Lawn Care Business

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Lawn Care Contracts for 2010

Jan 29

Posted by admin in contracts, lawn care business, lawn care start up

2010 is already one month old. Are you getting contracts for your lawn care business?

Mid to late winter is one of the most target rich environments for lawn care contracts. City governments are bidding grass cutting contracts, apartment complexes are taking competitive bids, and banks & office buildings are thinking about sprucing up their landscaping for spring. If you are not aggressively pursuing these contracts, you may be missing BIG profits and lots of money for your business.

We believe lawn care business owners should strive for a balance of commercial and residential customers. While you can successfully operate a business with 100% residential customers, commercial contracts are needed to bring in additional money and add stability over the course of a year. You need both kinds of customers.

If you are not successfully bidding lawn care contracts this year, you need to purchase the START A LAWN CARE BUSINESS guidebook and video training series by www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

This guidebook package has a huge chapter telling you how to find, estimate, and successfully bid lawn care contracts. If your business is new or if you just want to make more money in 2010, get this guidebook. It may be the best purchase you have ever made for your lawn care business.

Start A Lawn Care Business.com

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Start A Lawn Care Business in 2010

Dec 9

Posted by admin in contracts, lawn care business, lawn care start up

2010 is shaping up to be a great year to start a lawn care business.

The economy is still in a challenging position, foreclosures are still high, and unemployment is still in record territory. Despite gloomy headlines everyday in the newspaper, things seem to be greening up for a good start to the year.

In our part of the country, the housing market is really beginning to move. We spoke with a real-estate agent recently who told us that their inventory of houses is beginning to decrease as buyers step into the market.

Curb appeal is a buyer’s first impression of a property. If the lawn is cut and the landscaping is maintained, the buyer is more apt to consider making an offer. Lawn care is a much needed expenditure for real-estate offices on their vacant homes. In many cases, a neatly mown lawn makes the sale.

If you are thinking about starting your own lawn care business, right now is a great time to get started. You can take advantage of all the landscaping contracts that are being bid right now for 2010.

Learn how-to start your own lawn care company and bid landscaping and mowing contracts with the Start A Lawn Care Business Package.

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October is a prime Lawn Care Business month.

Sep 28

Posted by admin in lawn care business, lawn care start up

It has been a long hot summer but October is finally here.

Though cooler weather brings slower growth rates, October is a perfect time to start a lawn care business or ramp up an existing lawn care business.

Autumn can be very profitable with Leaf Raking, Gutter Cleaning, and Seeding Jobs. Customers pay lots of money to have these jobs done. They will also hire you for many other jobs during the winter months. Once spring rolls around, these customers will gladly pay you to mow their grass all summer.

If you want to learn how much to charge for Autumn lawn care jobs and increase your lawn care business, check out the lawn care software and strategy guidebook located at:

Start A Lawn Care Business.

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Lawn Care Equipment Trailer

Jun 12

Posted by admin in lawn care business, lawn care start up, trailer

Let’s take a look at a typical setup for a lawn care / landscaping trailer.

landscapetrailer1

1)  Hand tools:  Leaf rakes, shovel, mattock, pole saw, shears.

2)  Auxilliary lawn mower gas tank.

3)  John Deere push lawn mower.

4) Lunch cooler.

5)  20 lb. air tank.

6)  Traffic Cones

7)  John Deere Z-Trak commercial lawn mower

8)  Water cooler.  Drinking lots of water is important.

9)  Leaf blower rack.  Blower is removed as it is currently in use.

10) John Deere Gator.  Good for moving landscape mulch, grass seed, plants, etc.

OTHER SIDE OF THE LANDSCAPING TRAILER

landscapetrailer2

1) Lockable Toolbox.  Equiped with all tools needed to work on lawn care equipment and to work in customers’ yards.

2) Weedeater Racks.  2 Commercial grade weedeaters.

3) Flags on rear of trailer.

If you want to start your own lawn care business, click the StartALawnCareBusiness link on the tab to the right.

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Life of a Lawn Care Newbie.

May 7

Posted by admin in lawn care business, lawn care start up

by: LawnCareBusiness.net

Life of a Lawn Care Newbie

You only started your landscaping business two months ago.  You are advertising aggressively with flyers and newspaper classifieds.  You already have a full roster of lawn care clients but you don’t seem to be making enough money to justify all the hours you are working.

What’s wrong with this picture?

If you are anything like many of the new lawn care companies we give business consulting advice to, you are suffering from the common mistakes many business owners make.

In the early days of your business you are excited and full of energy.  You give estimates to every potential lead that comes your way; grass cutting, shrub trimming, landscape planting, all types of yard work.  No job is too big and no job is too small for your new business.  Since you are new you think you need to lowball your estimates to get customers.  Afterall, if the other guy can do a job for $45 surely you can do if for $40…or $35…or even $30 .  You think it’s okay to underbid and overpromise.

