starting a new business from scratch (mowing)

[ozstickman]

I use to do it as a kid. My old mad use to drop me off in town to do my aunties house. Use to drop the trailer with the mower and whipper snipper in it and come back at the end of the day. I use to do my aunties house and five of her neighbours. All because they use to see me mow my aunties place they asked me to do theirs. The coin I made paid for me to keep my motorbike running and also ended JP with enough saved to buy a new bike.

Now I HATE mowing. Word of mouth is the key IMHO, the mower man my FIL uses does 8 lawns in his street. Started with doing next door to FILs place and spread from there.

Good luck mate.

[chillipepperz]

I wish you well, hard work should win out in the end, ,but whatever you do DO NOT BUY A FRANCHISE!!! Having been in one for the past three years (not a Jim's, it was in the beauty industry), all I can say is that there is only one winner, and it won't be you. Franchise's should be illegal in my opinion, the highest form of pyramid selling and can be cult like. No matter what the perceived benefits are, do not sign up!

[Bird]

I dunno if its such a good idea...
To be competitive it needs to be cheap and the other bloke comes in cheaper and cheaper.

Look in local paper see how busy it is.. in ours theres about 15 people mowing lawns. Just playing against each other for the work...

[buddha]

I work in a botanic  gardens full time and have a gardening business on the side,imho u should keep main job while u start up ur business. Besides the great info u have recieved  u need to think what happens if u get crook or injured, holidays or unforeseen circumstances keep u from work for extended time.it doesn't matter how many r doing it in ur area there is always work if ur willing to have a go. GOOD LUCK

[D4D]

To be competitive it needs to be cheap and the other bloke comes in cheaper and cheaper.

I dunno about that totally, the guy that does our lawns isn't the cheapest but he does a great job. For the $48 a month he charges it saves me half a day on the weekend which for me is worth it.

[speewa158]

I dunno if its such a good idea...
To be competitive it needs to be cheap and the other bloke comes in cheaper and cheaper.

Look in local paper see how busy it is.. in ours theres about 15 people mowing lawns. Just playing against each other for the work...

ln a early post l had 75 ads in the paper to compete with , then there are those that don't do anything but word of mouth . l asked my clients do you know anybody eles l can help . My best was 5 deep on recommendations . At 1 stage l had 2 Bridge club tables as a client base , them 1 Dropped her hand , shell we say . Get out there & Beat the Feet 

[speewa158]

I dunno about that totally, the guy that does our lawns isn't the cheapest but he does a great job. For the $48 a month he charges it saves me half a day on the weekend which for me is worth it.

lt would take you that long to winch the mower into your Eagles Nest 

[bluejay]

Mate I have a Jims, fees are about {msg} me and ill tell you be in 7 years work as little or as much as u want if you cant turn over $145000 to $210000 a year then ur not trying but it does depend what part of the country you are in to

[speewa158]

Quoting figures will vary be so much as to depend on where you are located . In citys  where the houses are close together travel time to the next job can be reduced . A compact round is a productive time on the ground . No matter where you are you will be as busy as you want to be .Turn over is good , the real test is profit after expenses. That's what left to go to the pub with at the end of the day 

[hainess]

Mate.
I've been mowing lawns for nearly 30 years now.

Buy the best gear you can afford. The Honda mowers last around 2 years which is 6 months more than the next best.
Whipper snipper/brush cutter. You only need 1 that is not too big for lawns but big enough for brush.
Although it would be 10 years since I've cut any brush.
 Husky's or Kawasaki's.
I did use Stihl's but got tired of having to replace the clutch every 6 months.
Blower and hedge trimmer.
But go cheap with a little $100 chainsaw from the big green shed.
It will cut stuff that the hedge trimmer won't. Get to know 1 of the local tree loppers and recommend him for the bigger stuff.
Should pick up some lawns from him after a while.

I have only advertised in the local free rag. And it works well.
Put a landline number in the add. Most of my "retired" customers have told me they have skipped passed the adds that only had a mobile number.

I don't deal with real estate agents. Long story and a few can tarnish the whole. Bad luck about that.
Their calls are not returned.

Be careful with body corporates. Make sure you are clear on which part will be paid by the corporation and which is the individual residents responsibility.

Government departments. All tiers. They will eventually pay but you can go broke waiting for it.

Have fun. Work to your own hours. Be aware of the winter slowdown. Gives me time to do more fishing.

Do it "right" the first time.

Rod.

.
 

[speewa158]

We should compile a list of toys to get now or a bit later
Honda 21in mulcher/catch 3 speed , great kit
Straight shaft brush cutter ,Honda , Still , at least 25cc
Chain disc Makes chainsaw out of brush cutter , handy for trimming up to 3m in the trees
Weedwacker Google the steel blade for long grass great kit
Diamond cut 2.7mm trimmer cord 
Blower , don't get too excited about the vac bit
hand tools secretes long handled choppers rakes you know the drill
Wool pack as a bag to carry waste to trailer
A good bench grinder to sharpen you blades , change them at least every few days . Sharp blades , clean cut = faster growing grass ,
You dont have to have all the gear to get started  . The list will get longer as you hang around the mower shop  .
Establish a mower shop that will let you watch any repairs done so you can learn to do it yourself  So  grab what ever you have now & Beat The Feet

[nab]

I work for myself (not a mowerman ) and it all depends where you want to go with it. I didn't want to grow a business, I just wanted some flexibility and to work at my own pace.

