Start A Lawn Care Business

Make money with a lawn care and landscaping business.

Posts Tagged lawn care

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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Lawn Care Cleanup for Foreclosed Homes

Jul 4

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

As hurricane season begins, communities in heavy weather target areas struggle to place lawn care cleanup responsibility for foreclosed homes.

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=307652

This is good news for lawn care companies who have their businesses registered with their local code administrator and purchasing manager.
Irrespective of your location in the country (in hurricane zones or not) lawns need to be cleaned after severe weather.  If homes are in foreclosure or if vacant property is not cared for by registered property owners, responsibility of cleanup often falls to public works departments.
These departments often do not have available manpower after inclement weather since they are working hard clearing public streets and other prioritized locations.
If you are known to their purchasing managers and are on their list of available lawn care vendors you will often get calls to bid on clean up.  If job costs fall below purchase price thresholds you may be allowed to perform work without completing a bidding process.

The Start A Lawn Care Business guidebook and business toolkit describes how to properly get on local bidding lists and preferred vendor lists.  You can purchase the guidebook by visiting our home page at:

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Feel free to contact us to order the business program or purchase it directly from our website.

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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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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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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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How to stripe a lawn with your lawn care business.

Apr 21

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

by:Lawn Care Business

Striping grass gives a professional look to your customer’s lawn.

With the simple addition of a striping kit to your commercial lawn mower (and a little practice), you can turn your customer’s lawn into a visual masterpiece.


A basic "back and forth" striping pattern.
 

After the addition of a striping kit to your lawn mower, striping is attained with directional cutting.  Directional cutting allows the striping kit on your lawn mower to bend each blade of grass in the direction of the cut.  Grass bent toward the viewer appears darker than grass bent away from the viewer.  Stripes are solely dependent on direction of the bend.  Individual stripes have nothing to do with length of cut, different types of grass on each cut, or fertilizer applied in a pattern.  However, length of cut and type of grass will change the intensity of the stripes.   Striping gives a visual appeal to a lawn that is unattainable with concentric perimeter cutting.

Striping lawns as part of a commercial lawn care business makes your lawns look professionally manicured.  Some lawn Care customers have been known to pay as much as an additional 50% to 100% of a basic grass cutting job for a striped lawn depending on the complexity of the striping pattern. Your results will vary but it shouldn’t hurt your company’s reputation to add striping services for those customers who are willing to pay extra for it. Additionally, you should notice more potential clients stopping to ask you for estimates (and advice) when they see the spectacular job you’ve done on their neighbor’s lawns. 

To learn more about how to professionally stripe lawns and increase profits for your lawn care business, visit our website at: 
www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

 

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Sub-contracting (independent contracting) your lawn care work.

Apr 18

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

Questions about the "Start
A Lawn Care Business" training material.

We recently received an email question concerning the feasibility of starting a lawn care company and hiring out all the work to independent contractors.  The initial email question follows with our response further below.

Hello,

I bought your Lawn Care Business
Program in February and I am trying to start a lawn care business (on the side).  I seek your feedback. I do not intend to do the work, but to be the owner/manager/promotion mgr/dispatcher… I intend to set it up where I pay lawn care workers as Independent Contractors with them using their own yard equipment. Would it work better if I bought some some lawn care equipment and rented a storage unit?

Thank you.
 

Our response is below.

Hi:

Many LCOs transition from lawn care workers to full-time managers. If you intend to manage a lawn care business without first doing the work yourself, don’t underestimate the hands-on efforts needed to keep your business running smoothly. I’m sure you can understand the infinite possibilities of things going wrong if you are not on job sites or in constant communication with your workers and your customers. Poor quality mowing jobs by your crews, equipment break downs through rough handling, payment skimming, and bad treatment of customers and/or their property, will adversely affect your lawn care business. If you are a hands-on manager, you can quickly abate these problems. However, if these problems get ahead of you, they can quickly derail your efforts of running your lawn care company.

Additionally, before you decide to hire your lawn care workers as sub-contractors, please check the laws on what a "sub-contractor" really is. If you control their timeline, their equipment, and how the work is performed, there might be legal accounting rules which disallow the workers from being considered anything other than employees. We are not experts with accounting laws so you will need to check with your CPA.

Thank you and good luck:

Keith
Start A Lawn Care Business


Support after your purchase of
our Lawn Care Business training materials

When you purchase our lawn care business program, you are welcome to ask specific questions which may not be fully covered in our training material. Our team of lawn care professionals will do our best to answer your questions. The Lawn Care Business package is a full series of manuals and software which will most all questions you have about starting your own lawn care business. www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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