Posts Tagged lawn care

Landlords as Lawn Care Customers

Feb 6

Posted by Lawn Care Business in advertising lawn care, lawn care customers | No Comments

Spring is almost here and we have been blogging quite a bit lately about attracting new lawn care clients.

What kind of clients are you trying to attract this year? Individual residences, homeowner’s associations, real estate agents, and business complexes should all be within a lawn care business owner’s customer mix. A diversity of clients makes a stronger lawn care business. If there is a downturn in one sector of a lawn care company’s client list, the other sectors will buffer the hardship. For example; we received an email from a lawn care business owner last year who focused all his attention in previous years on a single industrial complex. The money was great and his drive time between customers was minimal. However, at the beginning of last year businesses began suffering greatly due to the economy and the lawn care business owner lost over 75% of his revenue from that one complex.

There is one customer we did not mention above; landlords. As the nation’s economy begins to get back on track this year, we think landlords, once again, are a great source of revenue. Landlords definately want a bargain for their money but on the positive side most landlords own multiple units and they can give you a steady stream of work to fill gaps in your schedule. Landlords understand the value of curb appeal and they are more than willing to pay you a fair price to keep their properties looking great for their renters (and prospective renters).

Do you want to add a landlord or two to your lawn care customer client list? Do you want to charge these landlords more than they are willing to pay. Landlords are very protective of their property investments and a great strategy of proving your worth to a landlord is to show him you will care for his property when you are mowing. Landlords hate having to make repairs and they hate air conditioner problems. When you are speaking with a landlord about mowing his property mention that you always take special care to blow the grass away from the air conditioner unit. Grass can clog the cooling fins and repairs are costly.

Grass and leaves can cause air conditioner problems.

Impressing a landlord client will mean you can charge more money and he will tell his other landlord friends about your services.

If you want to learn more about how to generate a proper mix of lawn care clients for your lawn care and landscaping business, our lawn care business strategy guide book will show you how. Also, our estimating software will help you with your quotes so you can operate a successful and profitable lawn care business.

Learn more on our main page:

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

Tags: landlords, lawn care, making money

Lawn Care – February 1, 2011

Feb 1

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

Time waits for no man.

The first month of 2011 has passed us by. If you are a lawn care business owner, you are very likely cheering that Springtime is one month closer. Though there are still many cold days ahead of us this winter, the sun is beginning to creep up on the horizon and a few warmer days are showing up in the forecast. For many of us here in the southeast, we saw temperatures in the high 60’s last weekend and I even saw the first sprouts of wild onions and wild garlic in yards last week.

If you are starting a lawn care business in 2011, RIGHT NOW is the time to get started….like TODAY. Customers are already thinking about getting their lawns cleaned up for springtime and plantings in their landscape beds. Lawn care companies should already be advertising to acquire these ‘earlybird’ lawn care customers.

You surely have many questions about lawn care business startup, equipment selection, advertising, bidding and estimating, and growing your lawn care business. If you are just starting out or if you’re new to the business and want to expand more this year than you did last year, we have developed a comprehensive lawn care business program that will answer you questions about starting and expanding your own lawn care business.

Read more about the business program on our main lawn care business web page:

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

Tags: lawn care, lawn equipment

Google Earth’s Continued Relevance to the Lawn Care Industry

Jan 15

Posted by Lawn Care Business in bidding lawn care, lawn care estimating | No Comments

It’s hard to believe it’s been 3 1/2 years since I was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal for their report on the use of Google Earth by small business owners. The reporter for the Wall Street Journal had read a brief report I wrote concerning my use of Google Earth in viewing and sizing lawn care jobs.

Though I will be the first to admit that a lawn care company should never solely use an aerial or satellite image to determine a price estimate on a lawn care or landscaping job, services such as Google Earth can give lawn care company owners a graphical overview of areas of land that need to be mowed or landscaped.

Last month, Google announced a new Google Labs product called Google Earth Engine. Google Earth Engine gives users tools to analyze environmental changes that occur over time. Understanding our environment helps all of us, as landscapers, become better stewards of the grounds we keep.

