Buying yards

[MIDSOUTH]

I have a freind with 19 yards and he is getting out of the biz, they gross about 20000.00 per year. I don't need them but would consider buying them for my other crew, what would be fair price to bargin with. They are not on contracts.

[Fantasylawns]

this is going to be a touchy one ....opinions will vary ...but remember you are NOT buying yards or even contracts ....you paying for the opportunity to provide service ....in which the client may or may not desire for you to continue

so good COMUNCATION is necessary to make this work ?the Client must know what?s up ?.n you Must have the ability to present yourself with confidence & ability to perform ?..after all what does the customer want ?.good & consistent service ?..around here rates are generally 2 months

lot of people going to say NO ?.but it?s really up to you & where you want to be & a certain amount of Risk is envolved

[Chip]

I have done this before and the deal I worked was the cost of the weekly mow times 3. This was after the client was told the situation and given an introduction to the new provider. No contracts involved so make sure you can provide the service and the customer will stay with you. As long as the customer knows whats going on there should not be a problem.

[awm]

id be careful ,but i wish i could find this same offer.
20 grand is aloto green unless they done to cheap.
a little over a thousand a yr per lawn. on 32 mows ,its a little over 30 per cut. if my math is right AND IT MAY NOT BE
later now

[Mowingman]

I bought 9 lawns from a guy in July. I paid him one months income from the yards. He contacted each customer to tell them what was going on, and then we mowed each lawn once together. They all stayed with me the rest of the year and all are renewing for next year, so this deal worked out good for me.:)

[Ric]

Yes it is good business to buy accounts or as Theleven has said the opportunity to provide service. I agree with his post 100%. Big corp. America does this all the time. Ask your self how much would it cost to advertise, run leads, and how much time would it take to do this. Accounts cost money and when you buy them you have an instant customers. Keeping them is an other thing and figuire in a 20% lost of accounts when figuiring the price of the accounts. You must also figuire in the quaility of the accounts when desiding a price. As a business man you must also try and buy low and sell high.

I bought 3 different companies accounts over the years and have made out on all of them. I was lucky enough to buy them on sweat. I did the work for so long and they collected. At first customer thinks I am just working for there guy. This works the best as a buyer because you find out who the tough customer are right a way. also you are providing the service that Theleven has so stated in his reply. The customer sees what you have and is more likely to stay with you. This system works good for the buyer because of cash flow. You are buying with cash flow and not leverages (saving or loan).

Price of accounts??????? I have purchased them for as little as one month income. I have paid as much as 6 month income. I wished I could give you a better answer. But even if I were there looking at them I could only guess what they are worth. Good luck and if the price is right then jump on it.

PLEASE NO POSTS ON HOW STUPID IT IS TO BUY ACCOUNTS. IF IT IS STUPID THEN WHY DO THE BIG CORPS DO IT????

[MrNoSweat]

It realy depends on why he is getiing out? Does he has a another job already? Or is he trying get some cash in during the winter. Be careful they might already have someone else to do their yard. If he did a poor job last season and were not satified.

In this area the going rate is usally 2-3 months of billing.

I would be extra carefull this time of year and make sure that he is realy getting out of the business and doesn't make a return into these accounts next season.

The idea of trading out for a few months of work would protect you. I wouldn't do it untill your back to servicing the accounts. You ever know what may happen by then

[Crazygator]

Not to be a smart *****, but if he is getting out of the biz why is he selling them? He wont be able to provide for them anyways. I have a LCO that has 9 accounts in my area and he wants to continue in another. We met one day and started talking. He offered to let me have them no charge. Reason? He wants the other area and want to turn over accounts to someone else reliable, to help me and protect his name as a good guy. So my answer is again why can he sell something he wont even have next year? Just a thought!

[IKEN LAWNCARE]

I ,too, have been offered 50 accounts. I have been trying to see if it would be worth it. I kind of like the idea of mowing the lawns for the first month and having the seller collect the money. This way I do not pay out a lot of money, and the customer gets to see my work. And if the guy is a A**hole, and trying to burn ya, you didn't really lose anything because he doesn't get paid until you cut the lawns. I would also require him to inform the customer that there will be a switch. In other words, tell the customer that they will be having someone else mow their lawn. However the seller guy will still be responsible to make sure I do the right job. It also allows the customer to see my work and feel comfortable about me taking over their lawn. What do ya think?:crazy: