Build a year-round yard route: mowing, leaves, and snow
One customer list sold three services across four seasons — a mowing route priced per visit, autumn leaf removal, and snow removal on seasonal contracts — with route density tight enough that drive time stays under 15% and revenue never stops in January.
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Who it's for
A solo operator with a truck or trailer and $4,000–$15,000 to risk who wants a home-service business that does not die every winter. Assumes a city-scale route in dense neighbourhoods, not acreage or commercial grounds, and a region that actually gets snow, because the snow contract is the second half of the year's revenue.
About this playbook
This plan turns one customer list into three services and a full year of revenue: weekly mowing in the warm months, leaf removal in the fall, and a seasonal snow contract that pays whether or not it snows. The path is a straight line — prove the demand door-to-door before spending a dollar, price every service from a measured per-visit cost, run the break-even, register the LLC, fund the first season, sign the first ten customers, and read the real numbers at day 90 against the plan. The route is built to keep drive time under 15% of the working day, and the customer list is converted to winter contracts before the grass stops growing, so January is a paying month, not a gap. It is written for a single operator with a truck or trailer and a $4,000–$15,000 budget in a US city, and it states the kill criteria that tell you to stop before the money runs out. Snow is in the plan only where winters actually bring it — the climate check is the first step. It does not cover lawn treatments or pesticide application, commercial or HOA contracts, employees beyond a seasonal helper, or any marketing beyond the neighbourhood's own channels.
What you'll do, step by stepFree preview
Only a sample is open: 4 of 25 steps can be read in full. The rest unlock when you buy.
Phase 1: Prove the demand before you spend a dollar
3 stepsPhase 2: Price the services so the winter pays for itself
3 stepsPhase 3: Run the numbers until the route breaks even
4 stepsPhase 4: Register the business and get the licenses your state needs
4 stepsPhase 5: Decide how the first season gets paid for
3 stepsPhase 6: Sign the first ten and plan for the next hundred
2 stepsPhase 7: Run the route tight: suppliers, rhythm, and the first bottleneck
3 stepsPhase 8: Day 90: read the real numbers and keep or kill
3 steps
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What you need first
A truck or trailer (or budget room to buy one), a valid driver's license, and the physical ability to mow and to shovel or plow snow. A dense residential area with real winters to serve. $4,000–$15,000 that can be lost without touching rent or the emergency fund. Permission to work in the US, a place to store equipment, and a willingness to work alone for the first season. No lawn-care experience is required — the plan teaches the route economics, not the mowing itself.
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