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Archive for category leaf raking

Is September Too Late To Start A Lawn Mowing Business?

Sep 1

Posted by Lawn Care Business in bidding lawn care, lawn care estimating, leaf raking, winter | No Comments

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September is here and we are finally due for some relief from the blistering hot weather and the dry grass that August brought us. August is typically a difficult time of year for many lawn care companies. Lawn care customers who pay by-the-mow will often ask for their lawn service to be curtailed to every two weeks. Additionally, the weather is so miserably hot that it makes working outside a less-than-desirable experience. Many fly-by-night lawn care operators drop out during August thinking that the lawn care season is over for the year.

If you are a lawn care business owner or if you are thinking about starting your own lawn care business, I want to challenge you to step up to the plate right now and make a huge push forward in your lawn care business.

First off, grass in much of the country is about to surge. The cooler weather and, hopefully, rain that will come in September will cause grass to green up. In my part of the country we often mow grass all the way into December. Many customers have “one last cutting” right before Christmas. If you are in the north you probably won’t mow that long but if you are in the southern states you are going to be mowing deep into winter.

Secondly, right now is the time you better be selling core aeration, fertilizing, and overseeding. It’s a bit too early as I’m writing this to do the actual work but you should be lining up customers for those jobs right now. Customers who want beautiful lawns next spring should be made aware of the importance of work that needs to take place before winter.

Lastly, leaf raking season is in its very beginning days. There is no time like the present to ramp up your lawn care business to handle the influx of customers demanding your services over the next few months. I feel sorry for the guys who quit their lawn care businesses in August because they weren’t making money. September, October, and November is going to MORE than make up for any money lost in August.

So, if you are struggling with your lawn care business or if you thinking about starting a new lawn care business, it is a great time to get off your butt and get to work. The money and the customers are yours for the asking over the next three months.

Now, as lucrative as Autumn is, you still need to use some common sense and business smarts when doing these leaf jobs and pre-winter lawn care work. It is hyperimportant for you to know how to estimate and bid your lawn care jobs. Underbidding a leaf job will kill you.

So, if you are going to be making money raking leaves this season, I urge you to look at our Lawn Care Business startup guidebook and training package. We have developed this training package after 18 years in the industry. It will train you how to do the work, get customers, and most importantly correctly bid and price your lawn care services.

For more information about the business package visit our main website at: http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Leaf Relief – Leaf Raking Season Is Upon Us

Nov 25

Posted by Lawn Care Business in leaf blowers, leaf raking, winter | No Comments

Lawn Care is a seasonal business.  Luckily for us, there’s money to be made all seasons of the year.

We are in peak leaf raking season.  Leaves are still falling off the trees and customers who vowed to wait for all the leaves to fall before doing their raking are calling urgently to get their yards cleaned up before winter sets in.

leafrelief

I have been associated with the lawn care industry since 1992 and it never ceases to amaze me how much money can be made the last two months of the year dealing with customer’s leaves.

I love when prospective customers try to rake their own leaves.  Sure, in a small yard the homeowner can deal with the leaves.  But, in yards with several sweet gum trees, the volume of leaves can be overwhelming and they call us in as a last attempt to get the leaves handled.

Since they already know what hard work leaf raking is, they don’t put up too much of a fight to pay a premium price to clear their yards once and for all.

Leaf raking season between Thanksgiving and the end of the year is a blessing also because it gives a great chance to boost your bottom line for the year and put some extra spending money in your pocket before Christmas.

We’ve put a video on YouTube giving a couple leaf raking tips if you are using a tarp to haul and dump your leaves, check our video below:

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Lawn Care Business and the U.S. Economy

Oct 29

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

Lawn Care Business is expected to increase in 2010.

The staff at Start A Lawn Care Business keep very close eyes on the U.S. economy. There is no doubt 2008 and 2009 were tough years to be involved with a lawn care business. However, as the U.S. economy begins to rebound, lawn care business should enjoy great rewards.

According to a Bloomberg, October 2009 report, the U.S. economy expanded at a 3.5 percent rate from July to September 2009. More interesting for lawn care business owners is that residential construction increased 23 percent and household purchases climbed 3.4 percent.

We think 2010 is shaping up to become a boom year for lawn care businesses. Homeowners who have curtailed spending the past two years will have to dump lots of money into their lawns to get them looking good again. This signal expected growth in leaf raking this fall and winter.

