How To Test Out The Viability Of A Business
If someone is selling a lawn care business, they may have a legitimate;concern driving around and showing every possible buyer ten of their lawns. There are a couple of issues with this.
The seller is in a bit of a catch 22. You want to see the lawns but the seller doesnt want to show everyone, and they have a good reason for this.
Also, think about how it felt when you went out.
- Did it feel natural or did it feel a bit phony?
- What was his gear like?
- Did it look like it had been serviced recently or did the gear look rough?
- Check the truck window, is there a current oil change sticker?
- Have they ever sold lawn care accounts before?
- If so can they put you in touch with a previous buyer?
- What is the reason for selling the lawn care accounts?
What Do You Do If You Are Working Full Time And Are Concerned About The Risk Of Changing Careers
If you are working a full-time job at the moment then it may be too much of a leap of faith right now to quit your job and put your money into a lawn care business. You may feel that there is too much to risk. Your partner may be not 100% behind the idea. I can see where you are coming from. I have recently set up another business and I was hesitant to sell my lawn care business lock stock and barrel. If this is where you are right now that perhaps you should do what I have done.
Try both things at the same time. Keep your job and pick up a lawn after work. Then another, then another. Start working Saturdays mowing lawns. When you find yourself not having time to take on any more work because your job interferes then quit your job and go full time. This is not the best way to start a lawn care business but it does have its benefits.
- You will earn extra income while you do this You can save the extra income to get you through the first few months when you quit your job and go full time.
- You will know that your idea works You will feel much better about going full time and so will your partner because you have proved to yourself that the business works.
You dont need to jump in at the deep end if you dont feel comfortable. You can put a toe in the water and see how it goes. There is nothing wrong with being;cautious.
Go For The Easy Wins First
When you want to know how to get lawn care customers fast, its vital to use a variety of marketing strategiesestablish a digital presence, network face-to-face with potential customers, and employ traditional marketing techniques. Do the easy things first, like printing out business cards, establishing a social media presence, and claiming your Yelp Business Page. You can then move onto the more complex undertakings, like creating a website, and soon youll be garnering new lawn care customers.
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Will They Offer A Partial Refund If The Account Cancels Within Eight Weeks
I mainly dealt in selling accounts so I had a replacement policy for any account lost in the first four weeks . Not a lot of sellers will offer this. You could at least ask them about holding back 10% of the sale price and settling this after four to eight weeks after deducting lost accounts form it. Most sellers will not agree to this but its worth a shot. Doing this may also give you an insight as to how much the seller thinks you might lose in that time.
What Else Do They Need To Know
Like any legally-binding documents, its vital to clarify any ambiguities in your lawn care contract. This varies, but can be anything from special provisions to modifications or amendments to whos responsible for certain damages to causes of termination to insurance coverage.
Looking for more resources? Check out the Lawn Care Contract Template;we put together.
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Choose The Right Lawn And Garden Tools
Most people spend a huge amount of time here and this is almost the easiest part.;Choose two mowers, as this seems like a correct balance to start with.;
Tip: Only buy new gear. Buying someone elses gear secondhand has very little merit or value. If you get the gear for under 20% of replacement value and have the expectation to be buying newer gear in your first 3 months, then secondhand gear may be alright in this instance. If it lasts 6 months, thats a huge bonus. But be sure to have the money to replace immediately if you have to. You don’t want to disappoint clients by not turning up to jobs because your equipment broke down – it’s not a great look.
The right number for a walk-behind round is probably two in the beginning. If you have too many mowers, your repair bills go up significantly. ;Too little and you over-work your gear which will dramatically reduce their lifespan.
Buy a commercial quality kit and look to the the people who have been in the industry for years.;
Lawnmowers Line Trimmers And Blowers
The equipment you start with again depends on what kind of business you want to build and your budget. I started off with second-hand equipment but as it wore out I replaced it with new equipment and never looked back. I have written about the best lawn mowers, weedeaters and blowers to use when you start a lawn care business on my Recommended Gear page.;
;On the recommended gear page you will find information;on all the lawn care and safety equipment you will need to start your business.
