Start A Lawn Care Business

Make money with a lawn care and landscaping business.

Lawn Care in Weird Places.

Jun 11

Posted by Lawn Care Business in urban lawn care, weeding | No Comments

I am constantly amazed at the tenacity of plants to grow almost anywhere.

Lawn Care Can Take You Odd Places

It is often annoying when weeds grow through cracks in a patio or through 4 inches of dense landscape mulch in a flower or shrub bed.  However, some lawn care jobs make grass in a crack seem much less annoying.

Look at this picture I took recently of a woody stemmed weed growing within the morter space of a large building.

Lawn Care in Weird Places

Natural decomposition processes such as weathering crumble stone into finer particles.  If those particle accumulate in a crevice, rain may make it hospitable to plant growth.  Seeds blown by the wind may land within the crevice and grow into an annoying, hard to reach, weed.

Next time you are dealing with weeds for one of your lawn care customers, think of the guy who has to deal with this weed problem.  It will make your job seem much easier.

If you want to expand your own lawn care business, see our home page.

Lawn Care Work Gloves

May 29

Posted by Lawn Care Business in lawn care work gloves | No Comments

Work glove technology has come a long way.

Do you remember no more than 10 years ago when your choices for work gloves were very limited?  It seemed like you had two choices.  The first choice was a pair of rawhide leather workgloves that took forever to break in or a pair of 99 cent thin canvas work gloves with those little rubberized dots all over the surface.

Old work gloves

The problem I always had with work gloves is that they never seemed to fit really well.  The thumbs were always too long.  On several occasions I have had the thumb become trapped under the pistol grip controls of my commercial walkbehind lawn mower.  Getting glove material trapped in the controls is dangerous because it compromises your ability to turn and stop your machine.  Being trapped also impedes your ability to move away from the machine.   While I operate my commercial lawn mowers, I want to feel connected to the machine.  Having a loose fitting glove disallows me from feeling the movement of the mower as it traverses undulating and bumpy ground.

Great selection of work gloves today

I was at a big box hardware store last week and the choice of work gloves available today is astounding.  I am particularly impressed with the tight fitting work gloves made by Mechanix.  Their material is durable yet light enough for me to feel connected to my lawn mower and other commercial lawn care equipment as I am working.

Start A Lawn Care Business

If you are interested in starting your own lawn care business, visit our website homepage at:  www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Anti-vibration gloves are my favorite when operating lawn care equipment.

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Father's Day June 21, 2009 Lawn Care

May 27

Posted by Lawn Care Business in father's day, lawn business strategies, lawn care training | 1 Comment

Father’s Day is June 21, 2009

If you are like millions of people around the country, you haven’t even begun to think about a gift to buy for your Father this coming Father’s Day. Father’s Day will be here before you know it. Before you drive out to the mall or Wal-Mart and spend an hour shopping for something he probably won’t like anyway (sorry, truth hurts) take a moment to think about buying him something that will truly benefit him and his life.

Earning Money is Important to Fathers

What is important to most Fathers? Money, right? Not just money itself but money as a way to provide for their families, to put food on the table, to pay the rent/mortgage, and to pay for the niceties that make life enjoyable. Especially in these hard economic times, any man with a family is worried about his ability to maintain finances.

Though it might seem unlikely, starting a lawn care and landscaping business can be a quick way to generate almost immediate cash. Lawn care can also be a long-term business that can grow over time. Starting his own business may be a life changing event.

About Men (especially Fathers)

Let me tell you a quick fact about most men (I am one so I should know). There is a reason men don’t want to stop to ask for directions. There’s a reason men are reluctant to ask for help. We want to figure things out on our own. We are explorers and pioneers. We are hunters and gatherers. We are cavemen and Vikings. Armed with only a club we will kill the fiercest beast and drag it home for dinner.

Okay, that would all be well and good if we were living a million years ago. But we’re not living a million years ago. We’re living in the present and there are consequences to trying things on your own. There is help available today and there is no stigma accepting help from others.

Help Him Start a Lawn Care Business

Starting a lawn care business is no different than being a pioneer except for the fact that it doesn’t have to be done alone. There should not be any stigma accepting help in starting a lawn care business. But, men are men and sometimes reluctant to ask for help. This is where you should step in for the Father in your family.

