Start A Lawn Care Business

Make money with a lawn care and landscaping business.

Posts Tagged lawn care equipment

Lawn Care Equipment Purchasing Decisions – Cost Benefit Analysis

Nov 29

Posted by Lawn Care Business in commercial lawn mowers, lawn care equipment | Comments off

Buying Lawn Care Equipment vs. Starbucks Coffee

Starbucks - Just another business cost-benefit analysis.

So, here I sit in my local Starbucks with my laptop computer and a tall, piping hot, Mocha. Outside, rain pours as the thermometer drops. As far as weather goes, today does not fill me with the desire to work (or play) outside. Here I sit, in comfortable surroundings, hoping to complete as much “office” work as possible.

Though I like doing my paperwork at this Starbucks, when compared to working at home doing paper work here is an expensive proposition. The Mocha cost me $5.00 and the parking meter was another $1.50. Add the cost of gasoline and the inevitable fudge brownie to my total and the cost of this work session is over $10.00.

How can I justify such a cost? Well, I hope to be efficient here and complete my work quicker than I would at my home work station. In other words; the benefit of this work session outweighs the cost.

As I swig another sip of Mocha, I am reminded of similar Cost-Benefit Analyses performed each time I have purchased lawn care equipment for my business. Every single time I have purchased a new commercial lawn mower, leaf blower, weedeater, or other lawn care equipment, I have calculated the cost over the life of the equipment and made sure it would pay me back with a substantial profit to my business.

There is a big problem in the lawn care industry. Too many new lawn care business owners purchase equipment that does not provide profitable cost-benefit for their businesses. It is easy to understand how a new lawn care business owner can get drawn into buying improper equipment. New equipment is exciting. The salesmen are high pressure. And if you buy new (and expensive) equipment it will surely help your business become successful, right? RIGHT???

No, that is not always right.

One of the things that helped make my lawn care business successful was the cost-benefit analysis I did on each and every lawn care and landscaping machine I have ever bought. So, if you are in the early stages of your lawn care business (or even if you have been in the business awhile and are expanding) I invite you to purchase our lawn care business guidebook and software package. The package includes an “Equipment Buyers Manual” that will greatly help you determine the best equipment selections for your lawn care business. You can learn more about the lawn care business package on our main webpage.





Lawn Care Equipment Buyers Guidebook
StartALawnCareBusiness.com

And now back to my Mocha.

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Occupy Wall Street and Lawn Care Equipment (Occupy Lawn Care)

Nov 15

Posted by Lawn Care Business in commercial lawn mowers, customers, lawn care business | Comments off

Leaf cleanup hampered by Occupy Wall Street

Leaf Cleanup Hampered by Occupy Wall Street

If you live in any major city in America, you probably have an “Occupy Wall Street” movement in your hometown. Whether you agree with the movement or not, there is something we can learn, as lawn care professionals, about the encampments that sprung up around America during October and November.

I visited our local courthouse this morning to survey leaf cleanup, lawn care, and landscaping needs that the city is experiencing. Though I had heard about our local “Occupy” movement, I had not realized the grounds of the courthouse had become so populated with protesters. Strewn across the grassy (and leaf covered) court house grounds are 30 to 40 tents acting as temporary housing for “Occupy” residents.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when a lawn care customer walks around the lawn when I am trying to cut the grass or blow the leaves. Lawn care equipment is dangerous enough without my having to be distracted by customers wandering all over their lawns while I am trying to work. Can you imagine mowing grass and blowing leaves while Occupiers strolling around the grounds holding signs and chanting protest songs? Can you imagine operating a 200 mph commercial backpack leaf blower while attempting to keep their tents and belongings from blowing off the grass and onto the street?

Occupy Lawn Care

Occupy Lawn Care

Anyway, my main point is that when you are performing your lawn care jobs for your customers, you need to keep your head about you and be cautious of the damage your lawn care equipment can inflict.

Do you want to learn more about starting your own lawn care company? Visit our main website and consider purchasing our professionally produced lawn care business guidebook, tutorial, and estimating software….and watch out for those protesters.





http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
Occupy Wall Street and The Lawn Care Industry

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Lawn Care Pickup Truck? Watch Your Tailgate!

Oct 24

Posted by Lawn Care Business in lawn care truck | Comments off

If you use a truck in your lawn care business, watch out for tailgate thieves.