If you are interested in the ways technology can make you a more successful lawn care business owner, please subscribe to our blog and check out the Google Earth Engine at: http://earthengine.googlelabs.com/#intro

Tags: google earth, google earth estimating, landscaping, lawn care, lawn care estimating

Lawn Care for 2011

Jan 12

Posted by Lawn Care Business in advertising, lawn business strategies, Lawn Care Advertising | 2 Comments

Hi Everyone: Although we are currently under a blanket of snow in the southeast, I want to take a minute to jump on the website and write a quick post about the upcoming lawn care season in 2011.

Yes, it is cold and windy and snowy and nasty right now. However, spring weather is less than 2 months away. Before long, your lawn care customers will be looking for lawn care and landscaping professionals to perform spring clean up lawn care jobs. Grass will need to be cut, leftover leaves will need to be raked, limbs and twigs will need to be picked up and other lawn care jobs will need to be done.

Though you are probably not thinking about your lawn care business right now, you should already be planning your lawn care marketing. If you wait until March to start marketing your lawn care company you will miss many customers who want to make an early start getting their lawn and landscaping into shape.

If you are just beginning to think about starting a lawn care business or if you already own a lawn care business and want to have a much better season than last year, now is the time to start.

We have developed a professionally produced lawn care business package that will teach you what you need to be doing right now BEFORE spring arrives to get great customers and assure that your business will be kicked into high gear once spring arrives.

To learn more about the lawn care business program, visit our main webpage at: http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
Start A Lawn Care Business

Tags: 2011, lawn care, springtime customers, start a lawn care business

DON'T HIRE THIS LAWN CARE SERVICE!!!

Nov 16

Posted by Lawn Care Business in advertising, competition, lawn care business, lawn care estimating | 2 Comments

http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Have you ever been at a party; laughing, talking with people you don’t know, and trying to impress cute girls only to find that people don’t want to talk to you or if they do talk to you they just stare then walk away laughing? After that party, did you leave wondering if something was wrong with you (or “what was wrong with all those idiots”)? Then, as you’re driving away, you look in your rearview mirror to see that there is a big piece of stupid broccoli or lettuce between your teeth?

“WHY DIDN’T SOMEONE TELL ME I HAD BROCCOLI BETWEEN MY TEETH???”

The other guys at the party are your competition and they’re certainly not going to tell you about your problem. And the girls? Well, they’re just going to laugh at you and leave with some other guy who doesn’t have broccoli in his teeth.

Running a lawn care business is similar to being at a party. If you have a problem with your advertising or your lawn care pricing, your competition certainly won’t give you any hints and your customers will just pass you over and hire a different lawn care company. One of the reasons we developed the “Start a Lawn Care Business” guidebooks and training course is to help you develop your lawn care business to such a professional level that your customers will not pass you by.

Why are lawn mowing customers passing you by when they choose a lawn care provider? Are you charging too much money and forcing your customers to hire your competition? Are you charging too little money and suffering from a perceived lack of quality? Are your marketing efforts catering to people who never hire lawn care people? Does your mowing equipment look (and cut grass) like pieces of junk? Does your own personal attitude need refining to effectively deal with and retain your lawn care customers? Do your lawns look like they were cut by a non-professional after you are finished with your work?

The “Start a Lawn Care Business” course will tell you what you need to know to operate a professional lawn care company that customers will flock to. We have been in this business for almost 20 years and we’ve been on the consulting side of the business for almost 10 years. The advice in our lawn care package pulls no punches. We’re here to give you honest, hardcore, real-world advice about how to run a SUCCESSFUL lawn care business.

If you didn’t make the money you know you should have made in 2010 then there is something about your business that is screaming: “DON’T HIRE THIS LAWN CARE SERVICE!!!”

Where is the red flag? What is telling potential customers to pass you by? Is it your advertising, your pricing, your equipment, your service, your attitude? Whatever it is, I am sure you want to know so you can fix the problem.

Pssst!!! Hey buddy, you have broccoli in your teeth.

More than likely your lawn care company just has a piece of broccoli in its teeth. Our business program will not only tell you about the broccoli but we’ll show you the best way to pick it out. Okay, that’s disgusting. But seriously, out of the hundreds of Lawn Care Business owners we have consulted the last several years, most of them simply have one or two small problems that need to be fixed.

If you feel there is something holding you back from making great money with your lawn care business, our program will likely be able to put you on a great path to success in 2011.

To learn more about the Start a Lawn Care Business training course and Estimating Software, visit our main website at:

www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
How To Start a Lawn Care Business

Tags: broccoli, great money, lawn care, lawn care problems

Instantaneous Profitability with your Lawn Care Business?

