Start a Lawn Care Business with $1000 (Mower & Equipment Needed)

[@fivebooks8498]

In the late 90’s I started a mowing business with a push mower, weed eater, and a broom to sweep off the driveway and sidewalks. Pretty quickly I bought a 36” walk behind and loaded it in a work truck with ramps. Also got a hand held blower. Second year I bought a 48” walk behind and a small trailer. Upgraded to a Stihl BR400 blower. Within 3 years I had new truck, a 16’ trailer with a 48” Walker, a 52” z master, several walk behinds, and just about every piece of small equipment you can imagine. I had 175 properties when I sold the company. Bought 2 Papa John’s pizza locations and I’ve been a Papa John’s franchisee for the last 20 years. About to sell my last store and retire at my beach house in Florida.

[@big_rednc.]

Wow that’s impressive. I hope you know Jesus as your Lord and savior

[@fivebooks8498]

@@big_rednc. Well his name is Yeshua. I know the Messiah written about in New Testament writings very well. I really don’t think main stream Christianity does at all. I believe they follow a false messiah that is Lawless. They all believe the Law of God has been done away with by this Jesus character Catholicism created and all of Christianity adopted. The antichrist is literally called the Lawless one.

[@fivebooks8498]

@@big_rednc. And no I’m not Jewish. Not sure why I’m always asked that.

[@Carlsmower]

Great work Mike. Let me break down the pricing a bit more. Honda HRN216VKA $419.99 Stihl KM56R $199.99 String Trimmer Attachment $99.99 Straight Hedge Trimmer Attachment $179.99 Blower Attachment $129.99. So I can get into lawncare for $1029.95.

[@swiftswamp]

don't forget tax if you want to be exact, gas can, and starter gas/oil.

[@ESP12345]

I just bout this mower and it cost me $549 today in year 2024

[@doctaj.2571]

I started mine with $300... I only needed a weedeater. You can do literally everything with a weedeater... Everyone highly underestimates the uses of a weedeater... Get good at keeping it level and you can mow. Go side to side on the concrete and it's your blower... And the two obvious ways are edging and you guessed it... Weedeating.

[@pmlawnservice]

Me and my friend have been mowing lawns since we were 11 we plan to keep mowing for a while we are now teens

[@Jack_XT]

I am getting my grandpas John Deere 920R ZTrak Iron Deck Zero Turn soon. He passed in 2018 and I used to mow his lawn with him. I miss him dearly.

[@CleanCutPropertyMaintenanceLLC]

I started off using my parents basic toro push mower walking down the street with a gas can connected by bungee cord. Later purchased a craftsman multi tool weed-eater and blower👍🏼 After that just kept on working at it

[@caleb8774]

If you know how to look for good second-handed use equipment, then that also is a great option. I found a Husqvarna Backpack blower three years ago cheap and I'm still using it today.

[@kobelcofan]

The old grey echo stuff is excellent if you can find it.

[@markustuori8019]

I would say i like older gear better than new.. So many parts are replaced with plastic parts on new ones.

[@justinqualls4964]

For real instead of that 3 in 1 you can pick up a hedge for 25-50, blower for the same, and weed eater for 30-50 you just saved about $300 if they all work

[@mattsfirewoodvideos738]

I had a electric blower a Briggs n Stratton base model mower a curved shaft craftsman weed whacked when I started mowing on the side although I still mow on the side my main income is carpentry I now have about 15 solid repeat customers and run a redmax back pack 8500 a echo 266 trimmer and a exmark 30 commercial out of my tundra it ain't the best equipment in the world but it has paid for itself several times over in a short amount of time keep pushing if your just starting out

[@NumeralZed]

I am trying to start a lawn care business. The services I will offer are mowing, edging, bush trimming, and leaf removal. How much should I charge?

[@MikeAndes]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZvKeH9ufJioaJI

[@NumeralZed]

Thanks

[@hhprogressiveconstruction1140]

I would recommend a separate blower and trimmer to start out instead of that multi head unit .

[@markrandall2997]

I get equipment/tools from factory blemish and refurbished store mine sells Ryobi, Ridgid, and Homelite. They constantly have huge sales and are fractions of the cost you almost feel guilty when you walk out the store lol. Not only if you're starting a business but for anyone find one in ur area and use it you won't regret it.

[@ComeatMEOW]

Good video mate! No salesman pitch, just a honest video.

[@Ron45M]

I’d get a toro 22 a stihl small weed eater and a small gas blower from stihl. Probably around 1000

[@noahgamingvideos1584]

i started off at my nan house with mower i used at home fast foward year later i bought second hand mower and keep going this til year scepeter i started now i own Atom lawn edger and honda mower trailer and tow bar

[@hardhittinz]

got same mower and on year 4 mowing houses with it and still goin strong ..