Lastly, I would like to remind you that you do not have to start with the latest and greatest gear. You can start modestly and work your way up.;
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Keep Track Of Your Lawn Care Marketing Efforts
Utilizing todays available marketing channels is only the first step: You need to;track where each new lead came from and where they are in your sales process. This requires the right marketing and analytics software.
We have our entire marketing universe in our software, Noon says. We can see where the leads are coming from, whats working and what isnt. When you really know who your clients are, you can better serve them.
What You Charge Starts With What You Spend
Whether your price is based on time , size or a combination of both – there are two main costs to consider when determining a price.
Direct Cost: These are the costs that go directly towards completing the job at hand.
Examples: Labor, materials, equipment
Overhead cost: These costs are necessary for your business to operate. They indirectly allow you to perform and complete each job you have.
Examples: Phone bill, Internet bill, rent, mortgage, taxes, regulatory fees
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Get The Right Equipment
Just as you wouldnt dare go to a gunfight without a gun, you cant launch your lawn care business without the right equipment.
After developing your goals, a mission statement, and identifying your target market, its now time to choose your tools.
But how do you choose them?
Go for equipment that will help get things done efficiently, faster and professionally.
We would also advise you to choose equipment that needs minimal maintenance and are commercial-grade.
Also, talk to peers, dealers, and take advantage of the internet to get an idea of the best equipment.
Dont forget to check the type of guarantee or warranty that comes with the equipment, as well as the availability of replacement parts.
Best Lawn Edgers of 2020: Complete Reviews With Comparisons
Letting Somebody Else Find Customers For You
Tip 1: Get listed on traditional online directories . These listing sites can help to drive customers to your site, while you are out mowing lawns. However, it can be difficult to get noticed on the directories that have thousands of listings on them.
Tip 2:Register with expertEasy If youd prefer to mow the lawn and let someone else find your customers, we truely believe this will work for you, expertEasy is a marketplace that specialises in lawn mowing, gardening, landscaping and home improvement. We send customer jobs to you to provide quotes for, and save you having to go out to find jobs on your own to bid on. There are other websites like ours that work a similar way charging for leads. However, usually, those sites send the opportunity for quotes to a greater number of lawn mowing businesses, they charge more per lead and some of them also charge an initial listing fee. We only send jobs to at most three local lawn mowing business, and we have transparent pricing with a satification guarantee.
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Use Your Social Media Channels
Social media channels allow you to communicate with current and potential clients online. Facebook and LinkedIn are two platforms that can help you get lawn care customers fast.
Facebook offers two ways to interact with locals in your area for freea Facebook business page and local Facebook groups.
Facebook business pages are like mini websites but on the Facebook platform. You can include a link to your website, phone number, photographs, and your hours of operation. People can like your Facebook page and comment on your posts, providing a great opportunity to interact directly with current or potential customers.
Facebook groups are slightly different. They are groups of people with common interests who can share information and interact with one another. For example, your city likely has several Facebook groups like Buy and Sell or Jonesville Neighborhood Q and A. You can join these groups with your personal Facebook account and advertise your services. This is an ideal outlet to promote the discounts and referral incentives we mentioned before.
LinkedIn is another platform that can help you land customers. Since its a professional network, youll be interacting primarily with other business owners and professionals. While you wont be talking directly to consumers, you can connect with other local business owners and present yourself as a thought leader.
Wrap Your Trucks For Maximum Exposure
To stand out from the competition, landscaping companies should consider wrapping their trucks for maximum exposure. These moving billboards can help you increase visibility and grab the attention of potential clients as you drive through neighborhoods.
Truck wraps are an excellent way to provide potential customers with information about your company without any hard work!
Wrapping a truck can be done quickly to save time . The process should only take a day or so, and its also relatively inexpensive.
Truck wraps are an excellent way to increase revenue with landscaping companies because they can advertise in areas that may not have enough foot traffic for them to do landscaping services.
