I'm trying to get a top-dressing business cranked up. I love our new Turfco self-propelled machine but I need to start working it right away. I have a truck, trailer, compost. Any good advice for me please?

I presume this is your machine


I also presume you will be getting compost at wholesale rates. Around here we have people who will blow compost onto my yard for the low low price of the retail cost of delivery. If I buy compost it cost me $35/cubic yard plus $55/delivery for up to 3 cubic yards. All I have to do is tell them what compost I want, from any vendor in town (we have three big ones), and they do the rest for $55/cubic yard applied. I don't know what the wholesale price of compost is, but for that price I can't afford not to have them do it, can I? And do you know how I know about them? They advertise on the radio gardening shows on the weekend.

The blower is not this one exactly but it is the same general idea

yep, get the word out. hang signs at the garden stores, run ads on craigslist. the usual home made budget advertising campaign. do nice work and then you get word of mouth advertising. good luck.

went and got another cup of coffee, started laughing (at myself).

I get a yard in the pickup truck for $20 at this place--
Click here for more information
come home and grab the 5gal. bucket and the fun begins, 15 more loads latter and I'm done. 2 loads a day is max for me.

I ask the office guy, "ya know anybody that can deliver and spread that stuff?" he looks up and thinks, then says, "ah, nah, you'd have to call around about that". (possibly not the brightest bulb on the tree?)

If I had a spreader or blower, that guy at Ormi would have several of my business cards taped or stapled on him. there would be sign on their wall, signs on the road leading in and out of there.

the mower jockey/trimmer guys don't do that kind of work, but for a commision they'd love to sell a job for you.

Thanks for all the advice thus far. I'm putting it to practice as we write. I'm in with a few lawn services and we've landed three jobs so far. Last Thursday was a basic "spot-treatment". I took my sweet time and did it cheap. I was happy just to be getting the real world process going and getting paid for it. A neighbor come by afterward and asked for a quote, I've been studying my stuff to really get a handle on all the features & benefits of top-dressing. This side business started with just selling the compost for $27 yard and and now we spread it for another $25. It looks like I'm right on cue with the $100,000 blower trucks rates without the outrageous overhead. Happy to have a 4-5 yard spread job scheduled for this Thursday and a 3 yard one on Friday and both are in a huge Golf centered retirement communities.
With a baby on the way I'm thrilled to gain all your input.
Adam

I'd have big reservations about doing lawn renovations, the guy that kills the old yard, nah, not me. if you can find customers that are doing a reno, you can be the star of the show and come in for the top dressing. wish you were around here, pickup of compost and a 5 gal. bucket wears me out. top dressing and fertilizer application? that could work. commercial accounts? buy a machine because it looks like fun to run, next thing ya know, your the sales guy, go figure.
good luck.

5-Gallon bucket? Maybe you would like to buy a Load-Handler from me? After borrowing a buddy's I decided we should start selling them along with the compost. Now we're a registered dealer. Go to Loadhandler.com for details 'cause it's enough work hand-loading compost & then have to hand-unload it? No Way! We use the medium duty one and it's a real champ. I can ship you one for $100 even. Or you can buy it directly from them for $125.
You are right on cue concerning the "After the sod is spread" topdressing service. To make it easy for this nice older lady I delivered 18 3-gallon rubbermaid buckets full of Peat Compost. I pick up the buckets tomorrow since she finished up today. $1 bucket-ful. $18 more than I had last week right.
Sometimes I do wonder if I might scare customers away by having too low a price. Is it possible? My dad tells me folks think something must not add up when the same commercial product is being sold for $4.96 a bag in stores and here I'm delivering a whole bulk yard for $27 and not charging delivery on the first 10 miles. I see other "compost" guys selling their stuff from $35-60 yard. What do you think?
Thanks Guys- This is the best site I've ever asked a question on.

there's sort of a funny business/marketing question. ya got to get peoples attention and build a customer base, so at the beginning you almost give it away. then you take the prices up a notch and see if the customers still buy. take it up some more notches until you get complaints and roll it back, have a nice discount for older "preferred customers", etc. etc.

did you mean Click here for more information ? now ya know, I shoulda thought up something like that, darn! that's slick!

Hi Adam. Once you get going, and it looks like you are on your way, supply and demand will set the prices for you. To get going you probably will have to set your price lower. Then you can work on increasing the demand so you can raise your price or hire more people at the current price.

Be sure you are priced to pay all expenses plus a decent hourly wage. If you don't, then you will not be able to afford to hire more workers. For example, the plumbing company gets paid $125 per hour but the plumbers get paid $15 - $50 per hour depending on experience. The rest is overhead, materials, equipment payments, insurance, advertising, accountants, license fees, taxes, fuel, and profit for the owner. Your excellent advertising will help create more demand and drive the prices up.

Back in the 1970s a friend of mine owned a company that provided maid service to motels in South Africa. He charged the client $20 per maid per day (it was the 70s) and paid the maids $5-$10 depending on their experience. After all the bills were paid, he cleared a profit of $1.50 per day per maid, and he had 100 maids working.

In my dirt world I'm currently the only maid on the payroll & quite honestly I enjoy the solitary time of being just a one man band. When you have to be "ON" all day at a store you are glad to be on your own simply collecting your own thoughts otherwise. Having to change anyone else's diaper than my own (and soon to come Noah's) just doesn't sound that appealing. In reality when using the Turfco a second person might help load the machine for a few moments & then I'm off by myself again while the're just waiting for me to come back.

I've sold fine home furnishings for the last 7 years and before that I did lawn-service. I work six days there and have 3 off to do side jobs like the turfco spreading of compost and deliveries then I'm back and bound to the store for the next 6 days. Last Thursday & Friday really gave me a wake-up call concerning working in the wet Florida heat again. I've had it made in the shade pushing a pen for so long I totally forgot that it rains on and off throughout the day even when there's work to do. On Thursdays job I didn't make much for being there 3.5 hours- I think I cleared about $80. I spread about 4 yards with the Turfco, it would have went quicker had it not rained making the composted peat heavy to shovel out of the dumptruck & into the hopper.
Fridays job was cut down to 2.25 hours and spread 4.44 yards of peat (I had my groove on). Thankfully I cleared nearly $160. Without getting overly stressed out about going to one income I try and remember that as long as we can make $400-500 doing this on the side we'll be pretty much right where we're at now before da baby.
I can't say this enough: I LOVE ALL YOUR ADVICE
Proverbs 11:14
Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

Does anyone really get great results from topdressing with "yellow-sand"?