# why didn’t I make money?



## Guest (Nov 16, 2011)

123


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2011)

Wow.... WALL OF TEXT!!!!

It's the nature of the beast.

@ $25 a lawn, *1 person* can not do $2k worth of foreclosed lawns, more so with a push mower. Maybe if they were all in a few sq mile area you might have a chance, but this is bank work and spread all over your region. Now deduct fuel for the vehicle, mowers, trimmers and blowers. Now trimmer line, mix oil. You would be lucky to see half that $2k left over after mowing 100 lawns.

Cost of just running the business adds more like insurance, internet connection and F-ing batteries. 

Now if you really want to bank some green from dealing with grass, start a local mowing company. Does not take long walking subdivisions to get 100 lawns on your route and you can get $35-$45 easy with no pics, no uploads and no national BS. Even better most residential customers want the lawn done weekly, compared to the 10-14 day bank schedule; so that means more money in the end.

Winter is almost here, maybe some fall clean up, but not much lawn work.


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2011)

you totally ignored the question/point of my post.


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2011)

He didn't completely ignore your question. He pointed out that even if you were to mow 80 lawns a week to "make" $2k then your net profit would be far less. That, coupled with far less than 80 lawns a week, explains why you aren't making good money.

As with anything else, if it was easy money then you probably couldn't get your foot in the door. There are plenty of people that make good livings working in that industry but they have developed relationships with the companies and systems to manage their expenses.

You are asking us why someone else's company isn't run efficiently in your eyes. That's an impossible question. They don't need to worry much about efficiency if they're paying a flat rate do they? No matter what, the lawn gets mowed for $25.

Ultimately it sounds like they posted an outrageous ad and you believed every word of it. I sympathize but you should have seen warning flags all over this. Does it really sound realistic that this company has an easy job that pays an average of $100k per year yet they have to drop ads in the paper? $100k for mowing lawns with no overhead?


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2011)

I got through half of the OP's original post and gave up.

Thank you Ethan for making things a bit more clear.

Andy.


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2011)

carl75r44 said:


> you totally ignored the question/point of my post.


Heck, your lucky I even took the time to read that big run on sentence :whistling


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2011)

Lawn Mower Man said:


> Heck, your lucky I even took the time to read that big run on sentence :whistling


Don't they teach kids about paragraph and sentence structure in school anymore? I mean talk about a difficult to follow rambling/run on sentence of a post.... :blink:


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2011)

carl75r44 said:


> you totally ignored the question/point of my post.


Try taking your thoughts and breaking them into easier to read paragraphs, each one being a single coherent thought or query. Simplifies the process a bit and makes it easier to understand.

Jam everything together like that and then get disappointed with the answer is a little like yelling at the stove to give you heat before it you give it any wood.

A bit of white space surrounding your neat paragraph makes it easier to read. Also camouflages your question less. Simple effort on your part to help us simpletons. 

Have you been over to the intro section to say hello and tell a little about yourself and business?

Good Luck
Dave


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## Guest (Nov 16, 2011)

Damn, didn't think it was that hard to read.
2K a week net is possible with enough daylight given the work is provided. I was just really let down. thought i fell into decent money I'd enjoy making on repairs and easy money just pushin a mower. oh well, right?.


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## Guest (Nov 17, 2011)

Be sure to check out the search feature. Plenty of threads about running your business to get what you want out of it. 

Are you sure mowing lawns is easy money? I don't do PP anymore, but I did like the lawn cutting part. And I recall that I still came home tired after enjoying it all day.

Good Luck
Dave


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## Tom Stuble (Sep 17, 2012)

and when you find out why you didn't make money come back and tell me why i didn't:sad:


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## Guest (Nov 17, 2011)

carl75r44 said:


> Damn, didn't think it was that hard to read.
> 2K a week net it's possible with enough daylight given the work is provided. I was just really let down. thought i fell into decent money I'd enjoy making on repairs and easy money just pushin a mower. oh well, right?.


2k net? Let me break that down for you with my, totally made-up, estimates for expenses.

$2000 net income
$150 gas
$100 consumables (tools, office supplies, etc.)
$20 insurance
$400 self-employment tax burden
$0 health insurance and benefits(i'm leaving this blank but it kills me to.)
=$2670gross

$2670/25 = 106 lawns per week

That would require some serious organization(which would cost more money) and probably a lot more than just a push mower or basic rider(which would cost more money). It is ridiculous to believe that the "average" guy is doing anything like this for them. The average construction professional doesn't make anywhere near 2k a week even in the best of times.

I know that you're looking for work other than just mowing but basically they break the labor down in such a way that you're not going to be making much more one way or the other.


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## Guest (Nov 17, 2011)

We did get a call from a national maintenance company for a repair in a retail store recently. We gave them a quote for $500, they came back with we'll pay $150. Our quote was a serious offer and the job would have been a decent filler. But it wasn't over priced. And I know why we didn't make any money with this company.

Good Luck
Dave


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