Business Start-Up

The ( www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com ) business program is designed to help in starting your own lawn care business. From the first days of your business plan, learning about licenses, knowing how to advertise and what equipment to buy, the business program takes you through practically every step of operating a successful lawn care and landscaping business. We have been in the business since 1992 and we have done everything from small $20 lawns all the way up to large multi-year government mowing contracts. All our years of knowledge and experience has been poured into the program.

Father’s Day Gift

If you would like to get your Father the best Father’s Day present ever and not make him face starting his own business alone, get him the complete Lawn Care Business program.  It includes a full series of business  manuals, business software, training videos, and estimating & bidding software.   It’s on sale right now in time for Father’s Day.

Visit our homepage at: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Digital camera for your landscaping business.

May 17

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

Digital cameras help document your lawn care and landscaping jobs.

If you have read our materials on starting and operating your own lawn care and landscaping business you already understand the importance of keeping a digital camera ready to document your work.

Digital cameras are handy for adding projects you are particularly proud of to your photo portfolio.  They also allow for photographic documentation.  Quick before shots and after shots of your work stand in your benefit should disputes arise with your customers. 

Don’t forget to synchronize your camera’s clock with your GPS clock so you have proper ‘when and where’ documentation.  On-photo time stamping is not necessary since most cameras record time information into their exif data table.  This information can be pulled out at a later time without ruining your photograph.

All that aside, the purpose of this post is to let you know about one of the best compact point and shoot cameras on the market today.  It is one we have recently acquired and are well pleased with during initial tests.

Panasonic Lumix TZ5

The Panasonic Lumix TZ5 has recently been replaced by the Lumix TZ7.  Therefore, since the feature set of the TZ7 is marginal above the TZ5, the TZ5’s recently lowered price makes it a very attractive bargain.

Wide angle 28mm 10x Leica lens

The TZ5 features a 9.1 megapixel CCD and an incredible optical 10X Leica lens.  Completely zoomed out, you are given 28mm (equivalent) wide angle coverage.  Wide angle allows photographs of large landscaping and lawn care projects without having to step backward in order to frame your scenes.

High Def (HD) Video at 1280x720p

An amazing feature of Lumix’s TZ5 is its ability to film HD video.  While, as a landscaper, you will get more benefit from still photos, there are occasions when video gives better representation of your work.  Video quality is not up to quality received from a multi-CCD 1920x1080i dedicated video camera though our initial tests show great quality video from this camera.  Low-light graininess and washout are issues compared with higher-end dedicated camcorders.  If your landscaping has lots of colors, use sunshine creatively to brighten your project.

Price of the TZ5

As mentioned earlier, TZ7 is the latest offering from Panasonic’s Lumix line.  TZ5’s price has dropped significantly in light of this latest release.  Order via Amazon.com using the links provided below.  This is how we ordered our TZ5 and we have been uniformly well pleased with our purchase.

We plan to shoot several landscaping shots this week.  Check back this week for new blog postings including pictures from our TZ5.

Order your Panasonic Lumix TZ5:

Black
 

Blue
 

Silver
 

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How to hire lawn care and landscaping employees.

May 13

Posted by Lawn Care Business in employees, landscaping, lawn business strategies, unemployment | 2 Comments

As your lawn care and landscaping business continues to grow you may eventually decide to hire an employee to help with your business.

A common tendency of new-ish business owners hiring first employees is to try to make their business appear to be a smooth running organization where nothing ever goes wrong.  If you have been in the lawn care / landscaping business any number of years you know that most days are not exactly smooth running.  Employees coming aboard your business need to know what they are getting themselves into.  Likewise, you need to know a prospective employee is the right fit for your business model.
 
Before establishing your interview process take stock of your daily business proceedings.  Mimicking your daily atmosphere will weed out incompatible prospects. 
 
If you run a low-stress, laid-back, detail-oriented business, conduct your interviews with a similar energy level.  A good example of this type business is a landscape design business where careful and detailed measurements are integral to a project’s success.  Slow, thought provoking questions that require detailed and contemplative answers will make high energy A-type personalities jump out of their chairs during the calm, methodical interview.
 
Conversely, if your lawn care business is a hustle and bustle, go-go-go type atmosphere a prospective employee should be able to adapt to an unorthodox interview.  Making sure you follow all procedures for the safety of your interviewee, conduct an interview in your workshop while you are changing lawn mower blades.  Does your prospect understand your questions despite noise and distraction?  Without being prompted by you, does he or she hand you a can of penetrating lubricant or a cheat sleeve when the spindle nut is hard to loosen?  If your prospect can handle interview questions in a high pressure atmosphere you may have found your next employee.
 
