Posts Tagged business

Does Lawn Care Make You Smarter?

Apr 5

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

“Where’s my lawn mower? Has anyone seen my weedeater? What day is it?”
These are three questions you will rarely hear from lawn care business operators.

If you think of yourself as having better memory than your peers, you might have your lawn care business to thank. Scientists at the University of Brisbane in Australia have discovered the scent of cut grass helps boost memory. Chemicals that are emitted from freshly cut grass work to stimulate the emotional and memory centers of the brain known as the amygdala and the hippocampus.

Cut Grass Helps Boost Memory

In this blog, we often discuss how a lawn care business can strengthen your physical and financial health. It’s also good to know that the aroma of cut grass might also be helping your mental health.

The benefits of owning a lawn care business are endless.

If you want to improve your memory and start your own business at the same time, maybe you should take a look at our lawn care business guidebook, video training guides, and estimating software business package. You can read all about it on our website: Start A Lawn Care Business . com

Tags: business, cutting grass, health, lawn care, memory

Nitrogen Fixation from White Clover

Apr 4

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, fertilizer, lawn chemicals, weeding | 1 Comment

As expected, I heard from a few organic lawn care experts after my “what to do for your lawn care business in April 2010” video.

In that video, I mentioned that clover is a problem this time a year. Many lawn care customers want their clover problem dealt with yet they are unwilling to accept an organic approach to dealing with clover in their grass. Little do they know that they are their own worst enemies. Clover this year is often caused by improper cutting methods last year. Cutting grass too short damages the grass and allows sunshine to penetrate the grass canopy germinating weeds on the ground’s surface. Bare patches beget clover growth in subsequent years.

How can you deal with the problem without using chemicals like pre-emergent and post-emergent weed killers? One of the best methods of having a healthy stand of grass is by raising your lawn mower’s blade to the correct mowing height for the type of grass.

Besides, clover has many benefits for the average suburban lawn. Clover fixes nitrogen in your soil. Naturally occurring nitrogen is beneficial to turf grasses because it raises the nitrogen level in the ground without affecting the pH level. Many organic gardeners recommend a 5% clover dispersal in a typical lawn to nurish the turf grass while reducing the need for fertilizer application.

Tags: april, business, clover, grass height, lawn care, nitrogen fixation, organic gardening

Does moss grow on the north side of trees?

Mar 27

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

I remember watching TV when I was a kid. The show was probably a rerun of Davey Crockett or some other nature-type program. One particular episode caught my attention. They were probably tracking Indians or trying to find their way out of the woods and the remark was made that moss always grows on the north side of a tree.

At first, I thought this to be a bit of folklore. Seriously, why would moss only grow on the north side of a tree. That makes no sense. Moss doesn’t have a compass. Moss doesn’t carry a map in it’s non-existent glove box. At the time, Mapquest and Google Earth did not exist. But still, moss doesn’t know how to turn on a computer or operate a GPS.
Alright, that’s silly but it is what I thought at the time.

It wasn’t until several years later that I finally realized moss does, indeed, tend to grow on the north side of trees. Moss does not only grow on the north side of trees, it also grows on the north side of rocks, garbage cans, and telephone poles.

You can see moss growing on the north side of this telephone poll.

Moss grows well in environments that are damp, cool, and shady. In a thick forest with full coverage of shade, moss will grow on all sides of a tree. However, if there is a break in the tree coverage where the sun penetrates, moss will find the sunny side of the tree inhospitable. Therefore it won’t grow where there is sunshine.

Think about the sun’s orientation in the northern hemisphere’s sky. During winter, the sun is well south of the equator. Since the sun is in the southern part of our sky, all shadows are cast north. During our summer, the sun reaches its azimuth on or about June 21. On this day, it is just barely directly overhead. Therefore, the north side of almost any object is still partially shaded. Moss, which loves the shade, is still protected from sunlight and continues to thrive.

I’ve always believed running a lawn care business gives us a higher sense of nature than most people understand. We learn how things grow by understanding their habitats and how they react with nature.

Tags: business, habitat, lawn care, moss, nature

Today is the first day of spring.

Mar 20

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

Start A Lawn Care Business

Today is the first day of spring. For astronomers, the vernal equinox is the day in the earth’s orbit around the sun when the sun appears to creep back over the equator into the northern hemisphere. For lawn care companies, the first day of spring means warmer weather, vigorous grass growth, and new lawn care customers.

I took a drive through a few local neighborhoods at the crack of dawn this morning. The sunrise was magnificient. Once the weather warms, I like to get an early start. It makes me feel like I have a jump on the rest of the world. Already, I saw several homeowners working their yards and tending their gardens. As early as it was, they had a jump on me.

