There are a lot of good reasons to start your own lawn care business. You can be your own boss, get healthy and ditch that commute. I can help you avoid the pitfalls and build a successful business that will give you a great income for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A lawn care business is exactly that. A business. You cannot stumble into a successful lawn care business. It takes planning and trial and error. A lawn care business set up correctly can shave years off your starting time and get you to the making money phase a lot sooner. I have done all the trial and error in the last thirty years so I am going to help you avoid making the same mistakes I have made so you can get your business profitable a lot sooner. Sounds good? Then read on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are simple things like planning your route in the opposite direction to that traffic that will save you hours of time spent sitting in your truck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Believe it or not, when you start a business you can have so many things going on in your head it can sometimes take you years to figure out all the little things that will save you time and equate to extra income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You will be building a business with consistent recurring income through regular bookings of lawns and this is something that most businesses do not have. You don\u2019t have to spend heaps of money marketing for one-off sales. Your one sale can be a recurring job for years to come. I know of lawn care operators who have had the same customer for over a decade or more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You will also find the business is recession-proof and covid-proof (to a point) or at least more recession-proof than 90% of the business out there. The grass is going to keep growing no matter what the economic climate does. Instead of acting like a small boat on a choppy sea, your business will be more like an ocean liner. You are not going to notice small changes at all and that is a good place for a business to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Have you ever heard the saying about computers that go \u201crubbish in = rubbish out\u201d. It is the same with your lawn care business. If you run it badly you will get bad results. You will get back exactly what you put in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping this in mind you need to start as you mean to continue. Do things right, don\u2019t cut corners and you will be building the foundations of a great business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are working a full-time job at the moment then it may be too much of a leap of faith right now to quit your job and put your money into a lawn care business. You may feel that there is too much to risk. Your partner may (understandably) be not 100% behind the idea. I know where you are coming from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You don\u2019t want your pay packet to stop and you definitely don\u2019t want to quit your job for a business that may or may not succeed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If that is the way that you feel then why not try both things at the same time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then another, then another. Start working Saturdays mowing lawns. When you find yourself not having time to take on any more work because your job interferes with your lawn mowing work, it is time to quit your job and go full-time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This may not be the best way to start a lawn care business but it does have its benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I have done the same thing myself. I am setting up another business after thirty years in the lawn care industry. I was tempted to sell my business entirely, but I didn\u2019t. I sold over 350 lawn mowing customers in 2019. I still have a lawn care business where my wife and I work 20 hours a week each. I could always sell my entire company (in fact I had an offer the day before I wrote this) but I am not interested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like the security of having my living costs met every week, so I do not depend on my new business to cover those costs. When the new business income equals what I earn now, then I may sell my existing lawn care business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can do the same thing with your job. (apart from the \u201cselling it\u201d bit) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You don\u2019t need to jump in at the deep end if you don\u2019t feel comfortable. You can put a toe in the water and see how it goes. There is nothing wrong with being cautious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This post does not cover franchising or buying a lawn care business privately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although If you are intreated in buying a lawn care business I have written a buyers guide that can be found here.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n You will need to decide how much you can budget to start your business. Are you going to use savings or finance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are going to need to figure out how much this business is going to cost to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you go through and set your budget you can use the income chart on the last link to give you an idea of how much you will need in the way of savings to get you through that start-up period. You really should allow for a 25% buffer on your budget. You need to be prepared for things that can go wrong. A lot of businesses can get into trouble when they start up because something happens and they are already financially stretched so they cannot access any more money to get them through the tight spot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Unless you live in an area where you can work all year round you will need to put money aside for Winter. You could also look at alternative ways of generating income in that period such as Christmas lights or snow removal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Something that can really help is getting free advice from other lawn care operators. You figure out that nobody local is going to give you any advice and you could be right. However, if you go to a place like the lawnmowing101 community<\/a> you will find plenty of lawn care business owners who are willing to help you with your questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do be aware that not all the advice you receive will be good advice. I would do a little research on who gave the advice before I go ahead and do it. You don\u2019t want to end up taking advice from someone who doesn\u2019t have a business but they think they are full of good ideas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I do a lot of online training or read a book (usually a dummies book) when I need information. I would recommend that you consider making this a habit too. This is a link to the latest version of the