Start A Lawn Care Business

Lawn Care Business Tips and Advice

Archive for July, 2009

Start A Lawn Care Business, August 2009

Jul 29

Posted by Lawn Care Business in customers, fertilizer, gutter cleaning, lawn business strategies, lawn care business, leaf raking | No Comments

As August wears on shadows get a bit longer and leaves begin to change color and drop.

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[podcast]http://www.startalawncarebusiness.com/podcasts/August.mp3[/podcast]  Anyone who hasn’t yet started their own lawn care business might think they have missed the boat this year and will just have to wait until 2010 to start their lawn care business.

If you have ever wanted to start a lawn care business, right now may be one of the best times of the year to take the plunge and get started.

1)  August is the time when kids head back to school.  Because of homework and extra curricular activities, kids may not want to mow grass anymore.  They drop customers leaving them looking for someone else to cut the grass.

2)  If the summer’s been hot and dry (like this summer) many lawn care operators quit the business since there wasn’t much grass to cut during the last few very hot and dry weeks.  Right now is your chance to take advantage of their shortsightedness.  Rains often return in mid to late August. There are lots of people looking for someone to cut their grass.

3)  Autumn is a HUGELY profitable time for many lawn care business owners.  Leaf cleanup time is only a few weeks away.  There are lawns to be raked and gutters to be cleaned.  Aerating, overseeding, and fertilizing need to be performed on your customer’s lawns too.

A LCO can often make more money the last several months of the year than during spring and summer.  There is HUGE potential right now.

If you have ever wanted to start your own lawn care business or if you have just not made enough money this year you need to step up your game right now.

The StartALawnCareBusiness.com business package tells you how to price autumn clean up jobs and seeding jobs.  There is so much more to owning a lawn care business than cutting grass during the summer.

Right now is your time to get started.

The StartALawnCareBusiness.com business package is on sale right now.  Visit our website:  StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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People Who Don’t Respect Your Time

Jul 24

Posted by Lawn Care Business in customers, employees, lawn business strategies, lawn care business, time | No Comments

I’ve written a couple posts lately on the concept of time valuation.

The-Law-of-Scarcity

and

Distractions-of-a-Lawn-Care-Business-Owner

These posts don’t speak to a dollar amount per minute for your time (there’s plenty discussion of pricing in our lawn care manuals).

More philosophically, these posts explore the concept of general valuation of your time as a business owner and the perceived value placed on your time by yourself and others.

Time Value

I am quickly coming to a strong realization.  You become the sole controller of your time only when you take a strong stance to protect it. Anything less than continued diligence will see your time completely absorbed and abused.

Three methods of protecting your time are listed below.

1)  Surround yourself with people who respect your time. Whether you are dealing with business acquaintances, customers, or employees the people around you must respect your time as a business owner.  If people around you don’t value your time they will waste it for you.  Do your best to distance yourself from time sappers.  Instead, surround yourself with those who allow you the time you need to make your business a success and enhance your productivity during your time with them.

2) Be proactive when allocating your time. When you know someone is a time sapper be ultra-defensive in agreeing to give them time for their activities.   Customer relations are very important for a lawn care business.  However, we all know customers who talk and talk, non productively, when you come to the door.  They tap you on the shoulder and try to talk to you over the roar of your lawn mower.  They never have your check ready when you have completed their lawn and they want to chat endlessly about their grand kids or the weather.

DON’T BE RUDE!!! but be proactive with time sappers.   Let them know you have work to do.  Let them know your business is important to you and, more importantly, all your customers are important to you and you don’t want to keep your next appointment waiting.  Act with a sense of urgency and be on your way.

3)  Resort to being a jerk if needed. Be as friendly and hospitable as possible to all your customers (and friends and other relationships).  However, there are just some people who do not take a hint.  When gentle reminders do not work, occasionally resort to strong reassurances that you don’t have time to devote endless hours of non-productive time to their needs.  Other, more productive, customers will come along and as you fill your client list with good customers, cull the time wasters from your roster.

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The Law of Scarcity

Jul 23

Posted by Lawn Care Business in estimate, lawn business strategies, lawn care business | 2 Comments

Lawn Care Business operators face an ongoing struggle with customers to help them understand the time value of their business.

