Jadebrook Commercial Capital, a Boone, North Carolina funding service, assists Watauga County, North Carolina landscaping and lawn care businesses request funding. The county had 43 landscaping employers in 2023, most with fewer than five employees. This page covers equipment loans for mowers and skid steers, lawn care financing for wages and materials, hardscape crews, buying a route and solo operators.
At a glance
- Landscaping employers, Watauga County, NC
43, 74.4% with fewer than five employees (County Business Patterns 2023)
- Landscaping businesses without paid employees
162, NAICS 56173 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024)
- Landscaping annual payroll
$5.5 million (County Business Patterns 2023)
Business Loans for a Landscaping Business: 43 Watauga County, NC Crews With Payroll
County Business Patterns counted 43 landscaping services employers in Watauga County, NC in 2023, with 142 employees and $5.5 million in annual payroll, about $38,577 for each employee (our arithmetic); 74.4% had fewer than five employees (County Business Patterns 2023). That share is above one half, so most of the county's landscaping employers are small crews. Nonemployer Statistics counted 162 landscaping businesses without payroll at the broader NAICS 56173 level for 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024).
Landscaping employers in ZIP 28607 numbered 20 (ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). A crew's funding needs come in two kinds. Machines are bought once and used for years; wages, fuel and materials repeat every week and are paid before customers do. Each kind has its own product, and a request that mixes them is easier to read when they are separated.
Lawn Care Financing for Fuel, Wages and Plant Material Before Accounts Pay
Commercial accounts can pay monthly, and a large planting job is billed at completion. Illustration only, invented figures: a 4-person crew at an invented $21 an hour for 168 hours a month costs $14,112 in wages (our arithmetic), paid weekly while the invoices for that work are collected weeks later. A line of credit drawn for wages and plant material and paid down as accounts settle matches that pattern; the partner reads the account list, the invoices and how quickly they are paid.
Landscaping Equipment Loans: Mowers, Skid Steers and Trailers
Illustration only, invented figures: 3 commercial zero-turn mowers at an invented $13,800 each, $41,400 in all, over 48 months at an invented annual rate of 9.5% cost about $1,040 a month (our arithmetic). Each mower secures the loan, and a partner reads the dealer quote and the crew's deposits. Used machines can be financed too, with the age, hours and serial number on the request.
The equipment financing page works a skid steer through, and the lease vs. buy equipment calculator compares buying a machine with leasing it.
Landscape Equipment Financing for Hardscape and Grading Crews
Crews that build walls, patios and drainage use heavier machines: compact track loaders, mini excavators, plate compactors and trailers rated to haul them. These purchases run larger and suit longer terms. Other specialty trade contractors, including site preparation crews, counted 30 employers in Watauga County, NC in 2023 (County Business Patterns 2023); landscapers moving into grading share their equipment and their financing.
Buying an Established Lawn and Grounds Route
Buying a route means buying its accounts and its equipment. Illustration only, invented figures: an invented $185,000 purchase with $27,750 down over 72 months at an invented annual rate of 9.75% costs about $2,893 a month (our arithmetic). A partner reads which accounts are under contract and likely to stay, the equipment's age, the seller's returns and the buyer's experience. A term loan funds the purchase; the equipment in the sale can sometimes sit on equipment financing instead.
Self-Employed Grounds Crews Without Payroll
With 162 landscaping businesses running without payroll in the county (Nonemployer Statistics 2024), owners can work alone or with occasional help. A partner reads the owner's Schedule C or business return, personal credit and the business bank account. Keeping business income and spending in its own account makes that review far clearer than a mixed personal account. A solo operator's first machine purchase is read the same way as a larger crew's: the quote, the down payment and whether deposits show room for the payment. A record of past equipment loans paid on time helps, and so does a list of the regular accounts the machine will work on.
Cleaning and Grounds Maintenance Crews Beside Landscapers
Janitorial services counted 7 employer establishments in Watauga County, NC in 2023 (County Business Patterns 2023) and share the landscapers' rhythm: wages weekly, accounts monthly. The same pairing applies to them: equipment financing for machines and vans, a line of credit for the gap between paying the crew and being paid.
Whether a crew can borrow against its machines rather than land is covered in the collateral article.
By Jadebrook Commercial Capital · Updated