Oct 14

Posted by Lawn Care Business in lawn business strategies, start a lawn care business, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

by: Start A Lawn Care Business

My good friend Steve with the LawnChat.com lawn care blog recently asked how long it takes before a lawn care business becomes profitable.

I remember taking business classes when I was in school. The professors often lectured that many businesses take up to 5 years before they ever turn a profit. “An entrepreneur should have a minimum of 6 months working capital before starting any small business” they would preach. I remember sitting in those classes thinking that I wanted to be profitable within 6 DAYS of starting my business (whatever it was going to be at that time) not 6 months. “Were they crazy?” I would think to myself, “6 months is an eternity.” Well, as I get older I realize that 6 months is not an eternity but I still believe it is certainly too long to wait to become profitable in a small lawn care business.

When we finally started our lawn care business in 1992, I was lucky that we did, indeed, have 6 months working capital. However, we did not feel that was an excuse to waste time and money trying to become profitable. Listen, we’re talking grass mowing here. We’re not designing the next super computer or building an automotive factory complex with billion dollar financing.

We are big believers in steady controlled growth of a new business concept. We have truly never understood lawn care business owners that borrow $10,000 (or more) to purchase great lawn equipment before they’ve ever even cut their first lawn. There are benefits of starting with $10,000 in business loans but it’s just not our style. Look at the huge success stories in the business world today. Microsoft, Google, Walgreens have never had any significant debt and they are at the top of their industries.

I personally believe lawn care is one of those businesses you can start with practically no debt. A smart LCO can grow his equipment list as his client list grows. Starting small and growing steadily is preferable, to me anyway, than having a constant worry of mortgaged equipment. Starting at this level means you can, practically, be profitable with your first few lawns. “Yeah, well, what about advertising” my professors would say. Do you know what I say to that? Get off the couch, hit the street and start meeting your potential customers face to face. It’s the best advertising you will ever have…and it’s FREE.

Can you imagine starting your own company on Monday and turning your first profit by Thursday? Though this might not be practical for all lawn care business owners, my old business professors’ ears are likely burning when I say such things.

In the Start A Lawn Care Business training course, we show you methods of starting your own lawn care business with the idea of becoming profitable almost immediately. We can’t promise that you will be profitable by Thursday. However, we show you principles of the lawn care industry that will have you up and running, and hopefully profitable, than you would have ever thought possible.

To learn more about the lawn care business training course and estimating software,
please visit our website: http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Tags: business profitability, lawn care

LOUD LEAF BLOWER? Protect your hearing!

Oct 14

Posted by Lawn Care Business in equipment, hearing protection, lawn care health, leaf blowers, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

by: Start A Lawn Care Business

Any of us that have been in the lawn care business for any period of time know what it’s like to be a newbie. You are young, eager, and excited about your business. You have constant thoughts about getting new clients, buying new equipment, and making money all year long. You are on the precipice of making a new life for yourself and you are enjoying the freedom owning your own lawn care business affords you.

Although all those things should excite you, they should never stand in the way of being a responsible business owner. And, being a responsible business owner means you must pay attention to the health of your business as well as your own physical health.

We at StartALawnCareBusiness.com have long been proponents of proper safety equipment and business practices of lawn care business owners. One of the necessities of operating lawn care equipment is functional noise reduction hearing protection. I remember my first year in business. I do not always like wearing hearing protection but I always wear it. It’s hot, makes my head sweat, and is uncomfortable. If you wear it religiously proper lawn care equipment hearing protection will quickly become an everyday part of your work life.

According the the CDC: while noise-induced hearing loss is 100 percent preventable, once acquired, hearing loss is permanent and irreversible.

This morning, as I passed a city lawn care crew working on a leaf job, I was surprised to see none of the crew member had any sort of hearing protection. They did not even have basic hearing protection afforded by the small foam ear inserts. Leaf blowers are so loud that I cannot imagine the long-term hearing damage these workers were experiencing.

If you are a lawn care business owner, we urge you to pay attention to your overall health. This includes utilizing hearing protection with the proper Noise Reduction Rating (NRR) necessary for your equipment and your working conditions. We have spend a lot of time extolling the virtues of starting a lawn care business this fall. There is lots of money to be made raking leaves and operating leaf blowers. Please take a few of those dollars you are making and buy the protection you need.

