Start A Lawn Care Business

Make money with a lawn care and landscaping business.

Posts Tagged lawn mowing

Christmas Presents for your Lawn Care Customers?

Dec 19

Posted by Lawn Care Business in advertising lawn care, lawn care customers | Comments off

Do you give presents to your lawn care customers at Christmas time?

Probably not but I have always thought it nice to send lawn care customers handwritten notes thanking them for their business during the preceding 12 months. Customers like to know that they are appreciated and they don’t expect presents from you.

Though you don’t give presents to your customers, you can help your customers with their gift giving. Let your customers know that if they have trouble finding gifts for anyone on their Christmas lists, you are happy to happy to provide lawn care on a one-time basis or through out the coming mowing season.

I have often had clients that paid me to maintain landscaping and provide lawn care for elderly parents that can no longer maintain their grass themselves. An entire year of lawn care makes a great Christmas present.

You have a few days to offer this to your customers. So, let us know if any of your customers take you up on this offer.

Are you looking to improve the marketing efforts of your lawn care business in 2012? Our Lawn Care Business guidebook includes a marketing and advertising manual that will help you bring in many new customers for the 2012 mowing season. For more information, visit our main lawn care website:

More Lawn Care Business Customers in 2012

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You've Goat To Start Your Own Lawn Care Business

Jun 2

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

Starting a Lawn Care Business?  Think about alternative and creative services to offer your customers.

Once again, cities around the country are using goats to gain control over weeds and other vegetation in hard to mow areas.

In our city, Chattanooga, Tennessee, goats have been employed for the last 15 years to fight the relentless creep of kudzu vines.  Kudzu was imported many years ago to help fight erosion on the steep mountainous terrain that circles the city.  Kudzu is great at stemming erosion.  The downside is that it grows rapidly and engulfs trees, telephone poles, and roadways.  Since it is often planted in hard to reach areas, there is no practical method of using lawn mowers or trimmers to keep it at bay.

In the 1990’s, our public works department made a contract with a local goat farmer.  He brought his goats to areas of heavy kudzu growth.  The grazing goats worked non-stop at gnawing the tenacious vine.  Though there were several problems with the goats (wandering off, chased by dogs) the goats proved beneficial to the landscaping upkeep of the city.

We are just one of hundreds of communities using goats for various lawn care and landscaping upkeep duties.  There are even many environmentally conscious corporations and small businesses that use goats as their lawn care companies.  This goes to show you that if you are thinking about starting your own lawn care business, you shouldn’t rule out alternative services to offer your customers.

Though we have never used goats in our own lawn care business, we have been involved in the industry for 18 years and we always enjoy learning about new and creative ways to make money mowing grass.  If you are looking to start your own lawn care business or if you are just looking to make some extra money this summer mowing grass, you will benefit from our experience.  We have produced a very helpful lawn care business guidebook and software package. 

The lawn care business guidebook and software package is for sale right now through our main website and you can read more about it here:  http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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What to do for your Lawn Care Business in April, 2010

Apr 1

Posted by Lawn Care Business in bidding lawn care, customers, environment, lawn business strategies, Lawn Care Advertising, Lawn Care Business Taxes, start a lawn care business, taxes | 1 Comment

This video was made on April 1, 2010.

Right now is a great time to get started with your lawn care business if you haven’t gotten started already. If you have already started and you are not getting the customers you need or making the money you want to make then right now is a great time to ramp up your business. April is not too late to get started. There are still lots and lots of customers who haven’t signed up for lawn care service this year. Likewise, there are many business contracts that still haven’t been bid. So, you still have time to get brand new customers on you roster.

Spring is already getting hot. Our temperatures are forecast to be over 80 degrees this coming weekend. Some of the northern states are still cool but Spring is here and the weather is really going to warm up over the next several weeks. Summer is right around the corner.

