Start A Lawn Care Business

Make money with a lawn care and landscaping business.

Posts Tagged business

Leaf Relief – Leaf Raking Season Is Upon Us

Nov 25

Posted by Lawn Care Business in leaf blowers, leaf raking, winter | No Comments

Lawn Care is a seasonal business.  Luckily for us, there’s money to be made all seasons of the year.

We are in peak leaf raking season.  Leaves are still falling off the trees and customers who vowed to wait for all the leaves to fall before doing their raking are calling urgently to get their yards cleaned up before winter sets in.

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I have been associated with the lawn care industry since 1992 and it never ceases to amaze me how much money can be made the last two months of the year dealing with customer’s leaves.

I love when prospective customers try to rake their own leaves.  Sure, in a small yard the homeowner can deal with the leaves.  But, in yards with several sweet gum trees, the volume of leaves can be overwhelming and they call us in as a last attempt to get the leaves handled.

Since they already know what hard work leaf raking is, they don’t put up too much of a fight to pay a premium price to clear their yards once and for all.

Leaf raking season between Thanksgiving and the end of the year is a blessing also because it gives a great chance to boost your bottom line for the year and put some extra spending money in your pocket before Christmas.

We’ve put a video on YouTube giving a couple leaf raking tips if you are using a tarp to haul and dump your leaves, check our video below:

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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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Raynaud's Syndrome and Lawn Care Workers

Oct 29

Posted by Lawn Care Business in lawn care business, lawn care training, lawn care work gloves, leaf blowers, weedeaters | No Comments

As the year draws on and weather gets colder, I want to take a moment to mention a condition that can affect lawn care workers who use weedeaters, edgers, leaf blowers, and other vibration-heavy tools during cool and cold weather months.

I first became aware of the existence of Raynaud’s Syndrome and its risks to lawn care business workers my first year in the lawn care business while reading the instruction manual of a new professional weed eater I had just purchased. I have operated weedeaters for many years and I know proper operating technique. However, as a matter of course, I read the instruction manual and learned of a health risk I had never perceived.

The manual’s caution mentioned that workers enduring several hours of vibration each day (especially during cold weather) from power equipment were at greater risk of effects from Raynaud’s Syndrome.

According to Wikipedia, Raynaud’s syndrome is a hyperactivation of the sympathetic system causing extreme vasoconstriction of the peripheral blood vessels, leading to tissue hypoxia.

I am not a doctor and I don’t exactly know what the above paragraph means. However, I do know, after reading my instruction manual, to be aware of excess vibration from weedeaters, edgers, and blowers during cold weather.

In the “StartALawnCareBusiness.com” lawn care business training materials, we make note that you should keep a close check on your health and you should get regular health checkups from your health care professional. A checkup is also advised before you start your business work simply to understand your general health and diagnose any underlying health concerns.

Of great importance (and the general gist of this blog post) is to always read and follow the instruction manuals for all of your lawn care equipment. You many think instruction manuals are only filled with common sense and you already know how to operate each piece of lawn care equipment. However, there is valuable information within those manuals and it is wise to read them completely so you fully understand proper usage and cautions (known and unknown) of your lawn care equipment. Though I am very familiar with most types of lawn care equipment, I always read the instruction manual thoroughly before operating any new piece of equipment. I advise you to do the same.

You never know what you don’t yet know.

Disclaimer: This blog does not provide medical or professional advice of any sort. You should seek advice from your health care provider for answers to all questions you may have.

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Are you operating an illegal home-based Lawn Care Business?

Oct 22

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

All around the country, there are probably thousands of people running illegal lawn care businesses…and they don’t even know they are in violation.

There are many intracacies in running any business.  But, when that business is run out of a home residence, a business owner faces compliance of a slew of zoning laws.

Zoning laws can be tricky.  For instance, a Madison, Wisconsin, a gentleman who built a backyard workshop for his business later discovered that running a business from an accessory building violates local zoning laws.

