In this guide
Hiring is the point where a lawn care business stops being a job and starts being a company. It’s also where many owners lose money, because the wage is only part of the cost.
This guide walks through the decision in the order you’ll face it: are you ready, what will it cost, how do you hire legally, how do you train, and how do you keep the work good when you’re not there.
It’s general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules differ by state, so check yours and talk to an accountant before you make an offer.
Are you actually ready to hire?
Two signs say it’s time. You’re turning down jobs or pushing customers weeks out, and you’re already working all the hours you can. If only one is true, fix that first.
- You’ve said no to quotes in the last month because you had no room.
- Your schedule is full a week or more ahead, and customers are waiting.
- You’re doing every mow, every quote and every invoice yourself, and the invoices are slipping.
- You have enough recurring customers that a new hire would have work on day one.
If you’re tired but your calendar has gaps, you don’t have a labor problem. You have a sales or routing problem, and a hire will make it more expensive.
Use the crew capacity calculator to turn your route into numbers. Put in your average lawn time and drive time, and it shows how many properties one crew can finish in a day. If the answer is fewer than you’ve sold, you’ve found your reason.
What the job really costs you
The hourly wage you offer is the smallest surprise on the list. Everything around it adds up, and none of it shows up on a paycheck.
- Payroll taxes. As an employer you pay part of Social Security and Medicare, plus federal and state unemployment taxes. The IRS publishes the current rules.
- Workers’ compensation insurance. Most states require it once you have employees, and landscaping is a higher-risk class. Get a quote from your agent before you hire.
- A second truck or trailer, or at least the space in yours. Two people and their gear don’t fit where one did.
- Equipment: another mower, trimmer, blower and the fuel and maintenance that come with them. Your crew can’t share one set.
- Your own time. You’ll spend hours training, checking work and fixing mistakes before the new person pays for themselves.
- Slow days. Rain pays nobody, but a full-time hire still expects hours.
Look up each of these for your state and your insurance class, and write the real number next to each one. Don’t use someone else’s.
Say you charge $55 for a lawn that takes one person 40 minutes, including drive time.
Revenue per hour for one worker: $55 × (60 ÷ 40) = $82.50.
Add your fully loaded hourly cost for the hire: wage + payroll taxes + insurance + equipment, spread over hours worked.
If that loaded cost is $35 an hour, you keep $82.50 − $35 = $47.50 an hour before fuel, overhead and your time.
If your loaded cost is $60, you keep $22.50, and one rainy week can erase it.
Swap in your own price and time. A thin margin only when the hire is idle is a scheduling problem; when busy, it means prices go up first. The mowing price calculator helps check that.
Employee or contractor?
Calling someone a contractor doesn’t make them one. The IRS and the Department of Labor (DOL) look at how the relationship actually works: who controls the schedule, who supplies the equipment, whether the person works for others, and whether they can make a profit or take a loss.
A person who shows up when you say, uses your mower, wears your shirt and is paid by the hour usually looks like an employee. A person with their own truck, their own insurance and several other clients may be a true contractor.
Misclassifying someone can lead to back taxes, penalties and unpaid wages, and states set their own tests on top of the federal ones. Both the IRS and the DOL publish plain-language guidance on classification. Read it, then ask an accountant or employment attorney about your exact setup before you decide.
The paperwork for a first hire
Do this before the person works a single hour. In the US, the usual list looks like the one below, but your state may add to it.
- An EIN from the IRS. It’s free to get.
- Form W-4, which the employee fills out so you withhold the right federal income tax.
- Form I-9, which confirms the person is allowed to work in the US. You review their documents and keep the form.
- State new-hire reporting. Most states require you to report new employees within a set time. Check your state’s agency for the deadline.
- State and local tax accounts, such as state withholding and unemployment insurance.
- Workers’ compensation coverage in place before day one.
- A written offer: pay rate, pay period, start date, and who they report to.
If you plan to apply pesticides or fertilizer, many states require a license for anyone who does. Check that before you assign the work.
