I recently had an email conversation with Rhonda. She was inquiring whether her son is old enough to run a lawn mowing business. Let's look at what she said:

At what age do you recommend starting a lawn mowing business? I have a 10 year old son that would like to start next year, since it's now August. If he's too young now, do you have other suggestions on what he can do until he reaches a good age?

Awesome question Rhonda. I'd first figure out the answer to these questions:

a) Can my son perform the duties necessary for a lawn mowing business?

Basically, he needs to have the stamina and skills to be able to use a lawn mower. Does he mow your grass at home? If so, then he probably can do other peoples' lawns, too. He also needs to be able to deal with maintaining the equipment, for example, tuning up the lawn mower at the beginning of the season and when the blade gets dull.

b) Would he be comfortable dealing with customers?

Your son will need to be able to set up methods of communication with potential customers. For example, he may need to create an email address that customers can contact him at. Home phone works too.

10 Customer Service Tips

c) Can he be consistent?

Consistency is vital to a lawn business. You have to be out there every single week (especially in the spring) keeping the grass at a reasonable height.

d) Can he be financially savvy when business costs arise?

If he needs to buy a lawn mower, weed eater, or blower, he needs to be able to put the money together to obtain these items. Also, maintaining equipment costs money.

How to Buy a Used Lawn Mower

Basically, I've tried to give you a small idea of the kinds of things a kid has to think about when running a lawn mowing business. If your son is up to the challenge, then by all means, he should go right ahead.

However, if you don't think he's quite ready yet to start a lawn mowing business, you might suggest he have a small leaf raking service in the fall. Leaf raking does not require the tools, the consistency, or costs that a lawn mowing business requires, and a leaf raking service can also be a launching pad for a lawn mowing service in the spring. He could learn a lot about hard work and dealing with customers on a smaller scale. Not only will he learn skills, leaf raking can also establish contacts for clients that he could potentially use when starting up the lawn mowing business in the spring. Also, a leaf raking service does not require a huge amount of time and effort. If he decides he really hates yard work, then he has an easy way out.

So essentially, if you think your son is ready, go for it. If he's not quite ready, he can rake leaves (shoveling snow in the winter is another good option) to build the skills and contacts necessary for a lawn mowing business.

Best of luck to your son!

Labels: question and answer

The other day I received an email from a teen named Sasha who wanted to start a lawn service, but wasn't sure about a few things. The email went as follows:

Hey Ben, Thanks for writing this blog. I learned a lot from it. After reading, I had a few questions about starting a lawn business, because I am thinking about doing that this summer. First of all, do you think it is possible to succeed if I do not own a lawn mower? I was thinking of maybe putting that the clients should have mowers on the flyers. And the second question is how big do you think the flyers should be, because I need to store a lot of info on there and do not want to print billions of pages. Last, how do I come up with the charges if I do not own a mower? Is it a good idea to do a flat rate for every job?

Sasha has some great questions. All these questions are important ones to ask when starting a lawn business. Now, let's go question by question.

Do I need to actually own a lawn mower to start a lawn business?

Yes, you do need to actually own a mower to run a lawn business. However, don't let that burst your bubble. Although a really nice new push mower costs about 150-200 dollars, which I assume is more than your budget, you can get a used one for A LOT less. For example, my dad loves yard sales. One day he was at a yard sale, and he found a serviceable bagging push mower for me-- only 25 bucks. My dad also got me a pretty good, but used, reel mower, and I think he got it for something like $5. I would suggest going to yard sales in your area. You can also find them on Craigslist for good prices. I saw one for $40 in my area. If you think $40 dollars is too much, trust me, it isn't. You'll pay back $40 in just one or two mows. If you are having a hard time getting the money for it, just ask four of your friends to spot you 10 bucks (or eight of your friends to spot you 5 bucks, some kind of combination). I bet your parents might even be willing to help.

How big should the flyers be? I have A LOT of information.

For your flyers question, I would just put the key information (services, contact info, etc.) on the flyer using Microsoft Word and print it on (11x8, right?) computer paper. Here's an example of what your flyer should look like:

A simple website could hold the extra information you have about your lawn service. If you haven't already, check out my post Advertise Your Teen Lawn Service With Flyers.

How much should I charge customers? Should I use a flat rate?

You can check out my post on the issue of how much to charge customers. You should not consider using a flat rate. All yards are different. You wouldn't want to be making the same amount for a yard that takes you two hours and a yard that takes you thirty minutes, right? Basically, you multiply the time it will take you by how much money you think you reasonably want to make per hour. Then, you add costs for the mow, like gasoline. Make sure your price is reasonable and a round number (count by fives).

More advice

If you are starting your business after the first few spring mows, I'm not going to guarantee that you will get a lot of customers. By then, most people will have already made plans for who will cut their grass. However, don't let that stop you. You might get some customers, and even one or two customers can make you a good amount of cash. People will also keep your flyers that you put out now and call you next year. I got several calls this spring from people who had gotten the flyer last year and wanted me to mow their lawn this year.

And even if you aren't able to get any customers this summer, there's always the fall. Fall cleanups is a very lucrative business, and the fall is actually the season where I first started my lawn service.

Conclusion

I'm really glad you have decided to go out and run a mowing service-- in my opinion, they are one of the biggest money-makers for teens.

I would encourage anyone reading this to ask any questions they have about running/maintaining their lawn business in the contact form at the bottom of the page.

Good luck Sasha!

Labels: question and answer

Ok so i live in a somewhat upscale neighborhood.. Ive been told I could charge 25$ per house EASY. Im a VERY HARd worker so thats not where i need the advice. What i'm asking is how to properly market myself in my neighborhood. I was thinking to start this as a summer "gig" then if im popular enough just run through the spring next year.

1. How can I market myself?
2. What else will I need other then a weed whacker and lawn mower?
3. Any other advice on how to do a great job, on the actual landscape, AND on the business end.

Thanks!

This question is from http://www.youngentrepreneur.com/forum/

Well, Johnny, you have asked a great question. I am going to answer it to the best of my ability, based on experiences I have had with my own teen lawn service.

How can I market myself?

This is a very good question. The biggest way I have marketed myself is with the use of fliers. I'll summarize what you should do, but click on the link for a better description. Make a flier with your services and contact information, and place them under peoples' doormats and/or staple them to telephone poles. Also, just ask your neighbors if they would like you to mow their lawn. The worst they'll probably do is say no, right?

What else will I need other then a weed whacker and lawn mower?

That is basically all you need. Make sure you have a container that looks something like this to store your gas in. In a pinch, you don't want to be siphoning gas out of your dad's car! If you have a gas weed whacker, you may need to have some kind of oil gas mix, so some oil might be necessary as well. Make sure to have some extra of that twine stuff so you don't run out for your weed whacker. Although just having a "weed whacker and a lawn mower" may seem pretty simple, there are actually many different kinds of each. Electric or gas weed whacker? Big or small mower? Or even, a push propelled mower? Using your parent's stuff is fine. But, if you're interested in some different equipment, check out the links.

More advice

My biggest advice is to search around this site a bit. Click on the tags and links in the navigation bar on the left and read some of the stuff you find. Educate yourself. You say you're a hard worker, and I think that is the most important thing. Johnny, your business will most likely do fine if you work hard. So, good luck on your "gig," and have fun!

Labels: question and answer