My brother and I bought a house, renivated it, and are now selling it for a nice profit. I have a day job, he doesn't, so he has been doing most of the work, I have been handling the fincacial end.

It could take 1-3 months to close on this house, find and close on a new house to renivate... That being the case, I want to keep my brother busy, and both of us making money.

I have already bought a Dodge duelly for him to work with, have general lawn equiptment, and an egar person I can trust...so my question is, how would you guys suggest getting started; also, any suggestions on things to offer and or look out for.

I was gonna print up a couple thousand flyers to pass out in the nicer neighborohoods, and call some local gas stations and restreuants.

I know that many of you are self-employed, and small business owners, any and all advice will be taken serriously, and appreciated.

Originally posted by tradin1

I was gonna print up a couple thousand flyers to pass out in the nicer neighborohoods, and call some local gas stations and restreuants.



If you pass out a couple thousand flyers in high-end neighborhoods with the word renivate on it, don't quit your day job.

IIRC, Big Nate has a landscaping business. You might want to talk to him.

Originally posted by Rip DeLips


If you pass out a couple thousand flyers in high-end neighborhoods with the word renivate on it, don't quit your day job.

:D

If you read the post, i said that we were lookin to do landscaping and remodeling inbetween renivating delapitated houses...

the question is, how did u guys that do landscaping get started?

First off pick a business name..... go to your county recorders office and register it as a "DBA" or "Joe Blowurwad DBA Strokin Lawn Care" Better get commercial plates for your truck and trailer while your at it.
INSURANCE INSURANCE INSURANCE INSURANCE INSURANCE
1 MIL policy minimum.... shit happens all the time, and it is always @ a million dollar house. :rolleyes: Expect to pay about a grand for 1mil general and $10,000 Inland Marine for the equipment.
Equipment........ if you are wanting to be successful in this business expect to drop $5-$15k on "commercial" equipment. joe homeowner stuff will not cut it also on the subject of fliers... some higher class suburbs ($250k+) it is illegal to hang fliers besides that I have better luck w/ 4x6 postcards I send out about 5 thousand postcards a year w/ certain addresses getting 4-5 of them from the beginning of feb to the first of may. get business cards, 2-3 color ones work the best and get a website and put the address on the card. even if it is just a 1 page deal that explains your services it will help. As to the services that you offer I'll leave that up to you but the big ticket items are installs, mulch and hardscaping, mowing is just a way to get your foot in the door;)

~Nate~

learn how to speak spanish-then think about getting started.

Originally posted by jdrocks
learn how to speak spanish-then think about getting started. esp in Texas;) if you have any more questions shoot me a
http://www.nateslawnservice.com/enote.gif (Nate@NatesLawnService.com) or turn on AIM and shoot me a message either on "BigNatesPlowing" or "NATESLAWNSERVICE"

Originally posted by jdrocks
learn how to speak spanish-then think about getting started.

Better sign him up for English while you're at it. lol:D

Seriously man, if you intend to market yourself in high-end neighborhoods, those particular home owners are going to be expecting a pretty high level of class, education, and stature. You'll really need to play yourself up to their standards because, after all, you will be working in and around their homes.

I was originally pointing out that 'renivate' is spelled 'renovate' and simple mistakes like that will cost you jobs in that market. I used to run a renovation and remodelling company. Put yourself on their level.

oh and while doing estimates wear your denim shirt that is embroidered with your business name and your name;) and a clean pair of slacks those denim shirts are cheap to have made, spent $80 and got 3 w/ a logo.... it really impresses commercial accounts:)

~Nate~

Originally posted by Rip DeLips

Seriously man, if you intend to market yourself in high-end neighborhoods, those particular home owners are going to be expecting a pretty high level of class, education, and stature.

Hello... from the LAWN GUY! All we hope for is that the person MIGHT understand English. :D

Seriously for my Mom we hired a fellow who ran his own company. Just him and one worker who did the lawn/yard work. Good guy (he was bright, but had part of his hand destroyed in a factory explosion). Nice thing about him... he watched out for MOM! :D (We hired a lawn service, but she didn't like having strangers in the back yard. Every week... different peope showed up to mow the lawn... not comfortable to a 80 year living by themselves to be wondering who was going to show up!)

Never got the full details, but he did get compensated for the explosion... dude could have retired and spent the rest of his days on PBB... but just loved being outdoors and working. :beer:

Tom :usa:

Originally posted by roundrocktom


Hello... from the LAWN GUY! All we hope for is that the person MIGHT understand English. :D



Apparently, my definition of 'high-end neighborhood' and yours differ somewhat.:flipoff2:

Originally posted by Rip DeLips


simple mistakes like that will cost you jobs in that market. I used to run a renovation and remodelling company. Put yourself on their level.

Sorta like the pot calling the kettle....:flipoff2:

But, I do have to agree with you. I'm not a high-paying customer, and I don't have a lot of disposable income, but if the flier/postcard or whatever looks like crap and has a large amount of errors on it, it makes me wonder about the professionalism of the person doing the work.

By professional, I don't mean to say that I need or want someone with an IQ of 140 working on my house. But if you can't recognize the need to get help with a document that goes out to lots of people, how can I trust you to get help before you 'accidentally' remove load-bearing walls, forget to ground the new electrical service box, cut the main service drain, etc.??

Someone that takes the time to do little things right makes me feel a whole lot better...