Payroll is easy to get wrong, and mistakes cost real money. A payroll service or your accountant can handle the filings. Ask them to walk you through your state’s rules once.
Where to find people and what to look for
The best first hires usually come from people you already know of. Ask your customers, your suppliers and the folks at the equipment dealer. Post on local job boards and community groups, and put a sign on your own truck.
- Referrals from people who know your standards.
- Students and seasonal workers who want outdoor work and flexible hours.
- Workers from a neighboring trade who are between jobs.
- Former crew members from another company who’ve told you they’re looking.
You can teach someone to run a mower in a morning. You can’t teach them to show up. Look for people who are on time to the interview, answer plainly, and take direction without arguing.
Questions worth asking
- Can you lift and work outdoors all day in heat and rain?
- Do you have a valid driver’s license and reliable way to get to the shop?
- Tell me about a job where you had to finish something even though you didn’t feel like it.
- What would you do if a customer stopped you in the yard with a complaint?
Do a paid trial day before you commit. Watch how they handle the mower, how they treat the property, and whether they notice the missed patch by the fence.
The first two weeks
Don’t hand over a trimmer and drive off. Spend the first few days working next to them so they see the standard, not just hear it.
- Days 1–3: ride along. They watch you, then do one step at a time while you check it.
- Days 4–7: they work a full property while you stay on site and give feedback after each one.
- Week 2: they handle a short route alone, and you check the photos and a few drive-bys.
Write down what a finished property looks like. A one-page standard beats saying “make it look good.” Include edging, string trimming along fences and beds, blowing hard surfaces clean, gate latched, and clippings handled the way you want.
The seasonal checklist template is a starting point for what to do at each stage of the year. Copy it, cut what you don’t offer, and hand it over on day one.
Safety basics
Landscaping is hard on bodies. OSHA publishes guidance for landscaping and horticultural work, including mower and trimmer safety, heat illness, and noise. Read it and cover the basics with every new hire.
- Eye, ear and foot protection on every job, no exceptions.
- Clear a lawn of rocks, toys and hoses before mowing.
- Water, shade breaks and a plan for hot days.
- Never reach into a running machine. Shut it off first.
- Know where the first-aid kit is, and who to call.
Running a crew you’re not on
The hard part isn’t training. It’s knowing whether the work is happening the way you taught it when you’re across town quoting a job.
- A daily list. The crew knows the stops, the order and any gate codes or notes before they leave the shop.
- Before and after photos at each property. They take ten seconds and settle most disputes.
- A crew lead. Pick the most reliable person, pay them more, and let them make small calls so they’re not texting you all day.
- Timesheets you can trust. Know who started when, and where.
- A short end-of-day check: anything skipped, anything broken, anything a customer said.
In Lawnly’s crew app, the crew sees today’s stops in order with directions, takes before and after photos, and marks each job done. Crew members see only their own jobs and no prices. A crew lead can clock in the whole crew, and timesheets flag a job started or finished more than 400 feet from the address.
You can do all of this with a group text and a spreadsheet when you have one truck. It gets painful at two.
Keeping the people you hire
Turnover is expensive because you pay to train every replacement. Most of what keeps people is simple.
- Pay on the day you said, every time.
- Give the schedule early and keep it stable.
- Tell them when they’re doing well, not just when something is wrong.
- Have a plan for rain days, so they know whether to expect hours.
- Give a raise or a title to the one who earns it, before they go looking elsewhere.
- Provide gear that works. A dull blade or a broken trimmer makes a good worker quit.
If someone isn’t working out, say so in the first two weeks, in writing, and give them a chance to fix it. Then decide. Keeping the wrong person costs the right ones.
Finally, talk to your insurance agent and your accountant again once you have three or four people. The rules and the risks change as you grow.
Give your crew a daily list instead of a group text
The crew app shows each person today’s stops in order, takes before and after photos, and flags jobs started far from the address. Try it free for 30 days, no card needed.