If you properly mimic your daily business atmosphere during your interview process you will gain a better understanding of how an employee will react when faced with everyday job pressures.

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Are rain barrels illegal in Colorado?

May 5

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, landscaping | 2 Comments

by: Lawn Care Business

Landscapers have many laws to consider.

Landscapers should use all available resources to design healthy and functional landscapes for their customers.  There are often seemingly nonsensical laws on the books that landscapers may not think to consider.

As part of my studies in a recent landscaping class, I have become more aware of the importance of using rain barrels to catch water draining through downspouts on your home.  An  inch of rain produces 1500 gallons from an average home’s roof.  This is a tremendous amount of water.  Using just a fraction of this amount on turfgrass, landscaping plants, and vegitable gardens, can greatly reduce the strain on utilities and water resevoirs.

I was recently made aware of a law in Colorado which, apparently,  makes the use of rain barrels illegal.  The law states that rain must be allowed to fall freely to the ground.  Residents of Colorado are not allowed to use rainwater other than as it falls freely on their property.  If a bucket is used to catch rain water to be used later for plants the homeowner is in violation of water use laws.

http://www.denverwater.org/cons_xeriscape/conservation/FAQ_WestWaterLaws.html

It seems to me that all water eventually finds its way back into the watershed irrespective of if rain water is used as it falls or at a later time.

Can anyone explain this law to me?

For information on operating a successful lawn care and landscaping business, purchase our Lawn Care Business program (on sale right now) from our website:

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Lawn Care Businesses Watch Nature Unfold

May 4

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, landscaping, lawn business strategies | No Comments

by: Start A Lawn Care Business

Owning a lawn care / landscaping business means you get to enjoy the wonderment of nature more than the average person.

If you are just starting your own lawn care business you might think of it as nothing more than cutting your customers lawns as a way to make money.  After you have been in business for awhile you will begin to feel a kinship with nature.  Whether you simply cut grass to make money or you offer full-service landscaping you will increasingly notice the changes that nature provides.

StartALawnCareBusiness.com is located near the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains.  We love watching “color creep” each spring and fall.  In early spring all deciduous trees are without leaves.  Slowly, as temperatures rise and days lengthen, trees at the base of our mountains begin to turn green.  As spring wears on, trees at ever increasing elevations gain their foliage.  On a day-to-day basis we watch the color creep up the mountain.

Spring leaf color creaps up a mountian

Spring leaf color creaps up a mountian

As photosynthesis ceases during Autumn, an opposite color creep occurs as trees at higher elevations turn golden and eventually shed their leaves followed closely by trees at lower elevations.

Color creep is just one of the millions of amazing phenomena of nature.  Lawn Care and Landscaping Business owner have special opportunities to view nature at work.  Those business owners also have special responsibilities in conducting their businesses.  The “StartALawnCareBusiness” program will help you run a successful lawn care business so you can take part in the wonderment of nature.

Learn more at our website: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Tips for Starting a Lawn Care Business

Apr 29

Posted by Lawn Care Business in bidding lawn care, customers, how much to charge, lawn business strategies | No Comments

by: Start A Lawn Care Business

The lawn care business program available from our website: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com is packed with information about how to operate a lawn care business.  Sometimes we are asked: “What is your number one piece of advice for someone brand new to the lawn care business?”

No individual tip can sum up all you need to know about running your own business, knowing how to price your services is a tremendously important lesson to learn about running your business.

Pricing is subjective in the lawn care industry.  No one can tell you exactly how much to price each job.  Therefore, it is very important for you to develop a strong pricing strategy. Know your costs, know how much your time is worth, and know what price the market will bear. If the market won’t bear the amount you need to cover your costs then don’t do the job. You can’t make money by losing money. DUH…right? You’d be surprised how many people don’t know that basic concept.  Companies go out-of-business everyday because they can’t cover costs.

Additionally, don’t let customers talk you down in price or intimidate you because you’re new to the business…they’ll do that, trust me. If a lawn care or landscaping job is worth $30 hold firm to that price. If the customer won’t pay, walk away and find someone who will. Don’t sacrifice your rightful profit just to get a lawn care customer.

