Landscaping services counted 44 employer establishments in Sullivan County, TN in 2023 (County Business Patterns), and Nonemployer Statistics counted 359 landscaping businesses without paid employees in 2024. Keelport Capital in Kingsport, Tennessee passes landscaping funding requests to partners. This page covers equipment financing, loans for crews and fuel, one-truck operators and a priced equipment package.
At a glance
- Landscaping employers, Sullivan County, TN
44 (CBP 2023, NAICS 561730)
- Landscaping employees, Sullivan County, TN
389 (CBP 2023)
- Landscaping businesses without paid employees
359 (NES 2024, NAICS 56173)
Financing Landscaping Equipment in Kingsport, TN: Mowers, Trucks, Trailers
Landscaping equipment financing is secured by the equipment: commercial mowers, trucks, enclosed and open trailers, compact loaders, aerators and hardscape saws. Partners read the business's deposits over a full year, its contracts or customer list, and the equipment's age if used.
A request that lists each machine with its price, and shows the routes or contracts that will keep it busy, reads far better than one that asks for a round number.
Landscape Equipment Financing for Sullivan County, TN Crews Adding a Second Truck
Adding a second truck and crew is a bigger step than replacing a mower. The partner asks whether the work is already there, through signed maintenance contracts or a waiting list, and whether the owner can manage two crews. The truck, trailer and mowers can be financed together if they come on one invoice or are listed together in the request.
Dealer financing on mowers is common and sometimes carries promotional terms; compare it with a partner's offer on total cost.
A Landscaping Equipment Loan for a Sullivan County, TN Owner, Priced
Invented figures, for illustration only: a Sullivan County, TN landscaper prices two zero-turn mowers at $14,500 each, a truck at $48,000 and a trailer at $7,800, $84,800 in all (our arithmetic). Five years of monthly payments at 10.5% a year put the package near $1,822.68 a month (our arithmetic).
The partner compares that payment with the business's monthly deposits across the whole year, including any months when work is lighter, and asks which other services, such as hardscape or cleanup jobs, fill them.
Keep the dealer quotes, the insurance quote for the new truck and a list of current customers together; those three documents answer most of what a partner asks about an equipment package of this size.
Lawn Care Business Loans in Kingsport, TN: Fuel Cards, Wages and Repairs
Lawn care businesses borrow for fuel cards, payroll and repairs as well as equipment. Commercial clients that pay on net terms leave a gap between doing the work and being paid; a working capital loan or a line of credit covers it. A cash advance collected by daily debit is a costly way to cover the same gap, because the debit does not wait for invoices.
Working capital loans explain how partners read deposits.
Fuel deserves a line of its own in the budget. A crew's fuel card bill arrives every month whether or not the clients have paid, and an owner who can show fuel, payroll and repair costs per month gives a partner the numbers it needs to size a working capital request.
Small Business Loans for Lawn Care: One-Truck Operators Around Kingsport, TN
Nonemployer Statistics counted 359 landscaping businesses without paid employees in Sullivan County, TN in 2024, a separate program from the employer counts. A one-truck operator can still finance equipment; partners lean on the owner's credit and the business's deposits, and may ask for a down payment on larger machines.
Separate the costs in the request: mowers and trailers as equipment, fuel and payroll as working capital. Mixing them into one sum makes the partner guess which part is secured by equipment and which is not, and the guess rarely works in the owner's favor.
A one-truck operator can still finance equipment; Mixed personal and business deposits make a small operator's request hard to read.
Lawn Care Equipment Financing: Zero-Turns, Blowers and Spreaders
- Commercial zero-turn and stand-on mowers.
- String trimmers, blowers and hedge trimmers, sold singly or in bundles.
- Spreaders, sprayers and aerators.
- Trailers, and the truck that pulls them.
Small handheld tools can be bought with cash or a line; partners finance larger machines more readily. Leasing suits equipment replaced on a short cycle.
Landscaping Services in Sullivan County, TN by the Census Count
County Business Patterns counted 44 landscaping services employers in Sullivan County, TN in 2023 with 389 employees and $15.3 million in payroll; 23 had fewer than five employees and 9 had a ZIP 37660 address. Nonemployer Statistics counted 359 landscaping businesses without paid employees in 2024; the two programs measure different businesses and years.
The lease-or-own article covers leasing landscaping equipment.
By Keelport Capital · Updated