April 4, 2010 is Easter. You can pound the pavement this weekend to drum up customers who want their lawns tidied up so they will look nice for family Easter celebrations. Since it is a 3-day weekend, many of your potential customers will be working in their lawns. They will need help and if you can visit them at the right time they may hire you to perform general spring cleanup jobs and grass cutting services.

Clover is an issue this time of year. For lawn care companies with applicator’s licenses you might not be too late to apply post-emergent selective herbicide. A better alternative is to select a taller cutting height for your lawn mower blades. A taller, thicker stand of grass will shade out clover reducing the need for chemical application.

April 15, 2010 is tax day. If you haven’t done your taxes yet, get started early. Organize last years receipts and get your tax forms completed early. Like it or not we are obligated to pay our fair share of taxes. If you have doubts about doing your own taxes, consider hiring a CPA. A qualified CPA who understands small business needs can be invaluable to you.

Wild Garlic or Wild Onion are sprouting in yards this month. Take a few minutes to call your customers to mention about the wild garlic that is sprouting in their lawn. Cutting it down will make their grass look so much better.

April 22, 2010 is Earth Day Your customers are becoming increasingly conscious about taking care of their environment. I believe the lawn care industry should be sensitive to the fact that we should not pollute our planet. There are ways to operate an environmentally conscious lawn care company. Many of our readers and viewers of our blog run their lawn care companies with an environmental slant to their businesses. Propane lawn equipment is becoming increasingly popular. Human powered reel mowers are also becoming the norm again in many communities with very small lawns. Operate an environmentally company and let your customers know how you are being aware in 2010.

Spring Stick Cleanup. April is a month when many pine cones and pine twigs have fallen in lawns across the country. Even if your customers don’t need their grass cut yet, they still need their lawns picked up. On an environmental note, you don’t have to haul all these sticks away or burn them or leave them for the garbage men. Offer your customers the opportunity to have a “natural area” in their lawns. Piling the brush in an unused area give habitat to the birds and other wildlife. It is great fun to watch Cardinals and Robins playing in the twigs. Also, many birds use this material to build their nests. A natural area is a great way to save your customers money while helping their environment.

Once again, if you are trying to Start A Lawn Care Business this year or if you currently own a lawn care business that just isn’t bringing in the money it should, visit our website. We have developed a great lawn care business package that will help you with your lawn care business.

www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Bidding on Government Lawn Mowing Contracts

Mar 17

Posted by Lawn Care Business in bidding lawn care, contracts, lawn care videos, start a lawn care business | 4 Comments

March is already half over and if you are thinking about bidding on Government lawn mowing contracts you may have already missed the majority of the contracts that have been let for bid for the upcoming mowing season. Don’t fret because there are likely several contracts that have been delayed or are being rebid for one reason or another.

Before you bid on a Government lawn mowing contract you should be aware that Government contracts follow a different code of conduct than many other requests for proposals. I’ve made a short video for you highlighting a few finer points of an example Code-of-Conduct manual. Understanding and agreeing to this manual is the first step in getting your lawn care company on a Government’s bidding list.

Proposal Forms: I want to highlight a few finer points of this contract bidding instruction booklet. The first point is the Proposal Forms. Most bidding packets come with a series of bidding forms. You must complete the bidding forms that come with the bidding packet. Do not fill in your own forms or simply write your prices on a sheet of paper. Your bids may be rejected if you fill them out on anything but the bidding forms that come with your bidding packet.

Late Bids: Make sure you get your bids in on time. If you are late on a bid, the purchasing agent will, most likely, reject your bid. I have seen lawn care companies attempt to turn their bid packets in 2 minutes after the bid-closing times and the purchasing agents have rejected those bids. 9:00AM means 9:00AM and not 1 minute after 9:00. Acceptance of a bid is a violation of the request for proposal and could cause the job to be rebid. I like to submit time sensitive bids a couple days in advance. Rushing to get your bid in at the last minute will cause you to make mistakes. Taking your time with bid preparation allows you to calculate your prices with a clear head.

