When Should You Go Full Time In Your Lawn Care Business?

When should you go full time in your lawn care business? The question everyone wants the answer to…

Unfortunately, there may never be the perfect time, but I have some tips that’ll set you up for success.

First, let me tell you a bit about my experience going from part time to full time.

When I first started mowing lawns on the side I was working for TruGreen. I would work from 6AM to 3PM for True Green and then spend the rest of the day until about 9PM at night mowing lawns for myself. As you may have heard in my podcasts or in my book, Zero to $100K, I had what I like to call my "Baywatch moment." I was working for TruGreen and across the way I saw a mowing crew and they had all the qualities that I longed for in my day to day life. Right then and there I knew I had to get into the lawn care industry for myself.

Now, my journey from part time to full time was less than ideal. When spring rolled around I went into work for TruGreen and when I got there they were surprised I had showed up. They had thought I had already gone full time. I explained to them that I hadn’t made that decision yet and that I was expecting my job to be there for me, but they had already filled my position. The full time job I once had was no longer mine. I had to do something to make money, so I decided to go full time in my lawn care business and make it work!

If you had asked me prior to that day if I wanted or was planning to go full time in my business, my answer would have been no. I am the type of guy that likes to stay behind the scenes and do the detailed work, so I wasn’t ready to run my own business full time. I also didn’t think I could do it; no one with their own business could succeed, right? I was a product of my environment, constantly being told that I wasn’t good enough, and that I should get a “real job.” No one had faith in me or encouraged me to succeed. I lived with a scarcity mindset, so I never saw going full time as a viable option. But since I had been replaced at TruGreen, what was I supposed to do?

I knew I was already making money with my side hustle, so why not turn it into a full time hustle. Not being able to go back to my day job gave me the push I needed to go off on my own.

Not only did I not have a choice, but now I was able to evaluate what I actually needed out of my business. I needed to replace my income; at the time that was about $18,500, so that seemed possible to do.

Let’s talk about what you should keep in mind or steps you should take in order to go full time in your business.

It’s really important to have a plan, so start your business 6, 12, or 18 months before you plan to leave your job. This would be an ideal plan, but we all know that sometimes life doesn’t go the way you want it. If you are able, do your best to set yourself up for success before going full time.

Think about your everyday expenses that you need to cover. Your mortgage/rent, utilities, food, insurance, health insurance, as well as any costs you put into the business. Unpopular opinion: it will cost you at LEAST $40,000 to start a decent lawn care business. You will need to buy a truck and trailer, a decent mower, a trimmer, a blower, and other little odds and ends. I understand some of you may have started with grandpa's truck and mower and that’s great! We all start in different ways, but if you don’t have the ability to start with equipment that’s free to you, keep in mind you will have a loan that you will need to pay off. If you can start your side hustle and get as close as you can to affording your minimum expenses before you go full time that would be ideal.

Once you are able to go full time, you have all the potential in the world to exceed your expectations. When you are focused on one thing you will surprise yourself at what you can accomplish. Having two jobs and being pulled in several different directions is hard! If you are working your corporate job during the day and then mow lawns at night, props to you because I cannot imagine the stresses and the never ending tasks on your plate during the day to then have to switch gears entirely to run your own business. As long as you continue to work hard and utilize the time and energy that you have now freed up by going full time, you will be setting yourself up for success.

The journey does not stop here! If you have left your day job to pursue your business full time, you are not done! You need to work hard and make your dream a success. Just because you decide to be an entrepreneur doesn't mean the work stops. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at it, it means there is more on your plate. Think of it this way, if you work 40 hours at your corporate job, think about all the parts that come together to allow you to do that. You aren’t in charge of HR, or billing, or customer service, you just have to worry about your position. As an entrepreneur you wear all the hats for your company, at least in the beginning. So, your work week may have just increased from 40 hours to 60 or 80 hours. I'll tell you what though, it is so much more rewarding to spend the time, energy, and man hours on building something that is YOURS! Something that is going to support you and your family in so many ways other than financially.

No one said it was easy, but it is possible. There may never be the perfect time, so if you need a little push, here it is! Just know that there is hard work ahead of you and the best is yet to come!