How Much Money Can You Make Mowing Lawns

How Much Should I Charge For Cutting Grass

Take out ads in your local newspaper, community paper and specialty papers. Offer coupons and free services to help encourage potential customers to try your lawn mowing service. Pass out flyers and door hangers. Drive around your service area and place door hangers and flyers at the homes of potential clients.

Jump Right In Even If You Have Little Money

Russell says you dont need much to start your own mowing lawn services.

He says that even if you all you have is a lawn mower and a broom, you can start a lawn care business tomorrow:

He started his lawn care business with only $2,000. He bought a $200 blower and a $150 weed eater out of that money and kept the rest of it in reserve.

Soon, he had enough cash to buy some of his bigger equipment for 0% down financing. This included things like a tractor, a tilt deck trailer, and an industrial bush cutter.

The moral of this story?

Doing excellent work.

Soon, youll have funds to reinvest in your lawn maintenance business. And, remember Russells words if you run into obstacles:

Tips For Running A Profitable Lawn Care Business

To run a profitable business, you need to know exactly whats happening with your business finances. This means having a consistent, accurate, and informed view of how much money is coming in and going out.

Once you know that, there are a few different ways you can increase profits without making drastic changes.

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How Much Money Can You Make Cutting Grass

As a teen, I made a lot less than that.

And, that is why I would never recommend you make money cutting grass through a company.

Now, if you were to do these lawns yourself, thats when you can start seeing some more significant numbers.

There is no one answer to this question, but you can expect to make anywhere from $50 $300 for just one yard.

Of course, everything depends on the size and the type of work you will be doing.

But making anywhere from $500 $1,000 a week is not far-fetched.

Now, when you are just starting, dont expect too much.

Get a couple of yards here and there, and build up your portfolio, but most especially your mind.

Get the feel of running a legit business and let everything fall into place.

Lawnguru Is The Easiest Way To Make Money Mowing Lawns

Lets be real there are ways to come up with a good plan for a business, but executing the plan is never really that easy. Thats why so many providers love using the LawnGuru app. Using LawnGuru takes out all the guesswork when it comes to mowing lawns for money. Clients can come looking for you with a push of a button. The pricing and fees are all taken care of.

As a LawnGuru provider, you will be subject to a background check, so customers know right off the bat that they can be confident in hiring you. The app also allows you to get reviewed so you can build up a reputation as a top provider, ensuring repeat customers and new clients that want the best for their lawn!

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Get An Employer Identification Number

If your business is of the sole proprietorship variety, you wont need an employer identification number.

However, if youre planning on having employees work in your lawn business, youll need to get one to open a business account, apply for a business license, or to get a loan.

You can see what an application looks like here.

To get yours, apply at the IRS website.

Its totally free.

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Starting A Lawn Mowing Business

Starting a lawn mowing business, just like any business, is not a guarantee of success. It takes hard word, smart marketing and excellent people skills. However it can deliver an excellent work/life balance and working outside, early on a summers morning is hard to beat.

Pros of starting a lawn mowing business:

• Can deliver an above average income with the right business model.

• Once established, its an easy business to scale.

• Keeps you fit by walking up to 20 miles a day.

• Low barriers to entry and start up costs.

• High levels of customer retention so less sales to do once established.

• There is plenty of work out there.

Cons of starting a lawn mowing business:

• Finding enough customers in your first season can be difficult.

• Easy to suffer from burnout in the summer.

• Can be lonely and repetitive if working alone.

• Machinery breakdowns or injury can seriously impact your business.

• Ideally you will need a van, which can be expensive.

• Very seasonal, you will need to find additional services to offer over winter to maintain revenue.

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How Hard Is It To Start A Lawn Mowing Business

Lawn care businesses are relatively inexpensive to start. The only thing you have to do is collect clients homes with equipment and trucks. An array of home equipment can be purchased, leased, used, and rented easily. Your lawnmower should be transported in a truck or trailer in order to guarantee the safety of yourself and your property.

Is It Feasible To Turn A Profit Mowing Lawns

Yes, it is absolutely feasible to make a small lawn-mowing business profitable.

I did some digging and found this really interesting video on YouTube. Take a look at it here

So, in this video, a man who owns a yard service demonstrates how much money he makes mowing lawns for his business. He spends an entire day on the job, and his time gets broken down like this

Total time spent away from his house: 6 hours, 40 minutes

Time spent mowing, edging, trimming, and blowing: 4 hours, 36 minutes

Time spent chatting with customers and eating lunch: 45 minutes

Drive time: 1 hour, 19 minutes

Total money brought in for the day:$208

Obviously, this may not represent the exact kind of return that everyone can expect to make with a lawn-care service. But this guy seemed to have only basic equipment, and certainly seemed to have quite a few houses that he mowed on a regular basis.