Value Your Time So Others Will Value It Too

New lawn care business owners often have a difficult time conveying to their customers that their time is valuable.  New lawn care owners need customers more than customers need them.  Therefore they are often willing to give their customers extra time on each mowing job.

Give It Away and It Becomes Worthless

I remember my first year in the lawn mowing business.  Customers often asked me to do addtional jobs for them but did not offer additional money.  Since I was new, I did not want to lose their business and thought if I performed additional jobs they would be loyal to me.

Instead of being loyal, customers often lost respect for me and valued my time less as I gave them more of my time.  I quickly learned to let customers know that I had other work to do and could not hang around their property longer than it took to take care of their lawn.  If they needed other work performed I would be happy to give them estimates.

Once customers realized that I valued my own time, they began to value my time too.  They stopped bothering me to chit chat about unrelated discussions.  Instead, they would speak with me about needed work for their lawns.  They realized that once I was finished with their lawns I expected to get paid (customers who paid weekly) and they had payment ready for me when I was finished.

Demand Begets Demand

More importantly, customers realized my services were in demand from other lawn care customers.  They knew I did good work and when they recommended me they told their friends how busy I was.  The apparent scarcity of my time worked in my favor as I quickly built my client base.

If you are just starting out with your lawn care business.  Let your customers know you work as efficiently as possible since you have many other customers to service.  Don’t be short or rude with them but be professional and to-the-point.  Do your work quickly and don’t dilly dally.

Learn how to use the law of scarcity in your favor and you will become even more valuable in the eyes of your lawn care customers.

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Need help with your lawn care business?  The professional lawn care business program is available right now through our website.  We have it on sale but we will probably have to raise our price in the coming weeks.  Order today for the best price currently available.

Order today:  www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Girdled Landscape Trees

Jul 21

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, landscaping, landscaping photography | No Comments

Girdling occurs when any object encumbers the girth of a tree’s trunk.

Girdling a Tree

Looking at public landscaping spaces this morning, I came across a landscape tree that is girdled by a cable designed to protect a garbage can from theft.

girdle2

The public works department probably had good cause to cable the garbage can as theft and vandalism are problems in many municipalities.  However, securing the cable tight then leaving it for syears is unconscionable.

This tree is at risk of dying from the damage underway by this cable.  Luckily, the cable is thin and it has yet to be completely encompassed by the trunk bark.  Nutrients are still flowing to the leaf system and will flow back to the roots this autumn.  These actions take place within vascular tissues called xylum and ploem.   If the vascular process is interrupted damage or death will occur.

girdle1

As landscape professionals, we need to be more cognizant of long term effects of our actions.  Landscapers practicing common landscaping principles should never (or rarely) use trees as securing points.

If you want to operate a BETTER lawn care and landscaping business, our Lawn Care Business package will help you.  Visit our website (StartALawnCareBusiness.com) for full information.

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Don’t Be an Unpaid Consultant!

Jul 20

Posted by Lawn Care Business in bidding lawn care, customers, lawn business strategies | No Comments

Unpaid Consulting happens everyday to new lawn care business owners.

FREE ESTIMATES

One of the best ways to attract potential customers for your lawn care business is to offer free estimates on all your advertising material.  Offering FREE estimates is a no-brainer since no future customer will ever pay you for a small lawn mowing job estimate.

PAID ESTIMATES

Large job estimates and (especially) landscaping design estimates require higher levels of expertise and greater numbers of hours than simple lawn mowing estimates.  As such, job estimates which require dissemination of information should not be conducted for free.

Seasoned customers are wiley though.  Often, homeowners who need landscape work completed will call a lawn care business owner in an attempt to glean as much information as possible from a free estimate.

STEALING INFORMATION?

“What shrubs would look good over there?”  or  “How much mulch do I need for all my beds?”  Are questions often asked by these prospects.  “Sketch a draft of the landscaping ideas you have for my lawn and give me a free estimate for the work.”

These questions are designed to give the customer free specialized information not a free estimate.  In many cases, customers will accept your calculations, shrub suggestions, and design work.  In possession of this information, they will take it to the garden shop, purchase their own materials, and install the landscaping themselves.

Giving free estimates is fine but don’t fall into the roll of being an UNPAID CONSULTANT!

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