Humm Breaking into the Professional Lawn Care Business

[Lawnpro1969]

I agree any fool can walk into a dealer with good credit and leave with the equipment.that's just what it takes to do that only a fool would spend 30- 40 thousand dollars on equipment with out the work to pay for it. My equipment list 1 206 Ford F-350 4x4, 1 2007 chevy 3500 4x4 dump truck 1 2006 chevy Colorado 4x4. 1 8.5' x 20' enclosed trailer 1 7.5 X 16' open trailer 1 7.5' X14' open trailer. 1 J.D. X540 tractor 1 J.D. 455 tractor. 2J.D. Zero turn riders, 1J.D. GS 30 36" walk behind mower, 1 cub cadet 33" walk behind. 5 J.D. 21" walk behind mowers. 2 echo trimmers,2 stihl trimmers, 2 stihl backpack blowers,2 echo handheld blowers. 1 echo stick edger,1 bed edger,1 echo bed redefiner. 1 John Deere 855 mini backhoe.should I continue? Average price I charge is $20 reason is because partly that is average price in my area. Yes over head is part of the price anyone that say otherwise is lying. At $3.75 per gallon of gas you can not do a lawn for $5 or $10 at least you can't if you plan on making any money.I almost forgot to mention gas hedge trimmers 6 of them echo and John Deere. Chain saws 5 of them also echo and John Deere. And before you point it out to me I am aware that for many years echo made the John Deere trimmers chain saws and hedge trimmers

 

[Lawnpro1969]

I just Thought I would post a couple of responses from another forum and what others are saying about Image and Impression and how important it is to customers. I think it's interesting what some other businesses are finding out.

First Post
Have you ever provided your customers with a comprehensive "customer survey" in which to gauge what is important to them. What I have found, in my experience, is that most LCO's run around telling themselves that image is everything because THEY want nice things. However, through our extensive "customer surveys" we have found that "professional appearance of equipment" ranks dead last among what is important to our customers. In addition, while equipment came in dead last, "professional appearance of crews" came in second to last.

Our demographic of customers is even or slightly above yours in home costs. The range would be from $175K to $500K. I think if you actively studied what is important to YOUR CUSTOMERS it would greatly affect your expenditures.


second post
Great response.. I have been saying this for years on here....Whereas a professional image is nice, to customers, we are the lawn-boy. I don't care if you are a ten truck operation you're still the lawn guy...We did surveys as well and customers care about, price, dependability, and a decent job. They don't care if your truck is a 2006 or a 1986. They don't care if you mow with a $12,000 ztr or a $99 walmart push mower.

We;re the only ones that care about
Nice trucks
Nice equipment
Uniforms

They care that when they call, someone answers the phone and that they're not paying more than their neighbor.

This maybe true in some areas in my area customers do care. I have asked customers why they call there answer is your reputation. I have seen your work and you do good work your price is fair. Plus I have seen your equipment anyone that spends the time to keep there truck and equipment that nice is gonna do a nice job on my lawn.

 

[Ric]

This maybe true in some areas in my area customers do care. I have asked customers why they call there answer is your reputation. I have seen your work and you do good work your price is fair. Plus I have seen your equipment anyone that spends the time to keep there truck and equipment that nice is gonna do a nice job on my lawn.

It's funny you should say people in your area care, but when I read the thread those postings came from they were posted by an individual in Texas and New York the state that's real close to you. There were others that commented from Indiana and other places with the same findings.


I look at your equipment list and I'm surprised, you talk about having newer trucks but I see you're running 2006 and 2007 trucks and I don't know how old any of your mowers and other equipment is but in my opinion it's irrelevant anyway as I've said before. I just figured you for at least 2010 stuff the way you talked.

You say you have asked your customers why they call and there answer is your reputation. I have seen your work and you do good work your price is fair, Plus I have seen your equipment. Well if you've been honest in what you say that would indicate to me that Reputation is the first reason, Fair Price is the second and last would be your equipment in that order and that's just like the others said in the postings on another forum, equipment ranks dead last to the customer.
Like the guy stated, We did surveys as well and customers care about, price, dependability, and a decent job. They don't care if your truck is a 2006 or a 1986. They don't care if you mow with a $12,000 ztr or a $99 walmart push mower.

We;re the only ones that care about
Nice trucks
Nice equipment
Uniforms.

 

[Lawnpro1969]

2006 and 2007 is still pretty new some of my mowers are newer than that some are older. All of mowers look like new also my trucks look like new they are clean inside and outside.no dents or scratches matching tires no oil leeks. Your post made it sound like a 2006 was an antique 2006 is still pretty new. People in my area wouldn't care if you pulled up in a 1975 if it looked good. I use my Colorado to look at jobs and have been told many times if your other equipment looks as good as this truck you have some beautiful equipment. And from that I can assume you will be just as fussy about my lawn and my other work. I have not advertised for work for almost 10 years and I still get more calls than I can handle. All of my work is word of mouth or some one sees me at a job and they stop to ask me to work for them. So as I said before they call because of reputation,quality of work,equipment and me and my workers are neat clean and professional in our appearance and the way we treat people. In my last post I said my average price is $20 that was each week not monthly but you probably assumed that

 

[Ric]

2006 and 2007 is still pretty new some of my mowers are newer than that some are older. All of mowers look like new also my trucks look like new they are clean inside and outside.no dents or scratches matching tires no oil leeks. Your post made it sound like a 2006 was an antique 2006 is still pretty new. People in my area wouldn't care if you pulled up in a 1975 if it looked good. I use my Colorado to look at jobs and have been told many times if your other equipment looks as good as this truck you have some beautiful equipment. And from that I can assume you will be just as fussy about my lawn and my other work. I have not advertised for work for almost 10 years and I still get more calls than I can handle. All of my work is word of mouth or some one sees me at a job and they stop to ask me to work for them. So as I said before they call because of reputation,quality of work,equipment and me and my workers are neat clean and professional in our appearance and the way we treat people. In my last post I said my average price is $20 that was each week not monthly but you probably assumed that

A 2006 is not antique by know means but its definitely has warranty issues :smile: Hey I drive a 2006 F-150 with 33,800 miles so I think at the rate I drive I can get another 10 years out of my truck.