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Final Steps Once You Have Bought A Lawn Care Business
Your standard of work needs to be as good or better then what the customers were receiving You need to resell the customer by being polite, reliable and doing a high standard of work. Customers will put up with the same standard of work. They will be pleased if the standard is a bit higher. They will probably go somewhere else if the standard drops.
There is a term in marketing called the path of least resistance. This;term means that if someone has to actively opt out of something they hardly ever do it. This;reason is why one month free subscriptions work so well. Most people do not cancel the subscription before the payments start, and then the customer keeps on paying even if they dont use the subscription until one day they see the charges on their credit card, and they take the time to cancel it.
A long as the standard of work does not decrease the customer will most likely stay. To them this is a better option then the effort of canceling the agreement, ringing half a dozen companies, arranging quotes and then going through them all to find a new lawn care company that may or may not be any good.
You are probably going to lose 10% of the;accounts anyway; Dont panic this is normal. This kind of loss will be no reflection on you. Some customers will leave anyway. Just knuckle down, advertise and focus on building your business. You can read more about marketing on this post 21 Great Ways to Market Your Lawn Care Business.
Six Essential Tips To Grow Your Lawn Care Business
Although providing high quality work is a must, any lawn care business owner can attest that delivering great work and staying on budget is not enough to get ahead in this increasingly competitive market. This article will discuss six business tips for lawn care pros that will help their businesses grow, while standing out from the crowd.
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Are They Offering Free Extras
Do they offer to take garden rubbish away and not charge? Do they offer any services for free that they should be charging for? If this is the case you may end up having a run in with customers when they ask you to take some garden rubbish away or trim that tree a bit and dont expect to pay because they never paid the other guy.
You start charging and they start looking of another lawn care guy. The ironic thing is they probably wont be able to find anyone who does this for free but they will move on anyway because that other guy never offered them the service for free so they feel they are getting a better deal from them.
Start An Equipment Maintenance Plan Now
Ed Ramsden highly recommends starting your equipment maintenance plan early to avoid last minute set-backs. Tracking the condition of your tools is essential for your teams success.
He explains, ultimately servicing equipment is the business owners responsibility. You paid for it!
Ive found that my employees dont care as much as I do about the condition of the equipment. But, the crews use the equipment every day. They will notice things about the equipment that you might not.
You need your crew to pass that information along to you. You need to be involved in preventative maintenance.
A really simple thing Ed did was make his crews complete a daily checklist:
- Check the oil level on the mower
- Ensure the equipment tied down properly
- Check if the air filter is clean
- Does something need more oil
- Check the tire pressure
I made sure that the crew was responsible for checking at the beginning of the day, and reporting damages if they made damages at the end of the day.
If they didnt I made it pretty clear that they would lose pay if we couldnt get on the road every morning because the equipment wasnt working properly
If you dont have a crew, make sure you double check everything the night before with the same type of checklist. Its handy to keep basic maintenance tools on hand.
Eds developed a relationship with a local auto mechanic too, which he turns to for emergency repairs, just in case.
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Choose How To Structure Your Business
Youll need to choose how you want your business structured. There are four main types:
- Sole proprietorship: a business run by a single individual
- Partnership: An agreement between two or more persons who run the business together
- Limited liability company: a hybrid of partnership and corporation
- Corporation: a group of people authorized to act as a single entity
Sole Proprietorships
If youre just starting out, youll probably want to be a sole proprietorship. Most small businesses are sole proprietorships because this is the easiest and cheapest way to start a business.
In a sole proprietorship, you and the business are one and the same. A sole proprietorship is unique among business entities because its the only one that doesnt have to register with a state.
Starting one is easy.
All you have to do is:
- Come up with a name for your lawn company and decide where you want to be located
- File for a business license with city hall;
- Set up a business checking account so theres a separation between your business and personal cash
If you plan to sell taxable things, youll need to register with your local taxing authority.
Sole proprietorship advantages include:
- Easy startupno complicated business structure
- Controlsince youre the only owner, youll have total power over every aspect of your company
- Use of lossesbecause youre including your business income and losses on your personal tax return, you can use them to offset personal income
