Smashed against a tree.

Knocked off when backing into the equipment shed.

Destroyed by an errant runaway lawn mower.

I cannot count the number of times I have had to repair or replace lawn mower trailer taillights. I remember fitting a new set of taillights on a trailer and the very next day a dropped weedeater caused a wire to come loose and I had to repair the connection before driving back to the shop that evening.

As frustrating as they are, tail lights are a necessary component of lawn mower trailers for your lawn care business.

As it was getting dark one night last week, I snapped a photograph of this lawn care business owner’s lawn mower trailer.

Hauling a lawn mower trailer with nonworking lights causes three potential scenarios:

1) You send an unprofessional business image to your potential clients. If a potential client sees that you are willing to operate your equipment in a nonprofessional manner, they may very well skip your company and choose a company that takes better care of its lawn care equipment.

2) Police can ticket the driver for nonworking trailer lights. This is especially true if the police catch you driving like this after dark.

3) You might cause a road accident. Other drivers that don’t see your trailer might cut behind you too close and clip your trailer. Also, if your vehicle’s taillights are obstructed by your lawn mower trailer or landscaping equipment on the trailer, other drivers might not see your brake lights and crash into you when you are stopping.

In your lawn mowing business, always make maintenance and safety a high priority. Lawn mower trailer lights should be functional at all times. As for me, I will attempt to not drop any more weedeaters on wiring harnesses or smash into trees when backing up.

If you are looking to operate a professional lawn care / landscaping business, take a look at our “Start A Lawn Care Business” business course. It is FILLED with information and business tools to help you be a success with your business.

You can find it on our main website:
http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
Start A Lawn Care Business

As you begin to acquire new lawn care business equipment, take into consideration that your equipment needs to be protected not only from the weather but it also needs to be protected from thieves.

One of our readers sent us an article on a lawn care equipment company that was targeted by thieves earlier this month. This article makes me want to remind you to keep and eye on your equipment while you are servicing your lawn care customers. I have heard many stories of string trimmers mysteriously vanishing while the lawn care business owners are in the back yard cutting grass or blowing off the back deck.

If you can’t keep your equipment within eyesight, consider buying locks for the equipment, keeping it in a locked van, or use and enclosed trailer to keep your equipment safe.

It is very disappointing to work hard making money, pouring that money back into your business by buying expensive and reliable equipment, and having that equipment stolen. Not only is the equipment expensive but it takes time and effort to buy the correct equipment. Being without your lawn mower, trimmer, or blower can cost you a lot of money in down time and you might even lose customers as a result of not being able to service them properly and in a timely manner.

So, do yourself a favor and lock your equipment when it is not in use at your job site. Also, lock it at night when it is stored at your home or place of business.

Be safe out there.

Be a Professional. Our “Start A Lawn Care Business” training manuals and business software will help you develop a professional lawn care business strategy for your business. Want to make more money this year with your lawn care business…check our our course: http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

This spring, much of the country is getting some wet weather after several warm days. Once hot weather arrives, rain causes oils on the roadway to dispurse and become treacherous. Although always dangerous, lawn care vehicles can be particularly affected by slippery roads. The added weight of the equipment, or the chance of your load shifting, coupled with slick road conditions makes for an even more dangerous job transporting lawn mowers from one job to the next.

I was driving in the rain today and I wanted to take a couple minutes to remind you to use the upmost caution when driving with your lawn care equipment and be extra cautious when driving in the rain.

The Ferris Industries Evolution Commercial Lawn Mower has been on the market for several months. I dropped by a Ferris dealer last week to get some updates on the mower and hear how the commercial guys like the mower for their mowing businesses.

The seat reminds me of a crotch rocket motorcycle. Though I think the lawn mower would be fun to ride and the seat position give the operator a great over-deck view of his cutting area, I wonder about the comfort of riding such a mower for 6 hours per day. Operator fatigue is a huge issue in commercial lawn equipment selection. The Evolution’s operator compartment looks confining. Without the ability to shift body positions, is the evolution more fatiguing than other commercial mowing machines.

