I have 2 friends who work in this industry, and there is one issue you should be aware of;
There is a ceiling as to how much you can earn, and the ceiling is limited by number of hours per day you can work. I know what your thinking....thats the same in any job, but it is slightly different with lawn care.
Say you decide to work 10 hours per day, and you make an average of $10 per hour (after taking petrol, tax, materials, travel time into account). That means you can earn $100 per day. Not bad.
The proble is scaling it up. If you want to employ someone you pretty much need to double your workload. But even doubling your workload is only going to increase your earning by a very small fraction. Say you manage to get 20 hours of work, your going to have to pay someone else to do those extra 10 hours. Pay them $8 per hour, and it means your going to make $2 per hour extra (so an extra $20 per day)
The problem is as soon as you employ someone your into the realm of having to get insurance for them/you, do their tax and payments (probably via an accountant)....the list goes on and on.
Also, if your sick, you dont get paid. If you go on holiday whos going to cut the lawns.
So, basically its not a scalable business.
Im sorry to be negative and honest, but as I say I know a couple of people in the sector and they havent increased their income over the past years, and have had real probably trying to employ help.
You sound like a really hard worker so you will do well.....but if I were you I would put my energy into something else. I really hope you dont mind the advice.
There is a ceiling as to how much you can earn, and the ceiling is limited by number of hours per day you can work. I know what your thinking....thats the same in any job, but it is slightly different with lawn care.
Say you decide to work 10 hours per day, and you make an average of $10 per hour (after taking petrol, tax, materials, travel time into account). That means you can earn $100 per day. Not bad.
The proble is scaling it up. If you want to employ someone you pretty much need to double your workload. But even doubling your workload is only going to increase your earning by a very small fraction. Say you manage to get 20 hours of work, your going to have to pay someone else to do those extra 10 hours. Pay them $8 per hour, and it means your going to make $2 per hour extra (so an extra $20 per day)
The problem is as soon as you employ someone your into the realm of having to get insurance for them/you, do their tax and payments (probably via an accountant)....the list goes on and on.
Also, if your sick, you dont get paid. If you go on holiday whos going to cut the lawns.
So, basically its not a scalable business.
Im sorry to be negative and honest, but as I say I know a couple of people in the sector and they havent increased their income over the past years, and have had real probably trying to employ help.
You sound like a really hard worker so you will do well.....but if I were you I would put my energy into something else. I really hope you dont mind the advice.
