Lawn Care Business Tech Tools
A cool tool to save time I found last month involves voicemail. I hate voicemail because I have to wait to enter password then wait for the automatesd junk, etc, etc. Some people have phones that change voicemail into texts which is nice. For those like me with no such service on their phones there is youmail . It is a free service that allows you to go online and see who each voicemai is from before listening to a long unimportant message. You can delete it without every listening to it at all. This is a big time saver. Hopefully it stays free.
Where To Advertise Lawn Service
To make Lawn Money you need customers. Water is wet and the sun rises in the east also. Now that the obvious is out of the way…. how do you gain customers for your lawn care business. You can rely on word of mouth after you have a good client base. Until then you need to market yourself and advertise your business. There are many ways to advertise but you need your dollars to count so track what works and pour more money into good ads and take away from poor ad space. Fliers work but you need to put out a ton of them to get good numbers (2% response rate). Classifieds are cost effective in small newspapers. A website is helpful but you need to draw people to the site as well or it does no good.
Marketing your business is a long term activity. You can volunteer for projects like Habitat for Humanity or other non profit activities. This is good for you to do in general but it also puts your name out there as a business that does good things in the community. Also it allows you to get to know more people thus increasing your contacts which is the most important thing in growing a client base.
Buy the book Lawn Money… Cashing in on Lawn Care
Lawn Mowing Time Savers
There are little things you can do to save valuable time cutting grass. Whether you are a homeowner doing your own property or in the lawn service industry we all need to be as efficient as possible. The most important thing to do to save time mowing is to not have any trimming to do. To achieve this you need to use mulch or pinestraw around trees, shrubs and flower beds. Make sure to use big curves….. no sharp corners or square mulch beds. If the mulch bed is rounded properly your mower will make the turn without missing any grass at all. Curves are more pleasing to the eye also so your landscape will be better in that aspect as well. Make sure mulch beds that are close to each other allow room for the mower to fit between. If not then join the beds.
Other time savers
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Get a litter pick up tool…. much safer too.
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Mow in straight lines on big areas. Less likely to miss any grass.
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Blow off driveway with mower. When grass is wet this does not work well though.
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Don’t blow any grass on driveway in the first place.
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No excuse for running out of gas. Always check first.
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Changing blades is no fun but it provides a good cut so there is less double cutting.
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Get the right sized mower for your home lawn or your accounts.
Fastest Way To Get Lawn Care Business Started
Assuming you have enough equipment to do a good job for people there is one way to hit the ground running. Fliers. They have a dismal response rate just like direct mail…… about 1% or 2%. But it is a real number that you can rely on and get customers from immediately. So put out 5000 fliers and you could reasonably get 50 to 100 calls. If you close the deal on half you are in business. Putting out 5000 fliers will take a while so be prepared to have some help with that. I do not think fliers is the best or most efficient way to advertise but it will get instant customers if that is what you need for your lawn business.
The Organic Lawn Dilemma
Organic lawn care is gaining popularity nationwide. Concerns over chemicals on properties where children play are a concern mostly because of people not following directions when using fertilizers. Nonetheless the concerns are there. Organic lawn care is time consuming so unless new techniques come about, I do not see most homeowners using this organic plan. They don’t have time to do so. Most homeowners do not do their own fertilizing in my region of the country and that would be much quicker than the organic process. So I doubt they will spend more time and effort just to “go green”.
However that does not mean that homeowners will not pay someone to do the organic lawn care for them. If they value the concepts of getting rid of man made fertilizers then they will pay for an organic lawn service. If homeowners are time poor but doing well financially then that is a good target market for people in the organic lawn service businesses. Throughout history people in search of profits have started business to provide services more efficiently than an individual might be able to do on an occasional basis. The business uses these processes every day whereas the individual might only use them every few months. For example a painter can paint a living room 3 times faster than a homeowner and do a better job. They know what they are doing and have a system. The same will hold true for organic lawn care providers. The systems they create will evolve into time saving cost effective options for homeowners.
Lawn Signs
The Galveston County Daily News.
Signs are a great way to advertise your lawn business. Just make sure you put them places that they will stay. Placing them just anywhere will likely get them stolen or taken up by city workers like in teh story linked above. The best place to put lawn signs out is at a friends property or customer’s place. That way they will stay in place longer and get the extra business you seek.
Lawn Care Business Good for Retirees
10 Reasons More Retirees are Making Lawn Money
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More layoffs especially for older Americans
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Modern mowers are easier on the body.
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Modern mowers get the work done faster so less fatigue concerns
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Higher living expenses create the need for part time businesses
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You can make much more than working at Walmart
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Retirees are hard working people who understand being dependable is important.
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Social Security is no security at all.
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There are many opportunities among retirees peers for lawn service contracts.
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With job shortages it is easy to find a helper so the retiree only rides the mower.
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The lawn care industry is a multi billion dollar industry!