With the capability to mow 5.1 acres per hour, the Evolution is a formidable grass cutting machine. That mowing rate is impressive for most any landscaping company with serious grass to cut. I like the deck design and the operator’s positioning for a great view of the cutting deck and grass area.

If you have demoed this mower or if you own a Ferris Industries Evolution commercial lawn mower, I would like to hear your thought on the machine.

Sale on Landscaping Safety Equipment

We hope you will make your own safety, as well as the safety of your employees, a top priority this year. I was speaking with someone just the other day who doesn’t believe in wearing protective footware when mowing the grass. “I’ve mowed for years in nothing but shorts and sneakers and nothing’s happened to me yet.” Our thoughts on this is that millions of people mow in shorts and tennis shoes each year without incident. However, it only takes on slip-up for a lawn mower blade to sever a foot or a weedeater line to cause a nasty gash in your shin.

Since you will be mowing hundreds or thousands of lawns this year, your chance of a slip-up increases over that of a typical homeowner. Please wear proper safety equipment during your lawn care work.

If you need safety supplies this year, please use the link above.

I think every lawn care business owner has the occasional day when you put the equipment away at the end of the day only to realize that you basically accomplished nothing. It’s disheartening when you feel like you’re wasting time and losing money. Spinning your wheels is especially difficult for newer lawn care business owners. Keep your head up though. The main point to remember early in the game is that you are gaining experience each day you work on your business.

What has kept you from getting work done today?

If we put our minds to it, we could possibly list 100 different things that keep you from getting work done. Instead of making a list so long, we’re going to hone it down to 3 main reasons for a new lawn care business owner not accomplishing anything during a work day.

1) No Lawn Care Customers – Most new lawn care business owners have days where there are no customers lined up. Don’t equate having no customers with having nothing to do. Stop sitting around moping in front of the computer waiting for your phone to ring. The next time you have no customers scheduled, get up early, load your equipment in your vehicle, and set out with the same frame of mind as you would if you had 10 customers. Go to the coffee shop early. Make sure people know you’re the owner of the equipment. If you don’t get bites by the time you’re finished with your coffee, let everyone know that you can’t hang around because you have a busy day (leave a few business cards). Head over to Lowe’s or Home Depot (or the nearest hardware store) and look at weedeater. When the guy comes over to ask if you need help, ask some questions about the best commercial weedeater they sell. Tell him you need it for your lawn care business and that you would love him to refer some new customers his way (hand him a business card). As the day wears on, think of other places you can stop where people congregate who might need your services. Hand out your business card and make contacts all day long. When you get home, even if you didn’t unload your equipment one single time, don’t be discouraged that you didn’t get anything done. You made great contact and pretty soon those contacts will turn into customers.

2) Lawn Care Equipment Failure – This is probably more disheartening than having no customers. Losing money is worse, to many people, than not making money. When all the people at the coffee shop (see above) are ringing your phone off the hook wanting their lawns done, it will madden you if your lawn care equipment is in the shop. Equipment failures happen. This is just a fact of life. There are a couple keys to reducing your downtime due to equipment failure: buy good commercial equipment and maintain that equipment properly. Change oil regularly, lubricate according to schedule, change filters, keep your outer stage air filter clean, sharpen your blades, and keep your belts in check.

3) Time Management of your Lawn Care Work Habits – Strategic planning is vital to increasing your efficiency as a lawn care business owner. Proper route planning is one of the biggest drains on a lawn care business owner’s time. After route planning, improper equipment selection and use of that equipment causes many lawn care businesses to lose the time value in their business. Knowing how reduce these time sappers will allow you work more efficiently an feel like you’ve actually accomplished something during your day.

If you have recently started your own lawn care business and you frequently feel that your just not accomplishing much in your business, we invite you to take a look at our main website. We have developed a great business package specifically designed for new lawn care business owners. Within the business guidebooks there is a tremendous amount of information that will help you attract new customers, select and maintain the proper equipment, and manage your time to work more efficiently and make more money per hour worked.

