Start A Lawn Care Business

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Lawn Grips Work Shoe for the Lawn Care Industry

Mar 6

Posted by Lawn Care Business in equipment, work boots | 2 Comments

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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)

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Asynchronous Risk vs. Reward Ratio

Feb 21

Posted by Lawn Care Business in equipment, how much to charge, lawn business strategies, start a lawn care business | No Comments

I had a great conversation with a business associate today concerning the concept of risk management.  In particular, we were discussing risks that far outweigh their rewards.

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.

Climbing and a discussion of asychronous risk management.

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.

In your lawn care business, us proper risk management procedures.

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

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2010 is 1/12 over.

Jan 29

Posted by Lawn Care Business in bidding lawn care, contracts, equipment | No Comments

Remembering back 1 month ago, 2009 seemed to fly by and was ended long before I though it would. 30 days later I see that the first page of 2010’s calendar is ready to be flipped.

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

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That’s Hot!

Jan 10

Posted by Lawn Care Business in equipment, lawn care business, lawn equipment, maintenance, toys | No Comments

Like me, one of the things you probably love about operating a lawn care business is your ability to buy new toys and gadgets.

Toys and gadgets can be expensive lawn mowers and 4 wheelers to pull a spray tank. Or the toys can be less expensive tools that are fun to use while still providing a beneficial service for your company.

I received a neat device this morning that is sure to come in handy for your lawn care business. I want to quickly pass along the information in blog format. Check out our YouTube Lawn Care Business channel for an upcoming video.

Today’s neat device is the Ryobi IR001 Infra Red Thermometer.

This “non-contact thermometer” remotely measures the temperature of any object. Quite simply, you point the device at an object you want to measure, pull the tigger, and you are giving the object’s temperature to within 5 degrees.

Now, you might wonder how this non-contact thermometer can be useful to a lawn care business. I’ve already found two uses.

1) Checking the spindle temperature helps determine if lawn mower blade spindles are lubricated and functioning correctly. This will be especially handy on lawn mowers with multiple spindles. Comparing temperatures between spindles will help you determine if one spindle is functioning better than the other. If one spindle is significantly hotter than the others, the hot spindle may be misaligned or undergreased. A hotter spindle mean more friction. More frictions means harder work performed by your engine and more wear and tear on your components.

2) Engine temperature. Abnormally high operating temperatures can cause premature engine damage. The IR temperature gun can give you an indication of high engine and/or exhaust temperatures which may lead to discovery (and repair) of an existing problem.

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A Lawn Care Owner's Epiphany

Jan 4

Posted by Lawn Care Business in customers, equipment, lawn business strategies, lawn care business, money | 1 Comment

As a new lawn care business owner back in 1992, I remember the day when things started to change for my lawn care business.

My partner and I had been mowing residential lawns for almost 6 months. We were continuously picking up customers and were beginning to make decent money. However, we just weren’t growing the business to the extent I knew we were capable.

An epiphany happened to me that first summer. As I mowed a customer’s lawn, I saw two Navy fighter jets fly overhead. They were practicing for an upcoming air show and were flying low and fast. Even through my hearing protection the noise of their engines made me jump. I stopped my work long enough to watch them make several passes overhead. It was an impressive sight.

For the rest of the day, two words kept going through my mind; performance and efficiency.

Jet fighters scream performance. It is thrilling to watch a jet blaze by at 600 mph 2,000 feet above the ground. This is performance at its utmost. Fighter pilots’ lives depend on their jets.

Fighter pilots also demonstrate the ultimate in efficiency. Every move must be accounted for and no move is wasted. If a pilot needs to steer 15 degrees to the right, he moves his controls only enough to make the turn…no more, no less.

I used these ideas to analyze my lawn care jobs. I quickly discovered that I was being tremendously inefficient in my business. My route planning was inefficient and my mowing patterns on customer’s lawns was inefficient. I was wasting effort at every level of my business and the reasons behind my inability to grow my business became clear to me.

Additionally, I took serious looks at my equipment. It did not scream performance the way a fighter jet screams performance. We started our lawn care business on a shoestring budget. Because of this budget, we purchased inexpensive, slow, non-powerful equipment because it was all we could afford. After taking hard looks at my budget and my equipment, I took swift action of a systematic upgrade of all equipment.

By the end of that first year, I was operating an efficient lawn care business. My routes were well planned. My mowing patterns were designed in such a way that no move was wasted. And, my lawn equipment? Yes, my lawn equipment was hard-core commercial equipment that screamed “PERFORMANCE.”

If you are struggling with your lawn care business because of similar issues that plagued my first year then you should take a look at our Lawn Care Business strategy guidebooks.

We developed this program after 17 years in the business to help newbies and those that need help getting more customers and making more money.

As indicated above, we spend considerable time in the program helping you learn how to be more efficient with your lawn care business. Route planning and mowing patterns are only two of the concepts we discuss.

