We would just like to take a minute to wish you and your families a very Happy Fourth of July. It is a great weekend to take your mind off your lawn care business, just relax, and reflect on the enjoyments of freedom our nation offers us.

Happy July 4th.

From:
StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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

I took a picture today I have to share with you because it brought back a flood of memories of when we first started our lawn care business way back in 1992.

I am not sure the driver of this van is operating a lawn care business (and I’m not sure if that lawn mower is properly secured) but I do know a lot of lawn care business owners get their start with a similar setup. I remember the days we first started our lawn care business humping around a push lawn mower in the back of a Chevy hatchback. It wasn’t ideal but is was much better than sitting in the accounting office where I used to work.

Before long, we bought a truck and upgraded to commercial equipment. Better equipment and more knowledge of the lawn care business allowed us to grow and attract better customers that paid more money. We all want brand new trucks and expensive commercial lawn mowers inside fancy enclosed lawn mower trailers. All that comes in due time. But ya’ gotta start somewhere.

The main lesson here is to start with what you have. You don’t need a brand new truck and expensive lawn care equipment to get out there and start making money right away.

What you DO need is knowledge. People who start their lawn care businesses the right way have a better chance of success than those people who buy the wrong equipment and price their customers all wrong.

In our lawn care business program, you will learn how to buy the proper equipment and how to price your customers. Pricing is a difficult strategy but we also include our lawn care estimating software to help you estimate and bid your lawn care customers.

Read more about the complete program at: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

In 2005, we began advocating the use of GPS technology. Quite simply, the tracks from a GPS serve as proof that you were at a client’s property. The track data from a GPS also tells you the time period you were at each property. By analyzing the track data you can make your lawn care company run more efficiently. You can also make some interesting discoveries such as customers that warrant a price increases based on the time it takes to finish.

I am still a believer in tracking your progress through your work day with the use of GPS technology. However, in recent weeks the use of GPS enabled phones has taken a HUGE leap forward. There is a new service called Foursquare.com. Foursquare is an app that you download to your GPS enabled phone. They have apps for Iphone, Droid, Blackberry, and a host of other mobile devices. Though I have just signed up for their service a few days ago, I am so excited about this new GPS-related service that I am going to tell you about it before I’ve even had a chance to review it fully.

Foursquare allows users to “Check In” when they have reached a destination. The user checks in on his phone using the app. Once the user checks in, a notification is sent to the user’s Facebook account or Twitter feed.

Here’s how I envision Foursquare working for lawn care companies. Let’s say you have 10 yards to do on Monday. When leaving first think in the morning you can send a message saying “leaving.” Later, when you arrive at your first client’s yard, you can check in and type in “arrived at Mrs. Smiths.” When your through with Mrs. Smith’s yard you can type in “leaving Smith’s.” When you arrive at your second yard, type in “arrived at Mr. Lewis (wants gutters cleaned, also).”

Now, there are two great things about this service.

1) When you get home, you have a visual reference of your timeline through out the day. You know when you arrived at each clients house and how long it their work took you to perform.

2) If you run lawn care crews, you can check your crews Twitter feed and know exactly where they are in their scheduling. If Ms. Smith calls and wants to know what time your crew will be at her house, you can tell her that she is next on the list and the crew started the last yard 15 minutes ago and should be at her house within the next 30 minutes.

The possibilities are tremendous for this technology.

As good as Foursquare is, they are not proclaiming to be a business application. They have a gaming scheme built into their app where you can win points visiting resturaunts. Irrespective of their initial motives, I belive the business community will quickly latch onto this app.

I’ve not put this into practical application yet so I am sure you need to read the disclaimers from the Foursquare company regarding such things as privacy issues and other concerns. Also, I know Foursquare has some competitors.

If you have tried Foursquare or any of their competitors, please tell me what your experience has been. Do you find it cumbersome to use? Does it post correctly to your Twitter feed? Is privacy a concern (keeping your Twitter feed private and not keeping your schedule and your clients private and not available to the Foursquare audience)?

As always, if you are interested in growing your lawn care business and using technology in the lawn care business to make money mowing grass and doing landscaping, we have developed a great business package that will help you Start (or Expand) your lawn care business this year.

