerator is $910 a week. Walk behind aerator is essentially a waste of time for most yards in my area.
Just found your channel. Really good info.
Really can't find a good video for what I want to say. That new John Deere mower I put on one of the videos about in the comments. The steering handle broke and I just bought it May 19th. They told me that wasn't covered under warranty I have filed a claim to try to get my money back. But this mower might not give me a big ROI if things keep breaking and I have to buy new parts a lot. If they won't give me money back especially since this was on them I have bought my last John Deere product ever.i can't believe one of the most important parts on it isn't covered by warranty
That's really good info!
Great tips, as usual. 👍🏼👍🏼💪🏼
Glad you like them!
How not to like the truth! 😉
I am wanting to get rid of my push mower. I have a yard just a few hoses away from me that I have to pushmow. I would like to get a zero turn mower that can get through a 42 inch gate. I need a 34 or 36 inch zero turn. If I can't afford a stand on wondering if there is a good riding zero turn to get. If you know of one please let me know.
Look into a walk behind I just upgraded a month ago from a push to a 32 worldlawn walk-behind I got a brand new for 2000 it does a great job I will move up from that to a 36 or a 42
Just this past Thursday switched from a regular riding mower to a residential zero turn. I have just used it for 2 days and I can already tell that I will be able to do 8 to 10 yards a day. It is a John Deere Z325E with a 54 inch deck. Did I make a good investment with that? Should I be able to handle a lot of yards with it. I have been getting a lot more yards which is why I got it.
Nice work!
just keep it maintained. when I bought my personal zero turn, the sales person (yeah, i get the irony here) said that the entry commercial zero turn had better spindles to the blades. it's still going after 9 years.
@@jetah50 Thanks for the advice. I wanted to get a commercial one because starting to get alot of lawns. But the riding mower I had went to unfixable and had to get something right away. I couldn't afford a commercial one but one day if I keep growing going to get one. I went from 4 last year to 10 this year in 2 months time. So if I keep this pace by either sometime this year or next year residential won't be good enough.
@@michaelrivenbark1010 look at the used commercial market too. you dont always need new.
Do you have any practical advice on how to scale or get away from being a solo operator?
yes, I can make a video on this. In the meantime I would say put out an ad on social media contractors groups in your area... your area or town will have a facebook group for contractors for your area... there is a learning curve and you have to kinda stumble your way through an awkward hire or two... If you're maxed out as a solo guy it's really the only option left... hiring.
I got you on one thing. Where are you going to find a F250 for 20,000 in good shape not perfect but good and under 200,000 miles
Copart
What size deck does the stand up mower you have? 36”?
In this video I'm on a 52, but we have 36" decks as well for getting in back lawns.
I currently feel like my entire lawn schedule is solely based off of having my 2 employees. It's a scary thought if one or both call in sick/leave. And finding employees doesn't seem easy these days. Anyone have any advice or encouragement on what to do? Thinking about scaling back a little bit next season - there's just no room for error right now and I don't like it! Is that common for a lot of you guys (no room for error)?
Hire 6
How many lawns are you mowing a week? I would say pay them well. Buy them lunch once in a while. Maybe hiring a 3 employee to substitute if one quits or is sick.
I agree with ORLawnandlandscape, surprise lunches, treat then well, LISTEN to their concerns and suggestions, and show them that they are important. If they do find something better, have faith and be supportive. Oh and we throw in some fun things to keep stuff interesting. I sold Harleys for a while and our GM would offer sales spiffs. So I’ve adapted the concept for us. We have friendly competitions….I let them see who can guess the closest to how long it takes one of us to cut a certain area, or whoever walks the most steps as verified by each persons cell phone, or some kind of trivia like different grass or weed type recognition…and then I pay out an extra $20-40 depending on what it was. Oh and one more tip, I always give any tip money that customers add in straight to my crew and don’t keep any of that. They earned it and it’s good they know I appreciate them and our customers appreciate them. Maybe there’s something in my response that you can implement. I hope you stay safe, prosperous, and cool this summer!
- Trae
Kiss My Grass Lawn Care
@@ORlawnandlandscape We are mowing anywhere from 12-20+ lawns a day depending on property size. We have small residential up to larger commercial properties. I do occasionally buy lunch if the day or week is going smoothly with no broken windows, late starts, etc. Thankfully, I did just hire a 3rd guy that starts tomorrow, bringing us to a 4-man crew. Once he finds the groove with us, I feel like we can tackle our schedule even more efficiently!
@@TheLayinLo Thanks for the feedback! I do buy lunches occasionally, treat them well, give out cash bonuses after a hard day or long week. I do like the friendly competitions to make the day more fun!
Question, I have an opportunity to buy about 30 clients from another business that is taking another job opportunity, how do you buy clients from another business?
good question I have the opportunity to buy 15 but I was wondering how to price to see if I was getting a good deal the guy was asking $8,000 for the he said it brings in 2200 a month, but what guarantees if they stay I don't want to spend eight grand on them and then they all drop
As bad as interest rates are right now, capital won't be this cheap for a long time
How do you deal with small backyard gates?
The Gravely that he uses is a 36 inch deck you can get through the back Gates I use a 32 walk behind it is maybe half an inch on each side smaller than the average sidewalk I do a lot of small yards
Off topic....Jonathan, who builds your videos and does all the editing? I am thinking of building a UA-cam channel and I am looking at ways to do it. Use my time or hire an editor. Thoughts? BTW I been with you since the beginning my man! lol
I do my own… 😬 but I should probably outsource it 😂
I almost wish I would have bought my ditch witch before the mowers! Not gonna lie that 980/ month stings but our production rate is so hard to beat and we are charging more per hour and getting more work done.
I got a call from another landscaper telling me I’m hurting the market by doing unprofitable work. When I told him he can come by the office anytime and I’ll show him our ytd 22% net profit margin he piped down very quickly!
I’m really thankful to have this machine. It is already saved me so much trouble.
How about saving your money!
If you’re saving money, you’re still investing it, but with zero returns on it. Why not save what you need then put your surplus money to use?
@@FloridaTurfPros build up your surplus money first! And buy equipment only when absolutely needed
Lava rocks stink.