part timer with family wondering if I can make it full time

[scotlawncare]

Here's a question for you guys running full time LCO's. How long did it take you to build enough business to support your family full time. And does your spouse work. Mine doesn't and I have an excelent primary job but love the Lawn care business. I'm wondering what and how long it will take to turn this into a full time job with enough revenue to support my wife and 2 young girls.

Right now i'm almost dept free in my business. Paid cash for almost all my equipment except for one used bunton mower which I just owe 500 on. I would like to purchase an exmark rider but if I wait till i have the cash for it i'll be hurting due to equipment not being able to handle customers .

Sorry for the long post

Any input will help.

[tranum]

1.my spouse works.
2.been in this business 3 yrs full time & if she didn't work we'd be in a little trouble.
3.if i still worked for the man & she didn't work, we'd be in a heap of trouble. (not all financial)

i tried it part time. lasted just a few months before i got enough business that something had to give. gave up my regular job & we struggled some for the balance of that year. second year (being fulltime now) i was able to pursue & get enough new business to put us back where we were when i was working the regular job full time. finishing my third year now & we are o.k. i have as much (probably more) financial stability, more time off, & really enjoy what i'm doing. that makes all the difference!!!!

[scotlawncare]

thanks tranum.

The problem I have now is my spouse doesn't work and i'm having problems finding enough time to spend doing yard cutting, work at primary job doing computer work, and spend time at home. It will take me growing ALOT for me to quit my computer job and stay afloat.

[Williams Services]

SLC, my .02 ... take it for whatever it may be worth to you.
1. This IS my job and has been since July 2000, right before I left the service.
2. My wife does not work outside the house. Our 2 girls keep her going. ;)
3. I HUSTLE! Things aren't yet where we want them to be so I'm always after new business.
4. Sacrifice. Lifestyle is what keeps a lot of people in bondage, in my opinion. You have to determine what's important to you, if it's keeping up with the Jones', go ahead.

Talk with your family about it.

Prayer helps a lot, too.

[scotlawncare]

There isn't much I could sacrifice. my buisness is very small. I made under 10k this year. My other job brings in alot more than that. so i'm trying to figure out what kinda numbers i would have to have comming in to keep me at this level. Current life style is not that expensive. I'm just trying to gage how long it could take to make it full time with a business pulling in 120k plus a year before expenses.

[awm]

if i understand correctly u are sayin u have enough computer knowledge to make a good living. id do the lawn care
a while pt time. theres no hurry. i can recommend the lazer
but i liked what u said aboutyour debts. i was lucky enough to pick up a used lazer, for 2250. theres a lot of well off elderly out there that are aquireing commercial ztrs. im watching about half dozzen of these now. might be where my next z comes from.
example ,recently there was a machine exactly like mine lazer52w20 kohler w 300hrs on it for for 4000 grand asking price.
a little trade talk, talks it to 35 and u got an excellent machine just broke in. course new has its advantages also.
just my thoughts on it.

[AltaLawnCare]

I'm running out of time quik! I don't have a family to support - but I do have bills. I don't want to go full time in the lawn care to make less money!!!!

In my case, I'm sure I can get a "good" part time job. Since I've been in the automotive collision industry for the past 10 years, I'll probably start writing estimates for some independent appraisal services in my area. ;) Or, a second business doing appraisals for the insurance companies directly (insurance for that, and software subcriptions aren't cheap).

If you're a programmer, you could probably get part time work in that. IMHO
Good Luck.
;)

[scotlawncare]

awm,
I've been working on computers and networks now for almost 9 years. The problem is I'm burnt out. The lawn business give me more satisfaction than anything. Downside to staying part time is if I grow I will spend less time at home with two girls both under the age of 3 and wife and more time working. Right now I am only cutting two days a week. both days are full. I have an 18 year old guy that I've know for years working for me who cuts the yards on one of the days by himself so I can spend more time at home. There are days when we work 4-5 mornings a week. I currently work 2nd shift at Fed-ex so that helps. I can make it with my salary from the primary job but want to eventually go full time LCO. Two jobs from 8am-midnight 3-5 days a week can drain ya.

[SJR Lawncare]

I was fortunate enough to have a wife with a good job, which made my decision to quit my job easier. I did have to take the plunge & take the chance. Knock on wood, It has been worth it, I am so happy to be my own boss & be in control of my financial future. It takes alot of thinking, praying, & planning. Good luck

[leebbb]

This is just my opinion, but if you're working 2 full days a week and have an employee working 1 day a week and only brought in $10,000.00 this year, forget it. I made 3 times that amount working {mostly solo} 1 full day a week. Using your figures, your only gonna bring in $25,000.00 a year working a full 5 day week and that's before taxes. You would have to generate way more income than that to make a go out of it. Remember your family is totally dependant on your income, like it or not, do what best supports them. I'm considering going full-time next year and frankly I'm worried, and I'm already 3 times ahead of you in income with half the effort. Like I said this just my opinion, take it for what it's worth, Goodluck.

[scotlawncare]

i'm not thinking of going full time next year just trying to get an idea of how long and what it will take to do it.

[BOTURF]

My wife works as a nurse so she makes great money also that made my decsion to go full time (SOLO) back in 93 much easier and business has grown every yr since but you always worry whether you will have enough work the next yr to support your life style also you have to worry whether a drought will hit and wipe you ( maybe your lawns are iriragate up here most arent) then you make next to nothing its all how you play your cards also another thing to take into concideration you always have to have new equipment sometime so how are you going to buy this if your living off all your money then insurance and .... the list goes on i could write for ever but the bottom line is IAM happy doing this and wouldnt have it any other way also i do have a winter jon that runs from jan till april when mowing starts i manage a greenhouse in winter so iam still happy lol

[cclllc]

I work fulltime too at the nissan plant.been there almost 17 years.good pay and benifits.hate to quit.kinda burnt myself.put alot of 16 hr days in this year.there and mowing.