Check us out on our main webpage: http://www.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

Though it’s far from over, winter’s grip is loosening this weekend.  With the temperature above 50 for three days straight and brilliant sunshine beating down today, I’ve observed wild garlic (commonly mistaken for wild onion) sprouts springing up in lawns all over our area.  Lowes and Home Depot are selling out of mulch bags and homeowners, working out in their lawns, are experiencing spring fever in unprecedented numbers.

If you are a new lawn care business owner you must feel compelled to pound the pavement and drive the roads in your area this season.  Right now is one of the very best times of the year to get new lawn care customer contracts for the upcoming mowing season.

I have a goal for you this week.  Do remember my 100 Door Knocks challenge I posed for your lawn care business as an advertising campaign last year?  How would you feel about revisiting that challenge this week by attempting to make contact with no less than 49 new customers. 

If you start tomorrow by making contact with a minimum of 7 new potential customers each day, you will deepen your reach by 49 new contacts by this time next week.

7 per day?  You should be able to speak with seven new people in just a couple hours each day.  A couple hours per day in February will reap HUGE rewards once the mowing season actually gets started.

Take advantage of winter’s break by getting out while the sun is shining.  Though colder weather is forecast again soon, it will make you feel warm that you have already increased this year’s customer list.

Once you get those customers, what do you do with them??? If you’re having trouble making the most of your existing customers and you want to know how to raise prices and make more money in 2010 than you made in 2009, pick up our Lawn Care Business package.  It is jam-packed with information to turn your lawn care business into a success.

To learn more, check out our website:  www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

With foreclosures at an all-time high, consumer confidence at record lows, and homeowners reeling in their pocketbooks, lawn care and landscaping has been a tough industry lately. As with any industry the last two years, there have been pockets of strength. LCO’s approaching their businesses from a stance of strength have weathered this financial storm. The victims, though, are lawn care companies that burdened themselves with too much debt coupled with dependence on low paying, low yield clients.

We speak often in our Lawn Care Business strategy guidebook about the benefits of starting a business debt-free and approaching the business from a stance of strength. Starting intelligently helps keep you from backing yourself into a corner with unnecessarily expensive lawn care equipment forcing you to accept low paying customers.

As the economy begins to turn and consumer confidence begins to rise, now is a perfect time to start a lawn care business or expand an existing business. 2010 promises to be a banner year for any lawn care business still standing. With many lawn care companies going out of business in 2008 and 2009 there is prime opportunity to acquire the clients that now need a new LCO to take care of their grass.

If you have ever thought about making money with a lawn care business, there is no better a time than right now to get started.

For more information about how to start a lawn care business, visit our website: Start A Lawn Care Business (http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com)

Unsure Customers

Customers who have never hired a lawn care company before may find it a bit frighening to call a stranger on the phone and request that person come to their homes and look at their lawns.

Likewise, new lawn care business owners may find it intimidating to mosey around a strangers lawn looking for imperfections.  As a business owner, you must realize customers look for you to be the professional and take the lead in the estimating process. 

I have done thousands of estimates.  Most customers have a general idea what needs to be done in their lawn and how much money they are willing to pay within $5 to $10 for weekly service.  But, they are unsure of how to go about getting everything set up to their satisfaction.  It is up to you, as a business owner, to lead the sales call.

Here are a few methods to help you take the lead during your sales calls:

1)  Practice your script.

You do not want to be fumbling for words or wondering what to say to a new or prospective customer.  Using our lawn care business material develop a script of what to say.  You want to be friendly with your customer but you don’t want to be best friend.  Keep chit chat to no more than a few minutes and get to the reasons why you’re there.  Your script needs to, at least, cover the basics: What work do they need performed? How often do they want the  work performed. How much are they willing to pay?  It’s good to listen to your customers but you must direct the conversation.

Once you develop your script, practice it.  I remember giving my first customer estimate when I started my lawn care business.  I didn’t want to make a fool of myself so I developed a script.  I would even close the door to my room and practice in front of a mirror.  Silly, right?  Maybe but it helped me build confidence and gave me the ability to speak with customers and get the jobs.

2)  Know your line of work.