We also show you which type of equipment to buy. Purchasing the wrong equipment can hobble your business and prevent you from growing as you should. With our guidance, you will be able to purchase mowers that will propel you in your business and scream performance.

The lawn care business strategy guidebook and software program is available from our main website. www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Propane's Continued Push Into The Lawn Care Industry

Dec 22

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, equipment, lawn care business, propane | No Comments

We’ve made mention of Propane’s coming dominance in several of our recent blog postings: Code Orange Days and Propane Powered String Trimmers

Lawn care equipment manufacturers have clearly caught on to the idea of propane power. Slowly, vehicle manufacturers are riding the rising tide of propane equipment demand.

Jack Roush of Roush Performance is a man who understands the savings a propane powered fleet of vehicles can have to a lawn care business. A clever video explains the potential of saving over $206,000 using propane compared to a same-sized fleet using gasoline. Numerous tax breaks and inducements from propane dealers factor into this savings.

Financial incentives aren’t the only benefit to operating propane-powered vehicles. According to Roush Performance, up to 20 percent less nitrous oxide and up to 60 percent less carbon monoxide and fewer particulate emissions are produced by propane engines than gasoline engines. Additionally, propane is 90% domestically produced cutting our need on foreign oil.

With lawn mower manufacturers, string trimmer producers, and, now, automotive companies developing viable propane equipment, the ability for most lawn care companies to take advantage of the benefits of propane has never been easier.

If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of propane for your lawn care business and how you can start and operate a successful lawn care business, check out our Lawn Care Business strategy guidebooks at: StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Buy Clearance Commercial Lawn Mowers

Nov 23

Posted by Lawn Care Business in equipment, financing, lawn equipment, lawn mowers, winter | 2 Comments

2009 is dragging to a close and 2010 is barely a month away. 

Wait!!!  WHAT??? 

2010 is just a month away, I can’t believe we’re already at 2010.

Anyway, this year is no different than any other year in that lawn mower dealers are trying to blow out their old models in preparation for next years crop of commercial lawn mowers.

I see this every year.  If you have the storage capacity and can afford to let a new lawn mower sit idle until next mowing season, right now is a great time to get a good deal on a brand new lawn mower.  If you can’t afford to buy a lawn mower and let it sit all winter, dealers will often give you great deals on financing and start payments in the spring of next year.

2009 Lawn Mower Clearance

You can often save 10% to 20% on old model lawn mower.

As the grass growth is slowing down, take some time to visit your local commercial lawn mower dealers.  You may be able to make a deal on a perfectly new (though slightly outdated) commercial lawn mower.

If you find a lawn mower you want to buy, ask the deal to service it before the sale is complete.  Though oil and other fluids haven’t been used much, get the deal to replace all fluids, check all bolts and fasteners, lubricate all lubrication points, and replace the battery with a fresh one.  If your new lawn mower will be sitting for the rest of this winter, have your dealer add a recommended fuel stabilizer.

If you want to learn more about purchasing commercial lawn equipment for your lawn care business, our guidebook has an entire chapter dedicated to buying new and used equipment.

Check our website for complete information: 

Start A Lawn Care Business

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Lawn Care Equipment – Winter Maintenance

Nov 19

Posted by Lawn Care Business in equipment, maintenance, winter | 1 Comment

As lawn care business owners we should all be super picky about continued maintenance of our lawn care equipment.  Engine oil and oil filter changes, multi-stage air filter maintenance, fuel filter maintenance, lubrication, and hydrolic fluid maintenance should constantly be on your mind to keep your equipment running in peak condition.  Though your equipment might stand stagnant during the winter months, you should not neglect a pre-winter maintenance schedule.  We cover both summer and off-season lawn equipment maintenance in our lawn care business guidebook.

As autumn draws to a close and colder days of winter arrive, we begin our winter maintenance proceedure.  Winter maintenance will leave our equipment in perfect condition and ready for springtime one February and March roll around.

When doing maintenance on your lawn care equipment (commercial lawn mowers, weedeaters, edgers, and leaf blowers), you should not forget vehicle winter maintenance.  Keeping your vehicle in top running condition is important to your business but is sometimes overlooked as you spend so much time maintaning your lawn equipment.

Though I will still drive my truck almost everyday, I have performed my pre-winter checklist and maintenance schedule which will allow for confident driving during the snowy months ahead.

My maintenance routine includes:

Change Oil and Oil Filter
Check Fuel Filter
Check Air Filter
Flush and Change Antifreeze
Check Brake and Power Steering Fluid
Fill Windshield Washer Fluid
Rotate Tires and Check Air Pressure and Check For Wear
Check Brakes While Wheels Are Off
Check hoses and Belts
Check All Lights and Blinkers
Equip My Winter Survival Kit

We are amateurs at vehicle maintenance so if you want to learn from the best check out the car maintenance pros at Motortrend.

However, if you want to learn more about running your own lawn care business, check us out at:  Start A Lawn Care Business dot Com

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