Dummies guide to starting a business<\/a>. I have a copy of an older version of this book in my library. It is well worth reading if you want to build a profitable business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Name your business \u2013 I don\u2019t know how it works with most people but I need a name for my new business before I do anything. I feel I need a good name before I can go forward. Take your time here as a good business name can help drive success whereas a badly named business can be a hindrance to the growth of the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first step is to name your business. I always find that this helps with bringing everything together going forward. A few suggestions on naming your business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you need a Business license? \u2013 Some countries need this and some don\u2019t. You may have to contact the local city hall or chamber of commerce to see if you need to do this. While you are there check out the local bylaws to see if there are any laws regarding local noise restriction times. This will give you an idea of how early you can start if you have lots of work booked for a day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You need to keep your personal and business accounts separate. Do not use your personal account and do not use your business account as a personal account. All money from the business goes into the business account and for your income, you will be making withdrawals once a week for your personal drawings. This will keep everything above board from the start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You do not need to decide this immediately. You can start with one structure and then change it later on, and that will not be a problem \u2014 most small businesses start as sole traders or partnerships. These are simple and do not require much in the way of setting up. You may decide to change to a limited liability company at a late date to protect your assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do be aware that you will have to be vigilant about drawings and only use the business account for business expenses. If there are problems and a company or person claiming from you can prove that you were using the business account as a personal piggy bank, then you could be found liable and lose your assets anyway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are not sure what business structure to use then I would suggest you seek advice when you are talking to your accountant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is some information from IRD<\/a> explaining how to set up that part of your business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I am not going to go into a lot of details here as there is plenty of information out there on this subject and a business plan is the same regardless of what kind of business you are going into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What image are you presenting \u2013 You need to think about how you are going to present yourself as a business. There are really only a few choices here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Start with the end in mind \u2013 This might sound a bit counterproductive but it is important. I have seen a lot of lawn care businesses simply run out of steam when the owner passes sixty or loses interest. These guys walk away from a business and let it die when they could have sold it for tens of thousands. This is because they were in the business of mowing lawns not selling businesses so they had no idea what to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes I would go around to quote on a lawn and the customer would tell me that their lawn mowing guy just stopped turning up. I would get a contact number and try ringing the guy to see when he stopped and if the business could be salvaged and sold. 90% of the time I was too late but sometimes I did get a customer list off them that I could contact to build my own business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When starting a business that is the best time to think about your exit strategy. If you eventually want to sell your business that should be reflected in the way that you run your business. When I sold my first lawn care business, I thought I had everything in place, but I turned out to be very wrong for the following reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I didn\u2019t have surnames for a lot of my customers. I also had some of the addresses written down wrong. I knew which lawns I was mowing, but the new buyer did not and mowed the wrong yard. I had to help them sort everything out, and I learned a lesson. Always be prepared and keep your customer list current with notes on any job that requires them. This will also help if you are off sick and need someone to help you with your business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What size business do you want? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Seriously though, the size you want your business to grow will affect the way you build the business. If you are happy working by your self you may develop systems for doing things but there is no need to write them down. You already know what you are doing so what is the point? If you hire someone to help you you can train them on the job. No drama there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember that it’s not just when you start a lawn care business that you need to pay attention to. You also need to move with the times to stay relevant for the best chances of success. Adapt or Perish: Why Your Mowing Business Needs to Stay Competitive.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n However, if you are going to ever send someone out in another vehicle you are going to have to write everything down. You are going to have to systemize everything in order to have your business running optimally. You will need to have a written manual that you can give a worker to read before they go out. You will need a way for employees to give you feedback and suggestions if they find a more efficient way of doing something and then you will have to update the manual. I could write a whole post on this and maybe one day I will but for now, if you have an interest in business systems for growth I would suggest you read Michael E. Gerber\u2019s book called The E-Myth<\/a>. You can listen to the audiobook or read it for free here<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n You could decide you just want to mow lawns or you may decide to offer a full-service business. A full-service lawn care business offers a lot more to its customers with things such as.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are also extra services you can sell in the offseason if you cannot mow lawns in the Winter such as things like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please do a bit of research here as I am writing generally here, so some of these things may require licenses or permits where you live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I would also like to say that as far as offering other services goes. It is a good thing to do when starting if you can do something extra that does not really require a significant investment in equipment such as gardening. However, do think carefully before investing serious money in offering another service. There is a saying that you should keep in mind \u201cScattered force lacks direction.