Establish a legal lawn care business: If you need a federal tax ID to pay employees or independent contractors, you'll need to create a legal business entity for your lawn care business, such as a Limited Liability Company (LLC), an S corporation, or a partnership. If you're an independent contractor, you don't have to take this step, legally speaking. Still, separating your company's assets from your personal assets (with a sole proprietorship or LLC) provides you with some legal protection in case something goes wrong. Starting a lawn care business can be a rewarding and lucrative profession if you can get off the ground.
You'll soon move from hauling your lawn mower in the back of your truck to adding a trailer to haul your lawn care equipment from one yard to another. There are a lot of undocumented workers in the lawn care business and, like it or not, you'll be competing against them. We'll help you rank the pros and cons below so you can go about your lawn care business with your eyes wide open. Print brochures and business cards: Printed materials, such as brochures and business cards, are an affordable way to promote your new lawn care business throughout your city or town.
In warmer states like Florida, lawn care is more of a year-round race, as lawns keep growing, flowers bloom, and weeds sprout. When you grow even bigger, you can hire team members to take care of all the grass for your part of the city. Some days you won't be able to mow your lawn due to heavy rain throughout the day or you'll have to stop any lawn care you're doing to protect yourself in a storm or when tornado sirens sound. The cost of starting a lawn care business can be as small as the combined cost of buying a lawn mower and printing some flyers in your neighborhood.
If you hate being at the mercy of mother nature or are afraid of stepping on a dog, lawn care may not be a good option for you. In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps an updated report available for public use so you can track your state's needs when you're thinking about starting your own lawn care business. By this point, you should have a pretty good idea of whether starting your own lawn care business is the right decision. LawnStarter also handles all billing, insurance and other business operations for your lawn care company.
In any case, if you live in an area where lawn care slows down during the winter, you'll need to raise your income to cover those less busy months. However, you'll need to learn how to properly mow, trim, aerate, and complete other lawn care tasks before you have your first customers.
