My first year in business was one of the tougher but a very enjoyable part in my business journey.
At the time I had just graduated Highschool and was going to community college. I decided to get my degree in my field of expertise, Landscape Design & Contracting.
I remember how crazy and hectic my schedule was at the time. I was working part-time for a local paint company, going to school full-time, and working at my business at night and on the weekends. Needless to say, my schedule was insane. Not to mention the fact that I was desperately trying to figure out how to build this business.
At the time I had no idea really where to get customers, and the customers that were trickling in didn’t want to pay much as I had no real track record of performance.
I remember walking up and down the streets of my neighborhood putting out these cheap flyers I printed up on my home printer saying Ill do landscaping. I was desperate just to get any job to get my foot in the door. I would go door to door on the weekends Morning until dark putting up these flyers, until one day I got a call! My first real touch of success. Now I just had to figure out how to price the job and where to start.
It ended up that this customer wanted me to trim a few of her hedges and install some mulch she purchased. I charged that initial customer $25 per hour. In my head, I thought that was great money. Especially considering I was only making $11-12/ hr at my paint sales job. In retrospect, I did make great money for being solo and not really having any bills.
After getting that job I would go out again trying to find anyone that would pay me to do anything in their lawn or flowerbeds.
At this time I started dabbling into running ads on Craigslist, talking to friends and family to see if they know anyone that needs work done, and posting my business card at the local gas station on their bulletin boards.
I was still working and going to school 100+ hours a week. I vividly remember waking up, going to school until 2 or 3 pm, getting out, and either working my part-time job or doing landscaping. Typically I would get off my part-time job at the paint store then go out and mow lawns or do landscaping until 9 or 10 pm. Saturdays and Sundays I would work my part-time job in the morning until the late afternoon then go out and do more landscaping. It felt like nothing could stop me. I was on a mission to build this business from scratch and slowly things started coming together.
That year I ended up only doing about $25K in revenue for the entire year. To a 19-year-old kid, that felt like a million bucks!
As things progressed my business grew, I picked up new clients, and my skills and confidence grew.
Looking back I think this 1st year was a great starting point and launching pad for later years. I am grateful I stuck with it even working those 100+ hour weeks.
If you are in your first year of business, expect it to be hard. Expect things to not go your way. Keep pushing forward and become the person you want to be!
