Scorecard · Denver, CO
Lawn care and landscaping crew
64/100
How much does it cost to start a landscaping business in Denver? $15,000–$42,000 in Denver, CO, on the figures below.
- Profit
- B
- A Denver weekly mow is $45–$70 and takes 25 minutes. A crew of two clears 18–22 lawns a day. Install and hardscape work bills $65–$85 an hour with materials marked up 20%.
- Difficulty
- B
- A Colorado LLC, commercial auto, and a Denver contractor licence only if you touch irrigation or retaining walls. Mowing itself needs no licence.
- Capital
- C$15,000–$42,000
- A used truck and trailer $9,000–$20,000, two commercial mowers $7,000–$14,000, trimmers and blowers $2,500, plus insurance up front.
Break-even
- The number that has to be true
- 62 weekly mows at $55
- Fixed costs a month
- $5,400
- The assumption
- Routes dense enough that drive time between lawns stays under 8 minutes.
Opening for less
Start with one 48-inch mower and a used trailer, no second machine
−$8,000
Costs you: A breakdown stops the whole day, with no backup deck
Sell only in two adjacent neighbourhoods until the route is full
−$3,200
Costs you: You turn down work that is 20 minutes away and pays the same
Take snow removal contracts instead of idling from November
—
Costs you: Night call-outs and a $4,000 plough, but it keeps the truck earning
How you’d do it
What you need
- Commercial auto insurance and general liability, roughly $2,800 a year in Colorado
- A trailer and a way to secure it: stolen equipment ends the season
- 60 recurring lawns inside two neighbourhoods
- A winter plan, because Denver mowing stops for four months
First 3 moves
- 1Door-knock 200 houses in one neighbourhood in March, before the grass moves.
- 2Price four Denver competitors on a standard 4,000 sq ft lot.
- 3Quote one irrigation repair and see whether the licence is worth pulling.
The hardest part
Route density. Fifty scattered lawns lose to thirty next door to each other.
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