hi guys,
sorry it took me awhile to get back long enough for a reply.... thanks for taking the time to respond.
bakari, i would love to go the route you talk about, but like you said, it is one extreme.... that said, it sounds like it is totally do-abe for our biz and business model, where a day or two delay isn't the ened fo the world for what i would imagine are not necessarily, wkly or semi regular customers. sounds like more of an occasional, at most, type service. for me, we're there every week, and if i'm giving apologies and missing jobs 4-5 times out of the projected 32 week maintenance season, it deeply hurts my reliability & credibility and my bottom line as that represents 10-20% of my season, aka the profit....
i do have to mention my "insanity factor" which is to say that, having several "bleepbox" trucks, one which cost 20k (financed), so not all unexpensive, and having each reach, in relatively short periods of time, a level of unpredictability. i just basically had to factor in to my cost of doing business a pretty much new truck, financed as cheaply as i could get it. when i talk about my "insanity factor" i mean, i would literally tense up each morning going to start these trucks with 3-5 standing around seeing if we'd be working that day-it really sucked.
one truck got to the point where, for a calendar year, it averaged 350/400 month in repairs. that's way more than the $100/mo i spend in interest on my most expensive truck/loan and it actually ran me more in real dollars that year than a brand new dump truck.
we have 115 lawns to service every week and one of the things i really push when it comes to "branding " my service is our reliability and dependability, simply because that's not excessively common in contractors today. customers have literally said they could set their watches by when my mow crews come by. that makes me feel pretty good.
now with the new vehicles (and you guys will probably slap the sh!t out of me for this) with doubled up warranties to 6 years, also stupidly financed ( i know, i an a$$head), i sleep at night knowing my trucks will run in the morning and if they don't, i won't be paying for the repairs.
factor in that the fords really do a very good job retaining resale value here around boston, and i know i could do better, but my business now runs as smoothly as possible with trucks and equipment that start and run ALL the time, or as close as you can getin this biz.
some other factors to consider: around here, having the better image shiny new trucks and equipment provide absolutely adds an air of professionalism and credibility. i know this may draw some guffaws, but it's true. MMM touched on this.... let's face it, these are people who MUST have highly maintained landscapes to preserve their own images. i do remember as a kid (i'm 37) NOBODY in middle class neighborhoods had landscapers. now, it's half our clientele at least. with 2 jobs/3kids they don't have the time to cut their own lawns, they think. this affects how much we can charge and the "quality" of neighborhoods we can work in...
after doing this for awhile and listening to you guys, i think the approach that really works for me is to buy trucks 2-5 yrs old, again w/ lower than average miles. the first 2 yrs is really when the majority of depreciation takes place. it gets incrementally more negligible after that for fords.
now, this is likely another topic, but my brother in law (also a landscaper) recently switched to dodge rams, 2500 series pickups, which are 1/3 better on gas and significantly cheaper up front, but don't hold their resale like fords. that's a whole other factor to consider.... (sorry, better keep my mouth shut or open a a new topic:)
thanks again guys and i welcome you to shoot holes in my logic, or lack thereof. save me a buck and you'll be my heroes!