[@smallengines1018]

That's the mower I have. The Honda HRN. I'm 12. I have an STIHL FS45. And a homelite blower.

[@expresslawnmowing5969]

Great set up!

[@chrisfossinger890]

I have only used my Honda hrn 2 times and the self propel brok on it

[@MikeAndes]

Uh oh 😟

[@TheMan-ud2wq]

Mike be honest I'm thinking of making my logo / mascot a smiling blade of grass is that a good idea or should I think of something else.?

[@jacksonsutton3103]

i really like the idea. good branding and easy to keep forever

[@TheMan-ud2wq]

I was thinking of giving him arms and holding up my business name which is four words.

[@bigchungus920]

Do it and delete your comment so someone doesn't steal it

[@jayc4715]

I'm stealing this idea

[@2ndestate]

How many hours do you estimate this equipment to last. I'm guessing this setup for small yards might have to run between 50 and 100 hours before it even started to show a profit.

[@ComeatMEOW]

Everyone gotta start somewhere mate!

[@creativeexperience6388]

Where we work out scag mowers we get new after 1000 hours

[@YoungKBofficial]

I’m 24 and ready to start my own lawn care business 😁

[@dystanysam9896]

Thankyou I'm actually trying to started my business soon as a solo Lawn Care these tips helped me out a lot

[@rkmobilecarwashdetailing7746]

To get started do i need a car magnet

[@Pure_KodiakWILD_Power]

🤣 I thought you were going to flip over the front of the mower when it dropped down.

[@89Ayten]

What about the van or truck and trailer to move it around with

[@Clemson-rc2yq]

Starting with 450 ???

[@adryangunst7650]

Can not find this mower

[@llamaboy6374]

Is the 56 kombi system enogh for doing 4-6 lawns a day 5 days a week? I'm a teenager starting out

[@deputy_vortexx9623]

i hate a push mower with no side shoute

[@lukeevans3557]

Do you recommend a self propelled mower?

[@raguellagrande7344]

How I got started: $0. I was homeless. I put up free ads offering to do yard work for cheap, using the customer's equipment. Many people who hire lawn care still or cleanup have their own tools so I just negotiated an hourly rate and went to work. Once I could afford my own transportation and equipment, which wasn't long, I find a clip I can't find any more that saved me so much money in the last decade: I just buy retail equipment, the markup locally for pro equipment is alarming and I'm only using it for a year Instead of trying to make my machines last forever I buy a new mower from local home Depot or similar store IN THE FALL and sell the one I used that year IN THE SPRING. I use an app to alert me when prices dip in Flyers. That way I get an inexpensive mower, a brand new one whose cost is offset by the sale of the other. I do the same thing for trimmers and blowers, AND snowblowers. Ask if these are low ticket items that I'd rather spend zero effort time or money in maintaining. They are tools. The new owner using it one a week with a new filter will get years of use still from it.

[@innerbliss108]

Thanks so much mike!

[@kamal_landscape9491]

Thank u mike for the great video.

[@MikeAndes]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@brettfischer9529]

Thank you Mike.

[@lehelparsons6059]

Even without the commercial push mower you should still be able to get around 5+ years of commercial use out of a residential mower. I think the "commercial" models are over rated, and even a commercial mower used for 10 seasons will really show its age. The whole "It'll last you 20 years" argument is kinda silly because I'm sure you will be upgrading to a newer mower regardless. Whats the point in spending $1200-1400 for a commercial unit when you can buy 3 of the residential for the same price or if you start with a residential in 5 years of mowing you probably can justify spending the extra $1000 and have a Toro HDX 30" or a Toro time cutter zero turn.

[@bigchungus920]

With a commercial mower you will save money from repairs and it's not only about how long it lasts but how good it was while it lasted. I used to mow with residential mowers and I would have to replace it every year. My commercial mower has been going strong for two years. Some cleaning and a tune up and it looks like new

[@scott1564]

I think it was 1982, give or take a year, the last year I had a lawn business using a residential mower. Admittedly, it was a refurbished one but they were far better built back then. The engines were better, the decks were actually steel, and the wheels weren't plastic. On the flip side, gas was far cleaner back then than it is now. I think I had 15 accounts then, all residential, and yards of various sizes. The mower BARELY lasted a year. I probably didn't take as good of care of it as I should but I didn't abuse it. In the spring of the next year, I bought 2 commercial mowers (they were both used) that I kept until I sold that business 2 and a half years later. Neither mower gave me a hiccup and while they weren't really abused, they each got used by people other than me, so they ran into a lot of stuff -- trees, fences, foundations, etc. All sorts of crap that I wouldn't have done to a mower. Getting around "5+ years" out of a residential mower? If by commercial use, you mean fewer than 8 residential yards a week and only you doing the work and babying the machine, maybe. Beyond that, no way.

