My younger brother had a stroke & passed away in January. I purchased the business from his wife. (its on a percentage of business basis). I'm eager to get started.
I worked with my brother (part time) for the last 20 years. I know most, but certainly not all of his customers on a first name basis. Letters were sent to all customers, explaining the circumstances and that I would be taking over the day to day business operations. Only 1 customer is not interested in having me continue the service. He is going through a divorce, and lawn care is very low priority at this point.
My "real" job was that of a logging subcontractor. I have no plans of any future logging endeavors.
The business has many facets. In spring, there is about 1 1/2 months of yard cleanup work. Add another 2 -3 weeks of fall cleanup in late Oct early November. Caretaking & property checks took place throughout the year. The summer months see lawn mowing, tree removal, and storm cleanup. Lastly, firewood sales generally take place from June - December.
The area is very upscale. The typical customer's home is there 2nd or 3rd house, with nearly all being over $500K homes. All residential. Nearly all lake homes.
3 or 4 part time workers help out during the spring/fall cleanup periods. 1 full time june/july/august employee. Generally, firewood is purchased from loggers by the semi load, and then its cut to length, split & stacked for seasoning.
My business plan is to pretty much follow the success of my brother and evolve it a bit when it comes to cleanup & lawn care by purchasing a riding mower & installing a lawn vac. In the past, all the cleanup work was accomplished using shoulder mounted blowers & hand loading leaves/pine needles onto pickups. I prefer to invest in equipment that significantly increases productivity, and involves less "grunt work".
One of my buds, who worked as a caretaker at a huge area resort is encouraging me to buy a commercial grade Kubota zero turn mower. The price is a huge shock to me. I really don't know exactly how much summer lawn care is involved. My brother repeatedly told me he didn't make much money mowing lawns. He used John Deere residential mowers and did none of his own maintenance. I tend to think he underpriced his lawn care services. Its an area of concern to me. I actually have little info to go on regarding how my brother priced some of his services. Even his wife is in the dark. My intentions are to get away from any type of per hour pricing and do as much as possible by the job.
I will be getting busy in mid-April with spring cleanup. I am very well aware that this will certainly involve 60 - 70 hour work weeks during the busy times. If this type of work were easy, everyone would be doing it.
I worked with my brother (part time) for the last 20 years. I know most, but certainly not all of his customers on a first name basis. Letters were sent to all customers, explaining the circumstances and that I would be taking over the day to day business operations. Only 1 customer is not interested in having me continue the service. He is going through a divorce, and lawn care is very low priority at this point.
My "real" job was that of a logging subcontractor. I have no plans of any future logging endeavors.
The business has many facets. In spring, there is about 1 1/2 months of yard cleanup work. Add another 2 -3 weeks of fall cleanup in late Oct early November. Caretaking & property checks took place throughout the year. The summer months see lawn mowing, tree removal, and storm cleanup. Lastly, firewood sales generally take place from June - December.
The area is very upscale. The typical customer's home is there 2nd or 3rd house, with nearly all being over $500K homes. All residential. Nearly all lake homes.
3 or 4 part time workers help out during the spring/fall cleanup periods. 1 full time june/july/august employee. Generally, firewood is purchased from loggers by the semi load, and then its cut to length, split & stacked for seasoning.
My business plan is to pretty much follow the success of my brother and evolve it a bit when it comes to cleanup & lawn care by purchasing a riding mower & installing a lawn vac. In the past, all the cleanup work was accomplished using shoulder mounted blowers & hand loading leaves/pine needles onto pickups. I prefer to invest in equipment that significantly increases productivity, and involves less "grunt work".
One of my buds, who worked as a caretaker at a huge area resort is encouraging me to buy a commercial grade Kubota zero turn mower. The price is a huge shock to me. I really don't know exactly how much summer lawn care is involved. My brother repeatedly told me he didn't make much money mowing lawns. He used John Deere residential mowers and did none of his own maintenance. I tend to think he underpriced his lawn care services. Its an area of concern to me. I actually have little info to go on regarding how my brother priced some of his services. Even his wife is in the dark. My intentions are to get away from any type of per hour pricing and do as much as possible by the job.
I will be getting busy in mid-April with spring cleanup. I am very well aware that this will certainly involve 60 - 70 hour work weeks during the busy times. If this type of work were easy, everyone would be doing it.