It starts at 8 am, covers three jobs across Emerald, Upwey, and The Basin, and finishes as a $1,170 day for a Jim’s Mowing franchisee. This is a representative look at the work because it combines mowing, pruning, green waste removal, quoting, and travel in one typical run. You will see the day step by step, from the first steep property and equipment setup through to multi-hour maintenance jobs and a detailed hedge-and-mow finish.
Watch the video above, or keep reading to see what a full working day actually looks like.
What Is the Morning Like for a Jim’s Mowing Franchisee?
If you want to know what it is like running a Jim’s Mowing franchise, the first thing to understand is that no two mornings look exactly the same. Mitchell Dennis starts this day in Emerald, working the foothills of Mount Dandenong and nearby areas like Ferntree Gully and Boronia. This is not flat suburban mowing. It is hilly ground, brush cutting, green waste, and machinery that earns its keep.
At 8 am, the first property is already scoped out. Mitchell uses a 32-inch SKAG stand-on mower because it can get through gates on 700, 800, and 1000 square metre blocks and cut mowing time from 25 or 30 minutes with a push mower down to about five minutes in the right conditions. He pairs that with a Stihl FS261 brush cutter, which he says is a $1400 machine with a Pro Cut head using 3.3mm line.
The first job is a mix of mowing, brush cutting, clearing the driveway, chopping up green waste, and loading the trailer. Mitchell estimates it at about an hour and a half, probably closer to two hours, plus a tip run. Joel Kleber, host of the Jim’s Group Podcast, reckons filming probably added 20 to 25 minutes, and Mitchell says the job would normally have been done in an hour and 15 minutes.
The terrain changes the whole pace of the day. Mitchell regularly works in the Dandenong Ranges and around Belgrave, where a flat backyard can still mean dragging a mower up a fair few stairs. He carries a 30-kilo aluminium Masport mower for some properties and says those harder access jobs are often slightly better value because of the effort involved.
You also see how fast pricing knowledge matters. Mitchell says he was not a competent towerer before joining Jim’s and had to learn on the fly. He also says the monthly meetings with John and Aaron helped him sharpen pricing. One big lesson was green waste. He started out charging $150 for a trailer, then found out other operators were charging $350 for a full trailer.
What Happens in the Middle of the Day?
The second stop is a block of units in Upwey. This is a regular monthly client, but today has extra work attached. Mitchell has to prune trees and shrubs along the driveway, cut back one corner for car access, mow, and whipper snip about 10 or 15 little patches of grass, then blow the whole driveway back to the road.
Normally, this job takes an hour and a half to two hours. On this day, Mitchell expects three to four hours because of the extra pruning and green waste. That is a good example of how a Jim’s Mowing day can stretch. It is not just lawns. It is often a mix of mowing, trimming, weeding, pruning, blowing, access clearing, and waste removal.
This stop also shows where leads and quoting fit in. While on the Upwey job, Mitchell takes a lead call for a new client in Ferntree Gully. She wants overgrown weeds knocked down, the nature strip tidied, and gutters cleaned after a renovation. Mitchell gives a rough estimate only. He says he told her roughly $300, plus GST, with the understanding that he would confirm the actual price on site.
That call shows how work comes in during the day. The lead comes through Jim’s; Mitchell responds quickly, and because he can do it tomorrow, speed matters. He also thinks through value in real time. If the full job lands at $350 plus GST, that becomes $385, and if it takes two hours, he sees that as good money.
Mitchell lives two minutes from this area, and most of his jobs are local now. He says he has built enough clients to run routes, with trips out to Kilsyth and Mooroolbark only one day a fortnight. Less driving means more earning time.
\Mitchell says that on mowing-heavy days, he can eat lunch on the go, especially when he is doing eight lawns in a row at an average of say $100 bucks for an eight or nine hundred dollar day. He likes those days, but he also likes the fact that, as he puts it, “It’s always different.”
How Does a Jim’s Mowing Workday End?
The last job of the day is in The Basin. The main task is a big hedge prune. The owner wants it taken down to about six feet tall, and Mitchell also needs to mow the backyard, whipper snip the lawns, and pull out a few dead weeds.
This part of the day shows the detail behind a finish that looks simple from the street. Mitchell explains that on a hedge like this, he gets one side looking 95%, then does the other side, then cleans the top down to the height the customer wants, and then goes around it again for the extra five percent. He says he triple and quadruple checks it.
The hedge itself is not straightforward. It is about 15 metres long, thick, and on a slope. Mitchell says he slightly underestimated how thick it was once the new growth came off, because the trunk gets thicker underneath. He also has to keep the gradient working with the natural slope, which makes the cut trickier than a flat suburban hedge.
This final stop also shows how regular work gets built. Mitchell says the client had not had the hedge done for 12 months. He would rather see it done every six months, partly because it would keep it neater and partly because it would probably cost the client slightly less each time than letting it blow out.
The admin side runs all the way through the day. Mitchell is quoting jobs, talking through payment by card or direct deposit, loading green waste, and planning tomorrow’s run while still on site. That is the real shape of the work. It is physical, but it is also constant decision-making about time, pricing, access, routing, and what work to take on.
By the end of the third job, the day totals $1,170 in revenue.
What Are the Key Numbers From the Day?
- Jobs completed in the day: 3 bigger jobs
- Average job value for this day: $390 across 3 jobs from $1,170 total revenue
- Daily earnings: $1,170
- Hours worked: Start at 8 am, first job finished at 9:45 am, second job ran into early afternoon and finished at around late afternoon.
- Typical mowing-only comparison Mitchell gives: 8 lawns in a row at an average of say $100 bucks for an eight or nine hundred dollar day
- Quoted lead example during the day: Roughly $300 plus GST, with a possible $350 plus GST if the site needs more work
- Green waste pricing lesson from meetings: Started at $150 for a trailer, then learned full trailer pricing could be $350
- Hourly rate comparison discussed: One operator in Malvern charged $120 an hour
Would Mitchell Dennis Choose This Work Again?
Everything Mitchell says points to yes.
He likes the variety. He likes that harder jobs can be better value. He likes having the gear to take on work that other operators might pass on. He also likes having enough local clients now that he can run routes close to home instead of driving all over Melbourne.
He is also realistic about the hard parts. Melbourne’s winter is cold. The terrain is difficult. Some jobs involve stairs, slopes, and hauling gear into awkward backyards. Pricing can be hard in areas where locals expect community rates. He openly admits he undercharged at the start and learned the lesson the expensive way.
A few quotes sum it up well. On towing and learning the trade, he says, “You’ve just got to go in the deep end.” On the mix of work available, he says, “It’s always different.” On the type of operator he is, he says, “I’ll give anything a crack.”
This work suits someone who does not mind physical jobs, likes being outdoors, can price properly, and is willing to keep learning quickly.
Common Questions About Jim’s Mowing Workday
On this day, Mitchell starts at 8 am in Emerald.
Mitchell completes 3 bigger jobs in this ride-along, but he also says some days he prefers doing 8 lawns in a row.
No. This day includes mowing, whipper snipping, brush cutting, pruning, hedge work, weeding, blowing, green waste removal, quoting, and lead follow-up.
Yes. Mitchell says most of his jobs are now around home, and he lives two minutes from one of the regular runs shown in the video.
Mitchell earns $1,170 on this day, but it does not claim every day looks like that.
Want to see if a Jim’s Mowing franchise fits your lifestyle?
Enquire at jims.net or call 131 546 to find out what territories are available near you and what a typical day of mowing, quoting, green waste removal, and running local routes could look like in your area.