As I mentioned before $20 a little high for my taste, I charge $12.50 a cut for a regular lot and $15 a cut for corners and No contracts. I do bill monthly and you pay me for what I do, not what I don't do.

I work in Tees and Shorts regardless of weather and when I do quotes it's the same but people expect it here with the temperatures what they are most of the time. Actually :laughing: I only own one pair of dress pants.

My truck, trailer and equipment is always clean, I in fact clean my mower and equipment with a BR 550 after every lawn I mow, I never drag grass from one place to another.

Most all of my work is word of mouth ( referrals ) or in some cases if someone sees me at a job and they stop to ask me to work for them and in sub-divisions is often. The only form of advertisement I do with regularity is business cards and I have more clients than I can handle.

 

[Lawnpro1969]

At one time I traded trucks every 2 years I finally got smart and started keeping my trucks longer.also this is the first good Ford I have had in 15 years. I have no problem with t shirt and shorts my customers wold have no problem with that. There was a fly by night crew in my area a few years ago that wore cut off jeans and no shirts. They were always filthy dirty yes you get dirty in this job but these people looked like they didn't bath in months or maybe years. Customers didn't like that I have been told that my crew always looks professional. You must be doing smaller lawns that would explain the difference between prices. My lawns are between $20 and $75 each time. Most of mine are also billed monthly each time we mow lawn trim with weadeater and blow off driveway and walks. If we weed shrubs or trim shrubs or anything else it's extra.like you business cards are my only advertisement the rest of my work is word of mouth. Also I have people seeing me do a neighbor lawn they like the job done so they stop to ask m to work for them

 

[Ric]

You must be doing smaller lawns that would explain the difference between prices. My lawns are between $20 and $75 each time. Most of mine are also billed monthly each time we mow lawn trim with weed-eater and blow off driveway and walks. If we weed shrubs or trim shrubs or anything else it's extra.like you business cards are my only advertisement the rest of my work is word of mouth. Also I have people seeing me do a neighbor lawn they like the job done so they stop to ask m to work for them

Most of my yards are from 1/4 to 1/2 an acre. I Trim the houses with the weed-eater, Mow the lawn, edge all sidewalks, driveways, patios and flower beds with an edger not a weed-eater the way some do and I make sure that the sidewalk edges are blown out and everything including windows are blown off and of course trimming scrubs or pruning trees or cleaning out flower beds is extra. I hope at $75 a cut your doing acres not lawns.

My price has nothing to do with the size of the lawns I do. If I would have kept things the way they were at this time I would have had 80 plus clients but when gas prices increased I gave up four other sub-divisions to someone else who was starting out in the business and reduced my number of clients by almost half but I stayed in the sub-division where I live.

Since I done that I've worked my number of clients back up to 61 and the nice thing is they are all within a three mile radius of my home, in-fact I can mow 26 clients from my home and not drive over four tenths of a mile and everything else is within the three mile radius so I have no mileage to speak of so I can keep my prices affordable.

See the thing is I live in a retirement community, I know people, I know how most are about there money and they have to cut back with the economy and prices the way they are and I knew that a lot of Lawn care businesses were going to be dropped because of the price increases they would have to make to cover there overhead and that's exactly what is happening and I'm picking up all of those clients who dropped the higher price businesses and in reality I've been doing that for a long time anyway. That's why I say customers care about, price, dependability, and a decent job. They don't care what you drive or what you mow with.

By the end of the season I can or could be back up to my 80 without a problem. Like we discussed earlier between word of mouth and being seen when I'm out working, I end up working six days a week.

 

[PyhooyaBooya]

So when you are doing yards for 12.50 and spending so much time on each of them...is it even possible to make a living out of it? Or is it just a supplementary paycheck?

 

[Ric]

So when you are doing yards for 12.50 and spending so much time on each of them...is it even possible to make a living out of it? Or is it just a supplementary paycheck?

You ask is it even possible to make a living out of it? When you ask someone about making a living doing Lawn care I think you have to ask your self what is making a living. One Person version of making a living may not be the same as another. What would you consider making a living?

 

[wjjones]

Everything you said is true Ric atleast here where i live. I have been in the business 10 years, and because i dont conform to their ideal lawn care setup i am a hack.. They all think i should buy a dually, 20' trailer with 2 or 3 mowers, and ztrs at that. In my experience, and feedback from my customers if i come into their yard with a ztr i wont be cutting their grass anymore. I like my s10 its much better on gas, and my 5x8 trailer is all i need. I have 0 overhead, and thats the way you make $$$ not all the BS they claim.. So do it your way Ric you will put more $$ in your pocket, and ignore the "experts" :laughing: