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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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Christmas Shipping for the Lawn Care Guidebooks

Dec 14

Posted by Lawn Care Business in holidays, lawn care business | No Comments

The Start A Lawn Care Business guidebook package makes an excellent Christmas present for anyone who has ever dreamed of operating a successful lawn care business. 2010 is a great year to start.

If you are considering purchasing the Start A Lawn Care Business guidebooks for a Christmas present with delivery before Christmas 2009, please get your order in ASAP.

Though we cannot absolutely guarantee delivery before Christmas, we are performing rush shipment on all orders for the rest of the year. Once your order is received, we will ship your parcel either the same day or the very next business day via PRIORITY mail. Normal delivery time is 2 to 3 business days anywhere in the country (Alaska and Hawaii may take longer). Your order will come with a delivery confirmation number so you can check the status of the package.

We are accepting orders to addresses other than your confirmed mailing address. You may be sending this as a Christmas present to someone not in your household, if you need to send this to a different address, just drop us an email to tell us the correct shipping address.

As always if you have a special request on your order, please let us know and we will do our best to accomodate your request.

If you have any questions about the Business Package or if you need to contact us for any reason, our email is: info@StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Right now is a great time to get your resolutions ready for 2010. Starting your own lawn care and landscaping business will be a great start to the new year.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

From all of us at: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Lawn Care Business in 2010

Dec 12

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

After a sluggish couple years due to the bad economy, many lawn care opertors (LCOs) are feeling the pinch and thinking about getting out of the business altogether. They might be giving up the fight just when the fight is getting good.

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)

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John Deere, Fruit Snacks, and Your Lawn Care Business

Nov 25

Posted by Lawn Care Business in John Deere, lawn business strategies, Lawn Care Advertising, lawn care business | No Comments

I was in a convenience store the other day and I saw a John Deere item on the shelf. 

Now, I’ve long known about John Deere scale model tractors and John Deere keychains but this particular item took me by surprise.  It was a box of Kellogg’s Fruit Flavored Snacks featuring John Deere on the box and tractor shaped fruit blobs inside the box.
 
I have always admired John Deere’s marketing department for their efforts to make John Deere an American institution.  In our minds, John Deere built the American mid-west and currently cultivates the agricultural bread basket.  John Deere puts food on our tables and gives us the ability to sell wheat to the rest of the world.  John Deere has strength to both mow our home lawn and harvest a 640 acre central pivot cornfield.  We all know “nothing runs like a Deere.”
 
John Deere has cross promoted itself into many areas of American life and I think this cross promotion works well for them.  In an age where effects of advertising campaigns are measured in days or weeks, John Deere bucks the trend by using long term marketing efforts.  Who buys (or, at least, uses) fruit snacks?  Kids do.  The fruit snacks might be purchased by adults but it’s the kids who enjoy them.  I can’t believe John Deere is turning a profit selling fruit snacks.  However, that 10 year old kid who gobbles down a fruit snack today will remember the name John Deere 20 years from now.  When it’s time to buy a new tractor or lawn mower, John Deere will be forever entrenched in his mind and John Deere’s investment in fruit snack marketing will finally pay off.
 
I love to think about marketing strategies and I am as guilty as the next guy trying to developing advertising which has immediate dividends for my lawn care business just like John Deere does.  As we forge forward into a new year we should all attempt to develop marketing strategies which will have long term benefits and not just an immediate payoff of days or weeks.

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Lawn Care Business and Small Business Loans

Nov 18

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

Timothy Geithner is again urging U.S. banks to boost lending to small businesses and consumers.

It amazes me that a boost in business and consumer lending is seen as the holy grail in getting us out of our current financial mess.  Quite possibly, over-lending to consumers and businesses is the reason for our current financial mess. 

In our Lawn Care Business Guidebook, we discuss the topic of small business financing.  The beauty of a lawn care business is that a business owner can, quite often, start a business without major financing.  The bars of startup are low with a lawn care business.  We have seen many lawn care business owners start out with an existing push lawn mower, a handheld leaf blower, and a two cycle weedeater found in their own garages.

Now, after extolling the virtues of starting small, we do believe LCOs should upgrade to commercial equipment as their needs warrent.  However, controlled, debtless growth is a very viable business strategy.

If you want to learn how to start your lawn care business without borrowing from banks and taking on needless debt, check our lawn care business guidebook available through:  www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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I just work here, sir.

Nov 13

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

How many times per day do you get questions from your lawn care customers that you can’t answer?

During my first year with my own lawn care business, there was barely a day that I wasn’t stumped by a question from one of my customers. 

“How much grass seed should I put on my lawn?”

“How do I get rid of weeds in my Bermuda Grass?”

“One of my apple trees died last year and the one remaining didn’t bear fruit this year.  Do I need a male and female apple tree to have fruit?”

These were some early questions I remember being asked during the first few days of my lawn care business back in 1992.  I remember being stumped.  The first two questions were pretty easy to answer and I got extra jobs doing seeding and weed eradication for two brand new customers.

The third question concerning the apple tree was more difficult to answer and I referred this customer to an aborculturalist.  The customer was happy and I still got to do her lawn all summer.

I realized early on that customers don’t expect you to be a lawn care expert when they ask you questions.  Being a lawn care business owner doesn’t mean you have all the answers but it does mean you should answer to the best of your ability and if you don’t know the answer, you should tell the customer that you will find out the best answer.

I recently had an experience with a company I wanted to do business with.  This was a technical company (nothing to do with lawn care) and I had a couple questions for them.  So, I called their toll-free number to speak with a representative.  I asked a few question which she was able to answer.  Then, I asked a question about a service they don’t offer and I also asked if they would offer it in the future.

“I JUST WORK HERE, SIR.”

“I just work here, sir” was the answer from this company’s sales representative.  That answer was rude customer service (BTW, the company was NOT Microsoft) and it cost them a customer.  Part of my questioning was designed to determine if I wanted to become a client of this company.  The sales representative was unable to answer my basic question and then put me off by telling me she just worked there and had no authority nor desire to find an answer for me. 

In effect, the question she answered was: “do I want to do business with your company?”  The answer she gave me was, “No, because we won’t be able to answer your most basic questions.” 

As developers of the Start A Lawn Care Business guidebook package, our job is to answer your questions about starting and operating a lawn care business.  If you are just getting started or if you’ve been in it a year or two you may have a lot of questions about how to get more customers and make more money.  The lawn care business guidebooks will answer most of your questions about advertising, pricing, estimating, doing the work, and which equipment to buy.  If you have other questions, let us know.  We are happy to help and you will NEVER get an answer of “I JUST WORK HERE, SIR.”

The lawn care business guidebooks and software package is available through our website:  www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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30 Second Elevator Speech

Nov 10

Posted by Lawn Care Business in customers, lawn business strategies, Lawn Care Advertising, lawn care business | 3 Comments

Have you practiced your 30 second elevator speech?

The concept of an elevator speech is that you happen to get on an elevator just as a potential client is also getting on the same elevator. You are riding up only one floor together. While the doors are closed, you have 30 seconds to make a convincing sales pitch.  Those 30 seconds are all you have to convince your potential client to consider your business for future work.

A 30 second elevator speech is not a sales call and is not designed to gain clients’ immediate business.  Instead, an elevator speech should be conversationally designed to help potential clients remember your name and call you back, with interest, at a later time.

Though you probably don’t often encounter your potential lawn care clients in an elevator, you may encounter them at coffee shops, post offices, and in line at the bank.

If you had only 30 seconds to convince a client to use your services, what would you tell them?

Introduction:

Introduce yourself and your company.  A firm handshake with your first name will suffice here.  A good looking shirt with your lawn care company’s name and logo will help you sidestep repeating your company name at this point.

Expertise – Special Equipment

What sets your company apart from the rest of the lawn care companies in your community?  Without making your sales pitch sound like a sales pitch, entice your client by relaying specialized knowledge about a particular lawn care problem you are currently researching or by bragging on a specialized piece of commercial lawn care equipment.  

When leaf raking season rolls around, I like to carry flyers and pictures of my leaf collection equipment.  Leaf blowers are cool and even people who are disinterested in lawn care like to look at commercial leaf blowers in action.

Everyone knows what a lawn mower looks like but not many people are familiar with commercial leaf blowers that can move 800 cubic feet of leaves per minute.  They are impressive and anyone with a yard full of leaves will be interested in the ability of such a machine.  Knowing my company has the equipment to handle such a job keeps my name in potential customers’ minds.

Quick Exit – Leave Them Wanting More

An elevator speech should be 30 seconds or less and 130 words or less.  Nothing is worse than a salesperson who kills a potential sale by rambling on and on.  If you are truly in the elevator, hand them your business card and exit as soon as you reach your floor.  Remember, you are not trying to close the sale here, you are only trying to pique their interest.  If they are interested in having you visit their residence for an estimate, get their name, address, and phone number.   

I would love to hear your elevator speech.  If you have never written a 30 second elevator speech, write one now and leave it in the comments section below.

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Your Lawn Care Business and Code Orange Days

Nov 6

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, lawn business strategies, lawn care business, lawn equipment, propane | 3 Comments

Air quality issues increasingly impact Lawn Care Business owners.

I am writing this blog post looking through my window on a crystal clear November morning. The sky is colbalt blue and distant Tennessee mountains appear close enough to touch. There is a slight breeze and the frosty morning air is brisk and fresh.

Though crisp November mornings distance me from the thoughts of smoggy Summers days, a billboard I saw this morning forced me to realize the effects air pollution has on our industry.

code_orange

Billboards and other Public Service Announcements have popped up in recent months throughout the southeast. These announcements encourage us to drive less and mow less on Code Orange days.

A Code Orange alert is announced when air pollution is predicted to reach unhealthy levels for sensitive groups. Typically, code orange levels are between 101 and 150 on the air quality index.

Lawn care equipment produce high levels of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxides. Two-cycle equipment such as weedeaters and leaf blowers are particularly high polluters. Oil mixed with gasoline causes very high levels of particulates released in exhaust fumes.

As air quality regulations begin to restrict our movements as an industry, opportunities are created which allow us to become an environmentally sensitive industry.

At recent lawn care trade shows, I am continually impressed to see equipment manufacturers furthering their research into low-polluting machines. The largest progress is being made with propane powered string trimmers and lawn mowers.

Propane powered lawn equipment dramatically reduces the air quality lowering effects of traditional commercial lawn mowers and two-cycled weedeaters and leaf blowers. As manufacturers produce higher quality and lower priced propane powered lawn equipment, our jobs of remaining EPA compliant will become easier.

Lawn care companies that begin the process of upgrading their equipment to propane power will find themselves in unique positions of being able to continue to operate their businesses during code orange days.

Next time you see a billboard reminding you not to mow on Code Orange days, think of it not as a restriction to your lawn care business but as an opportunity for you to distance yourself from your competition.

The “Start A Lawn Care Business” guidebooks, estimating software, and training videos will help you run a better lawn care business.
Order your copy at: http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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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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