[fitzg2md]

Hi all. Ive been a reader of the forums for some time now, and have been doing landscaping on the side for over two years. Have been set up in Virginia as a sole propietor, but have decided to go at it full time. Thought I would pick the brains here. First off - I closed the company affliated with the sole proprietorship and am currently waiting for my application back from the state of Virgina on my LLC papers. After that, its on to file a federal tax ID. After that, is there any contractor licences (as there are in CA) for viginia i need to look into? I will be doing mostly installations of hardscapes, softscapes and a good amount of maintence. Im fairly young (ie: poor) and cant afford to be fined for not getting the proper licences etc. Next question I have concerns the truck I have. I just bought (2 months ago) a 1984 f350 diesel dually for 2200.00. Engine is strong, and other than dumping money into new brakes I havent had any problems. Even has a front clip offf a '94 350 so it LOOKS newer. Haha...when doing higher end installs its amazing how people will look at your truck as a sign of how well you perform. Cant blmae them. Ok, question is, I would love to put a dump body on instead of the pickup bed it has now. a 10-12 foot bed that can hold a good amount of mulch would be nice. However, I really dont feel I know anything about how much these cost etc. Im trying to decide it it would be worthwhile. (remember...poor...haha). Last question would concern those who have yards of their own. I would like to get to the point in the next few years where I could have a place to store bulk mulch, equiptment, and have a place to meet clients other than their home. Do most of you who do this own the property, or do you rent? If I can get this up and going in a decent amount of time, I have a very good opportunity at a very large project with a local land developer whom I know personally. Would be a big step. Again, thanks for the advice. I have learned so much from everyone here at GTX. Hopefully one day Ill be able to contribute too!

[lrmatthews]

do you still want some feedback or are you straight now?

[Bill Schwab]

Fitz:

Sounds like you got alot on your plate! As far as the dump, realize you have an old truck and are making a project out of it. For a 12' body, bare minimum, you need 84" from the center of the rear axle to the cab back. You can easily drop $10K on a brand name body, and if that is the route you will go, I would not get any other brand than a Henderson. They use a telescopic ram mounted upside down in a dog house at the bulkhead of the body. Far better system than a scissors lift. Drive it off of a hot shift PTO if your truck is automatic, or if stick, use a manual PTO. I am not at all a fan of electric over hydraulic lifts, but they are cheap and will get the job done.

I all reality, I'm reading you want to lower your costs. So, I would look into a Rugby brand scissors body lift and get an electric over hydraulic lift. You can find Rugby lift's all over in the $2-2.5K range, and you would have to fabricate it and a body to the truck.

Regarding property, the only way to go is own, lease to own, or lease to someone else, then you take a small corner of the property for your equipment, and make your tenant pay your mortgage.

Now, since you are where you are, you have to start somewhere. And, since you have to have a place to live anyway, my sugestion would be to find a house with enough proerty to park your stuff and eventually build a barn/shop to put your stuff.

For right now, make due with what you have, don't pay anything more than what you absolutely need until you get off and running.

Weather you know the person or not, developers use contractors as extensions to their lines of credit, so, my advice is make sure you can afford to work with a developer before taking on any work with one.

Good luck, glad to see you here.

[fitzg2md]

Thanks for the input. So far, I have everything in line for the spring in terms of paperwork (have for a while now) and painted and lettered the truck etc. I made the choice to use the few grand the dump bed would have cost me to increase the $$$ i had in the bank and help with the first few months. Ill get that dump bed as soon as I can truly afford it though. Will be running it out of my house im renting right now, so overhead in that area is extremely low. However, I do have a question. Around this time of the year, how much work (not routine maintence) does everyone have lined up for the spring. As of right now, I only have one job. A 650 square foot 13 thousand dollar patio, that should give me a good return. I need to start advertising and will be getting a few thousand door hangers printed soon. Obviously, the longer in business the more jobs I will have lined up in the winter. Right? Or do most people actively go out and fill their schedules with spring advertising? Looking forward to it all and getting anxious! Thanks for the help, and good luck on the new season coming up! -MF

[Bill Schwab]

We usually run a 3 month backlog on average, it has gotten as far out as 8 months, and as little as 3 weeks. At this juncture, things are a bit slow but we have 2 very high end projects starting in March that will tie up crews for 9 months and a year for the other, along with the bread and butter work.

