Patriot Lawn Care

Business Plan Project

April 26, 2019

Professor: John Cater
MANA 4320.060: New Venture Planning
Group 10: Angel Renteria, Andrew Procell,
Mary Smith, Mathew Skaggs, Henry Sanchez
I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A. Patriot Lawn Care

Patriot Lawn Care

204 ACR 4170
Palestine, TX 75803
(903) 922-4525
Contact: Angel Renteria, President

B. Type of business

Patriot Lawn Care is a landscaping company specializing in lawn care and maintenance for

residential and small businesses that are looking for fast, quality, and affordable yard services;

these services include mowing, edging, cleans-ups, and flower installations.

C. Mission

Mission Statement: Gaining long-term clients by providing quality and friendly services;

operating with love, pride, and integrity while maintain the nature of your lawn!

Patriot Lawn Care hopes to grow, prosper, and give back to our community. Operating in East

Texas, we look to expand and enter more areas in the industry such as sod installation, tree

removal, and irrigation. Our company wants to promote our employees regularly and grow our

management teams.

D. Company description. One paragraph summary of activities, products, and customers.

E. Key personnel. Discuss qualifications of top 3-4 executives.

F. Start-up schedule and competition. One paragraph description - list dates of startup and

names of competition.

G. Funds requested and collateral provided. Two sentence statement.

H. Fund use statement: One paragraph description, list how funds will be used

I. Fund repayment or exit schedule: explain repayment or public offering.

II. INTRODUCTION

A. General- Patriot Lawn Care’s garage and office will be located at 204 Anderson County

Road 417, Palestine, TX 75803. For free quote estimates or any questions related to servicing

your yard, please call Mary Smith, Area Manager, at (903)-393-1430.

B. Description of the Business- Patriot Lawn Care is a unique landscaping company that

operates with love, pride, and integrity while maintaining the nature of your lawn. Formed by a

group of college entrepreneurs from The University of Texas at Tyler, Patriot Lawn Care is made

up of intelligent individuals that utilize their skills and knowledge obtained from their school to

maintain honesty, great work ethic, and customer satisfaction. Our employees fulfill our

customers request by exploiting their listening skills and work ethic.

Patriot Lawn Care offers services such as: mowing grass, edging and trimming corners,

blowing off patios and driveways, cleaning up leaves, cleaning out flower bed weeds, installing

flower bed and flowers/plants, over seeding and fertilization, and sod replacement. (Sod

replacement takes days or weeks for preparation and installment. Regular mowing services is our

main target)

C. Business History- Patriot Lawn Care first began in June of 2018. Angel Renteria, student at

The University of Texas at Tyler, decided he wanted to work his own hours and began phoning

friends and families in search of demand in the landscaping industry. Many family friends

immediately gave him work on a bi-weekly schedule and Angel managed to work less hours

while making more money and staying focused in school. He owned a truck, a 10-foot trailer, a

zero-turn mower, a backpack blower, and an edge trimmer. Along with other supplies like gas,

shovels, rakes and trash bags, Angel was able to meet all his customers’ needs. In January 2019,
Angel met Andrew Procell, a business student at The University of Texas at Tyler and decided to

merge their resources and knowledge to create a broader range of intel. In the midst of their

partnership, Angel and Andrew found Mary Smith, our current Area Manager, Henry Sanchez

and Mathew Skaggs, our Crew Supervisors. Patriot Lawn Care hired four laborers from

Palestine, TX with the necessary skills and flexibility to accomplish our goals.

D. Future Plans of the Business- Patriot Lawn Care’s primary goal is to gain long term clients

by providing quality and friendly service. Leaving a footprint that demonstrates kindness and

caring work ethic while keeping a green and environmentally safe neighborhood. Our main

concern is customer service. Patriot Lawn Care will be known as the most fulfilling experience

in the landscaping industry. Engaging with our customers and building a relationship with them

comes from the heart of each of our employees. Listed below is a 5-year target that Patriot Lawn

Care seeks to fulfill starting with Year 1:

1. Fulfill all customers’ needs according to their desired requests. For the first year, Patriot

Lawn Care strives to worry our competition by offering the most affordable prices and

supplying the best customer service.

2. The second year we aim to increase our revenue by 7%-10%. According to our sales

estimate, $360,000 x 10% = $36,000.

3. For the third year we plan to hire a third crew along with gaining enough clientele to

support a full-time crew.

4. Our fourth year operating we plan to involve ourselves more in advertising for sod

replacement and landscaping area where bobcats and bulldozers will be required.

5. Patriot’s fifth year, we aim to hire a fourth crew that focuses only on landscaping and tree

removal as opposed to lawn maintenance crews.

III. MARKETING

A. Major Marketing Objectives & Goals

Patriot Lawn Care’s major goal is to service commercial and residential clients in the cities

of Tyler, Longview, Kilgore, Hallsville, Tatum, Whitehouse, Lindale, Bullard, and White Oak

and major Texas cities. We are planning to primarily start in Palestine, Frankston, and Tyler.

