A friend of mine, back in the 80s, jacked a car up on a sloped yard. It rolled and hit other parked cars. The repair bill came to $100,000.

He had no insurance and it bankrupted him.

I bought public liability insurance the very next day and I've carried it every year since.

That's why "get insured" is one of the jobs in week one of starting a lawn business, not a someday task you get to once you're busy. A mower breaking a window, a trimmer throwing a rock through a car, a slip on a wet path, any of it can cost more than a year of premiums. None of it waits until you're ready.

The usual cover for a lawn business: general liability, commercial auto that covers your tools, professional liability, and workers' comp if you ever hire. I run my own business as a sole proprietorship, the simplest structure there is, and carry $1 million in liability cover on it. If you ever move into heavier landscaping work, that's when it's worth looking at an LLC instead.

Insurance is one piece. The structure matters too. Register with the IRS for an EIN, open a separate business bank account, and pay yourself a set amount every week rather than whatever's left over. Keep the two sets of money apart from day one and tax time stays simple.

None of this is exciting. It's also the part most new lawn guys skip, because it doesn't feel like real work the way mowing does.

That's why it's built into the order, not left for later. It's one job out of 28, in the order I give every new lawn guy who asks me where to start. Most of the fails I've seen skipped the boring first week.

Start day 1 of the free 28-day plan.

Nobody budgets for a $100,000 afternoon. That's what insurance is for.

Until next time, get out there, mow lawns, and have fun.
Stuart
Lawnmowing101