The article notes that outbuildings used to house lawn equipment (lawn mowers, weedeaters, edgers, and miscellaneous equipment)  used in a lawn care business may also violate local zoning laws.  There are various technicalities in local zoning laws and each community has slightly different codes. 

In many cases, lawn care business owners can legally operate their lawn care and landscaping businesses from their places of residence.  However, if you are operating your lawn care business from your home, it will pay you, in the long term, to know your local zoning laws.  Before you take steps to operate your business from your home (or any building or location on your property) take time to visit your local zoning office to learn how you can comply with their guidelines.

If you want to know how more about operating a successful landscaping business check our our lawn care business material located at:

Start A Lawn Care Business

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The Paradox of Choice

Aug 2

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

[podcast]http://www.startalawncarebusiness.com/podcasts/paradox_of_choice.mp3[/podcast]Have you ever walked into a restaurant and been overwhelmed by the menu?

Too Many Menu Items

When it comes to food, I am mostly easy going.  I am not picky with food.  Therefore, I can easily find a lunch or dinner I will enjoy on any basic menu.  Some restaurants try to overwhelm their customers with food choices.  When I visit a restaurant that has a million choices on their menus, I get confused and want to leave for a more simple eating establishment.

Some customers of lawn care businesses suffer from a similar paradox of choice.

Paradox of Choice – Definition

Paradox of choice is defined as an overwhelming abundance of items  leading to a non-decision and loss of sale.

Mistakes of a New Lawn Care Business Owner

Time and again I have seen new lawn care business owners offer a staggering array of services.  They will cut grass, trim, edge, blow off driveways, rake leaves, pull weeds, trim hedges, prune trees, fill holes, mulch beds, clean gutters, aerate, seed, fertilize, plant shrubs, plant flowers, install water gardens, install landscape lighting, pressure wash, pressure seal, exterminate, landscape, etc., etc., etc.

All these jobs are great services for a lawn care company to offer.  However, when your company is new it should focus on a few primary services.  As it’s customer base grows and as its number of employees grow it can begin to offer additional service.

Core Services

I believe cutting, trimming, blowing, and raking are the basic services you should offer when you are new.  Don’t overwhelm your customers with choices early in your business start up.  Otherwise one of three things will happen.

1) Your customers will get confused by your offerings thinking you are trying to be everything to everyone.  They will either walk away to find someone who simply does grass cutting or they will hire you for services for which you are not qualified and do not have the equipment.  You will have to spend all your time learning how to do those job correctly and all your money attempting to acquire the necessary equipment.

2)  You will become a Jack of all trades and a master of none.  This is bad news for your business.  When it comes to business, I would rather be really good at one service than mediocre at many.

3)  You will lose focus on your cash cow (the core of your business) trying to do non productive jobs and your business will suffer.

How Much Is Enough

You don’t have to offer a million services to become a successful lawn care business.  Find a few services at which you are really good  (and customers will pay for) and build your business around those core offerings.

Start A Successful Lawn Care Business

Do you want to operate a successful lawn care business?  Check out our lawn care business program on our main webpage.   It’s on sale right now.

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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The Law of Scarcity

Jul 23

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

Lawn Care Business operators face an ongoing struggle with customers to help them understand the time value of their business.

Value Your Time So Others Will Value It Too

New lawn care business owners often have a difficult time conveying to their customers that their time is valuable.  New lawn care owners need customers more than customers need them.  Therefore they are often willing to give their customers extra time on each mowing job.

Give It Away and It Becomes Worthless

I remember my first year in the lawn mowing business.  Customers often asked me to do addtional jobs for them but did not offer additional money.  Since I was new, I did not want to lose their business and thought if I performed additional jobs they would be loyal to me.

Instead of being loyal, customers often lost respect for me and valued my time less as I gave them more of my time.  I quickly learned to let customers know that I had other work to do and could not hang around their property longer than it took to take care of their lawn.  If they needed other work performed I would be happy to give them estimates.

