"so....hows bizness"

It is not unusual for most lawn care guys here, if they own the company, and it can be just a 1 man operation, to make $50-60 an hour. Back in the early 80s when I was doing full time lawn care, I was making about $20-25 an hour as a 1 man operation.

Man thats wierd, and yet anytime you see an add for a Tree Climber in Hawaii they only want to pay $18.00/pr.
 
Finished school in December and moved back to California. I could feel it was very slow on the tree scene when I arrived. Nobody wants to take on another guy right now, which is understandable.

Might have a job lined up at end of February near San Francisco. Took what very little money I have and am in Peru right now, in the north surfing and living for twenty to thirty dollars a day which is as much or more than in the states. Got a few small gigs lined up when I return. Hoping it picks up this Spring... I agree with Stumper, attitude is everything!

jp:D
 
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  • #79
cool.....you got your shots....and dont eat the beef:D
 
I have work backed up, had to be off for three weeks with a neck injury...
Just getting back to it now, little fruit trees and fine pruning, got a teaching gig next week for two days, then 10 days off for a big field hockey tournament I'm playing in...then if I'm still in one piece, back to the big trees and get some proper money coming in again:what:
 
Sorry to hear about your neck injury, Bermy. I'm scared to death of messing up my neck or back, already have a little bit of old damage but nothing critical yet. Good luck in the hockey tourney!
:D
 
How are the waves down there in Peru?

Its the summer right now so the waves are fairly small. They have been in the 2 or 3 ft range. Tomorrow there is supposed to be a new swell from the south which should bring things up. Will be taking more pics, I get lazy with those kind of things but I will have the camera with me.

Trying to steer clear of the beef here :lol:. Most tourists get sick at least once while in peru if you are eating for one or two dollars a meal :|:.
 
cool jon! sam noonan used to call me about this time of year looking for a temp climber cause fino would take holiday. might try him
 
Man thats wierd, and yet anytime you see an add for a Tree Climber in Hawaii they only want to pay $18.00/pr.

That's because they are working for somebody and not for themselves. A climber that worked for me back in the late 90's, moved to the mainland and is now back in Hawaii is making $31.25 an hour. I got him a job with a company looking for a good climber. I told the owner you need to pay him $250 a day. He balked at first, but tried him out at that rate for a couple of days. He then hired him full time.

To make $50-60 an hour in lawn care, I said you need to be the owner of the business, otherwise you will get $8-10 an hour. In the early and mid 80's I was getting $35-40 mowing lawns that took me 1.5 hours including raking and blowing. I had about 30 accounts like that and several big ones that paid much more.
 
Its the summer right now so the waves are fairly small. They have been in the 2 or 3 ft range. Tomorrow there is supposed to be a new swell from the south which should bring things up. Will be taking more pics, I get lazy with those kind of things but I will have the camera with me.

Trying to steer clear of the beef here :lol:. Most tourists get sick at least once while in peru if you are eating for one or two dollars a meal :|:.

Jon, You must of passed your test. Chasin slinger's :P in Peru are you.
What a life, tell stories so I can live vicariously through your adventures 8)
 
Its the summer right now so the waves are fairly small. They have been in the 2 or 3 ft range. Tomorrow there is supposed to be a new swell from the south which should bring things up. Will be taking more pics, I get lazy with those kind of things but I will have the camera with me.

Trying to steer clear of the beef here :lol:. Most tourists get sick at least once while in peru if you are eating for one or two dollars a meal :|:.

Where are you staying in Peru, I might be doing a study abroad trip there this summer, any pointers?
 
Took what very little money I have and am in Peru right now, in the north surfing and living for twenty to thirty dollars a day which is as much or more than in the states.

jp:D

What drops are you surfing? I lived in Peru and my brothers surfed a lot there. I never did, the water was too darned cold for me.
 
Jon, You must of passed your test. Chasin slinger's :P in Peru are you.
What a life, tell stories so I can live vicariously through your adventures 8)


:lol: Dave! Sounds like you're on to an adventure yourself 8). Trying to keep it real with the slinger's :). I think that biochem class I had was like 50% overall for the grade which turned out to be a C, go figure :|:.

I'm in Huanchaco in the north right now. The waves are still small this morning, but there is supposedly swell on the way this afternoon. V, the water here is pretty cold, I can understand it isnt the best for trying it anew. Top Notch, I will write or call when I return with plenty of info if you would like.

Thanks for the tip Willy!

jp:D
 
Hey John im back from Ireland if you want the Wolf.
2789 post to read, Ha.
We are working each day ,but i get the job usually the day befor and all of our work is old referral buisness.
08 was our best year 30% gross up.
As has been for 4 years running.
I see a ceiling approaching soon, unless i bust up and freak out on sales , which is exactly my plan.
I recon there is tree work going on , you just got be in the right spot at the right time.
 
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  • #92
cool...I 'll call you later. Just came back in for a quick lunch between estimates....yeehaw, and a cash 200 stump grind which took 45min:D
 
Yeah I dont anticipate loads of success from my plan to take on a bit of lawn work but I'm the go-getter type. I do everything I can to grow this business. Some ideas work, some dont, but either way i give them a try. Every area is different. In one town, lawn care has become a total flop. In another, there's room for more guys. Pass or fail, when all is said and done, i can say i did my best to get through these times with the resources I have.
 
Dont know what to think, Ive been picking up some good sized jobs in the last few days. Now Ive got to scramble to get em done as my full time groundie has taken off for 3 weeks!!!
 
[...]and a cash 200 stump grind which took 45min:D

Yeah baby yeah! I just picked off $275 cash on an estimate pulling down a little bitty red maple that broke at the root ball... might have taken an hour.

Pics later, the root break was almost identical to the one that fell with me in it.
 
Someone sent me this, maybe there is a useful point here for someone. I like #12.

Sixteen common sense rules for a business:


1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone.

2. Never give up.

3. When you are ready to quit, you're closer than you think.

4. Accept the worst possible outcome.

5. Focus on what you want to have happen.

6. Take things a day at a time.

7. Always be moving forward.

8. Be quick to decide.

9. Measure everything of significance.

10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate.

11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing.

12. Never let anybody push you around.

13. Never expect life to be fair.

14. Solve your own problems.

15. Don't take yourself too seriously.

16. There's always a reason to smile
 
Measure everything of significance
I like that one big time.
But in a comparitive way.
In other words dont sweat the small stuff.;)
 
biz has been surprisingly well the last few weeks, even took on another climber...(thats a whole different thread)
my praise and thanks to god for answering my prayers,
hope y'all have A good month as well
 
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