Submittal of Bids: Bids must be presented in a special bidding envelope that comes with your bidding packet. The envelope will be time stamped by the Purchasing Agent as proof that your submittal was within time cut off of bid acceptance.

Competency of Bidder: Purchasing agents can reject bids from lawn care companies that are deemed incompetent to complete the work. A company that does not posses proper equipment, skills sets, or manpower can be rejected from the bidding process if they are unable to demonstrate their ability to complete the job. Likewise, if a company does not have proper insurance or if they have defaulted on a previous contract, they might be deemed incompetent and their bid rejected even if they are the low bidder.

Performance Bond: A performance bond is a financial instrument stating that you will complete the work as stated in the contract. If you do not complete the work, you may lose your performance bond. A performance bond is designed to keep lawn care companies from bidding jobs that they do not have intention or capability of completing. Take a performance bond seriously. Also, a performance bond will cost you some money or it will tie up some of your financial resources. So, take the additional cost into consideration and work that into your contract.

Collusive Bidding: Bidders of many government contracts are not allowed to discuss their pricing or estimating strategies with other bidders of the same contract. Price setting is highly frowned upon by purchasing agents. Collusion can cause all bids to be rejected by the purchasing agent. Worse than having your bid rejected; collusion can have you banned from the bidding list and can bring even harsher penalties upon the collusive bidders.

This is just a brief overview of a Code-Of-Conduct example to get your companies name onto a bidding list. It can be nerve-wracking attempting to navigate the bidding process. If you are interested in bidding government contracts, we include an in-depth discussion of the bidding process in our lawn care business guidebooks. We have lots of experience bidding these type jobs and our bidding tutorial as well as our estimating calculators will help you give the best bids for these larger-scale contracts. Take a look at our website for more information on the Start A Lawn Care Business program

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Your Lawn Care Business and Code Orange Days

Nov 6

Posted by Lawn Care Business in environment, lawn business strategies, lawn care business, lawn equipment, propane | 3 Comments

Air quality issues increasingly impact Lawn Care Business owners.

I am writing this blog post looking through my window on a crystal clear November morning. The sky is colbalt blue and distant Tennessee mountains appear close enough to touch. There is a slight breeze and the frosty morning air is brisk and fresh.

Though crisp November mornings distance me from the thoughts of smoggy Summers days, a billboard I saw this morning forced me to realize the effects air pollution has on our industry.

code_orange

Billboards and other Public Service Announcements have popped up in recent months throughout the southeast. These announcements encourage us to drive less and mow less on Code Orange days.

A Code Orange alert is announced when air pollution is predicted to reach unhealthy levels for sensitive groups. Typically, code orange levels are between 101 and 150 on the air quality index.

Lawn care equipment produce high levels of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, and nitrogen oxides. Two-cycle equipment such as weedeaters and leaf blowers are particularly high polluters. Oil mixed with gasoline causes very high levels of particulates released in exhaust fumes.

As air quality regulations begin to restrict our movements as an industry, opportunities are created which allow us to become an environmentally sensitive industry.

At recent lawn care trade shows, I am continually impressed to see equipment manufacturers furthering their research into low-polluting machines. The largest progress is being made with propane powered string trimmers and lawn mowers.

Propane powered lawn equipment dramatically reduces the air quality lowering effects of traditional commercial lawn mowers and two-cycled weedeaters and leaf blowers. As manufacturers produce higher quality and lower priced propane powered lawn equipment, our jobs of remaining EPA compliant will become easier.

Lawn care companies that begin the process of upgrading their equipment to propane power will find themselves in unique positions of being able to continue to operate their businesses during code orange days.

Next time you see a billboard reminding you not to mow on Code Orange days, think of it not as a restriction to your lawn care business but as an opportunity for you to distance yourself from your competition.

The “Start A Lawn Care Business” guidebooks, estimating software, and training videos will help you run a better lawn care business.
Order your copy at: http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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