Depending on how seasonal your area is, what usually happens is winter which could very easily be used for design and negotiation space, is dead. The first sign of a warm day and grass greening up and the phone would ring off the hook with everything from total idiocy to serious buyers looking for services.

I have a better idea than a dump body for your truck...Why not a dump trailer? Keep the truck as is, because as I said, it's an old horse and when the day comes that you need ot shoot it, you will be able to connect your dump trailer to whatever you want to pull it with. Dollar wise, you can get in a light one for $4,500.00, all the way into a heavy dump trailer with a 14' bed for near $8K. And, if you get extremely lucky, you might find a used one.

[fitzg2md]

You know...i think I like that idea. Ive seen a few contractors around here rolling with those behind them. Seem very handy! -MF

[Mac]

I second Bill's advice on the dump trailer. It think its far more versatile too. It will give you more legal load capacity.

[Ground Illusion]

I really know where you are coming from with the whole starting up a new business. I was there from the beginning when my uncle got his up and running. What are you actually trying to do with your landscaping company? Are you going to focus primarily on one side? I.E. Maintenance or Hardscapes etc.? Or are you going for the jack of all trades and include it all? Feel free to PM me with any questions you might have.

[bigviclbi]

I am going into my fourth year and my best purchase was a dump trailer. Got a 12x6 bed that holds 4 1/2 tons for 3500.00 plus i had to build sides. Anything more than that you should just get delivered anyway. I have had hardly any maintenance except for tires on the thing, and 2 new wire harnesses. Getting your truck wired with an electric brake is probably gonna set you back around $300.00 too.

[johnkeegan]

I too would suggest the dump trailer. They weren't so popular 15-20 years ago but I wish they were. They allow you to keep one large load of stuff on the truck (materials, tools, plants etc.) and a whole other load on the dump trailer ( different materials, larger tools and equipment). It might save you from buying a seperate vehicle (with insurance, registration, fuel,repairs, tires, driver etc.) just to haul what you carry on the dump trailer. Eventually you'll need the extra trucks but in the mean time use that money to buy the equipment you need to get the jobs done quicker and with less labor.

[Dale Wiley]

One of the best buys we have made. 14,000 GVW, hauls a 9200 # payload. We can get 3.2 yards of rock, sand, 5 yards of soils and mulch, and 12 yards of barkdut with sideboards on it.

We use this thing every day. Cost was
$ 6,100, we insure it for $ 48 per month. We tow it behind any of our vehicles, although we are going to make our F 350 the primary tow vehicle, because of the additional tires, and the Dana 70 rear end. Much heavier than my 3/4 ton you see it behind.

We get about 6 dumps depending on weights form one battery charge. It has a trickle charger on it from the pickup, but it can't keep up with the deep amperage discharges on the dumps, so we plug it in all night and it works fine.

[r schipul]

When it comes to real estate. Pick up your local zoning regulations on what is allowed, what's allowed with a variance and what's not allowed. Many regs do not allow more than one commercial vehicle under 1 ton and non above. Zoning Regulations are a wealth of information.

Those regulations mentioned above exist in my town. By buying a property greater than 5 acres and showing a $2500 farm income (gross profit) you basically avoid all zoning issues.
Actually I never had to even show it, I just told them I had the intentions of starting a farm.
Downfalls:
1. I don't have a problem with plant deliveries, they deliver anywhere. I do have a problem with general freight deliveries not wanting to deliver to a non commercial site.
2. Everytime I look out the window work is staring me right in the face.
Owning a income producing commercial property that had a positive cash flow would be fantastic but they are rare to come by in CT.

P.S. My father purchased the first dump trailer in the state of connecticut 26 years ago. It doesn't get much use these days but is still in greath condition after all these years.

[fitzg2md]

Well, my ultimate goal is to do more design build. I really enjoy it. Hardscapes really spark my interest. I have alot to learn, but this will be where im heading. However, in the beginning I dont see myself having the option of being extremely picky. Maintenence jobs are just going to be a fact of life until Im off the ground. Thanks for the help everyone. Your experiences and guidance are invaluable! Ground Illusion...thanks for the offer...ill keep you in mind if I have any questions. -MF