CJ presents the flyer he made to help promote Trevoreeno’s lawn business. www.peoplebusinessmovie.com ©2010 dm malboeuf
Posts Tagged ‘Business’
People Business Deleted Scene (Trevoreeno)
04
Oct
How to estimate gutter cleaning – GopherHaul Lawn Care Business Marketing Podcast
04
Oct
www.gopherforum.com If you are looking to submit some bids this season to clean leaves out of your customers gutters make sure you read this article first. John got on the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum and asked his gutter cleaning question. He wrote I have been asked by a neighbor to do a gutter cleanup. She has gutter shields in place but wants to make sure everything is cleaned out and down spouts are good. Her house is 2200sq. and about half of the home has gutters. I do not think this job will take over 1.5 hours but have no idea what to charge her. I have never done this for money just on my own and folks house. Any help would be appreciated. One of our forum members responded by saying I charge $1.00 per foot for a single story and $2.00 per foot on a 2 story. For people I have lawn contracts with I do it free Spring and Fall. I found that a 2 liter soda bottle (cut down) works well for cleaning the gutters. Its pliable enough to get down into the gutter. Take a bucket with you to but the debris in. If you just dump it on the ground, the mess is harder to clean up than the gutters are. I have been doing a national survey with those who provide gutter cleaning services and the charge of $1 to $2 per linear ft seems to be standard across the country. You would charge more for gutters that are higher up or more difficult to get to than lower ones. Here are some common beginner pitfalls lawn care business owners find when offering gutter cleaning. * On my first job …
The fear of getting too many lawn care customers – GopherHaul 41 Lawn care Business Software Show.
02
Oct
www.gopherforum.com – Fear is an interesting topic. It is amazing how the fears we have can effect how we see the world and what we do in the world. A member of the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum brought up a great topic that has popped up in the past, leading me to think many lawn care business owners may share this fear. He wrote I had a nightmare about gaining 1000 lawn care clients. The problem was, I couldnt afford to serve them. I didnt have the equipment, or the crew. In my dream I wanted to serve all of the lawn care clients, I didnt want to lose any of them. I was afraid that theyd never think of hiring me again if I said no this time, so what happens? I wake up Now imagine if the nightmare was true. In the Spring you send out 10000 flyers and BAM, everyone calls you? Wouldnt that be worse than not having enough customers to fill your schedule? I guess its good to know what your maximum number of clients is. You never know what kind of trouble youll have if you get too many. So you have to think, how many lawns can you mow (comfortably) in a day, multiplied by 5 days a week? Id say 11-12 customers a day, 5 days a week is good for ONE PERSON. If you have a partner, 20 lawns a day, 5 days a week will be a walk in the park! At first I did believe after my marketing, that everyone would call me. Though I simply said, Ill take what I can get, and leave the rest for other companies. The problem as you get bigger is, saying no to potential customers will fill me with …
Start A Lawn Care Business – August not too late.
30
Sep
www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com Do you think that August is too late to start your own lawn care business? With upcoming leaf raking season and gutter cleaning, aerating, overseeding, and fertilizing, right now may be one of the best times of year to get starting making money with your own lawn care business. Get customers now in time for autumn leaf raking. Service those customers through the winter months with various lawn care related clean-up jobs. Make as much money as you can with them this winter. When spring comes they will already be on your roster and you can start cutting their grass as soon as it greens up. Don’t turn your back on your lawn care business at this time of year. There is still tons of money to be made.
How To Start Your Own Landscape Business
29
Sep
www.LawnCareSucks.com DO NOT start your own landscape business
Lawn Care & Gardening Tips : How to Grow a Grass Cutting Business
27
Sep
Grow a grass-cutting business by being straightforward with people about what you will be doing and how much it will cost, making sure to follow through on everything you say. Purchase commercial-grade lawn maintenance equipment and learn how to use it properly. Find out more tips for lawn care businesses with tips from a professional landscaper in this free video on gardening and lawn care.
Lawn care business upsell idea – pressure washing. GopherHaul Lawn Care Business Marketing Show.
25
Sep
www.gopherforum.com – Id like to first thank our friend Mike from the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum for sharing with us some of the pressure washing marketing material he successfully uses. I asked him some questions on the topic of marketing that I want to share with you. Steve What advice do you have for newer lawn care business owners when it comes to successfully distributing such marketing material? How should one go about using the postcards or door hangers to get the most effective results? Mike: Just like in real estate. Its all about location, location, location. In this case, its list, list, list! Who gets your marketing material is more important than how or what they get. I dont market to folks that cant afford or shouldnt be hiring out contractors. If they cant afford it, then it is a waste of my efforts. If they shouldnt be affording it, then it too will be a waste because they will want the work cheap. As for what the marketing material should say. well, I like promoting what I sell. I stopped selling Pressure Washing once I found that is was only worth so much. I started selling something more valuable Time and convenience. Thats why the card doesnt have a mower or pressure washer on it. It has what I propose hiring me will give them Time to enjoy their free time. Steve: That is a really good point that I think a lot of new lawn care business owners miss. Do you have any advice on how a lawn care business owner can or should determine who cant afford …
GopherHaul 10 – Lawn Care Entrepreneur Business Show
24
Sep
GopherHaul is a show for lawn care operators, small business owners and entrepreneurs. In this episode we are going to be talking about: In this episode we are going to be talking about: Talk about how to stop customer churn and improve your customer retention. How to assist a member of the military and get some free goodies from us. How can you use high fuel prices as an advantage to gain new customers? Check out the GopherHaul toy of the month to help you enjoy yourself more this is the Dixie Chopper monster truck. We are going to see a new invention that has come in from a lawn care operator and GopherHaul viewer. And talk about our new free lawn care business book – Be a Lawn Care Business Rebel. Check out www.gophersoftware.com for more information and download the free trial of our lawn care business software. Also check out our FREE lawn care landscaping / landscaper business contracts, door hanger, flyer and web templates available for free download at www.gophergraphics.com
GopherHaul Lawn Care Business Show. How to charge bi-weekly lawn care customers.
22
Sep
www.gopherforum.com – When a lawn care customer decides mid-season they want to save money and only have you mow their property every other week, how should you handle this or even bill this? This was a dilemma that was presented to the members of the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum. The member wrote Ive had this weekly mowed lawn care customer since I started my business and now they want me to cut the grass every 2 weeks because they are seniors and they are getting low on money (thats an excuse I think) This yard I do, takes me 2 hrs with my tractor and another 15 to 20 minutes to trim all his stuff all over the yard. I dont want to lose this customer. I was talking to him about my possibly getting a ZTR and he was like, oh yeah that means you can lower your price. Why do old folks think this way ??? That when its mowed faster, you can charge less ??? He complains all the time my bill is too high and stuff.. and things like that Not sure what to do One lawn care business owner wrote my bi-weekly lawn care customers get charged a premium. I usually charge them 1 1 times the price of a weekly mowing. So if a lawn costs $40.00 per cut weekly, Ill charge them$60.00 per cut bi-weekly. That way it allows me to clean up any extra mess or bag the lawn. People need to understand that it is not a cost saving alternative. Weekly lawn mowing is best. Bi-weekly cuts usually take too much off the blade and can be detrimental for the turf. If you are going past the customers home …
