Marketing Your New Lawn Care Business

I want to talk about Marketing your business. There are many affective ways you can do this. First, you need to target your prospects, and by doing this you will choose a specific are in your community where you want to get business from. The closer your customers are to where you choose to work from(home,etc..), the better it is. This way you can keep a tight route and keep fuel cost down (remember, overhead!) This will also help you produce work quicker allowing you to get plenty of work done in one day.

Second, since we want to keep starting cost down as much as possible, we need to choose inexpensive ways to market our business.

1. Fliers: These can be done by yourself using your computer at home. I've done quite a few my self using Microsoft word. Tip! when developing a flyer, entice your prospects by expressing the benefits they will get by choosing you as their lawn care provider.

For example,

a. Offer them a discount on the first service, like 15% off. So they can see your quality work. Now, you will do quality work, right?

b. Offer them no contract for the first year, this way they can get to know you first. Most customers get scared when hearing the word "contract" specially if they don't know you.

c. Spring time is the best time to get lawn cutting accounts. This is that time of the year when lawns start growing and prospects are looking for our services. Some of them are looking to switch over to a new landscaper because, they are not satisfied with their current one. So, the main idea here, is to run a flyer campaign of about minimum 500 fliers to selected prospects offering Spring cleaning services. Doing this will get you work, and even lawn mowing accounts.

2. Place an Add on your local paper for at least two months. I normally do this starting March 20th. Tip, Don't put your business name first on any add. Make the add simple and to the point. The only thing i put on an add is: "Affordable Spring Cleanups"or "Affordable Lawn Mowing Services" Call today for a free estimate! Competitive rates! These kinds of words will attract potential customers!

3. Referrals: Encourage your customers to refer you to others, by rewarding them with a free lawn cut (only small lawns, others would get like a 20 % discount off their bill for that month.) for every relative they refer you to. This is VERY EFFECTIVE. That is how my business skyrocketed this year for me! Remember! The only way you will get referred is by doing quality work for your customers.

There are many other ways you can market your business, I will post more on this in the future. For now, we are looking for the cheapest ways to get customers, without putting a dent in our wallets!

Good Luck! (Separate your self from your competition, but observe them!)

Winter Relaxation

Winter is the time when we get to relax a bit and plan ahead for the new year. Now, it depends how our financial status stands. Usually, it takes 2 to 3 years to fully establish a Landscaping business and keeping overhead cost down as much as possible can be rewarding for winter funding and business growth. I'm on my second year and still need to seek work during this winter to keep my bills paid. Let me tell you, its rough! specially when we get hardly any snow.

Hopefully next year I'll be able to relax a bit more, and just plow when ever we get snow for the extra income. It all depends how i manage my money, and how much more business will grow next season. I have quite a bit of overhead now from car loans, credit debt, mortgage, and investments on my business, making hard to establish an emergency fund. Only time and growth will get me and you to live a comfortable financial life style.

Choices to consider when starting a Lawn Care business...

1. Start with basic equipment: Pickup truck, Mower, Backpack blower, Weed eater, Hedge trimmer, Green Barrel, Rakes, and small trailer.

2. Start up by investing available cash: Try not to purchase equipment using high interest credit cards. This will add a monthly overhead expense you don't need during winter. If have a mortgage, and don't have available funding, apply for a home equity line of credit to use for the purchase of equipment. Remember, this kind of loan is tax deductible. This is the route I chose for the funding of my business.

3. Establish a winter fund: This will help carry you through the winter months when business is closed. Snow removal can bring home plenty of money, so be ready to invest on a plow for your truck. I will post more on this later.

Remember, the first 2 to 3 years are the hardest, once you are over the hump, you'll begin to be able to treat your self with newer trucks, or what ever you like to spoil your self with, like a sports car. Can't wait to get mine!
Keep unnecessary spending for now to a minimal. We are growing a business here! It is very important to establish that rule in your house hold. Sometimes our significant other don't understand that. It is crucial for the entire house hold to be supportive during these times.

Good Luck!
Lou

Holiday Postcards for Customers

This is the month when we get to relax, as we finish all of our work for he season. It's been a tough year for me. My business doubled due to customer satisfaction and plenty of referrals (I'll explain more on referrals on a later post, i promise.) But i want to take the time to emphasise on how important it is to thank your customers for their business.

Now would be the perfect time to due just that. Take the time to mail out each customer a holiday postcard wishing them a happy holiday from you and your business. Also include a coupon with a 10% discount on Spring cleaning. This will keep them looking forward to using your services the following year.

For now, lets get ready to do some snow plowing. This is the best way to keep income flowing throughout the off season. I haven't been able to purchase all my snow plowing equipment, but will work on it with next year's budget. I will plow for someone else for now...

Fall Cleanups

As winter nears, I’m working very hard to finish leaf cleanup before a significant snow storm hits. This can make my customers upset and can make their property a challenge to clean after the snow melts. Now, fall seasons are not all the same. Sometimes leaf’s fall late in the season making it difficult to clean them before a storm hits.

I can’t wait to get me a bigger truck, like a mason dump. This will make my life much easier. I can set up a vacuum system to suck up all my leaf’s instead of working double by stuffing my trailer 10 feet high with leaf’s. This can make your expenses higher, because now you have to pay your employee extra time to help load the leaf into the trailer.

This is the biggest investment to a lawn care business, the vehicle. Be ready to haul large amounts of debris. If you start up with a small truck, save up for a bigger truck asap. It will come handy when you start to get bigger jobs ETC…

I don’t have a big truck yet, but will make it happen next year. DEFINITELY!

The trickiest part of fall cleanups is the estimating. Be extra careful when estimating a job. I learned the hard way, and so will you. You can only get better at it by your experience in the field. I normally walk the property, and see how the layer of leaf is. Also i would check if they are wet as well. Wet leaves are much difficult to blow, and Cary to your truck. I would also check to see if property has leaves from previous year piled up in a corner somewhere.

Calculate your time on the job and come up with an hourly rate. This is the way i do it. Don’t forget to include dumping fees and add an extra hour for transportation. Remember time is money, specially when you have an employee or two.

$15 to $20 per hour per employee.
$35 to$45 an hour for the owner.(you)
I normally charge $65 to $70 an hour for me and my helper. That’s only labor. Materials and dump cost are separate.

Good luck! ( Now lets make some money! )

Tired of struggling to make ends meet?

Learn how i started a Lawn care business doing it part time on weekends. Cutting grass is easy, and can bring unlimited amounts of money to your bank account every month, by simply mowing lawns in your town. The start up cost is low and all you need is a pick up truck to haul your equipment.

Everything from advertising to tips on manicuring lawns will be discussed here on this blog. Learn how i grew my business from one customer to 50 customers paying $80 to $300 per month for me to mow their lawn. I’m only on my second year, and already self employed.
This is a service!

There are many homeowners unable to groom their property due to many reasons:

1. Time: Most homeowners simply don’t have the time to keep the lawn maintained. They work long hours and come home tired. The last thing on they’re mind is “grass”.

2. To old: Some are to old and cant even pull the starter on the lawn mower with out hurting they’re back.

3. Lazy: There are allot of lazy people out there who hate pushing a machine up and down the yard every week. Every week!? No way! Some don’t even bother with it until they’re front yard looks like a jungle!

The truth is, there are millions of homes with lawns, combined with homeowners who fit in the categories above, who can use our services.
So, if you are ready to make extra cash every month, lets go get those accounts!

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