After starting in those cities, we plan to start servicing the other cities listed within 2-3 years of

operations. We will eventually expand our geographic area outside of East Texas. We will

aggressively advertise to large cities in Texas like Dallas, Austin, Houston, and Fort Worth. We

plan on primarily marketing on social media.

Objectives:

1. To grow Patriot Lawn Care into a million-dollar company by year 5

2. To service at least two new cities every year

3. Increase sales by 12% yearly after the first year of operation

4. Increase sales staff by 1 person every year.

5. Reach the breakeven point within 1.5 years and operate profitability in the second year

6. Participate in charity events to help young individuals in the cities we service.

B. Product/ Service

This is a partial list of services we provide.

Mowing Mulching

Edging Watering
 Over seeding Aeration

Dethatching Fertilizing

Hedge Trimming Weed Removal

Sod Installation Landscape Design

Customer Service: The goal of Patriot Lawn Care is to provide our clients with excellent quality

lawn care for an affordable price, and amazing customer service. Outlined below is a summary

of the services we provide:

1) Patriot Lawn Care will send after photos of our services to make sure our customers are

satisfied with the service we provide.

2) Patriot Lawn Care will provide our clients with free estimates upon contacting us.

3) Patriot Lawn Care will accept the following forms of payment: cash, checks, debit card,

and credit cards. We accept most major credit cards including Discover, American

Express, Master Card, Visa, and Diner’s Club.

4) Patriot Lawn Care reserves the right to refuse service.

5) Patriot Lawn Care will provide discounts for customers who help us market via social

media.

6) Patriot Lawn Care also accepts payments online, providing a convenient service for our

customers.

7) Patriot Lawn Care requires a 50% deposit will be due prior to scheduling any large

projects.

8) Patriot Lawn Care will make every attempt to contact customers for unpaid balances

before sending their information to our collection agency.

 9) Patriot Lawn Care has a service policy, if you are not satisfied with our service contact us

within 24 hours and we will send a crew out. Past 24-hour complaints will be addressed

during the next visit.

C. Control Methods

Inventory Control/ Quality Control: We will hire two 2-man crews that will take care of 75

lawns a week each. With 2 trucks that will be leased for the next 5 years paying for them with

2.9 interest rate. Since, we cannot control if we receive customers the one thing, we have made a

priority is inventory methods. If we know exactly what we need and what we have, it will

increase our cash flow saving our company money. By estimating that lawn care will take up

around 1-2 gallons traveling our lawn care service will be around $50 paying for the traveling

expense and making a profit. The garage where we located in Palestine takes care of all the

expenses and inventory, so we are precise on knowing how money we have and what is in the

inventory.

Self-Promotion: Each of the will be required to self-promote Patriot Lawn Care on all their social

media account Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If we are able to promote the company with

little to no money spent on advertising this save us a whole bunch of money and will only be

beneficial. Only spending roughly 5% of our projected sales estimate on advertisement during

the first year will help us meet our goals and increase our gross profit annual.

Media Advertisement: In an era of social media it has proven to be the most effective way to

reach out to people. This will allow us to connect with the individuals, so we can build

relationships and get people’s attention about our services via Facebook, via Twitter, and via

Instagram. Customers will also receive a discount if they tag our company in social media and

that will available in the next appointment.

Electronic Payments/ Discounts: We will accept all major credit cards Discover, American

Express, Master Card, Visa, Diner’s Club and via online allowing the customer for a easy pay

method. Giving our customers every opportunity to make payments. If that customers refers us to

other individual about our services they will receive a discount for the next appointment. Other way

to receive a discount is to tag Patriot Lawn Care in any social post.

D. Target Market

We will be aiming to sell to a wide range of people from the ages 20-85+ with a median

age of 35 years old. Our company will provide services college students, young adults, couples,

single, families and the elderly. The main target market of Patriot Lawn Care is the upper-class

neighborhood, business, school, and sport complexes. Patriot Lawn Care is a prestigious lawn

care company that offers only the best services to all of our customers. Patriot Lawn Care targets

individuals or couples that have an average income of at least $40,000 income. Even though we

are based out of Palestine we provide our services throughout Tyler, Longview, Kilgore,

Hallsville, Tatum, Whitehouse, Lindale, Bullard, and White Oak.

Our long-term target market goal is to do around 7,800 lawns the first year, that would

conclude that we see 3,900 customers a year on a biweekly schedule. This would mean that we

would see on average 150 lawns a week with 2 crews working, each crew seeing 75 lawns

themselves. Needing to see 600 lawns a month and 7,800 lawns a year.

With the population of Palestine-18,306, Tyler-104,991, Longview-81,522, Kilgore-

14,782, Hallsville-4,243, Tatum-1,386, Whitehouse-8,317, Lindale-6,066, Bullard-3,287, and

White Oak-6,352 people. Having a wide range of opportunity with several locations we provide

our services Patriot Lawn Care is able to reach its target market. With Tyler, TX being our

biggest target market 3,000 people move into Tyler each year and since 2012 the population has
grown by 12%. With this it makes it very reasonable to reach our goal of 12% sales growth rate

after the first year.