I have also heard other accounts of people online earning money providing lawn care, so I know that it can be done.

So in the end, the answer to this question is still a yes yes, it is feasible to turn a profit mowing lawns.

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What Are Top 10 Highest Paying Cities For Lawn Mower Jobs

Weve identified 10 cities where the typical salary for a Lawn Mower job is above the national average. Topping the list is Sunnyvale, CA, with Santa Rosa, CA and Williston, ND close behind in the second and third positions. Williston, ND beats the national average by $5,126 , and Sunnyvale, CA furthers that trend with another $6,828 above the $28,340 average.

Importantly, Sunnyvale, CA has a moderately active Lawn Mower job market with only a few companies currently hiring for this type of role.

With these 10 cities having average salaries higher than the national average, the opportunities for economic advancement by changing locations as a Lawn Mower appears to be exceedingly fruitful.

Finally, another factor to consider is the average salary for these top ten cities varies very little at 9% between Sunnyvale, CA and New York City, NY, reinforcing the limited potential for much wage advancement. The possibility of a lower cost of living may be the best factor to use when considering location and salary for a Lawn Mower role.

Calculate Your Hourly Labor Rate

Labor costs are most businesses biggest expense. So, its smart to start here to figure out how much to charge for lawn mowing.

You can find your hourly labor rate per worker and per job by considering these factors:

• The average rate for lawn care services in your area.
• How much you pay your employees per hour.
• Your desired profit margin.

Its important to note that pricing by the hour does not mean that you have to communicate your hourly charge to your customer.

You can plug your hourly rates into your lawn mowing pricing formula to help you figure out what prices make sense for your business and present the total to your customer.

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Choose How To Structure Your Business

Youll need to choose how you want your business structured. There are four main types:

• Sole proprietorship: a business run by a single individual
• Partnership: An agreement between two or more persons who run the business together
• Limited liability company: a hybrid of partnership and corporation
• Corporation: a group of people authorized to act as a single entity

Sole Proprietorships

If youre just starting out, youll probably want to be a sole proprietorship. Most small businesses are sole proprietorships because this is the easiest and cheapest way to start a business.

In a sole proprietorship, you and the business are one and the same. A sole proprietorship is unique among business entities because its the only one that doesnt have to register with a state.

Starting one is easy.

All you have to do is:

• Come up with a name for your lawn company and decide where you want to be located
• File for a business license with city hall
• Set up a business checking account so theres a separation between your business and personal cash

If you plan to sell taxable things, youll need to register with your local taxing authority.

Sole proprietorship advantages include:

• Easy startupno complicated business structure
• Controlsince youre the only owner, youll have total power over every aspect of your company
• Use of lossesbecause youre including your business income and losses on your personal tax return, you can use them to offset personal income

Setting Your Mowing Business Rates

Youâll need to establish some sort of fee schedule beforeyou begin your first job. Start by inquiring about theprevailing charges for lawn-mowing in your locality. When Ibought our first John Deere tractor, I asked the dealerwhat the going rate was and he âthought it might beâ $7.00an hour. We asked that and got it easily. The second year,we bought a bigger JD and raised our charges to $8.00 anhour. The year after that, our price went to $10 an hour. If thisseems steep, just remember that the fee included twooperators working two machines at once.

Many customers the ones who see an hourly rate as aninvitation to a slow drag prefer a contract price to a by-the-hour charge. My advice is to figureon the high side if a firm price must be given in advance.Consider every possible factor in your estimate: roughnessof terrain, grass height, amount of moisture , the number of trees and shrubs to cutaround, how much hand trimming will be required to finishthe job, etc. And donât just guess at the size of a green .. . pace if off. If youdonât take all these factors into account , you maywell end up losing your jeans.

Of course, in the final analysis, thereâs only one way toget a feel for how long itâll take you to mow a givenamount of lawn, and thatâs to practice mowing. I stronglyrecommend you do so.

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A Lawn Care Service Can Save Money

What are the true costs to purchase and maintain equipment?

On averagea riding mower costs $1,500, a blower $150, and a weed eater, $100the total investment adds up, and on top of that.