And, as always, if you want to operate a better lawn care company, take a look at our lawn care business training course.
It’s well worth the current low sale’s price: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Tags: hearing protection, lawn care, leaf blowers, loud equipment, noise reduction

Sickness can affect your lawn care business.

Sep 27

Posted by Lawn Care Business in bidding lawn care, employees, lawn business strategies, lawn care health, lawn care safety | No Comments

by: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

What happens to your 1-man lawn care business when you are sick?

Especially starting out, many small lawn care businesses operate as sole proprietorships with no employees. While the freedom to call your own shots is a great benefit in running a 1-man operation, without proper planning there are pitfalls that can cause you to lose time and money when you are sick and cannot complete your scheduled lawn care work.

Although being sick is never fun there are certain steps to take while you are well to assure your business doesn’t suffer as much as your body does when illness strikes.

1) Explain the Situation to your Customers: Lawn Care Customers normally understand when situations arise that delay their lawn care work. Afterall, weather hampers your ability to do their work on a timely basis often during the year. An illness is just as unforeseeable as a sudden and lengthy rain shower. Upon first onset of an illness, take a few minutes to call your customers. Explain that you are not well and you feel the quality of your work will suffer. Give them an explanation of your expected recovery time and let them know how (and when) you plan to catch up on your schedule.

2) Stay up-to-date (or ahead) of your schedule: If you are vigilant in completing your lawn care jobs ahead of time you will be able to buffer a few unforeseen glitches in your schedule. Customers normally don’t mind if you bump them up a day to avert delays due to inclement weather. Likewise, they normally don’t mind when you bump them up a day if you feel you are getting sick or if you have a Doctor’s appointment that might run long.

3) Let a family member or friend help you. One of the best ways to recover from unexpected delays is to have someone dependable to help you out from time to time. If you have good rapport with your family, you probably know of a family member willing to pitch in. Though they may willingly help you without requesting payment, it is a very good idea to offer them payment for their time and travel expenses. Family and friends often do not mind helping you occasionally without pay. However, they will quickly tire of helping you if you don’t compensate them.

4) Hire an as-needed worker. While a helpful friend or family member can be relied up in an emergency, a dedicated part-time or as-needed worker will have more of a vested interest in keeping your customers on the roster. An employee knows your schedule and your work habits. You customers will be familiar with your employee and will not call you on the phone complaining of some strange person mowing their grass.

As unfortunate as it may be, sickness has dismantled many lawn care businesses. Without proactive plans of action schedules are thrown off, customers lose patience and find other lawn care companies, and income is lost. A few simple steps can save your business and make your recovery much quicker.

Do you want to learn how to avoid pitfalls that can damage your lawn care business? We have been associated with the industry for over 18 years. We have taken our experience and developed the Lawn Care Business training course that shows you how to start and expand a successful lawn care business.

Learn more from our main website:

www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
Start A Lawn Care Business

Tags: employees, health, lawn care

Goodbye Summer. Hello Autumn.

Sep 23

Posted by Lawn Care Business in autumn, lawn care business, leaf raking, winter | 1 Comment

I am sure many of you noticed that Wednesday, September 22, 2010 was the Autumnal Equinox. This year’s full Harvest Moon rang in the new season.

Temperature wise there was not much of a change as we are still reaching the low to mid 90’s each day. However, there is a chill in the air once the sun sets. The sky is golden and the leaves are definitely changing. Though summer is over, I hope you are weighing your options carefully for the upcoming season. Here in the southeast we have had scant showers the last 6 weeks. I am sure the lack of precipitation will change as weather patterns will alter in the near future. Autumn rains will bring bursts of growth as parched lawns rejuvenate for one last chlorophyll-laden green up before winter arrives.

Lawn care business owners who are prepared will be able to take advantage of their customers’ need for “one last mow.” In reality, one last mow can easily turn into 4 or 5 mowing cycles with plenty of leaf raking and winterizing jobs.

Though the sun is climbing lower on the horizon, there’s still money to be made, guys. Now is not a time to get lazy. If you hustle, you can put some much needed money in the bank in the months before winter.

Do you want to know how to keep your lawn care business running all winter long? Our lawn care business training course shows you how to make money even during the cold months.

Check the program out on our website: www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

Tags: autumn, lawn care, leaf raking, making money, summer, winter

Start A Lawn Care Business

Make money with a lawn care and landscaping business.