E. Place

At Patriot Lawn Care Services our home location is in Palestine, TX. One of the co-founders

of the company, Angel Renteria, has a garage in Palestine. The garage is used as our

headquarters, storage, and office space. Our space is not the typical office building because we

typically do not have clients coming to our office space. Our crews meet here each morning to

start their day and return to this location to return equipment at the end of the day. Our crew

supervisor is the only employee with office space in the garage. We have an area of the garage

that is set up to take phone calls and schedule the daily route for each crew. Because of last

minute changes in schedule, we prefer to have someone working at the office during business

hours to direct phone calls and plan the following day accordingly. Our current office location in

Palestine is:

Patriot Lawn Care

514 Gardner Drive
Palestine, TX 75803

This location provides flexibility with a 20-minute drive to Frankston, Elkhart and all Palestine

addresses. Typically, one of our teams drives to Tyler and takes cares of all Tyler service
locations. Our area manager, Mary Smith, schedules our services accordingly and always makes

it a priority to schedule Tyler lawns on the same day. We understand that as the business grows,

we will have to drive to Tyler more often but right now we try to limit our driving to Mondays

and Wednesdays in order to make more economical decisions.

F. Price

At Patriot Lawn care we take care of mowing, landscaping and commercial lawn care.

When a client is interested in our services we go to the location and give a quote depending on

the amount of work and the supplies that will be needed. Our co-founders Angel Renteria and

Andrew Procell are the experts at giving the original quote. We never change our quote before

the first visit. After the first visit, if someone wants to be a regular client, we set up a contract

that can be weekly, monthly or yearly depending on the customer’s needs.

The typical yard in a neighborhood is one-fifth of an acre. If these yards need mowing only

our services start at $35. However, we offer many additional services at Patriot Lawn Care. If the

customer wants seeding, aeration, or landscaping each of these services will change the cost. On

google the average cost of a mowing service is $60 a month. This puts our company at half the

cost of other providers. Below is a pricing chart from one of our competitors.
 We do not offer fees over the phone. We make it a priority that customers to only pay for the

services they are receiving. Because our work is contacted, we are able to keep our prices low for

longer periods of time, providing the exact services the customer is wanting.

G. Promotion

We will use a promotion scheme where we can be smart and save money at the same

time. The power of social media cannot be stated enough. We will promote Patriot Lawn Care

through Social Media like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat. Every employee at

Patriot Lawn Care knows what social media can do so they all believe in the power of it. Each

employee has also agreed to help market the company through their personal pages. This would

include all their social media accounts and any other places that they can advertise Patriot Lawn

Care. We will focus on websites with the most visitors.

Source: bigcommerce.com

In this table, we can see that Facebook is the biggest and most important social media

website that we need to advertise on. Facebook is a crucial website to advertise on because it

widely used as a place where people get to know each other people and companies. This is an

important social media website to advertise on because Patriot Lawn Care can post videos of

how we operate and our methods of mowing lawns to customers. We can also post videos about

how careful and how much care we put in when we are mowing our customer’s lawns.

Business cards and word of mouth is also other crucial promotion methods that Patriot

Lawn Care will rely on. In lawn care, word of mouth is the best form of advertisement. Patriot

Lawn Care will give its customers the exact lawn care they want and that will advertise the

company in itself. Over time, we will invest in ads on Facebook and other sites that our local

customers can see and other forms of marketing.

H. Competition

Patriot Lawn Care faces a lot of competition because lawn care is an oversaturated field.

There are a lot of entrepreneurs that like to be in this field and this is where Patriot Lawn Care

will shine it’s best.

 Patriot Lawn Care is located and based in a garage in Palestine, so its competition

consists basically of anyone doing lawn care in Palestine or any surrounding cities. We do better

than the rest because we are more professional, and we are willing to spend more money than

most lawn care companies. Our competition is one-man crews too, so in order to beat the

competition, we perform better quality service and customer service than everyone else.

Direct Competitors

1. Dove Lawn & Landscaping Services (903)-391-4826

425 Anderson County Road 2212, Palestine, TX

2. Nedbalek Lawn Service (903)-731-4697

112 Elmwood Ct, Palestine, TX

3. Felipe’s Yard & Tree Services (903)-727-2020

4769 TX-19, Palestine, TX

4. Fillmore Lawn Enforcement (903)-941-8420

4769 S State Highway 19, Palestine, TX

IV. MANAGEMENT

A. Goals and objectives.

Patriot Lawn Care is made up of three levels of management: top, middle, and lower. Our

top management is comprised of the co-founders of the company, Angel Renteria and Andrew

Procell. Middle management is run by one Area Manager who oversees all work locations, Mary
Smith. The lower management, or functional management, is made up of two crew supervisors

that accompany the workforce in doing their daily tasks.

Short-term objectives

1. Brand recognition- Patriot Lawn Care aims to create noise in the industry of lawn

maintenance in the first year. We look to expand our image by providing clients with the

best customer relation experience.

