Travel distance

[lawn mower fanatic]

If Vermont had subdivisions with 1500 to 2000 homes it may be easy to stay close by, our biggest subdivision is probably only 300 homes

Mine has only around 120 homes and I have gotten over half as customers at some point.

 

[exotion]

Mine has only around 120 homes and I have gotten over half as customers at some point.

That's good the more people who know your name the better.

 

[mowerman05]

I think Ric has got this thing mastered.:thumbsup:

 

[Ric]

If Vermont had subdivisions with 1500 to 2000 homes it may be easy to stay close by, our biggest subdivision is probably only 300 homes

Hey I would think a 300 home sub-division would be good, it's small enough to work and at the same time large enough to build a good client base. Another thing you have to remember about Florida is it's 75% retirees that don't want to contend with lawn work, it inter fears with there shuffle-board.

 

[BHLC]

Hey I would think a 300 home sub-division would be good, it's small enough to work and at the same time large enough to build a good client base. Another thing you have to remember about Florida is it's 75% retirees that don't want to contend with lawn work, it inter fears with there shuffle-board.

Not many retirees here, they're all there!

 

[jekjr]

That makes sense and got me to thinking(which can be dangerous:0) I've never rendered a residential service like mowing commercially, but my analytical nature would tend to have me:

1)Limit the distance to 10 miles from my home in all directions, East; West, North & South.
2)Acquire customers in each direction beginning at the furthest point and working back to the epicenter(my home).
3)Decide upon the least dense customer base(# of yards) direction and begin servicing from my home outward.
4)At the furthest point in that direction(i.e. East), I would then travel directly to the furthest point of next adjacent least dense customer base direction(i.e. North or South) and work my way inward toward my home.
5)Once I reached the "epicenter", I would procede outward into the next adjacent unserviced direction(i.e. West).
6)Upon completion of the 3rd direction outward(Step 5 above), I would again travel directly to the furthest point of the last customer base direction(i.e. North or South would remain depending on the direction taken in Step 4) and complete my customers' servicing inward ending up back at my home.

Have any of you that mow commercially performed a similar analysis of direction travel from your home similar to this??? Would this not provide the least fuel consumption by the hauling vehicle, by never needing to "back-track" in any direction from your home? Is there a consideration that I am not including in my "travel theory"??? Of course this would not work if any customers required certain days of the week for their yards to be mowed that would not be conducive to a specific daily route as I described. So, critcize my theory and enlighten me to the "real world" of lawn maintenance and how you approach the travel route(s) to customers each day you go out:0)

I guess all of that is real good in theory. However for me it is 2 miles to a town of 500 people. 6 miles to a town of 5000. We live on a pretty rural area and there are lots of other people that cut grass and do other lawn work as well. To say I wold only dive 10 miles would be business suicide. Today I drove to a job that was down 8 miles of dirt road....

 

[Carscw]

If I was to stay within two miles of home I would do two yards. And waste my profit going ten miles to get gas.

(( cowboy up and get over it ))

 

[Ric]

If I was to stay within two miles of home I would do two yards. And waste my profit going ten miles to get gas.

(( cowboy up and get over it ))

I don't believe I said you have to stay with in two miles of the house. I don't care where or what sub-division you you pick you should limit your coverage to that area and build your business there if possible. Keeping your clients close in one area allows for less time and gas being spent on travel and more time working, giving you greater profits.