If you are starting your own lawn care company this year or if you are hoping to expand a lawn care business you owned last year, you can still get an early start in acquiring new customers and lawn care contracts. Right now is the PRIME time of year to go after new customers. Homeowners and business owners want their yards to look great for sping. By self-promoting your business this week, you should be able to fill a few holes in your schedule. Customers are motivated to hire competent lawn care people this time of year.

Getting customers early means you will have them all year long and you will be able to upsell them on many services. Spring cleanup is one of the first add on services you can sell to your customers. Even if your customers’ lawns are in decent shape from last year, you can sell them on a “Spring Cleanup Special.” Spend extra time raking leaves out of their flowerbeds, pickup fallen twigs and limbs, and offer to remulch flower and shrub beds.

If you’re like most lawn care companies, the extra income is needed in the spring after such a long winter. Spring cleanup is only one of the many add ons you can offer.

Tags: business, customers, grass, lawn care, money, spring, vernal equinox

Chemical Application – Additional Regulations

Mar 8

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, fertilizer, lawn care training, lawn chemicals | No Comments

After yesterday’s blog posting on new lawn care business owners’ need to carefully consider applicator’s licenses before applying chemicals to their customers’ lawns, we received several emails from large national lawn care companies.

At first, we thought the emails were going to complain that we were overly cautious in telling new lawn care businesses to be cautious about risking stepping afoul of applicator’s guidelines. To the contrary, the overwhelming majority applauded the fact that we told new companies of the risks they take when applying chemicals without proper permits. In fact, a few emailers said we didn’t go far enough in warning of the perils of operating an illegitimate chemical application business. They wanted us to mention a few additional regulations. We will mention them below.

Before you think we’re siding with the large lawn care companies, we’re not. This blog is dedicated to the small-time lawn care operator. We are all for the guys who are starting small and trying to grow their businesses customer-by-customer. It’s a tough business but it you do it right you can make a lot of money cutting grass and doing small landscaping job. We have to give the big guys credit though. When it comes to chemical application, regulations are designed to protect the environment, your customers, and yourselves from improper use of lawn care chemicals.

In the process of obtaining your applicator’s license you will learn a tremendous amount about proper mixture, storage, transportation, and application of chemicals. You will learn to protect yourself and your customers (and their children and pets) from dangerous chemicals. Not-the-least you will learn proper application techniques.

Anyone reading this who does not have an applicator’s license should make a goal of speaking to their local county extension office and making plans to start their course work.

Before I end this blog, I wanted to share a couple ancillary items lawn care companies must consider when handling chemicals. Though I was aware of these items, a couple readers wanted me to point them out specifically.

1) Many states (Illinois included) have containment regulations. “These regulations are designed to prevent environmental contamination from pesticides and/or fertilizers. Illinois law mandates that a containment area must be used for the loading of lawn-care products for distribution to a customer. The purpose of the containment area is to intercept, retain, recover, and reuse pesticide spills, wash water, and rinse water from application equipment or other items used for the storage, handling, preparation for use, transport, or application of pesticides to turf areas. Any application or handling of fertilizers only, application to trees and shrubs only, land areas located within a public or private rights-of-way, or land areas utilized for turf research or commercial turf production are exempt from these regulations.” http://web.extension.illinois.edu/ipr/i4147_829.html

2) Do you know (quite honestly we were not aware of this) that in many states (Massachusetts included) it is against the law for a homeowner to hire an unlicensed applicator “even if it is a well known over-the-counter product that anyone can purchase?” In states where this statute exists not only will you get in trouble but the homeowner who hires you will get in trouble too. That can’t be good for public relations and word-of-mouth advertising. http://www.malcp.org/faqs.htm

Okay guys; take care of yourselves and make sure you are properly licensed. We’ve upset a good many people who thought they weren’t doing anything wrong applying Monsanto’s Round-Up to their customers’ lawns.

This blog has taken a serious turn the last few days. We’ve got some fun stuff coming up for you later this week so be sure to subscribe and check back with us.

Take care:

Start A Lawn Care Business

Tags: applicator's license, business, chemical, lawn care, regulations, round-up

Lawn Care In California

Feb 17

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

I was very blessed in January to escape the deep freeze that gripped the American Southeast by traveling to Los Angeles, California to meet with a manufacturer of Propane Powered lawn care equipment.

During my journey, I took opportunity to learn more about the culture of the Lawn Care industry in California. Turbulent weather in Los Angeles treated me to an area of lawn care maintenance we don’t experience much in Tennessee.

The storms were unprecedented and unanticipated as I arrived at LAX in Los Angeles. Torrential downpours did not affect the arrival of my flight other than to make it more bumpy than a traditional west coast landing. The bus ride into Santa Monica, on the other hand, was detoured countless times as the driver navigated around flooded streets and skirted intersections where traffic lights malfunctioned due to heavy winds and falling palm fronds. During the storm, I was able to observe flooded irrigation canals channeling water into the pacific ocean.