2. Automate workflow- Our first year we strive to improve the efficiency of our

performance. Crews will be conducting yards in a organized manner where each member

will have a task and a follow up task to complete in order to finish yards effectively and

on time.

3. Sales and marketing- The majority of our clients have small yards that only need

maintenance two times a month or bi-weekly. The first-year marketing, we aim to find

clients with bigger yards and a need for weekly cuts.

4. Listen to customer- Patriot Lawn Care is known for operating with kindness and we seek

to record the feedback and concerns of our clients. We will conduct surveys for our

clients and fulfill any requests that are given to us.

Goals

1. Profit- Patriot Lawn Care aims to be a million-dollar company by year 3. Our company

looks to generate $360,000 in year 1 and obtain a growth of 7% revenue by year 2. By

year 3, Patriot Lawn Care should have generated over $1,000,000.

2. Staff growth- Our goal is to promote Mary Smith, area manager, into the top management

along with promoting our lower management, Henry Sanchez and Matthew Skaggs, to
 middle management becoming new Area Managers. With that being said, we plan to

employee 4 new supervisors and 8 laborers having a total of 4 crews by the end of year 5.

3. Expansion- By year 5, Patriot Lawn Care wants to service all over Tyler, Whitehouse,

Longview and Palestine. We hope to have 1 crew in each city dominating the industry.

Patriot Lawn Care has an overall mission to grow and prosper in the industry of landscaping.

We aim to introduce new servicing such as sod replacement, tree removal, irrigation system

installations, and consultation in the future of our business. Creating an upholding brand image

and providing customers with the quality service we offer will help Patriot Lawn Care see these

objectives and conquer our goals.

B. Key personnel

Top Management

Patriots Lawn Care is co-owned by top management Angel Renteria and Andrew Procell. Their

tasks include:

 Strategy formulation,

 Finance bookkeeping,

 Time management,

 Inventory and equipment,

 Payroll,

 Clientele,

 Sales,

Our two owners set the company on a strategic path that leads to efficiency and success.

Formulating time management and incorporating effective techniques that allow our workforce

to complete yards in a timely and sufficient manner is what top management does best. Angel
Renteria is mostly in charge of equipment and supplies; making sure the crews have all the

supplies and resources necessary to complete their daily tasks. Andrew Procell takes over the

sales and marketing duties by implementing a low-cost strategy that allows us to compete with

local rivals.

Middle Management

Our middle management is led by Mary Smith, Area Manager, who is in charge of

overseeing all locations in need of her assistance. Mary has access to:

 All clientele and reports to them when quotas need to be estimated or when current

customers have problems.

 She directs our functional management team on the routes and jobs needing to be

complete.

 If crews come across issues, the Area Manager is the first person they contact.

Mary Smith is the overall coordinator of the business. She makes sure that Patriot Lawn Care

is functioning and running smoothly in the areas that our crew members are servicing. Both

crews aim to complete 15 yards per day; Mary prepares efficient routes and time goals that each

crew needs to follow. She provides free estimate quotes on customer leads provided by top

management.

Lower Management

Our functional management is divided into two crews. Crew supervisors, Henry Sanchez and

Matthew Skaggs, will be:

 On the job sites directed by the Area Manager.

 Their jobs are to make sure our workforce is following their training methods to conduct

safe and efficient lawn care.

  They help our crews with tasks concerning detailed quality and participate in some of the

labor.

The functional team is the heart of Patriot Lawn Care; our management team is trained to

operate with kindness, humility, and integrity. They train our workforce by setting the example

of excellent servant leadership.

C. Organizational Structure

Angel Renteria
Co-Founder/Majority
Owner

Andrew Procell Co-

Founder

Mary Smith
Area Manager

Mathew Skaggs Henry Sanchez

Crew Supervisor Crew Supervisor

Mowing Specialist Landscaping Specialist Mowing Specialist Landscaping Specialist

This organizational chart specifies four levels of management: The Co-Founder/Majority

Owner, the Co-Founder, Area Manager, and two Crew Supervisors. The owners will speak
directly to customers about their lawn care needs as well as listen to their complaints in order to

better understand their needs and wants. Patriot Lawn Care is designed to service all of our

customers’ requests in a timely manner. Our organizational structure also puts us in a position to

answer the challenges of our competitors. Our presidents will quickly talk about pricing and not

hesitate to accommodate our customers. The Co-Founders directly manage the area manager and

crew supervisors. The crew supervisors oversee 3-4 crew members who service our customers

directly. These crew members are responsible for proper completion of all property maintenance

duties including mowing, trimming, pulling/spraying weeds, and removing debris from the

property.

D. Human Resources Management

Recruiting

The first employees of the company are co-founders, Angel Renteria and Andrew Procell. We

recruited Patriot Lawn Care’s Area Manager and Crew Supervisors through personal contacts.

We will recruit other employees through online job postings such as Indeed.com.