These costs do not include regular maintenance, repairs, and/or gas. With the initial costs at $1750, mowing an average of 30 times per year will cost the homeowner $36 per cut. .

Here’s the deal, data gathered by a national GreenPal lawn vendor survey shows the average mowing price is roughly $45 per half acre.

So for homeowners to cut their own grass at $1080 per year, and a professional vendor to mow at $1350 per year. Homeowners who mow the lawn themselves save only $270 per year.

This is crazy but, it would ultimately take a homeowner almost 7 years to recoup their initial investment of $1750. In light of these estimates and those in the previous paragraph, are you really saving any money?

What Are The Startup Costs For A Lawn Care Business

The cost of starting a lawn care business can be as little as the combined cost of buying a mower and printing some flyers in your neighborhood. However, as you grow your business by increasing the number of jobs and the complexity of the work that needs to be done, additional costs may come into play in order to keep you sane and profitable! The key costs of running a legitimate lawn care business include:

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Hiring A Lawn Care Service Helps You Stay Safe

How dangerous can mowing the lawn really be?

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 80,000 people are taken to the emergency room every year due to lawn related injuries.

Lawn equipmentincluding mowers, weed eaters, hedge clippers, and mulchersare some of the most dangerous items in the household. Also, flammable gas, harmful fumes, and sharp blades moving at over 200 mph, all bring added dangers to this chore.

Additionally, being in the sun without protection can have long lasting negative impact on the skin, including cancer and skin disease.

Why not leave this task to better trained pros?

Advertise To Make Money Mowing Lawns

The first step to making money mowing lawns is to make sure customers know you exist. How can they hire you if they dont know who you are? There are various tools you can use to help advertise your business, such as business cards or flyers. Advertising may seem like a scary investment for your business, but its a great way to spread the word. Another great way to advertise your lawn care services is to sign yourself up as a provider on LawnGuru. Doing so means that the LawnGuru team will handle advertising for your services so you can focus on providing excellent service.

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Structural And Legal Expenses

Business License You dont need any type of permit specifically for a lawn care business, but you do need to get a business license for your company and a name. An LLC typically costs around $100. In some states, you can file a fictitious name fee, also known as a DBA, which costs around $50. Other expenses might include legal fees for setting up a corporation.

Taxes You also have to register with the federal government and IRS to get a number for withholding taxes.

In addition, most states require you to collect and pay sales tax on services completed. Check with your states department of taxation for the requirements of your state.

Insurance You also have to get insurance if you plan to hire staff. Workers compensation insurance is mandatory. Workers’ compensation rates range from $0.50 – $2.00 per $100 of covered payroll.

You also have to pay any company or employee insurance premiums, which are usually based on estimated income. Youll also have to open a business bank account for your company to process checks and make cash deposits so that you can pay your bills with business checks. The alternative is accepting cash only, which will severely limit your customers and make it impossible to offer expensive services.

It may sound complex, but it is possible to complete these procedures in as little as one day. With all of the resources available online, its easier than ever to get started.

How To Impress Potential Clients Without A Lot Of Cash

The tips for starting a lawn care business can be summarized simply: provide the services that customers want, and do what you do well, in a professional and courteous way using well-maintained equipment. You dont need a on of cash to make a good impression, but you do need to invest in tools that keep you organized and professional.

Using the Lawn Love app is one of the best ways to impress potential clients by keeping you organized and on time, while saving you overhead and marketing costs. Apps help you schedule work crews, generate professional contracts and invoices and even take online payments.

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How Do You Get Business Mowing Lawns

The first and most obvious way to promote your business would be online. You could use a number of different sites, including

• Craigslist
• Facebook
• Instagram
• Your own website, combined with SEO marketing and a blog

But this is only one element of self-promotion that could work to bring in some lawn-mowing business for your side hustle.

You could also go door to door and find customers that way. To do this, you would have to pump up your sales skills.

You could start by introducing yourself and handing them a card. Ask them if they have a lawn-care service already. If they say yes, ask them how much they are paying.

If it were me, I would then offer to mow their lawn once for free, just to show them how good of a job I could do. Then, I would undercut their current provider by $15-$20, or give them a fair bid if they currently have no provider.

People love it when you offer them a free sample of your services. Of course, some people might see this as a potential waste of their time, and it actually might be in some cases. But this is how I would do it.

I would also drive around and specifically pitch my services to houses in nice neighborhoods that look like they havent been mowed in a while. These might be prime examples of houses where the owners might just pay you to do it because they dont want to do it themselves.