Not only are the last months of the year expected to be great for lawn care business owners, in the spring of 2010 homeowners are forcast to have unprecedented need for seeding, aerating, and general spring cleanup services.

If you haven’t started your lawn care business yet or if you didn’t make the money you hoped for in 2009, right now is a perfect time to get started planning for a huge 2010.

To help you start (and expand) a professional lawn care business, we have developed a lawn care business package fill with tools to help you succeed in 2010. RIGH NOW is the time to get started.

The lawn care business package is on sale right now through our website:
www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Starting a Small Lawn Care Business

Oct 29

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

Is it okay to start a small lawn care business with very little equipment?

It’s funny to think about the different ways people start their businesses. In helping hundreds of people start their own lawn care businesses, I have seen almost every method of business start-up imaginable.

I have seen people start with $100,000 in business loans emailing me for urgent help because they weren’t making enough money to pay back their monthly loan payment. They had beautiful equipment and a brand new truck and trailer but they had no idea how to run a successful lawn care business.

I remember one gentleman emailing me with only $20 in his pocket. I convinced him to buy a rake and start out doing nothing but raking leaves. He bought a rake and some work gloves. That same day, he walked around his neighborhood knocking on doors. He got rejections from the first 10 homeowners but the 11th gave him a $60 raking job. By the end of the day he had done 4 leaf jobs and had enough money to buy a small push lawn mower. He also purchased our Lawn Care Business package to help him learn how to properly estimate lawn mowing jobs.

I dare say $100,000 worth of equipment is no more a guarantee of success than a $20 rake is a guarantee of failure. In fact, I bet the guy with the $20 rake ran a more successful operation than the company with all the stresses of $100,000 in loans to repay.

Start small, estimate properly, and grow where you can.

Good luck:

Keith
[URL="http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com"]Lawn Care Business[/URL]

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Leaf Build-Up Around Air Conditioner Units

Oct 16

Posted by Lawn Care Business in leaf raking | No Comments

As lawn care business owners, you should always search for methods of servicing your customers better than your competition.

 

Often, on lawn care and leaf raking jobs, my company pays special attention to one area of a customer’s lawn overlooked by other companies. 

Autumn is a time of year when leaves build up around flower beds and corners of your customers lawns.  Lawn care companies are hired to remove leaves from the lawn and from flowerbeds.  However, they often don’t take the extra step to remove leaf build-up from around their customers’ air conditioning and hearing units. 

Leaf build up can cause air flow restrictions which can eventually damage these units.

On your next leaf raking job, pay special attention to your lawn care customer’s air conditioning unit.  Remove leaves from the cooling fins and air outflow.  Though it will only take you a couple extra minutes for this job, your customers will appreaciate your extra work.   It’s the small things, like attention to detail, that keep your customers using your lawn care business year after year.

If you are not making the money you know you should be making with your lawn care business, take a look at our comprehensive lawn care business training course now available through “Start A Lawn Care Business.”

Simplify your leaf-raking jobs.

Oct 15

Posted by Lawn Care Business in composting, leaf raking | No Comments

Autumn is here and lawn care business owners know this is a great time of year to make tons of extra money raking leaves.

Early in my lawn care business, I found that two of the most time and effort consuming parts of my leaf jobs were bagging them and transporting them to a dump site.  If you don’t bag leaves you must either have an enclosed collection trailer or cover them tightly with a tarp to avoid having them blow out of your truck during transport.

During my second year in business, I devloped an idea of building compost patches in many of my customer’s yards.  Most of my leaf raking customers readily accepted the idea as long at I could build the compost site in an out-of-the-way area of their property. 

On-site leaf composting greatly reduces your leaf raking efforts.  Your bagging and transportation costs are greatly reduced and, come springtime of the second year, will have high quality leaf mulch to use as ground cover and soil conditioner in many areas of their lawn.

If you are exhausted by the bagging and transport aspects of leaf raking lawn care jobs, consider offering your customers on-site leaf composting.

Do you want to make tons of money this leaf raking season?  Check out our Lawn Care Business program.  You will learn how to start and operate a successful lawn care business.  You will also learn how to price and estimate leaf raking jobs so you can make the best profit possible.

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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.

[podcast]http://www.startalawncarebusiness.com/podcasts/August.mp3[/podcast][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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