Job Description

Co-Founders - manage and schedule labor equipment and material to accomplish production

schedules within estimated production time. Maintains strict adherence to establish schedules

and budgets. Provide documents to shield staff at the beginning of the day and instruction to

crew leaders who are prepared to complete jobs. Investigates any accidents or safety violations.

Maintains proper inventory of materials and equipment. Supervise employees by keeping

attendance records and enforcing dress code. They also set up company policy and make final

strategic decisions.
Area Manager – assists Co-Founders in establishing routes crews take each day, as well as

handling immediate problems that may arise at job sites. Manages crew supervisors and

addresses any problems they may encounter.

Crew Supervisors – guide and mentor field staff and assist them with carrying out their duties.

They also serve as primary link between the customer and the crew. Crew Supervisors drive

crew members to different locations.

Mowing Specialist – operate vehicles such as zero-turn lawnmowers and push-moving

equipment. Care for established lawns by mulching and mowing. Make sure customers’ grass is

at a satisfactory length.

Landscaping Specialist – primary duties range from weed eating property to planting and

maintaining customers flowerbeds. They also trim bushes and spray chemicals to eliminate

infestations.

Performance Evaluation

Performance evaluations will be conducted quarterly. Each manager will review the employees

they oversee. Managers and supervisors will be evaluated by the Co-Founders. See more details

about Performance Evaluation in the section of company policies.

Wage and Salary Structure

Title Salaries

Co-Founder $15/hour

Area Manager $13/hour

Crew Supervisor $11/hour

Mowing Specialist $10/hour

Landscaping Specialist $10/hour

Pay and Benefits

The following summarizes Patriot Lawn Care’s policies and procedures regarding compensation

and benefits.

1. Pay Procedures

You are paid weekly for work performed during the previous pay period. Checks are prepared by

computer and distributed with information related to the withholding of taxes and other amounts

withheld. If you have questions about your check, please feel free to contact your supervisor. We

also offer direct deposit to our employees.

2. Holidays

Our company normally observes seven holidays during the year:

New Year’s Day

Memorial Day

Easter

Fourth of July

Labor Day

Thanksgiving

Christmas

All employees are eligible for holidays off.

3. Vacation

After one full anniversary year, you receive one week of vacation. After two years, you receive

two weeks of vacation.

4. Sick Days
All employees are eligible for five sick days each year. Sick days may not be used as holiday or

vacation.

Grievance Policy

We define grievance as any complaint, problem, or concern of an employee regarding the

workplace or coworker relationships. Employees can file grievances for any of the following:

workplace harassment, safety, supervisor behavior, adverse changes in employment conditions.

Employees who file grievances can reach out directly to their supervisor and file a grievance

form explaining their situation in detail. Employees who face allegation have the right to receive

a copy of the allegations against them.

E. Policies

Internal/ External:

When hiring Patriot Lawn Care looks for the people that best represent use and have the

same vision. We are looking for people that want to bring change in people’s life and be the best

at what they do. Patriot Lawn Care offers only the best because that is what the customer

deserves. Our crew is as professional as they come. They will have a clean cut, uniforms,

friendly, and treat every customer with respect.

A. Harassment/ Sexual Harassment

There will be a zero tolerance for sexual harassment or harassment when working for

Patriot Lawn Care. Sexual harassment is when the individual has physical or mental been

violating. Sexual harassment does not have be strictly physical but if the person is

verbally abusing the individual and does not approve of it that will be considered

harassment.
 According to the EEOC sexual harassment is unlawful to harass a person (an applicant or

employee) because of that person’s sex. Harassment can include “sexual harassment” or

unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical

harassment of a sexual nature. Also, according to the EEOC Harassment is unwelcome

conduct that is based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin,

age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.

When working on the lawn care sites there will be no tolerance for any kind of

harassment to customers. We are a professional business that plans on keeping on our

great representation professional, friendly, respectful, and dependable. If there is there

any report that anyone of our workers has harassed or sexual harassed any of the

customers immediate action will be take place and if found guilty automatic termination.

B. Financial Controls

Everything will be kept track electronically it is most efficient method. With our

computers they will do automatic stock checks making sure that we have enough

equipment and extras as needed. With doing a minimum stock level which means that

having the minimal amount of stock and reorder when that stock has reached that level.

The reason is because as a lawn care company we do not need just endless amounts of

stock. We need just enough to where if something breaks will be able to replace it with

the next one. This will be cost effective and save our company a thousand of dollars

C. Payments

We provide every opportunity for the customers to be able to pay. We accept cash,

checks, debit card, credit cards and online payments. We accept most major credit cards

including Discover, American Express, Master Card, Visa, and Diner’s Club. If the
 customer fails to pay for the service, we will make every attempt to contact that

individual before we take it to the collection agency.

D. Guarantee/Warranty

Patriot Lawn Care will send pictures to the customers after completion to make sure that

they are satisfied with our service. If not will ask what they would like change or fixed to

ensure that it is exactly what they want. This will also come with free inspections when

contacting us. We guarantee that you will be more than satisfied with our service at

Patriot Lawn Care.