[@jazzhead0233]

Hey Mike, love the videos, the production quality is ever increasing. 1 thing though, in the future could you please add the title of the background music? thanks love your work

[@davidgerth2276]

who cares about the name of the background music

[@jazzhead0233]

@@davidgerth2276 video producers.

[@christopheracosta7658]

Yes I saw your add

[@MikeAndes]

Letsgoooooo

[@brandonnn9543]

It would be better just to get that $130 stihl handheld residential blower. Wont have to worry abt changing the attachment out

[@GRACEVENTURES]

would you suggest getting a few accounts before you get insured and liscensed? or the other way around?

[@jessiesineath7702]

Great video Mike! Ive been looking around getting some ideas for a few months now. I have a buddy back in SC where I am from who owns a large very Successful Lawn care business and pretty much everything you recommended in this video he said was great to start up for at least a few seasons. I work in the Public Works department in my town, but am looking to start a small lawn care business starting in the spring. Would love to get 20 steady clients at least the first season, and with all your knowledge who knows where it will go from there.

[@scott1564]

I mowed yards as a kid in the 70s and 80s and would kill for the equipment you can buy today. But I wouldn't buy a residential mower new, not with the ones available used. Look, these aren't going to last very long anyway, so find one someone has gunked up the carb on, learn to clean it, and take advantage of the fact that it has otherwise not very many hours of use on it (say, 2 years of twice monthly mowing a 1/3 of an acre). Change the oil, put good gas in it, and it will run for half a season, at least. You'll save a couple of hundred for sure, which you can put toward a good trimmer. Then, when that mower konks out, get another one the same year and go through the process again. By the second year, you'll have saved up enough for a commercial mower. Even the Honda residential mowers are not made to be used 30 hours a week. They'll work -- for a while, but you're much better off buying a reconditioned used mower from a small engine shop.

[@erickmomanyi668]

Sir my name erick momanyi from Kenya who can aget job am gardener and cleaning and etc for ten years ahave experience please

[@323232blue]

Are you in the USA

[@MikeAndes]

Yes 🇺🇸

[@culatergaterlionwarrior4148]

I’d like to help my two son’s start their own lawn service.

[@thegreat1548]

Well, help them!!

[@MisterrJim]

Thanks

[@bryanyoder2574]

Toro super recycler is a better option, it has a side discharge.

[@Izza_GlitCh]

Wow i didn’t know lawn mowers could be so light, i bet it’s about 600$ now

[@georgemaina7524]

Good stuff

[@CashmansLawnCare]

Gosh dang I have that mower and it was 600

[@bigchungus920]

I would recommend a small gas handheld blower, the stihl kombi, system and the mower. You can use those 130 for the blower and put some extra 100 to get a separate blower

[@jeromebaylor4911]

Fun fact he was still the same height he is now when he was 12 also

[@sagegreenpowerllc9772]

My daughter will be 11. Been watching your videos. Soon she’s gonna start her own lawn business. Thanks Mike. Hustle Grind Rewind 🤙😎👍👈💯

[@Jorgereyes-yu6qp]

hows the business going for her

[@erickmomanyi668]

Sir please help me to find job am gardener and cleaning and etc awork for ten years true my client ahave letter and cv please help am from Kenya 🇰🇪 🙏

[@guichozuniga7385]

My uncle is one of whose landscapers that believe everything should be around $100.. HA I tell him maybe all RUSTED OUT

[@skylerstewart]

Don't forget to like!

[@davidjohnston8093]

11 yrs old you should not be driving at all anywhere

[@Iknowonlywhatimtaught]

You can not hope to start a business with a $1000. Pipe dream. It's not the 1960s. If you have no vehicle to haul your equipent around you will need a reliable tow vehicle, hopefully a pickup truck and or a trailer. Good Mower $1200 Trimmer $225 and up. Gas cans Money for gas, oil for truck, mower weed/edger trimmer Contractors garbage bags Trash can Prayer Good luck Thats the minimum to start a business.

[@jonathanpeterson1984]

Too many plastic parts on the handle of that mower. Those drive paddles would be broken immediately

[@DeannaSpencerSpencer-ej2xw]

All Stores Please lower the price of all Military and Local for all brands of Lawn Care Products and Production Cost Now That's too much $$ The Whole World Now Pray

[@tomcraven3396]

I would not recommend picking up mower like him. Get a ramp.

[@Vexalisous123]

He acts like 1000 dollars is cheap (-;

[@four-plexforever1300]

used lawn mower $75 Cheap business cards $15 Gas $5 Total $95 Then go out and make the $1,000 and then upgrade your equipment.

[@donaldlyons17]

@@four-plexforever1300 I always wondered why he did not recommend a static sign with a telephone number (company name etc.) either on your car or windows of your truck!!! Business cards are also helpful so people can call you when they need an estimate. A weed eater and blower is also likely needed even if starting off small!!!