If you drive a pickup truck in your lawn care business, you have one more thing to worry about.  It seems like the new craze in automotive thievery is tailgates.  What?   Yes, since tailgates can cost up to $4,000, thieves are finding quick money in tailgate theft.

Geez!!!!
According to The Consumerist, “hot” tailgates and be sold for $600 to $700.
Should you be worried about this?  Well, if you keep track of our lawn care business blog and if you subscribe to our YouTube – Lawn Care Business channel, you already know how to combat tailgate theft.  We recently added a video showing you how to use a common and inexpensive Canon camera as an in truck security camera.  Check out our video below to see how this is done and be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel.
Good luck and always remember to protect your lawn care equipment….and your tailgate.





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Lawn Care Companies, Secure Your Equipment.

Mar 17

Posted by Lawn Care Business in enclosed trailer, lawn care safety, lawn equipment | No Comments

Secure your Lawn Care Equipment

A tie-down rope dangles dangerously from a pickup truck.

Granted, this picture is not of a lawn care company truck or a lawn care equipment trailer.  However, I saw this truck today at a stop light and I took a quick picture to help remind us all of the importance of properly securing our lawn care equipment while in transit.

This guy was hauling a refrigerator.  Though it looked like the driver had attempted to secure the refrigerator with a thin rope, he did not secure the end of the rope.  Airflow over the truck bed blew the rope out and left it dangling behind him as he drove along in traffic.

This is a potentially dangerous situation.  If the vehicle behind him drove over the rope, that vehicle’s tire could be damaged.  Additionally, the refrigerator could be yanked out of the truck bed.  I tried to get his attention at the stop light but he seemed preoccupied as he drove off.

We are all in a hurry from time to time.  Occasionally, we load our lawn care equipment in our trucks or on our trailers without paying attention to small details that cause serious consequences as we drive to our next lawn care or landscaping job. 

Try to remind yourself that it only takes a minute or two to properly load and secure your equipment.  Before you drive away to your next jobsite, spend an extra 30 seconds walking around your vehicle to make sure everything is properly secured.

Be safe out there!!!

For more tips on operating your own successful lawn care business:

Hauling Lawn Care Equipment Trailers
http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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On our way home from GIE-Expo

Oct 30

Posted by Lawn Care Business in lawn equipment, lawn mowers | No Comments

by: Start A Lawn Care Business

If you read yesterday’s blog post you know that the staff of Start A Lawn Care Business took the weekend to drive to Louisville, KY to attend the annual Lawn Care Equipment expo.

We just want to give a huge thanks to the GIE-Expo staff, organizers, vendors, and participants.  We met lots of great people and learned a tremendous amount about the new lines of lawn care equipment product that will be on the market in 2011. 

If we did not get a chance to make it by your booth, please take a minute to drop us a line to make contact with us.  We are always interested in learning about the newest lawn care equipment products and passing the information onto the new (and old) lawn care business owners that visit our site daily.

If you are a vendor with new and interesting lawn care equipment products, we would love to demo your products for the coming lawn care season. 

Thanks again and we will see you next year:

Sincerely:

The Staff at Start A Lawn Care Business
http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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New Lawn Care Equipment (GIE-Expo)

Oct 29

Posted by Lawn Care Business in lawn equipment, lawn mowers, lawn product development | 3 Comments

Hello from Louisville, KY at the GIE-Expo

One of our jobs at Start A Lawn Care Business is to bring you information on the latest trends in the lawn care industry. Lawn care equipment (mowers, blowers, and string trimmers) will be very much on your mind during the next few months as you make purchasing decisions for your lawn care equipment needs for the coming season.

We drove up to Kentucky early this morning to attent the lawn care expo. There are hundreds of vendors and we have been lucky to speak with some very innovative companies that are developing the new trends in the lawn care industry.

In the days and weeks ahead we will be able to provide you with information that will help you purchase your new lawn equipment. Keep an eye on this blog and if you haven’t purchased our Lawn Care Business training course, visit our main web homepage to learn more about what we offer.

One of the funnest pieces of equipment at this year’s trade show is the Spyder radio controlled slope mower. This company has been at the expo the last few years and their slope mower is always fun to watch. Too bad I’ve yet to be able to talk the operator into letting me drive it. I’ll include a picture below.

Spyder Slope Lawn Mower

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