F. Insurance

A. Worker’s Compensation Insurance

The Occupational and Health Act of 1970 made it where workers are protected in the

workplace with protections if the individual gets hurt, seriously, or even death. Workers

compensation protects the individuals from any work-related injury it does not have to be

on the job. It could also be if the individual is driving to while working on the job.

B. Liability Insurance

Liability Insurance is known as third party insurance. Liability Insurance protects our

workers from any liabilities that might happen while working. It protects us from any

damages that worker might happen to do the customer’s property that could happen.

C. Health Insurance

The reason for we have health insurance to ensure that we as a company provide the best

care for the employees as possible. Giving them the opportunity to be taken care with any

type of health care problems, accidents, and etc.

G. Legal

In our business we sign a contract with each of our clients. We typically like all homeowners

and business owners to sign a 1-year contract. We understand that the clients yard care needs change

from season to season and we try to address each of those needs in the contract. In our line of business

our contract also serves as a permit to be on the property and gives us the legal right to change the

property according to the details the client specified in the contract.

As a partnership, Angel and Andrew make all business decisions together. They both have

previous experience in lawn care. This experience gives them the knowledge and understanding of

daily operations and how the team needs to work together at the job sites.

Below is a picture of a similar contract to what we use. Each contract also has a second page

that lists the specifics of the yard and what needs to be done each month or week. As listed in the

contract we prefer that the contract last a year, but if needs change, we must have at least 30 days’

notice to terminate the contract properly.

V. FINANCING & ACCOUNTING

A. Turn-key costs

 Incorporation Fee- $340: Name and Certificate of Formation

 Permit: $50: Yearly

 Insurance Bond: $400-$600: Yearly

 Garage space is privately owned

 Initial Inventory: Owned ($4,000)

 Business Card: 500 bought for 30$

 Total Initial Investment: $5,000

 1 Zero Mower

 1 Push Mower

 1 Trimmer

 1 Blower

 2 Rakes

 2 Shovels

 2 Gas Tanks

 1 Truck/Trailer

As the team begins the business there will be other cost such a compensation and other unexpected

costs, but these costs give the managers an idea of what they are looking at when preparing the budget.

Our team’s sales forecast is based on the 30 current and potential clients that are excited about Patriot

Lawn Care. On average, most of these individuals prefer to spend about $100 a month. This generates

$3,000 in revenue a month, and $36,000 a year. If one yard takes between 45 minutes and 1 hour, one
crew can complete 8 yards a day, 4 days a week for 2 weeks a month. Paying one worker to perform

these tasks for $10-$12 an hour would cost the company a wage expense of $640-$770 a month, (8

hours x $10-$12 x 8 days/month). Patriot Lawn Care is left with approximately $2,300 in revenue each

month. The workers wage accounts for 20% of a $50 session.

The list of supplies below is also to be accounted on a monthly or quarterly basis:

 Regular and Mixed Gas ($2.50-$3.00/gal)

 Engine Oil ($50 every 3-4 months)

 Trimmer String ($20-$30 a month)

 Trash Bags ($20 a month)

B. Equity or unencumbered cash

In the beginning of our business, we will have to take out a loan for equipment. There will be

some leftover cash that the business can use in order to further advance Patriot Lawn Care. The rest of

our equity of the business will be mainly be funded by the co-founders Angel Renteria and Andrew

Procell. Mary Smith our area manager and crew supervisors, Henry Sanchez and Matthew Skaggs will

be funding the business partially. There are also other sources of equity that will be coming from family

and friends of the business owners and employees that will be donated to the business in order to help

further along Patriot Lawn Care.

Once Patriot Lawn Care starts going, the equity of the business will more than likely fluctuate

wildly up and down but rest assured we will always have enough equity on hand to fund all purchases

needed to advance Patriot Lawn Care.

Total Left Over From Loan $6,160

Funds from Angel Renteria $5,000

Funds from Andrew Procell $2,500

Funds from Mary Smith $1,000

Funds from Henry Sanchez $150

Funds from Mathew Skaggs $200

Other Sources $750

Total Amount Equity $15,760

Patriot Lawn Care will have approximately $15,760 total equity or free on hand cash to spend

on whatever it needs to spend money on. Patriot Lawn Care will have more than enough equity to

spend money on what it needs and should be used as emergency funds to make sure that it never

defaults on its obligations.

C. Collateral

Patriot Lawn Care has many assets of value that can be used in case it defaults on its loans. All

of the assets currently owned by Patriot Lawn Care were donated by co-founder Angel Renteria. The

assets of value or collateral that Patriot Lawn Care owns will be used as emergency equipment in the

extreme case that there is too much business or too many customers for Patriot Lawn Care to handle. It

can also be used when one or more of the equipment it plans to buy on a loan breaks or needs repairs.

1 Ford F-150 4x4 $20,000

1 7x12 Trailer $1,000

1 John Deere Zero-turn Mower 48in $2,500

1 Husqvarna Trimmer $200

1 Husqvarna Blower $200

1 Hand tool $20

Total Current Assets $23,920

Patriot Lawn Care will also acquire equipment that it buys on a loan so that will be used as

collateral too. This equipment will be the main assets that Patriot Lawn Care will be using and losing it

would be detrimental to the business.

