Starting up a landscaping business as a teen any advice?
Hey, i'm almost 18 and I have a few of my friends that would be interested in working with me (I would be the boss). But I had an idea to start up a landscaping company like taking care of peoples lawns, mowing etc. But does anyone have any advice that would help me with the business? And especially some good ideas for advertising. THANKS! :)
Starting up a landscaping business as a teen any advice?
The first thing you need to decide is how you will structure your business. If your the employer, and you hire them, you need insurance and employee coverage for everyone that works for you, and it can be costly. However, if your the employer, and you contact out to them, then you dont. Everyone that works for you is an independant contactor, no need to register a business. They bill you every 2 weeks and you pay them a service, no need to pay taxes for employment. They just use the earnings to file yearly taxes. ------------------ You need to research equipment, depreciation value, and costs of running the equipment, Cut, Trim, Blow, basic lawncare. Also consider gardening, weeding, outdoor window washing. Everything outdoors around the outside of the house to boost your customer base and profits. Business cards and self printed flyers is all you need to get started for advertising. Just leave a flyer in everyone mailbox within 4 blocks from where you'd like to start, flyer should include your business name, services, email address, phone number, and website. You would need just a basic informational website that talks about your services and contact info. Offer free quotes like; $45 cut per time. $8 trim $8 blow 8% taxes $3 fule charge Ideally for a lawn care business, you'll break even the first 8 months, you wont be making profits until you get more customers closer to each other (remember to pay employees and yourself, should have no profits for the first 8 months after paying everyone) Then you need a simple accounting program to invoice customers, cover the cost of working. You bill them, they give you a cheque. Once you get a few customers, word of mouth will be your strongest advertising. You can run some online flyer and newspaper ads later that cost money, but door to door self made flyers is the best. Then you can work on getting vehicle sign for your trucks to advertise on your transportation. Always offer other services! Be polite, respectful, and customers will come. You might go to a customers home to do a quick cut and trim, then offer to clean easetraughs and wash their windows for a intro discount. Now you have a customer for multiple services in the future. Best of luck!
What is some advice for starting a landscaping business?
All depends on where you live as far as what to charge. The way I started my business was from classified ad in news paper. I got 3 jobs from that first ad and believe it or not ran my business for 5 years from word of mouth from the first 3 jobs I landed. You can advertise in Craigslist also. The most important thing to remember is word of mouth will make or break you. I got out of it when I broke my ankle. I then got hired at VA medical which was good fit for me cause I needed the health insurance for family.
How hard is it to start up a landscaping business?
Starting a business is rarely hard. It's the getting and keeping of customers that's tricky!I assume you're working in this field (no pun intended!) already? If so you hopefully have some satisfied customers that may follow you into your new venture. A business like this will generally be all about word of mouth so do good work and promote yourself as much as possible and you'll stand a good chance of being successful.Aside from that just always keep your eye on cash flow and profit. You need to be able to buy materials up front so unless you're covering all of that cost in deposit money from customers you'll need some money to play with and of course you'll need to make some money at the end of it. This can be particularly tricky with fixed price work until you're very good at estimating and spotting potential issues at survey stage. Maybe some clients that pay on a day rate basis to start with would be nice?Good luck!!
Starting My Home Cleaning Business. Advice?
Most house cleaners charge by the hour so find out what the going rate is where you live. You can buy concentrated cleaners at janitorial supply houses, and Home Depot has pretty good cleaners in big bottles. But ask the customer what they want you to use, they often have quite definite preferences, and then they are the one that buys whatever it is. You should always have the basics with you, but use their stuff if they care what you use. Don't forget good old white vinegar, it cleans quite a bit. When in doubt, use unscented cleaners. Some people love them but others are allergic or just plain can't stand them. For cloths, these days, I recommend microfibre. Great dry for dusting, and damp they will clean with water only. You can buy those cheap at Costco in the automotive section. For general cloths or for really grubby cleaning, the best thing is 100% cotton old flannel sheets cut up or cloth diapers. They are absorbent. As for other advice, most important is to show up when they expect you, do what you said you would, and don't damage their stuff. People really get to count on a housecleaner so if you don't show up it kind of ruins their day. Communicate--return their calls promptly, and if you know you aren't going to be able to show up on time or have to change your schedule, let them know as far ahead as you can. If you're in a house regularly you'll get a routine down but people really appreciate when you notice details like cobwebs in the corners, and try each time you're there to do one "once in a while" kind of job like emptying a closet or kitchen cabinet, cleaning it and putting it all back more neatly. Use the kitchen as your work base, so clean every other room first, work towards the kitchen and clean it last.
