Insurance Quest



We were now licensed to opperate as a company in Virginia.  We soon realized that would be the one of the easiest purchases we had to make in preparation for the upcoming season.  Insurance premiums are very expensive especially if you have no previous record of holding insurance which was our case.  Also some agencies did not want to deal with a company which did not have a prior insurance record to show which was even more frustrating because you can't have an insurance record unless they are willing to insure you in the first place.  Many companies simply did not call back or took an extremely long time so we decided to go with the agent who repeatedly was in touch and very easy to work with.  I learned about differing insurance terms and all the insurance that is necessary and a lot that really isn't at least initially.



Above Board

Above Board

January fifth, the day landscaping for Charlie and I changed from a small way to earn money to a company that must adhere to the laws concerning the entity.  We formed our LLC.  It was exciting to finally move forward.  We knew it would bring many challenges with it but we were confident the benefits would outweigh the headaches in the long run.  It was a great learning experience.  We used Legal Zoom to draw up our documents and operating agreement for how our particular LLC would be required to operate.  I learned a lot through the process of researching all the tax benefits and downfalls of multiple tax formations to place an LLC under.  I believe these and the other knowledge I learned through the process will help me with my current company as well as down the road on any future endeavors I may decide to embark on.  We were now licensed in the state of Virginia.  There was a lot more that lay ahead in preparation for an "above board" season in Lawn Care.

I think I have the new name for this blog.  It took long enough, I know.  So here it finally is: "Legal Landscaping" part 1.  I think it sums up the goal of the project well.  Winter presents many challenges for Charlie and I's business.  We both play basketball, which when practices and games are acounted for there is very little time or energy left for work related activities. We dont have the time to do much leave removal which is the primary work this time of the year in our line of work.  However the few jobs of it that we have had time to do on the weekends has taught us some valuable business lessons.  I have found from my experience running the business that most of the important lessons are not very fun ones, seeing as how they most often come from our biggest mistakes.  For example a few weeks ago I recieved a call from a customer over in Hunting Hills who wanted some leave removal done.  I agreed to come by and give him a quote on the job.  The job was huge and the price I left was also rather high for a leave removal job, but heres the catch that we would later realize would be more problematic than anticipated; the leaves to be removed were primarily all in woods surrounding the house.  Being in Hunting Hills, the house had a very small sodded lawn and the owners land consisted primarily of a very steep wooded hill which turned into quite a challenge.  The short version is that we realized after  working for several hours with two other employees that we didnt have the equiptment necessary to do the job effectively since our open trailer is not ideal for transporting large amounts of leaves since there is no way to keep them all from blowing out without it being enclosed. our large tarp just simply wopuldnt do the job for the amount of leaves there were this time.  We had to inform our customer that we simply underbid ourselves on the job and did not have the right equiptment to get it done in an efficient manner which would allow us to leave in the black.  We were forced to cut our losses before they pushed farther into the red. 

Luke Alligood
Mrs. Honaker
English 12 CB
9/9/14

Figuring Out My Twenty Time

For my "Twenty Time" project I want to possibly do something with the use of magic and the effects it can be used for in many different contexts which may include but not limited too street performance, table magic, and illusions.  My other thought of a possible project is to research new ways to improve my landscaping business and expand it to other areas of growth.  My ideas on this include looking into licensing and insuring my business as an "above board" business with the goal of growing my customer base from what is currently residential businees primarily to forming contracts with local business's and residential jobs in order to increase profit and create more work for me and my employees.  Some of the challenges that come with this however are difficulties in the form of taxes and workers compensation.  My goal would be to weigh the pros and cons of this big change and develop a plan to make it more succesful and appealing business to hire and be confident in the work to be done.