When I started almost 3 years ago I worked for my old boss on a part time basis but that didn't last long as I had enough work to keep going on my own pretty quickly with the contacts I had.

I never advertise, not even at the start, my business name doesn't even come up in Google searches. I had a few contacts that wanted me to do some jobs and I couldn't fit it all in on the weekend and it just carried on from there. Haven't been out of work in 3 years and sometimes turn down jobs from random callers or jobs that sound like they will be crap, I just make sure I keep my regular clients happy.

As others have said, never say no when you start out, always be polite and neat, do what you say you will, return phone calls, call when you say you will. I have gotten many jobs just by returning calls, they don't even ask for a price because they are glad that someone finally called them back!

[bluejay]

Also make sure you have all your insurances in place $10 - 20 Million public liability is a must as well as income and equipment ins.SAFETY gear is a must also you must have msds for all petrols/oil/poisons  all documentation  the work place health and safety mob are very savage  well in QLD they are cover your arse with ll the paper work and govt requirements and your good .

[speewa158]

Public liability , equipment cover , when you get to that l have a contact 

[Goose]

I honestly dont know how to start a business. I honestly dont know how to price competitively.

Any advice.

Have a look at NEIS - New Enterprise Incentive Scheme. My brother did it and thought it was alright. Basically the gov will pay you an allowance whilst helping you start your first business and helping you get training at the same time. You take classes with other people who are all doing the same thing.

http://www.business.gov.au/Newsandfeatures/2013/Jul/Pages/New-Enterprise-Incentive-Scheme-%28NEIS%29.aspx

http://deewr.gov.au/new-enterprise-incentive-scheme-neis

[Mrs smith]

My suggestion would be keep it simple, register for your ABN as a sole trader,( saves getting a lot of printing done) opt for the simplified tax system, no GST (you can turn over up to 75K ) Claiming the GST quarterly will probably work out as expensive or even more than what it's worth. (At the end of the year it's still all deductible)  Before choosing what kind of business to register as, find the one that has the most deductions. Advertising is good, sandwich board out the front while working signs on the trailer and vehicle cards flyers. IMO Papers generally pick up people that have bad history
so unless free I wouldn't bother. Word of mouth is best. Public liability is a must, there are some good deals around you just have to look."Elders" was the cheap when I was looking a while back.     

[Jeepers Creepers]

Google independent mower mans forum and you'll  have more info than you can poke a whippersnipper at.

I started mine from zip and its going well. Don't buy an existing run, save ya money and run some good ads etc in your area.

I tell ya what, i'll send you my batphone number and give me yell after lunch tomorrow.

[SambOz]

Elders is also my Public Liability and equip. insurer.

[Brumbypt]

Hows the mowing going???


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[speewa158]

Hows the mowing going???


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               Growing 

[DaveR]

I'm another one who is doing the mowing caper. A temporary thing thanks to better half and her cancer, I needed the flexible hours.

There is some sound advice already here for sure, I know you said your not a trady but I am sure your good at something out doors.
I have been making 60 % of my money from NOT mowing, for eg:
Did an hour in the gardens for a lady the other day, she couldn't open her shed door, then I was back for 6 hours of shed repairs. The only tool I took was a battery drill.
I also take rubbish away, then sell half of it on Gumtree, charged a rich guy $160 to take away 2 of 3 x 3m garden sheds, I pulled them apart neatly, sold them on gumtree for $110 each.
Another lady I help out, I noticed the timber fence was a bit dodgy, then at a garage sale 1 day, scored a good nail gun cheap, with heaps of nails for the timber fence, so when I went back next, took it all along with me and suggested to her that I fix the fence whilst I was at it. Bit cheaky I know, but when prompted politely, she said she was not aware of it falling apart like that.
My tips
Take good weed sprays around with you, and know how well they work. Use the type where you make the dose.
Have a water blaster as well, with a long pressure hose, I do a lot of clean ups, use CT 18 truck wash as the soap, and get good results.
When your on the job, make observations of other things that may need doing and point it out, a lot of people don't notice things out doors.
Check your work before you leave. On a mowing job 1 day, Mr Franchise shows up across the raod and set a land speed record whilst there, my customer and lady over the road were talking as I was packing up, I noticed the poor job across the street and seen how disapointed the lady was. Without asking for anything from her, I draged my mower over and fixed it, now I do 3 x homes beside each other when I arrive.

All the best with it
Cheers
Dave

[speewa158]

lts amazing how fast the day is filled with " Walk Ups " l have had 3 this week in a town of 1500 people not bad for a blow in .
                                           Build it & they will come ,  &tell their friends & they will come
                                                    Thank You Walt Disney