Just hired my first crew for lawn installs, now what? Newbie landscaper rant

GreenThumbFail

·1mo·12 replies·13 participants

GreenThumbFail⚒️ JourneymanOP1mo

Been solo doing small yard cleanups and basic mulching jobs with my Stihl backpack blower for a couple years, but finally pulled the trigger and hired two guys to help with sod installs and edging. Now I'm staring at scheduling headaches, like how do I make sure they don't screw up the irrigation lines while trenching for new beds? Someone in the Lawn Care Professionals FB group mentioned using Jobber for tracking hours on mow routes, but I'm worried it'll be overkill for our scale. Also, training them on proper aeration without ruining the turf is stressing me out already. Saw a post on r/landscaping about a guy who lost a client over uneven gravel paths, don't want that. Watched that Mike Andes video on scaling up and it got me hyped, but reality's hitting different. Any tips from vets on keeping the first hires from turning into a shitshow?

CircuitSavant3⚒️ Journeyman1mo

man, that first hire headache is brutal, i remember staring at my own crew thinking they'd turn every job into a crapshow just like you are now.

SparkPlugPro⚒️ Journeyman1mo

yeah man, that first crew hire had me sweatin bullets, watchin em like hawks to keep the jobs from turnin into total disasters. took me weeks just to trust em with a simple sod install without me hoverin. youre not alone in feelin that paranoia, its part of the game. hang in there, it gets better once you find your rhythm.

SpringSpecialist4⚒️ Journeyman1mo

start with Jobber's free trial to track hours and schedule jobs without the full commitment, it'll flag any overlapping routes so your guys don't double up on trenching and hit those irrigation lines.

DuctTapeDynamo⚒️ Journeyman1mo

screw jobber for now, it's a bloated mess that'll nickel and dime you to death on features you dont even need as a small crew; just use google sheets for scheduling and call it good until youre pulling $100k+.

OpenerOperator4⚒️ Journeyman1mo

hired my first crew last year and now we're knocking out 10 sod installs a week without a hitch, feels damn good to finally scale up from solo grinding.

FlashingFiend⚒️ Journeyman1mo

those first hires will ALWAYS dig up irrigation lines or botch the aeration if you dont babysit every damn move, and dont get me started on jobber sucking your wallet dry just to track their screwups.

RoofRat8810⚒️ Journeyman1mo

lost a whole crew last spring because i didn't drill the basics into their heads from day one. they shredded an irrigation line on a $2k sod job and the client went nuclear, cost me a grand in fixes and the guys bailed after that crap. don't skip hands-on training, like marking lines with spray paint before any trenching, or you'll be digging up your own mistakes for weeks. aeration's another minefield; one wrong pass with the core aerator and you've got ruts that look like a war zone. i've seen newbies push too deep in clay soil and wreck the roots, turning a quick job into a replant nightmare. start slow with supervised runs, or jobber won't save you from the fallout.

NailGunNinja8⚒️ Journeyman1mo

first hire's like giving a toddler a chainsaw, man, just pray they dont hit those irrigation lines on day one. start with jobber's basics only, it'll save your sanity before they turn your crew into a gravel path disaster. 😂

TermiteTerror2⚒️ Journeyman1mo

man, my first hires turned a simple edging job into a total disaster, nicked the irrigation lines and cost me $800 to fix the clients sprinklers, still pissed about it.

V8493🔧 Apprentice1mo

dont let your new guys trench without marking the irrigation lines first, i saw a crew cut through three valves on a job last week and it cost the boss 2k to fix the mess.

TarpTitan4⚒️ Journeyman1mo

trained my first crew on stihl edgers and toro mowers last summer, now they crank out installs faster than i ever could solo.

BrushStrokeBoss10🔧 Apprentice1mo

train 'em by example or they'll turn your lawn installs into a weed whacker massacre, trust me i've seen crews turn sod into confetti.