Starting up a Landscape Maintenance Business

[minkyung]

Landscape maintenance will mean a lot of lawn mowing. I wonder if friends in this forum can help me gather the list of items to buy for the operation. The following I think are important:

1. walk-behind lawn mower with spare sparts (can someone suggest model?)
2. set of gardening handtools -- back hoe, shovel, etc. (can someone suggest?)
3. a truck that can carry the mower and tools

More experienced friends might want to add more or help me clarify my thinking.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[jenkinsph]

Do either you or your friend have any experience with this kind of work? There is lots of manual labor in this business. Do you think you are up to it? I ask this because most people entering a business have an idea of what basic tools they need. In the US it is difficult to find good employees, I work by myself for the most part investing in equipment that helps reduce the manual labor needed.

So often things like leaf blower backpacks can save alot of time sweeping and raking, the idea is to setup to do the work quickly with the least out of pocket labor costs.

What you need for equipment depends on the jobsites you have, all we can do is make generalizations without more information about your specific sites.

 

[indypower]

why do you need a back hoe? That is a big expensive piece of equipment. A zero turn mower would be a better investment. Buy a trailer to carry your equipment. A lot easier & quicker to load than a truck.

 

[Twinkle]

Minkyung, did you move? I thought you lived in the tropics somewhere, unless I am mixing you up with someone else? I see your location is Korea - where a lot of people live in apartment buildings. Are you sure there's a market there for the business you are asking about?

 

[minkyung]

Thanks Jenkins for your very good questions. No, we are city people But we are looking at offering services to schools, memorial parks, clubs, and like that. Not to homes. Lots of manual labor, I understand. That's another part we will think about, hehe. But we are hard working. Initially, we will do it. Then later, we hire.

Hi Indypower, my mistake. I meant light hoe, not back hoe. We do not need back hoe.

Twinkl, no I did not move. Please see my reply to Jenkins.

 

[Ric]

Thanks Jenkins for your very good questions. No, we are city people But we are looking at offering services to schools, memorial parks, clubs, and like that. Not to homes. Lots of manual labor, I understand. That's another part we will think about, hehe. But we are hard working. Initially, we will do it. Then later, we hire.

Hi Indypower, my mistake. I meant light hoe, not back hoe. We do not need back hoe.

Twinkl, no I did not move. Please see my reply to Jenkins.

minkyung

What you're talking about is a Commercial 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 equipment you purchase should bought with that in mind.

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 cost of the equipment as follows:

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 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 Lawncare 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.

 

[minkyung]

Hi Ric! I can see that you are in the landscape maintenance business. Thank you very much for your reply. I am learning a lot from it. We will consider everything you have said. They are very useful.

We will check the rules in Korea. We will see if business is promising True, the investment is heavy. Very scary, yes.

 

[Hershey]

You also need to do a really solid evaluation of what to charge. Of course, I can't speak to any price considerations in Korea since I've never been there, but make sure you are knowledgeable in that arena.

 

[abra]

Ric is on the money with what he says.
It takes alot of time and effort to start up a business as well as the $$$ it takes to buy your gear.
No point getting cheap crap gear as it wont last.
Have you test the market and seen if the work is out there.
Do you know that the going $$$ when you quote as its no point quoting low just to get the work as your business wont last.
Do a business plan b4 you start and remember you will always have on going costs like fuel, maintenance, repairs and so on.
If one of your equipment packs up are you going to be able to replace it on the spot.
The work just wont jump into your lap as it will take time to build up your client list, a website would be a big help ( can build free ones on the net to get you started )
I could go on and on but im sure you get the picture

 

[octopusapp]

I might be riding a fine line with respect to the no advertising policy here -- if I've crossed a boundary please let me know, and feel free to remove this post.

Anyway, all the points made in this thread are great, especially in regards to buying quality equipment. Don't skimp, or you'll regret it. Investing in the highest quality, well researched gear you can afford will enable you to do your job faster, more reliably, with more confidence, and less downtime due to maintenance issues.

I've worked with a handful of service companies as a software developer, including landscaping and lawn maintenance companies in the past, and another point that cannot be ignored is the importance of properly managing your business information. Especially with a small operation, writing quotes, handling invoicing, following up when and where needed, and adequately tracking your customer relationships can quickly become a nightmare that chews up a lot of time that you should be spending more effectively out in the field. You also have to worry about projecting a professional image to your customers, and letting administrative items slip through the cracks is a sure way to lose their confidence.

Of course this is the kind of stuff that computers are perfect for. There are a number of systems available to help you manage your business information, and they all have strengths and weaknesses. A lot of them are marketed as either 'Field Service Management' or 'On-Site Service Management' systems if you want to do some searching around on Google for them. The features and limitations that distinguish one from the other are far too broad to get into in this post, but if anyone has questions about the technical differences and implications of specific systems, or even generally speaking, I would be happy to contribute what I know.

Anyway, as a software developer I've put a lot of time and effort into the On Site Service Management System that's linked in my signature below, and I really think it's a high quality example of what effective business information management can do for you. My partner and I are in Public Beta right now, so it's completely unlimited and free to sign-up and use, which is why I feel okay mentioning it here. The feedback that we received from our closed beta testers has been fantastic, but we're always looking for more suggestions and opinions on what we've created. You guys and girls are the experts after all!

Best of luck to all of you brave entrepreneurs! Taking the risk to run your own business is a great and respectable thing to do, and so much of our recovering economic strength relies on people like you making the sacrifices, and experiencing the thrill and uncertainty of running a small business. Bravo.