Once customers realized that I valued my own time, they began to value my time too.  They stopped bothering me to chit chat about unrelated discussions.  Instead, they would speak with me about needed work for their lawns.  They realized that once I was finished with their lawns I expected to get paid (customers who paid weekly) and they had payment ready for me when I was finished.

Demand Begets Demand

More importantly, customers realized my services were in demand from other lawn care customers.  They knew I did good work and when they recommended me they told their friends how busy I was.  The apparent scarcity of my time worked in my favor as I quickly built my client base.

If you are just starting out with your lawn care business.  Let your customers know you work as efficiently as possible since you have many other customers to service.  Don’t be short or rude with them but be professional and to-the-point.  Do your work quickly and don’t dilly dally.

Learn how to use the law of scarcity in your favor and you will become even more valuable in the eyes of your lawn care customers.

Start A Lawn Care Business Program Available Now

Need help with your lawn care business?  The professional lawn care business program is available right now through our website.  We have it on sale but we will probably have to raise our price in the coming weeks.  Order today for the best price currently available.

Order today:  www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Girdled Landscape Trees

Jul 21

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, landscaping, landscaping photography | No Comments

Girdling occurs when any object encumbers the girth of a tree’s trunk.

Girdling a Tree

Looking at public landscaping spaces this morning, I came across a landscape tree that is girdled by a cable designed to protect a garbage can from theft.

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The public works department probably had good cause to cable the garbage can as theft and vandalism are problems in many municipalities.  However, securing the cable tight then leaving it for syears is unconscionable.

This tree is at risk of dying from the damage underway by this cable.  Luckily, the cable is thin and it has yet to be completely encompassed by the trunk bark.  Nutrients are still flowing to the leaf system and will flow back to the roots this autumn.  These actions take place within vascular tissues called xylum and ploem.   If the vascular process is interrupted damage or death will occur.

girdle1

As landscape professionals, we need to be more cognizant of long term effects of our actions.  Landscapers practicing common landscaping principles should never (or rarely) use trees as securing points.

If you want to operate a BETTER lawn care and landscaping business, our Lawn Care Business package will help you.  Visit our website (StartALawnCareBusiness.com) for full information.

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Landscape Tree Selection

Jul 10

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

I was recently surveying a landscape design.

All Trees Are Beautiful

While I believe almost every tree is beautiful, I believe every tree should be strategically placed. A white pine shouldn’t be placed 5′ from a side of a house and an oak tree shouldn’t be placed under a power line. These are just examples.

A Clean Lawn Care Company Vehicle

As I was surveying the landscaping, I noticed something falling on my white pickup truck which was parked on the driveway.

Now, I’m not a fanatic about keeping my vehicle spotless but I think a clean truck portrays a professional image for a lawn care business. Current customers and potential clients have a better image of a company when company vehicles are kept clean.

Berries Stain Cars

I had not been parked on the driveway more than 20 minutes. When I returned, I noticed my truck was covered in purplish splotches.

IMGP4854 (Small)

Unwittingly, I had parked under a hackberry tree which was dropping a continuous stream of staining berries on all cars parked on the driveway.

This example serves to reestablish the fact that if you are doing landscape work you should take many factors into account before selecting and placing plants and trees. Improperly placed trees and plants will either die or have to be replaced with more suitable plants by the homeowner.

Landscape Plan

The person who planted the tree (or allowed it to grow) close to a driveway did not plan his landscape design well. A true professional would not have planted a tree so damaging to cars in an area where a much better tree selection could be made.

Start A Lawn Care Business

Planning your lawn care business is similar to planning a landscape job.  If you don’t do it correctly at the beginning the long term effects of poor planning can be detrimental for your business.

For help in starting or expanding your lawn care & landscaping business, visit our home page at: StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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