When we have a storm back east, leaves blow and branches tumble. Our storms create great opportunity for lawn care companies. After-storm cleanup is a great service to offer your customers for additional money.

In California, these palm fronds were everywhere. As I watched cleanup crews pick each 8′ to 10′ section of palm frond by hand, I could only think about the amounts of money a dedicated lawn care company could make with on-the-spot after-storm clean up contracts.

It doesn’t matter if you are in California, Tennessee, or any of the other 50 states. There is a ton of money to be made in the lawn care industry this year. It’s been a tough winter but spring is on its way. The high winds that spring often induces will, sure enough, bring lots of opportunity for after-storm cleanup jobs.

If you want to learn how to get customers and correctly price your after-storm cleanup contracts, take a look at our main website. You will learn how to acquire great customers and price your services effectively so you can make the best money possible in 2010.

We have a sale price on our lawn care business package right now. Order soon because this price won’t last long.

Our website address is: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Tags: business, california, lawn care, money, palm fronds, storm cleanup

Lawn Care Flyers On Car Windshields

Feb 9

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

When it comes to advertising a lawn care business, I’m a fan of pounding the streets and knocking on doors. I believe the way to build strong client lists is through face-to-face contact. As such, I tend to shy away from flyers on telephone poles and advertisements on doorknob hangers. These advertisements, along with business cards taped to the outside of mailboxes seem to be an intrusion into your potential customer’s private space.

I saw this flyer under a windshield wiper recently. I could only think of negative connotations about this flyer.

1) It always ticks me off when people put flyers on my vehicle.

2) I never look at flyers that have been left on my vehicle. I tear them up and throw them away immediately.

3) There are probably rules against placing solicitations on vehicles in this parking lot.

4) If a windshield wiper gets damaged, will the lawn care company have to pay the repair bill?

5) If a strong wind blows the flyer away or the car’s owner tosses the flyer to oneside, can the lawn company be charged with littering?

While I am not 100% AGAINST flyers on cars and private property, I do believe LCOs should be very restrictive in their placement of such flyers.

There are too many legitimate outlets for advertising to risk the downfalls of improperly placed flyers.

If you want to learn correct forms of advertising and advertising that REALLY WORKS, look at our business program located at our main website: StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Tags: advertising, business, flyers, lawn care, windshields

Tenacity of a Small Business Owner. AKA: Too Stupid To Quit

Jan 31

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

As Winston Churchill said:

“Never give in–never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

How many people do you know that are immediately successful in what they do?

I bet you can name a few people who seem to be successful at everything they do. However, if you were to truly speak with those people you would find a different story come to light. You will hear tales of failure after failure until one day, out of nowhere, their businesses began to see the light of day. And slowly, ever slowly, they began to make progress.

A never-ending, relentless striving is what you will find behind almost any seemingly “over-night” success story.

In addition to the smart and shrewd businessmen you know, I bet you also know a few dim-witted, bull-headed people who have made a success in spite of themselves. Do you? Yeah, I do too. Years ago, when I first started my lawn care business, I knew a man who was very successful in business. He ran a contracting business (not lawn care) but he was definitely not the brightest light bulb in the box. He was a nice guy but education and intellect just wasn’t his thing. But, MAN!, was he successful and happy. He would even joke about this sometimes and I asked him once about his success. He told me that he was just too stupid to quit and too dumb to take “no” for an answer.

Now, in reality, this man wasn’t dumb at all. But, his words (and Churchill’s) illustrate a great point in business. Tenacity wins (almost) every time. We all face obstacles. Everyday there are speed humps on the journey to our business goals. If we let speed humps arrest our progress, we fail. Pure and simple…Tenacity Wins.

We help people Start and Expand their own Lawn Care Businesses. This is what we do and we know the obstacles faced everyday by Lawn Care Business Owners.

If you’re tired of being impeded in your goals of operating a successful lawn care business, take a look at our Lawn Care Business package. There’s no need to face the speed humps alone. We can help.

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com – Start A Lawn Care Business

Never give in–never, never, never, never…

Tags: business, determination, lawn care, success, tenacity, winston churchill

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

Tags: business, contracts, equipment, lawn care, money

Start A Lawn Care Business

Make money with a lawn care and landscaping business.

Posts Tagged business

Does Lawn Care Make You Smarter?

Nitrogen Fixation from White Clover

Does moss grow on the north side of trees?

Today is the first day of spring.

More lawn mower racing videos.

Chemical Application – Additional Regulations

Lawn Care In California

Lawn Care Flyers On Car Windshields

Tenacity of a Small Business Owner. AKA: Too Stupid To Quit

2010 is 1/12 over.

Leaf Raking Business for Money

How to Start A Lawn Care Business

Lawn Care Articles

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