i need some advice on starting an excavation company

i have been running a hoe since i was 14 around the house and my brothers property. i am 18 now and lookin to start a small owner/operater company. any thing would be helpful

Work for some one else for about 5 years.Let them pay for all the gas,water,telephone and electrical lines that you are going to hit.In the meantime
you go to college at night and take business courses and learn how to make your business make money.

I agree with Karl. Also 4 years is not alot of experience. You may be a "natural" and be capable of operating with the best of seasoned operators. BUT, you will find, in doing small residential, job like you will more than likely be doing, starting out, you wont be working off site plans. You will have to be the engineer of the jobs you take on. Example, customer has a drainage problem in the back yard. You will need to know how to handle it. This takes experience, not gained in 4 or even 8 years. The other problem (and a big one) with your experience level, you will have a hard time obtaining contractor liability insurance. And ins is a nessesity, not just for your protection, but in most municipalities a requirement, before you even think of placing a hand shovel in the ground on someone elses property. And lastly, the economy is horrible right now, 30 + year contractors that have no payments left on there equiptment are struggling for work right now, bidding jobs so low that a new contractor that needs to rent the equiptment couldnt even think of turning a profit on.

lol good luck nobody can beat my prices iam fully inshured ben around 10 yrs i havnt done anything but trucking btw you got one of those? How are you going to move your equipment your 10000 dollars worth of hand tools compactors and such pay your workers comp on yourself because anyone you sub for almost always requires it. Your 5 to 10000 dollar inshurance premium not includeing the commercial policy on your 45000 dollar truck and trailer that needs daily mantenice and still suffers the rath of dot tickets, anything 1 ton or better that has to also have a dot number, and all the other BS Iam missing . Oh and dont forget the weather if in the northeast you only probally get 5 to 6 months of work to begin with.Wait theres more if you do small jobs such as drainage or property regrading your going to lose that to homeowers who would rather rent the equiptment to do it themselves even if you charge the same price as there rental would cost them. Oh yea with the northeast you better hope you saved enouth money for the winter to pay everyones unemployment the truck/equiptment payments inshurance, cause you cant just cancel it and get it again next year lol.Also try to if you get big enough for employees find one thats not a complete drunk, can make it to work, and possibly not destroy everything. And have a cdl to drive your equiptment if needed and thats just getting started havnt touched advertizing because word of mouth dosnt travel far the first 4 or 5 yrs. So in conclusion I say yes go for it you are ready remeber god hates a coward

P.S anyone looking for an Operator just post I think ive had enough lol