[HOMER]

When I quit my full time job I had roughly 25 accounts and hardly any were year round.

I learned how to be a salesman real quick.

First year was rough..........bad.
Second year was better
Third year was better than second

Still learning.
Still eating
Still breathing

Not rich though, don't see that happening doing this line of work.

Beats working the factory job though:D

[cutntrim]

I'd be very wary of jumping in with both feet in your situation. My partner and I started cutting residential lawns in the spring of 1991 as a way to earn money and pay for school. After graduating with a degree in Physical Education, I went off to teacher's college. One month in I was at a crossroads in my life and decided to abandon teaching and go full time as a LCO. That was in 1995. At that stage of my life I was single, and dating my future wife. Living at home and debt free, except for my school loan. My partner and I had been in business for 4 1/2 years and our gross was probably around 90K (memory fails).

As of November 30th of this year, my partner has left the business and I'm now a sole proprietor. My wife works and we have a two year old and a mortgage, plus combined school loan amounts of $25,000. I don't know your financial requirements and obviously cost of living is different in every state. Not too mention from country to country (U.S. vs. Canada). From what you've said, I think it'll be awhile for you to be able to support your family on your lawn income alone. Maybe you can gradually move your computer work to part-time and your lawn work to full-time, rather than just up and quit the desk job. Perhaps your wife could find part-time work and a relative can babysit the kids a couple days a week.

Lots of options, but in the short-term something needs to be sacrificed. Either you've gotta keep moonlighting, or your wife needs to get work, or you've gotta live beneath your means for a while.

Anyhow, you can argue pros and cons forever, but the bottom line is that if being an LCO is what you really want to be then you oughta do it...just not at the expense of providing for your family.

[eslawns]

Nobody can tell you whether or not you will make it in this, or any other business. There are just too many variables. However, I was once given very important advice. "Do what you love to do, and money will come to you." IMO, we spend entirely too much emphasis on making money.

I got into this biz when I got canned from the best paying job I'd ever had and had to spend 6 months working for less than half what I'd been making. I didn't even have a lawn lined up when I gave my notice. I knew myself well enough to know that I'd have 15 reasons why I couldn't ever go full time for every one why I could. So I did what Cortez did, and burned my bridge, took my last paycheck and got a push mower and started knocking on doors.

BTW, I recommend to anybody considering doing something like this that they plan better than I did. I didn't think about things the way most people do. What I was concerned with wasn't whether I'd earn money, but that I refused to go back to a job where one person held my immediate financial future in their hand.

Most people convince themselves that they stay where they are because of "benefits." Insurance? I have insurance. Retirement? Ever hear of an IRA or Keogh? Vacation? I can take as much or as little time as I want from Christmas Eve until March. Do you get 2 months vacation at your "real job?" I doubt it. Are there drawbacks? There always are. There is no free lunch.

The bottom line is that some of us would rather make money no matter what the intangibles, and some of us want to do things on our own terms. No matter what you decide there will be trade-offs, and you can always do this (or computers) part time. I am going back to school in Jan for computers. My plan is to do that part time and to stay busy in the winter.

Good luck

[AB Lawncare]

I really, really, really love this job. First year was OK. 30,000 profit. This year, due to severe drought, about the same. I am at the point where I really need to make much more. Am I making it? Not really. Just getting by. What do you need to "make it"? Remember, you don't get paid when you are sick. You don't get paid when its pouring rain. You don't get paid for the endless canvassing and billing hours. You have to but your own health insurance and figure out how to retire. Sometimes, I think that I would like to just clock out and forget it. But I am stuck. If I apply for jobs, I am looked at as someone who will quit if times get tough and go back to lawncare. I feel stuck. But I think I like it.

[scotlawncare]

Thanks guys for all the input. It has given me alot to think about. It will probably take several years for me to be full time. If I don't go full time I am building a good retirement business.

[HOMER]

On the retirement thing:

Watched the news this morning. Enron Corp. going belly up........30+ year employee with $660,000.00 in 401k plan Dec. 2000............Dec 2001.........$11,000.00.

Never put your trust in the man!

This man was going to retire in June 2002 when he was 59 1/2. Now he says he'll be working till he's at least 69.

Sad but true. The company I quit working for in 98 took their profit sharing and turned it over to an investment company.........put it in the market. Glad I got out when I did. No orders, corporate factory closed.........no raise this year.........and not even a ham for Christmas.

I like being me!

[65hoss]

Homer, when I was doing 401(k) consulting I had a memphis computer co. that does fortune 500 work cause the employees to loose life retirement savings. The stock was over $15 per share on the NASDAQ and now its a penny stock at around 50 cents. People that were millionaires now can't retire.

Sad part was a widow I had to work with one time. At one time the account was in excess of 2mil. When her husband died she insisted on cashing out the account. I sent her a check for $70,000. I did cry with her. Very sad when you see something like that happen.

[Totallawn]

I quit my full time job in March of this year. I had 5 accounts lined up. At the end of the mowing season I had 46 accounts. It hasn't been easy (financially) but the piece of mind makes it all worth it!!

I am looking forward to next season!!!!!!

Oh yea, my wife works.