Our lawn care business package has a huge section on how to bid and estimate lawn care and landscaping jobs.  Estimating calculator software is also included with the package.  The lawn care estimator will help you estimate your lawn care jobs.

You can purchase the lawn care business package, on sale right now, from:

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Landscaping and Homeowners' Associations

Apr 27

Posted by Lawn Care Business in landscaping, lawn business strategies, Lawn Care Advertising, Real Estate Clients | 3 Comments

by: Lawn Care Business

Free Lawn Care Advertising by Landscaping a Homeowners’ Association Entryway.

Landscaping an entryway can bring many new lawn care customers. (Free Advertising)

The impact made by your landscaping work may be your best form of self advertising especially when you landscape by planting decorative shrubs and colorful perennials.

Bidding lawn care contracts within homeowners’ associations can be very profitable for your lawn care company.  Often, homeowners’ associations bid out contracts for public areas within their confines.  Pools, road right-of-way, and, most importantly, sub division entrances are included within the lawn care and landscaping arrangements.

Allowances for advertising vary from one homeowners’ association to another.  Some HOAs will allow you to place signs on completed project areas while other HOAs will place a free ad for you within their monthly newsletter and recommend you as trusted vendor within the community.

The entrance to a residential complex under the guidance of a HOA is probably the most important initial portion of your landscaping work for the HOA.  The subdivision entrance is the first impact anyone entering the subdivision experiences.  If your landscape work is dreary or unkempt it will make a negative impact on those who notice.

However, if you skillfully design your landscaping and make a spectacular impact every resident of the subdivision will notice your work and many of them will clamor to become your clients.

Free Lawn Care Advertising

Although landscape design and installation will bring you many new lawn care customers, resist the temtation to reduce your price in exchange for “Free Lawn Care  Advertising” as you might be convinced by the HOA. Great landscaping is free advertising for the HOA since residents, seeing great landscaping, will happily continue paying their HOA fees.

When landscaping for a homeowners’ association, charge fairly and do a great job.

Landscaping a subdivision entryway is free advertising for your lawn care business.

Landscaping a subdivision entryway is free advertising for your lawn care business.

Our Start A Lawn Care Business package is on sale right now for quick shipment.   For much more information about the business package, visit our website at:  http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Lawn care business and earth day.

Apr 22

Posted by Lawn Care Business in composting, environment, lawn business strategies | No Comments

by: Lawn Care Business

Lawn Care Businesses celebrate Earth Day

earthday1

Well, our Earth has lasted for one more trip around the Sun and here we are again at earth day.  Being lawn care professionals, we have special opportunities to make positive impacts on our environment in the way we conduct our businesses.  The green movement has long used “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” as a mantra of environmental stewardship.  Let’s look at three simple ways we can incorporate that mantra into our daily business and make it profitable for our companies.

Reduce your use of Gasoline: 

With gas prices still at historic highs, you can reduce your use of gasoline by scheduling lawn jobs in nearby neighborhoods to coincide with each other.  Reducing driving distances and multiple trips to the same area of town is a great way to reduce gasoline consumption and increase your profit potential.

Reuse yard waste: 

Instead of sending yard waste, leaves, brush, and shrub clippings to the landfill, speak to your customers about making compost areas and brush piles on their property.  Composting is a great method of making free, rich, nutritious soil from yard waste that would otherwise go to the landfill.  Once fully composted, this soil can be used to pot plants or fill holes in the yard.  Managed correctly, small brush piles are superb habitats for song birds and other entertaining wildlife.  Birds build nests from gathered materials and brush piles generally break down to a very small size over a short period of time.

Recycle lawn equipment oil: 

It goes without saying (but we’re going to say it anyway) that you should recycle all oil drained from your machinery during the course of normal maintenance.  Auto shops such as Advanced Auto Parts and Autozone generally accept your used oil.  Buy a large footprint oil receptacle to capture drained oil from your equipment.  Once finished with your oil changes, take your spent oil to a recycling center.  Also, be sure to keep your oil receptacle out of the rain.  Rain displaces oil forcing it out of the container and contaminates its surrounding environment eventually washing oil into the ground or local waterway.

These are a few quick tips for earth day.  If you want to operate an eco-friendly, profitable lawn care company, look for our manuals and lawn care business software available through our website:

www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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