Most  prospects know a few things.
A) The grass looks bad. 
B) I want the grass to not look this bad.
C) I don’t want to pay much to have it not look this bad. 

Ha Ha. Yep, that will sum up about 80% of all your free estimates.  If you know your subject (grass for this purpose) you can lead the discussion to explain why they should hire you.

3) Remove their guess work.

Until you show for the estimate, new customers have little idea what your proceedures are.  Once they are comfortable with the services you offer and accept your price.  They may not know what comes next.  If you’ve already read our lawn care guidebook you know to bring your equipment to every estimate.  Take your customers guess work away. 
Recommend a mowing schedule (example: Wednesday about 10:00).  Recommend a payment plan (example: Leave check under the welcome mat).
Recommend additional work (example: Flower beds need more mulch)

By taking the lead you will instill confidence in your customers making they feel good about having you as their lawn care person.

If you are thinking about starting a lawn care business or if you want to make an existing business even more successful, get a copy of our Lawn Care Business guidebook.  It’s on sale right now!  Visit our main site:  www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

I came across a new article recently proclaiming residential customers can save money by fertilizing their own lawns.  Since a spreader is only $24 and a bag of fertilizer is only $15, the cost is about $40 vs. $65 for professional fertilizing:

http://maplewood.patch.com/articles/is-landscaping-taking-a-hit-2

The news article failed to mention three key components of hiring a professional perform lawn care work.

1) Time benefit:

Visiting a garden center, choosing correct fertilizer, reading instructions, donning protective gear, readying equipment,  fertilizer application, and equipment clean all take time.  A home owner can easily spend 4 or 5 hours trying to save $15.

2) Knowledgeable Application

Knowledge of fertilizer types, timing of application (weather), spreader settings, and dispersal densities all increase the efforts needed for correct fertilization of a residential lawn.

3) Professional Material Handling:

Being in the lawn care business since 1992, I have received dozens of calls from homeowners who have tried to fertilize their own lawns.  A typical caller asks if I can come fix their lawn because they either over applied fertilizer, accidentally broadcast lawn fertilizer into flower to shrub beds (killing their plants), or spilled a pile of fertilizer onto their lawn when they knocked their broadcast spreader over or the fertilizer bag split dumping contents into a pile on their lawn.

$15 Savings?

Is all this hassle really worth the $15 a home owner might save by doing it themselves?

Next time you are faced with a do-it-yourselfer let them know they are only saving a few dollars versus the tremendous amount of time, energy, and money they will expend attempting to get professional results.

Start Your Own Lawn Care Business

Have you ever wanted to start your lawn care business or are you hoping to expand your current business?  Our Lawn Care Business program can help you achieve a more successful business.

Check out our home page by clicking the
“How To Start A Lawn Care Business”
link toward the top of this page.

Controlled growth and profitability is best for your lawn care and landscaping business.

As a note of caution to new business owners; control grow of your lawn care business and only accept profitable jobs to keep from getting too big too fast.

New lawn care business owners have a tendency to pursue all the business leads that come their way.  Aggressive marketing can bring many new prospective customers.  Another  tendency new lawn care business owners exhibit is dropping their prices to get as many customers as they can.

If you are a new lawn care business that is marketing agressively and underbidding all your jobs, you may quickly find your business in financial difficulty.

From the list of many attributes demonstrated by successful lawn care business owners controlled growth and profitability on every project rank high.

1)  Controlled Growth of the Lawn Care Business

Growing a lawn care business is a careful balance between developing capacity by purchasing the correct equipment and gaining customers to fill that capacity.  Ideally, a lawn care company should gain profitable customers slightly ahead of increasing their company’s capacity.

2) Profitability on Every Job

Successful lawn care business owners know the costs of every job.  Even jobs as small as $25 lawn mowings have associated costs.  Equipment depreciation, gasoline, trimmer line, travel time, and  opportunity costs all have to be calculated.  Successful lawn care business owners will not bid less than the  job’s total revenue.  If costs out strip revenue the job is not profitable and should not be accepted.

Start and Expand your Lawn Care Business

If you want to grow a successful lawn care business, check out our lawn care business material by clicking the “How To Start A Lawn Care Business” link at the top of this page.