Although I have posted lots of other stuff about operating a teen lawn service, I haven't gotten down to the basics as much as I should have. So, here goes...
When starting a teen lawn service, you will first want to ask yourself some questions:
Do I have time?
This question is a very important one to answer. If you don't have enough time to run your business, then you obviously can't make any money, and you will have some
pissed customers.
Am I willing to make my business a priority?
If you tell someone you will mow their lawn and back out, they aren't likely to want you to service their lawn anymore. If you say you are going to do a job, you had better do it, no matter whatever else you have going on. Although some circumstances could prevent you from taking care of someone's lawn (ex. death in the family), you should still tell your customer in advance that you will not be able to do their lawn at the time you agreed on.
If you answered "yes" to both of these questions, then you are on track to starting your very own
teen lawn business.
First, you need to secure
equipment so that you can perform lawn duties. The most important items for your teen lawn service are a
lawn mower and a
weed whacker. If you can, borrow these items from your parents. However, if you can't secure them from your parents, then other measures must be taken. A lot of times you can acquire these on the side of the street when people throw them out-- often they require minimal repair. However, if worst comes to worst, you will have to buy them. If you already have the money, use it. You will definitely make the money back very quickly if you play your cards right. If you don't have the money, ask you parents if you can borrow some. Explain to them exactly how you will make the money back so that they can be sure. If they are still reluctant, offer an interest rate. I don't know what to tell you to do after that. Maybe get a job for a few weeks and invest that in a mower and weed whacker.
So, you have your equipment, it is March or early April and you're ready to start
advertising.
Flyers are a great way to announce your teen lawn care to the world. Place them under people's doormats and on telephone poles in your area. To get even more customers,
go door to door offering your services. Dress up nice and give a small blurb about your business. Hand your potential client a business card and bid them good day.
Well, the calls should be rolling in by now. Believe me, it should really be that simple. You have now established your very own
teen lawn business!
Labels: business
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like could i push the mower from house to house until someone says yes? Or could i come around in the evening and ask if i could come mow tomorrow. Then what would i do about the money situation. Should i have them pay me then or should i come back the next day after i finish mowing when they get home from work?
I suppose you could try going from house to house, although I don't suggest going with the mower. You should ask them to pay you at any time after you have mowed their lawn.
oh ok thanks
Unless you live in a neighborhood that has a lwan mowing business that mows every lawn then your pretty much set. I started my lawn business at 13 and made $2000 with my friend the first summer. We split it $1000 each so we made nice money. Just make sure you do it during the summer cuz then theres no problem with "free time" or anything. Your best bet at advertising is flyers. Just make them on microsoft word and copy them. They dont have to be anything special. We charged $20 to mow weed whack edge and blow off the driveway. This way by being so incredibly cheap you beat out ALL the competition. And usually you get tipped a fair amount too. My advice for edging is using your weed whacker. It takes time to master so start out on your own yard. But all the comments that say its really hard are BS. Three or four times on your own yard and youll be fine. Most importantly be polite when you talk with customers, its very important. Your business will get spread around by word of mouth so youll be overflowing with job offers. My friend and I actually had to turn some down we had so many. Try to take the customers that you like and are close to your house. Overall this is an easy way to make good money and meet great people.