You can read more about us and check out the program at:

Start A Lawn Care Business www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

As I watched the races, I couldn’t help think how a lawn care company could take advantage of the marketing aspects of lawn mower racing. There are a few options, I suppose. A lawn care company could sponsor a team and have their logo affixed to the lawn mower and on the sleeves of the race crew. OR (and I think this would be the most fun) a lawn care company could run their own mower in the race and give out free tee-shirts to all the spectators. I think this would be a huge marketing tool to get their name into the community.

There’s a downside to this though, I spoke with a few of the racers. They say they spend way more money on their sport than they make in sponsorships from advertisers.

Still, I think it would be great fun and an interesting way to advertise your lawn care business.

If you operate or work for a lawn care company (or if you are just a casual gardener) you owe it to yourself to purchase a professional pair of lawn care work boots or work shoes. I wish people wouldn’t wear old ratty tennis shoes during their lawn care work. Your feet are important and commercial quality footware is worth the added cost to protect your feet.

This is a “first impression” video on the Lawn Grips 6″ Steel-Toe Work shoe. You may have already seen my review on the Lawn Grips Brutus Work Boot. I have been impressed with those boots and I want to give their work shoes a test. The shoes are significantly lighter than the work boot. If your work does not require the added protection of an over-the-ankle work boot, you may like the relative light weight of the work shoe.

I will give these shoes a rigorous field test the next several weeks. After I break them in and give them a workout, I will let you know how I like them as an everyday work shoe for the lawn care industry.

If you’ve ever wanted to start your own lawn care business or if you’re not making enough money with your current lawn care business, take a look at our website. We offer a business package that will help you become more efficient and successful with your own lawn care business. (StartALawnCareBusiness.com)

Risk management is a common subject in business and since this is a lawn care business blog, you may think we were discussing concepts such as giving 100% guarantees to customers who purchase landscape plantings.  Or, we may have been analyzing the spreading of landscape mulch and charging for maintenance without first properly treating the ground or placing weedblock as an underlayment.  Or we may have been discussing the purchase of a commercial 34 horsepower, propane fueled, 72″, zero-turn, front deck, lawn mower before even acquiring a single lawn care customer.

While these are all great ideas to discuss, we were not talking business.  Instead, we were talking about free climbing a rock face without the use of proper safety equipment.

Whether you are bouldering a rocky outcropping or starting your own lawn care business, it makes perfect sense to think strongly about risk management procedures. 

If you want to learn how to rock climb, seek professional rock climbing instruction (and use a rope!!!) 

However, if you want to learn proper risk management procedures for your lawn care business, purchase our lawn care business guidebook and estimating software package through our website:  www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Where does the time go?

February 2010 is upon us. Although February is the shortest month of the year (and often the most wintery), this is the month where you need to work harder than most any other month getting contracts and lining up new customers for your lawn care business.

Municipalities, small businesses, government agencies, and homeowners alike are all beginning the search for this year’s lawn cutters. If you are not out right now pounding the pavement and getting your name in front of these customers, you are missing a potentially huge market of new customers.

Getting customers right now can make the difference between a great year and a financially misserable year.

Early customers are important for a number of reasons. First, you want long term customer for your business. Clients who start with you today have the potential of having their grass cut for the entire mowing season. Secondly, customers refer other customer via word-of-mouth. If you hump it right now, you may very-well be able to fill your roster by the end of February. Can you imagine having a full client list before March arrives. The third reason why you should get busy now is because lawn mower dealers are running early-bird specials this time of year. They want your business early and if you already have money coming in (or, at least, guaranteed contracts) you will be able to get some great deals on commercial lawn mowers and other equipment.

Are you at a loss on how to get customers and lawn care contracts? We have developed a lawn care business guidebook and training package which will help you Start and Expand your lawn care business this year.

Learn more about our business package at our website:
http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com