2 Ford F-150 4x4 $20,000 ea.. $40,000

2 7x12 Trailer $1,000 ea. $2,000

4 John Deere Zero-turn Mower 48in $2,500 ea. $10,000

4 Husqvarna Trimmers $200 ea. $800

4 Husqvarna Blowers $200 ea. $800

12 Hand tools $20 ea. $240

Total Assets Bought on Loan $53,840

If we add up both numbers, Patriot Lawn Care will have about $77,760 in assets after

purchasing the equipment it needs with the loan it gets. Patriot Lawn Care in addition has $15,760 in

equity that could also be used as collateral. Patriot Lawn Care then has $93,520 in total collateral that

could be used for any other loans that it might get in addition to the $60,000 loan that it needs for the

extra equipment it plans on getting for its main operations.

 Patriot Lawn Care has plenty of collateral to fall back on if necessary, in the unfortunate event

of defaulting. Although it won’t happen, Patriot Lawn Care won’t have to worry too much in the case

of defaulting or bankruptcy because there will be assets left over to keep the business running

somewhat at a very slow pace but not at a pace that would be ideal for making a lot of money.

D. Current loans (amounts, types, conditions)

Patriot Lawn Care requires $53,840 of equipment in order to fulfill the yards necessary to

generate $360,000 in revenue the first year:

2 Ford F-150 4x4 $20,000 ea. $40,000

2 7x12 Trailer $1,000 ea. $2,000

4 John Deere Zero-turn Mower 48in $2,500 ea. $10,000

4 Husqvarna Trimmers $200 ea. $800

4 Husqvarna Blowers $200 ea. $800

12 Hand tools $20 ea. $240

Patriot Lawn Care will seek a business loan of $60,000 with Capital One Bank at an interest

rate of 7.5% and term of 10 years equaling 120 payments. Monthly payments will be approximately

$712 where $337 will go to the principal, and $375 to the interest. Completing the 120 payments on

time and effectively will result in paying a total of $25,000. This means that we must pay $5000 in

principal and $5000 in interest every year for 10 years. This loan will provide Patriot Lawn Care with

the equipment and supplies necessary to fulfill its visions.

Angel Renteria, Co-President, owns one of each of the items listed above and will be used as

backup equipment in case of emergencies to prevent downtime. This set of backup equipment will also

be used to employ a individual worker to complete yards that cannot fit in our current crews schedules

due to our projection of growth and goals to expand. Angel will also use his garage for the first 1-2
years of operation as leverage to save enough money to pay off a lease for a garage closer to our

designated locations.

E. Proforma Balance Sheet

Current assets: Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Cash $14,850 $33,700 $55,350
A/R $0 $0 $0
Inventory $54,000 $56,000 $58,000
Fixed Assets:
Equipment $62,000 $62,000 $62,000
Total Assets $130,850 $151,700 $175,350
Liability:
N/P (Truck loans) $40,000 $30,850 $21,700
Auto Insurance $2,400 $2,400 $2,400
Interest Paid $580 $580 $580
Bond Insurance $6,000 $6,000 $6,000
Equity:
Investment $62,000 $62,000 $62,000
Retained Earnings $14,850 $33,700 $55,350
Capital Stock $5,020 $16,170 $27,320
Total Liabilities: $130,850 $151,700 $175,350

Our inventory accounts for our crews’ gas and equipment supplies. We have $62,000

worth of equipment including trucks, trailers, mowers, and other lawn care machines and tools.

Patriot Lawn Care projects total assets equaling $130,850. We project a 7% increase in

customers every year which means our inventory of supplies projects to go up $2,000 every year.

We calculated to pay roughly $9,000 a year for the principal truck notes; auto insurance

and interest paid come out constant at $2,400 and $580 a year. Often, one does not need to be

bonded but for the sake of our customers concerns and safety, we chose to insure the company at

a low rate for a $500,000 bond. Our investment is equivalent to our equipment and our capital

stock is money invested by our founders.

F. Proforma Income Statement
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Net Sales Revenue $360,000 $370,300 $381,400
Cost of Goods Sold
Labor Wages ($144,000) ($149,100) ($154,200)
Supplies ($54,000) ($56,000) ($58,000)
Cost of Goods Sold ($198,000) ($205,100) ($212,200)
Ending inventory $0 $14,850 $33,900
Gross Profit $162,000 $181,050 $246,100
Operating Expenses
Truck Leases $9,150 $9,150 $9,150
Truck Insurance $2,400 $2,400 $2,400
Insurance Bond $6,000 $6,000 $6,000
Salaries $57,600 $57,600 $57,600
Advertising $7,200 $7,200 $7,200
Total Operating Expense ($82,350) ($82,350) ($82,350)
Income Before Tax $79,650 $98,700 $163,750
Income Tax $64,800 $64,800 $64,800
Net Income $14,850 $33,900 $57,950

Our two crews are projected to be cutting 75 yards each, per week, totaling out to 600

cuts per month. If we stick to the small lawn maintenance strategy and look for clients wanting

biweekly cuts for 100 dollar per month, our crews can accomplish these goals and generate

$360,000 in our first year. Our total wages for our labored workers totaled out to $144,000;

while supplies like gas, trim string, mix oil, and filters projected to cost us $54,000 for the year.

