Hey, it’s Jonathan Pototschnik. The question is, can I grow my lawn care business to one million dollars without getting help from an investor?
The answer is yes.
There are a lot of factors that go into growing your landscape company to the one million dollar mark. Are you learning about the lawn care industry? Are you reading trade journals and marketing? Do you have a good software package? Do you have a great website? Are you hiring employees that have experience in the landscape industry? Are you answering your phones?
So many of the things that I talk about in these videos go into getting you a one million dollar a year business. Can you do it without raising money or getting outside help? Yes. But, every one of us needs to learn from the wisdom of others…those that have been there before us, that have messed up and made mistakes, and have figured out how to overcome them.
If you want to be at one million dollars in two years and you have no money, of course that will be tough. It is expensive to purchase lawn care equipment, produce marketing, and hire field employees and office staff so that you are prepared when the landscape business starts to come in. And, if you are ambitious and you want to grow really fast, then you may need to get some outside money. But, I would never do that until you know the business really well and before you know exactly how the market is.
Before going to an investor or to your friends and family, you need to be able to answer some questions.
• Do you understand the business?
• Who is your ideal client?
• Where do they live/work?
• What are their needs and concerns?
• How are you going to reach them?
• If they don’t purchase services from you, how are you going to stay in front of them?
Then, do your research and show that you have a financial plan. For example, you can say, “I’ve figured out that if I’ll spend a thousand dollars on marketing, I’ll bring in five clients that are worth $2,000 a year to me. For every thousand I spend, I am generating $10,000 a year in additional revenue, and I predict based on what I’m seeing, that these clients should stay with me on average for about four years. That means for every $1,000 I spend, I am generating $40,000 in revenue over the coming four months, and I believe I can run a 20% net margin. Not only did we spend $1,000 to generate $40,000 over four years, at a 20% net margin, I’m going to make, $8,000. I’m going to put $8,000 in net profit into our company and into your pocket, Mr. Investor, and my pocket. That one thousand turns into eight.”
That is when you can raise money. If you really want to blow your lawn care business up fast, go figure it out. Go prove that you can take a thousand and turn it into eight thousand.
I didn’t use outside capital to build our company, so I know for a fact that it’s not necessary. I did put a little money into the business to start it, but I didn’t put tremendous amounts in…probably a little more than most guys because I happened to have it. But, I got my full investment back my first year.
Really, to be quite truthful, I didn’t really know all this stuff when I got started. I mowed lawns in high school but, I got out of the business to start some other things. I got back into the lawn care business after having been out of it for years.
My first two years back, I didn’t grow very fast. My next two years were quick. After that, it kind of snowballed. Can you get to a million dollars without outside funding? Yes. It starts out slow. Don’t take a huge salary so you can reinvest money into the business. Go into this knowing it’s going to take a number of years to get there. But, you’ll get there. Be confident that you can do this without outside money.
The question is, how much are you willing to do now, to get the right software, the right website, to gain knowledge and align yourself with people that are already succeeding in the lawn care industry? If you’re willing to do all that, and you’re willing to do it now versus two years from now, then you’re going to get there a lot faster. If you’re willing to live tight so that you can reinvest money in the business to grow it faster and you’re willing to take some risks and start marketing now, it’s not that far off. You’re going to get to a million bucks without an outsiders help.
One Reply to “Can You Grow a Million Dollar Per Year Lawn Care Business Without Getting Investment Money?”
Hi Jonathan got a call today from a franchise company Ground Guys wanting me to join them whats your take on them or franchising.Just the little I looked at it the don’t offer much to help me that i don’t all ready have with service auto pilot but like i said i’ve only looked at this a little. I value your input
thank Dave Nessley