I once knew a lawn mowing contractor who was retiring and decided to sell his business. He'd worked it for over a decade, and although it was stable, it was sloppily run. Lots of badly priced lawns and customers who owed money. He had no idea what his business was worth, but he thought it must be worth a lot. After all, it was his baby, and he'd built it from the ground up. He advertised his business at a ridiculous price and sold it within a couple of weeks. I knew nothing about the sale...

So you have all your lawn care equipment, and you're ready to get out there and mow some lawns. All you need now is for your phone to ring. But it doesn't. This is not because there's no work out there; it's because nobody knows your business exists. You need to develop a presence in the market, and you may think that sounds like hard work, but I can tell you from personal experience that it's not hard at all. Have you ever heard the saying: "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time."...

I once heard about a contractor who was still mowing a property despite being three months behind on his invoicing. He nearly went under while struggling to get his business back on track. In our line of work, getting paid is just as important as doing the job. But if you're just billing monthly or letting payments slide, you're not a business owner. You're a bank. And you're lending money to people who "forget" where they stand the moment the grass grows back. Here's how to keep your cash...