# Mowing as a "hobby business"



## kds (Apr 28, 2017)

Does anyone here mow as a "hobby business" -- not a full-time job, only a few lawns, just to make some money on the side? This excludes anything that would require state licensure like herbicide applications. Mostly mow and blow.

I mowed a neighbor's yard last year. I foolishly didn't look to see how deep and steep her backyard was, so I ended up underbidding. That price will go up as well as the requirement that I mow each week -- she would only have me do it when the grass got tall and it ended up taking more time and it was harder on the equipment.

Since money is tight I am thinking about taking on a few more lawns this year. Does anyone else do this? Especially with just a push mower? How do you come up with a fair price?


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## J_nick (Jan 28, 2017)

I mow 2 yards for my Father-in-Law and 1 for my dad. For my FIL I just used the price that the previous mow and blow company was charging him, they weren't doing a very good job so I took over for them last year. My dad only has a push mower and I felt bad for him mowing it (rent house they are renovating) when it was 100°+ outside so I just started mowing it one day. I never told him a price but sometimes he'll throw me a 50.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Cool question and, quite honestly, if I lived in a different region I might consider it. BUUUUUUUUT, the truth of the matter is, since first the textile and then the furniture industries left Western NC for Asia, well, there's so many guys struggling to put food on the table for their families I almost don't see how I wouldn't be unintentionally f'ing some poor guy up.

Who knows, if I can ever get ahead of all the repairs to the pre-owned waterfront estate we scored on, perhaps I could do some lawnscaping etc. on a "volunteer" basis. Maybe some references through local churches or aid organizations I.e., elderly informed or folks taken ill or down-on-their-luck single parents or something.

I can pretty much trace the first significant number of zeros in our total portfolio to when I started cutting grass for money, when I was just 8 years old. That was on the outskirts of Wash. DC for high level managers at the alphabet agencies and pay was good. LOL, the 2nd year of my "venture" my own Dad saw to it that 75-cents of every dollar went into a savings account he opened for me and by the time I was sixteen I was sitting on a small fortune. I used that to start choosing which open trade stocks he would buy for me, some of which I own to this day (Goooooo Caterpillar!!! 

Anyhoo, I can't push a mower without thinking back on all that now and doing it as a hobby would purt near put a perpetual grin on my face!


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## Cory (Aug 23, 2017)

Search lawn services in your area and check out their websites to see if they have pricing, or just call a few and ask. When we bought our house here in NC we were still living in CA for 4 weeks before we could move. I called a few cause I couldn't be here to mow it myself, most of the mow and blow guys here charge by square foot/acre. Here is a price chart from someone local to me 

I had a guy mow in CA the last couple months we lived there cost me $60 a month for a really small lot but they also trimmed all the bushes.


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## Redtenchu (Jan 28, 2017)

I've done this in the past and enjoyed it. I had a weekly 5k lawn that I charged $30 to mow/blow. Sometimes people in my neighborhood would have me cut while they traveled, I up charged to $40 on those 5k lawns.


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## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

Going to start one up this year or next, not interested in leaf or fall/spring cleanups though.


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## OutdoorEnvy (Sep 27, 2017)

I've thought about this as well. They are paying for your time and skill so you need to figure out what your time and skill are worth to you. For it to work well with a few lawns you want to keep them the same so you are happy and they are happy. So you need to find the price that fits that niche of you being compensated at the rate you don't feel underpaid and they feel like they are getting the quality they are paying for. If you're having to get new customers every couple weeks that will get old real quick.

I do a side hustle job of doing tune ups and repair work on walk behind mowers and 2 cycle equipment. It's gone fairly well so far. Plus I feel like I'm learning all the time...


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## kds (Apr 28, 2017)

Thanks all for the information. I have been doing some reading and I don't think it would be ideal to go forward. If I'm doing more than one lawn I should get insurance, which would pretty much eat any profit from small mow jobs on the side.


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## GrassDaddy (Mar 21, 2017)

I actually started working for a friend who does a landscaping business. My online business had it's Paypal account closed without warning. So money is super tight. Anyways, he has some fun equipment and I do enjoy getting outside. The only issue is since starting with him on Monday it has snowed 2 days and rained 2. Can't do spring cleanups in those condition


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## ericgautier (Apr 22, 2017)

kds said:


> Thanks all for the information. I have been doing some reading and I don't think it would be ideal to go forward. If I'm doing more than one lawn I should get insurance, which would pretty much eat any profit from small mow jobs on the side.


Did you look into how much insurance would cost?


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## kds (Apr 28, 2017)

ericgautier said:


> kds said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks all for the information. I have been doing some reading and I don't think it would be ideal to go forward. If I'm doing more than one lawn I should get insurance, which would pretty much eat any profit from small mow jobs on the side.
> ...


I work for an insurer and that's who I have my auto and home insurance through, and I got a quote from them for $480 a year. That's just straight liability coverage. Since I would only be doing a few lawns, that would bring my profits down to peanuts and I guess I value my time a little more than that. It would make more sense if I was going for more volume since insurance costs would remain constant.


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## SGrabs33 (Feb 13, 2017)

kds said:


> ericgautier said:
> 
> 
> > kds said:
> ...


Was that for a simple liability umbrella policy?


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## ABC123 (Jul 14, 2017)

You can get 2 mil liability for about $50 a month


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## kds (Apr 28, 2017)

SGrabs33 said:


> kds said:
> 
> 
> > ericgautier said:
> ...


General liability (GLO).


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## ericgautier (Apr 22, 2017)

Does it have to be a year policy? If you are not doing leaf clean up.. then I would think maybe you only need 6 months of insurance coverage (maybe less)?


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## kds (Apr 28, 2017)

ericgautier said:


> Does it have to be a year policy? If you are not doing leaf clean up.. then I would think maybe you only need 6 months of insurance coverage (maybe less)?


Probably not, but I'm not going to lay out the cash up front and then cancel and hope for a refund later down the road.


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## ericgautier (Apr 22, 2017)

kds said:


> Probably not, but I'm not going to lay out the cash up front and then cancel and hope for a refund later down the road.


I hear you.

Look into Thumbtack Pros (or even put out a CL ad) to see if there is any demand for "mowing" gigs in your area. I signed up, it was free, just to see demand for photography (my hobby business) and do get a lot of inquiry.


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