\u201d In other words, If you try to do too many things at once, you may end up doing none of them well. I always think long and hard before offering a new service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Who are you going to target with your services? You may think that the answer is simple but it\u2019s not. You can\u2019t be all things to all people. If you decide to specialize in large lawns and have a big trailer and big mowers then you do not want to find yourself doing a lot of small lawns in a narrow street. However, if you have a small mower and trailer that could be your ideal customer. Have a look at these different kinds of business and decide what suits you the best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are going to need different equipment for small, medium, or large lawns. If you take on work that is the wrong fit then it will cost you money. You could end up having big equipment sitting idle while you mow a medium lawn with a smaller mower because the big mower won\u2019t fit through the gate or using a small mower to do a big job and being underpaid because the market value price of the job assumes you have a larger mower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you decide to go for small to medium domestic lawns (as I have done) then gear your marketing and advertising towards that end of the market. Speak to this person with your advertising. I have an arrangement with a local contractor who only does large ride-on work and no small residential work. I pass him any lead that fits his business and he does the same with me. In fact, I got a referral quote from him yesterday. You could possibly make this kind of arrangement with a local operator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n if you are going to go commercial then you are going to have to get the correct paperwork and insurance. These could be totally different than you might need for domestic business. Your start-up costs are also going to be a lot higher. You will need to budget for that. Also, cash flow is going to be a major issue as some large companies consistently pay their accounts in the third month. You are going to need enough starting capital to get you through the first three to four months as it could take that long to get cash flow happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think about the kind of business you want now and keep that in mind when quoting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every time I read about writing a business plan I always see something about evaluating the competition. I\u2019m not that sure the competition is relevant in the lawn care industry. As far as I go with the competition would be to get half a dozen quotes on your lawn before starting your business to give you an idea of local pricing. I do look at what they are doing on Google Ads when I am advertising but apart from that, I don\u2019t pay much attention. It is easy to become obsessed with the competition and why would you bother studying them when you could spend that time making your own business better?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please note that this is my personal opinion and I am talking about the lawn care industry only. Spend as much time looking at the competition as you feel you need to but remember that you need to change your focus at some point towards your own business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Write one, two, five, and ten-year goals \u2013 You do not need to spend a lot of time doing this but it does help to have an idea of where you are heading. Also comparing the results from your goals to actual every year can be enlightening. It can be of great assistance in planning your next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep track of your income for taxes and accident levies. If you feel that you might struggle with this then you can use a service like Hnry<\/a>. They will keep track of all that for you for just 1% of turnover. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I am a great believer in having a very basic knowledge of accounting at least when running your business as you are going to need to keep on top of things like invoicing, handling accounts, etc. You are going to need to know if you are growing your business in a profitable way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know that most people find accounting to be a very dry and unsexy topic (I feel this way too) but you need to take at least a passing interest. I suggest you take a course or read a book on the subject to at least learn the basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t need to run out and sign up for university but you do need to know enough to understand your accountant and have an option on what they are saying. Remember accountants are numbers people which means although they may be able to reduce your taxes they may know nothing about how you should be spending your marketing budget or how to value a business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You also need to know enough to keep your accountant honest. Business owners have lost thousands of dollars by not having a basic understanding of accounting so they don\u2019t even know if their accountant or bookkeeper is being deceptive.\u00a0Keeping Track of Where the Money Goes in Your Lawn Mowing Business.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Video<\/strong> Keeping Track of Where the Money Goes in Your Lawn Mowing Business<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nSetting a budget for starting up your business.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Talk to people in the industry<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Now the fun begins. It\u2019s time to bring your business to life.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
You will need to open a bank account<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Decide<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
on a business structure<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Watch what you pay yourself<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Now it is time to write a business plan<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Think of your exit when you start<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Employing someone<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What services are you going to offer?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
What is your target market?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
Find your niche and try not to deviate. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Competition<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Keep track of the accounts.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n