Sure enough, all your prospects accept your lowball prices and suddenly you have more clients than you know what to do with.  That’s what you wanted, right?  And the money is rolling in…kinda.

Word of your great work and your low prices gets around to neighbors of your customers.  They want estimates too.  One neighbor wants grass seed planted and his lawn aerated.  Another wants fertilizer treatment and the grass cut.  Still another neighbor wants her leaves raked and hauled away.

With all these new lawn care customers you attempt to raise your prices.  You give higher estimates to your new lawn care customers:  “That will be $45 Mrs. Smith.”   You can guess what her answer is:  “But you only charge my neighbor $30 for the same work.”  Ugh, word is out…you’re a lowballer.

 

Check back tomorrow for part 2 of Life of a Lawn Care Newbie

 

If you don’t want to fall into the traps of Lawn Care Newbies, purchase the Lawn Care Business program available from our friends at:

Start A Lawn Care Business

The business program is less than $40 and it is FILLED with useful information and business tools to help you start your own successful lawn care business.

Remember to check back tomorrow for part 2 of Life of a Lawn Care Newbie.

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Zero cost, free lawn care business startup.

Mar 20

Posted by admin in financing, free, lawn care start up, small business

by: Start A Lawn Care Business

If you are starting a lawn care business in the near future, you are probably already thinking about how much commercial lawn equipment to buy and how much money it will cost. After you buy the equipment, you have to consider maintenance, a truck and a lawn care equipment trailer to haul it around, and insurance on your commercial grass cutting rig.

While I normally write about traditional methods of financing landscaping equipment, today I am advancing an idea that won’t be suited to many lawn care companies. If you are looking to start a zero-cost lawn care business, this idea might be suited for your business.

A few years after becoming established in the green industry, I was servicing my lawn clients in a subdivision. I had several clients on one street. Stops with several houses are always good because you only have to unload your equipment once and drive time is minimized.

On my way into this subdivision one day, I noticed a teenager walking the street with a red gasoline container. Several minutes later, as I finised my first my first lawn, the teen was mowing a small yard across the street with a small push, residential lawn mower. Since he hadn’t had a lawn mower with him before, I assumed he was mowing his own lawn.

Later that morning, as I was exiting the subdivision I saw the same kid on a different yard. This time, he was cutting the grass with a riding lawn mower. Intrigued, I turned my truck and trailer around and visited the house where I first saw him mowing.

The homeowner told me that the kid did not have his own equipment. He carries his own gasoline and uses the homeowner’s lawn mowers. The homeowner told me that they didn’t have a string trimmer and hired my landscaping company to stop by while I was doing the other lawns to trim and blow grass off the driveway and sidewalk with my backpack leaf blower.

If you don’t have money to start your own lawn care business and you don’t have any equipment of your own, there is always the potential of using homeowners’ lawn and garden equipment to start your business, earn money, and eventually purchase your own commercial lawn care equipment.

If you want to take a more traditional route to your own successful lawn care and landscaping business, think about purchasing our complete lawn care business package available at:

www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Professional lawn care. What does it mean to be “professional?”

Mar 13

Posted by admin in lawn care business, lawn care start up

by: Start A Lawn Care Business

Have you seen them? Have you seen the shabby looking pick up trucks with push lawn mowers in the back driving around your town looking for grass to cut for extra spending money?

While there is nothing wrong making extra spending money mowing grass during the summer months, many lawn care business owners want to step their businesses up a notch and turn part time on-the-side landscaping work into full-time professional careers in the Green Industry.

What separates a professional LCO from a part-time operation?

Knowledge:
Professional lawn care business owners have the knowledge to perform jobs correctly and recommend solutions to difficult lawn care related problems. Most anyone can grab a lawn mower, get customers, and mow yards. However, professionals know what types of grass they are cutting and at what height it should be cut. Professionals know how to perform soil tests and interpret the results. If a customer’s lawn needs fertilizer, professional lawn care companies know which formulation to recommend and they know how to apply it correctly.

Lawn Care Equipment:
Guys with beat up lawn mowers inevitably have equipment failures. Professional landscapers purchase commercial equipment and they maintain their equipment properly to reduce down time. Lawn mower blades are kept sharp. Sharp blades reduce ragged tearing of grass blades which causes stress and browning. Well maintained lawn mowers do not leak oil and they run cleaner since their air filters and oil filter are changed regularly. Customers (and potential customers) notice professional equipment.

Time Management:
Full-time commercial grass cutting companies manage their time diligently. Their customers never have to wonder if the grass will get cut on schedule. If rain prevents grass cutting, professional mowing outfits are able to get back on schedule quickly and without much notice by their clients. Professional lawn care companies know their customers rely on them 12 months per year. Lawns don’t need to be maintained during cold months but there is always other work that a LCO can take care of. A professional lawn care business makes money year-round.

You might be happy making a few extra dollars in your spare time cutting grass. However, if you are looking to step your business up a notch and eventually turn it into a more profitable and professional business, our lawn care business package can help you reach your goals.

Visit our website at: http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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