Starting Out

bls1000

I currently have a small landscaping business and I am conisdering expanding into excavating and site work in the future. I plan on working for several excavators that I know for a few years (I admit I know very little about this industry right now) and then going out on my own. What advice would you give someone like me, who's just starting out? Also, do most of you have specialties, such as just land clearing or demolition, or do you just find it best to take whatever work comes your way?

Thanks in advance,
Nick

LNG24

How small is your business now?
What kind of landscaping do you do? Is it just lawn maintenance or more than that?
Landscaping can provide you with a nice entrance into bigger jobs. After all, you are already working the land, even if it might be with a shovel right now.

Most landscapers I know do drainage work, patios, retaining walls, tree plantings. You can easily start to add some bigger equipemnt to do these jobs, just start targeting bigger jobs in your advertising. You can also, and shoudl also, recontact all your past customers and let them know you have expanded your business to now including the following work. (Excavating, Site Work, Land Clearing, Foundations, Underground Utilities) and depending on your areas regulations, Septics, Drywells, Sewer Lines.

I use to get the most calls about drainage problems, drywells and septics. Followed by foundations and landclearing.

Depending on what type of equipemnt you get, you can always make some contacts for Winter Work. I did not need to reinvent the wheel here,. I simply contacted the major players in the snow plowing biz and let them know I had a backhoe and dump truck available if they needed me. I would get calls to move snow for parking lots. They liked it because their equipemnt was placed at the bigger lots, but its the smaller lots that need the snow stockpiled. They would simply dispatch me to do those lots. One year they paid me by the season to clear one particular lot. They provided me with the snow blade to attach to the backhoe.

Backhoes and skid steers are very popluar for snow work. Mini excavators are great for working around existing houses and ful size excavators are great for digging out foundations and regrading and land clearing large lots.

Have fun in your new venture

bls1000

Thanks for the advice.
Right now I'm cutting about 55 lawns a week and doing small landscaping jobs on the side and snow plowing in the winter. After I get some experience in excavating I was thinking of starting up by just buying a skid steer. Is there a big enough market for just doing skid steer services? What kind of services could I offer? Would it be better to start bigger with a backhoe or small excavator?

Thanks in advance,
Nick

fhdesign

Do you want to start an excavating business and stop doing landscaping or will you run them both?

bls1000

I plan on running both of them. Should it get too big to handle then I'd probably just do excavating.

LNG24

You could probable get by with a skid steer in landscaping, but not excavating. No one will look at you seriously enough. Even though they are capable of doing everything. Just about everyone owns a skid these days so I would thing you would not have much call for that. I would think you would bennifit by having one in your landscape biz, but thats about it.

If it were me, I would look at a Mini Ex and a Skid. If that is too much for now, I would do just the Mini Ex. Get something you can tow with your current truck and no smaller. A Volvo ECR-90 is about as big as you would need to accomodate the landscape biz and get yourself into excavating.

With a ECR- 90 and a skid, you could do just about anything! HOWEVER, the two lanscape companies I know of out here got themselves Hydro Seeders and they seem to do more with those than anything else.

One thing you could try is to look at leasing a skid and excavator. DON'T, just get the numbers. Then look at the cost of renting the same size machines. Then advertise to your current and past customers that you now do excavating work and see what you can drum up. Do your first year by renting the equipment. If it goes good, Lease the second year. If all is still good, then buy.

Of course I am assuming you have used these machines before. If not, it might be worth it to try a school or do some time in a machine first.

Also, If you do get the skid, remember to expand your snow plowing to incluse the skid for parking lot plowing and also for snow removal or stock piling.