How can a teenager start a landscaping business?
People are willing to hire teenagers to do lawn work for them. Most people will only be thinking of having you mow their lawns. I'd talk with your family members, see who you can work for, and ask them for people who they know that might be interested in hiring you. You can also go door to door, but your best bet for finding clients, is word of mouth, meaning getting your clients to tell others that you do a good job. After you've proven yourself to a client, tell them your looking for more work, and ask if there is anyone they may suggest talking too. A local guy started out like you, he was mowing lawns for friends and family members when a client suggested him for the contract on mowing the city school district's. Today he has a whole crew working for him and they do much more than just mowing lawns. Also rethink your price. Think about how big a yard is first. Some are small,others are quiet large, don't have a set price per yard. Look it over, and have a basic idea that is flexible.
San diego, ca how do you start a landscaping bussiness?
You'll need to get a business license from your local city or county office. Here's the contact and location information for San Diego government offices. Some cities/counties will even let you download license applications from their website. http://search.business.gov/permitme2_0.do?q=san+diego%2C+ca&bcat=0 If you are not using your personal name as your business name, file your fictitious business name with the county clerk. You'll also need this if you decide to open a business bank account, a good idea to keep business and personal finances separate - and to accept checks or payments from customers to your business name. http://homebusinesscenter.com/register_business.html Get a business tax ID from the IRS website. You can also get information at the website about business income tax, self-employment tax and estimated taxes. http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98966,00.html You can advertise and find clients by using online contractor networks like Bid Clerk and Service Magic. These services send you qualified leads, which can save you time and money creating and distributing flyers in neighborhoods. http://www.servicemagic.com/ http://www.bidclerk.com/ It can be helpful to get guidance from a lawn care business expert by way of a start-up guide at your local library or bookstore. They are usually pretty inexpensive for the amount of information you can get from them. There's also a step-by-step guide on how to start a lawn care business here: http://www.homebusinesscenter.com/how_to_start/lawn_care_business.html
How can I start a landscape business in high school?
This is an excellent question and I'm confident that I can help you. My older brother used to mow yards with a p.o.s. mower and when he graduated high school, I took them over. I was 13 years old and making about a $200 bucks a week.My absolute best advice I can give you is to buy a decent zero-turn mower. I mowed my brother’s yards for a couple years and when I was picking up more yards I needed something bigger and better so I took a loan out for $3000 (as a 15 year old) and bought a 60″ zero-turn. This does multiple things for you: 1. It's an investment, it sucks to pay each month, but you have to spend money to make money. 2. It will build up your credit for when you go to buy a car or something like that 3. It teaches about/gives you an appreciation for money.With my $3000 investment, I was making on average $15,000 a summer in high school. I got lucky and was mowing for some really wealthy people for $50 a time per week. I mowed about 20 yards a week and the average charge was $30 a yard. Small in town yards should be closer to $20. The most important thing is that you do a good job. Don't leave clumps of grass in the yard, be sure to weedeat around sidewalks and trees and all of that, and be sure to blow grass clippings off sidewalks and driveways. Doing respectable, clean work is your advertisement and you'll pick up business because of it.Another thing I did was landscaping. Mainly just laying down mulch and occasionally laying stones/pavers for walkways. If you have a landscape design mindset this work can be really fun. I recommend getting started in this by asking family members if there's anything you can do for them. Obviously they get a family discount so that they'll hopefully have you back for more work. I typically charged about $16 an hour for landscaping work.By the end of it all, I had hired another buddy to help me and had bought 2 60″ zero turns, 2 trailers, and a new truck all because of that first initial $3000 investment. I wish every hard working high school kid would read this advice!