Lawn Business, The Right Business For You?

Landscape maintenance is a great business to be in. Whether the economy or housing market is up or down, the grass still needs to be cut.

Now I will admit that there are some downsides to the landscape business. Nit-picking, unappreciative customers always wanting extra work done for free.

"Low-baller" start ups that will do lawn care for less than it costs to be in business. Then that forces the business owner to fold up shop at the end of the year when they realize that they lost money.

Oh, and then there is the HUGE start up costs for mowers, edgers, weed eaters, hand tools, insurance, equipment replacement and maintenance, etc. Dragging a lawn trailer behind the big F-250 that you need to pull all that equipment can also eat up a lot of cash in gas. Did I mention the no show employees who don't even bother to call in when you've got a full day of work planned because it's "too hot?"

Well, maybe grass cutting business is not so great after all. That's why I refuse to cut grass anymore for a living. The overhead and start up costs are too high and the profit is too low.

I can imagine that you're thinking "but what about these big companies I see with lots of trucks?" Sure, if you can tough it out and eventually have 10 trucks on the road, maybe you'll get rich. Or will you?

Work Smarter, Not Harder

I used to work for the largest landscape company in the U.S. out of one of their FL. Gulf Coast offices. They had about 20 trucks and the lawn care division never turned a profit in the years I was there. How did they stay afloat?

The sprinkler repair division.

We always turned a profit and made nice bonuses. We had more work than we could do. I was a trainer, and I could take a guy that knew nothing about irrigation and have him turning us a nice profit in a week.

The Secret

Repairing sprinkler systems is not nearly as complicated or as difficult as people think. It's actually much easier than lawn care after you learn the trade secrets, tricks and tips! Another great thing about sprinkler system troubleshooting is that when someone has a leaking pipe or a broken sprinkler head, they want it fixed yesterday.

The overhead is low (a small pick up truck, some hand tools and a valve locator) , and the profit to exspense ratio is high. Once you know how much to charge the rest is easy. We never lose money and we never run out of work!

It's true some guys get rich starting a landscape company. It's equally true that out of a million guitar players somebody lucks out and becomes a rock star. Your odds at getting rich starting a landscape company are about the same.

If your not making at least a hundred dollars an hour after expenses with your lawn care company, maybe you should sell the mowers, ditch the employees, buy a shovel and start a sprinkler repair business.

Craig Borglum CIC/CID/CLIA is a Certified and Licensed Irrigation Specialist and EPA Water Sense Partner in Central Florida. More information and articles on how-to irrigation solutions, click on lawn business