That explains why are cost of goods sold totaled out to $198,000. Our truck leases are each

$20,000 and Allstate $200 per month for both vehicles together. Our insurance bond totaled out

to be $6,000 along with our advertising costing us 2% of our net revenue. Income tax is

projected to hit us hard due to income and employment taxes. We still project to profit $14,850.

We hope to get at least a 7% increase in clientele every year for the next three years as

we expect our brand and company values to take over the market. We are confident in seeing

profit the first year because of the quality, kindness, and professionalism our employees and

management offer!
G. Break-even Analysis
Sales (at breakeven) =Fixed expenses + Variable expenses

Fixed cost
Trucks $9,150
Insurance 8,400
Salary 144,000
Tax 64,800
Total 226,350

Variable Cost
Cost of Goods .55
Equipment .172
Advertisement .02
Total 0.742

Breakeven Sales= 226,350+ 0.742 * Sales

0.258*Sales = 226,350.742
Breakeven Sales = 877,328.45
We should break even by year 5
H. Ratio Analysis

Our ratio of workers to yard is 3:1. For town size yards with typical maintenance there is only 2

workers per yard. We prefer to have an extra person for landscaping and efficiency throughout the

project.

Our ratio per yard averages at one hour per yard. Some yards take 20 mins and other we spend a

full day. This all depends on the needs of the customer. The national average for lawn care is 30 mins.

Ours average is higher just because we take care of more commercial yards and spend more time on

landscaping.

Our Accounts Receivable turnover is much faster than other types of businesses. Because we

have a contract in place we typically get paid before the work is done. The first time we service a yard

we wait to receive payment until after the yard is serviced. This gives us the opportunity to make sure

that the customer is pleased. After the customer knows what to expect we send out invoices at

beginning of each month. Most businesses pay immediately, and we are able to use those funds towards

the next month of service.

I. Suggested bookkeeping method(s) and basis

The bookkeeping method Patriot Lawn Care will use is single entry. Although there are many

advantages and disadvantages to both. Single entry is the best way to go since Patriot Lawn Care will

be starting off as a small business at first. Some of the advantages include:

 1. It’s easy to do and there are no rules to follow when doing single entry. Patriot Lawn Care can

make its own rules for bookkeeping and doesn’t have to follow some sort of guideline in order

to keep its finances in order.

2. It’s very helpful for Patriot Lawn Care to do single entry because it doesn’t require skilled

people such as accountants that demand a lot of money. Maybe when Patriot Lawn Care has

more employees under its belt, we can add an accountant since more employees means more

money being made for the business.

3. Profits can be easily determined by looking at opening and closing balances. It’s a very simple

system that is highly effective at some points.

There are also some disadvantages though to Patriot Lawn Care using single entry. Some of

these include:

1. There are no checks and balances in single entry. This means that if for instance, the closing

balance was $40,000 and the person entering the information pressed an extra zero, the closing

balance would be saved as $400,000. Besides errors, you have to careful with this type of entry

also too because it is also prone to fraud.

2. There are no rules so the format of keeping records is not formal and could be messy at times.

This doesn’t mean that Patriot Lawn Care can set its own rules in regard to bookkeeping.

All in all, single entry bookkeeping is the best way to go for Patriot Lawn Care. The main

reason why this was chosen is because it will be such a small business at first. Double entry

bookkeeping is not for small businesses like Patriot Lawn Care because we cannot afford to do it.

When Patriot Lawn Care becomes a bigger business and starts grossing in millions, maybe then it will
switch to double entry. In the meantime, it is best to cut corners and save money with single entry

bookkeeping.

J. Provisions for taxation

As a partnership, Patriot Lawn Care is facing three types of taxation: sales, income, and

employment taxes. Our sales tax will not be liable under the company’s gross profit; our customers will

receive an invoice on each cut day that will include the price of the labor plus the sales tax which is

8.25%. For example, the majority of our customers are paying $100 per month; this means that they

will be paying a sales tax of $8 a month. With 300 clients on a bi-weekly schedule, that totals out to

$28,800 in sales tax.

In 2018, income tax took a revision where now companies are eligible to acquire a 20% tax rate

on their gross income. The range is from 20%-32%; being a small company, we hope to acquire the

lowest tax rates possible. The company will not pay taxes on a partnership; however, the owners must

pay this rate from their net profit,

A self-employment tax is put on the co-owners of the company where they must pay the total

15% tax rate on their salaries. On top of that, the owners also have to pay 7%-8% of their employees’

taxes including social security. Employees are responsible for the other 7%-8% that will be deducted

and allocated from each pay check.