Lawn, Yard Work?

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I am a bright (Ph.D.) AS-er who has held corporate R&D positions, but I have found it increasingly difficult to tolerate corporate BS, to the point of accepting that I might be happier doing other things. I have branched out into some part-time activities that are enjoyble as potential new careers.

It has dawned on me, living in a part of the US that is relatively nice outdoors most of the year (even in summer, since there is little humidity), that one might be able to supplement income by buying a lawnmower and offering services to residences with moderate-sized lots, etc.

Has anyone ever tried this? Am I absolutely crazy?

Out there in the lawn, no one is going to bother me, and let's face it there is always a market since grass is always growing!

I did landscaping work as a teenager around my neighborhood and made pretty darned good money with a little Briggs & Stratton lawnmower and a homelite string trimmer. I enjoyed having the time to myself to enjoy my own thoughts while I pushed the lawnmower around the neighbors' yards. It also kept me in good physical shape. Currently, I know of a few friends that have left corporate jobs just like you have to go into some type of landscaping job.

The landscaping business can be quite lucrative, especially if you do a good job and word of mouth spreads about the job you do! An issue that I didn't have in the eightes that you will end up having to deal with nowadays is that you will have stiff competition with all the illegal Mexican immigrants that will (if you are in the USA) invaribly undercut you in price. What you will need to prove toyour customers is that for the higher price you charge, you can give superior work

Sounds great! We live in a high socio-economic area in Australia that is semi-rural - lots of yuppies too busy to mow their acreage.

The lawn mower people make great money!

A friend of mine started her own garden maintenance business - she did mowing + weeding + general tidy ups. She put a small ad in the local paper and within a few weeks was turning down work. She loves it!

Helen

Hey too bad you live overseas and not here. I desperately need somebody to mow my lawn but it is well nigh impossible to find anyone. When the grass is long, the local mowing contractors are overworked and there are too few to meet the demand.

There are also elderly and invalid and other pensioners who need help with small jobs around the house and garden, plus two income families where they have little time to keep up with small maintenance jobs. Some people also need dog walkers. These kinds of work can be very rewarding once you have a regular clientele.

Thanks for the great replies. I mowed lawns as a child and enjoyed the solitude -- alone with my thoughts, as someone just said. There are no meetings and no need to deal with rush hour traffic, or nonsense corporate life. It would also be a chance to keep in shape. Grass grows year round in this area, since the rains come in winter, and during summer months people use sprinklers.

I know what you mean about competition from illegal labor. I had thought of making up flyers with my pic on them, advertising 'hi-tech exec' lawn care or something similar. It might really catch people's attention.

Does anyone know the going rate for mowing, say an average yard? (not that I am sure what average is). Do you charge by the hour?

And to those in Oz who requested my services, I would love to visit your country. I guess the lawnmower can be checked as excess baggage

A lot of people here also expect the edges to be trimmed so a whipper-snipper is also needed. Personally, I don't care that much about the edges but it is nice to have them done too.

The going rate up here is $30 Australian per lawn unless it is bigger or very much smaller or overgrown. I could get some people to come and mow if I had a mower of my own but my daughter and her boyfriend have it and it is not working well. Getting it back over here is not easy so that's why I'd rather have somebody come in and mow.

depends on where you go, and how you approach it. Round these parts (southern US), it would be better to be the boss and hire employees to do the lawn work, than go it your own (and you'd need to speak Spanish..

when the sun beats down and I lie on the bench, I can always hear them talk
me? I'm just a lawnmower, you can tell me by the way I walk - Genesis

Well, we've had some rain and now several days of sun and my lawn is now quite high. My sister in law has guinea pigs and might be prepared to give or sell me a couple of the babies when her pregnant female has them. She has 19 guinea pigs already. Otherwise, maybe I could borrow a goat from somewhere (mind you, it would be hard to stop them from eating plants I didn't want eaten).

Yard work is a good way to pass time and make money. I've done it before, but I can't believe how much work I did for so little money at the time. The illegal immigrants probably had nothing on me.