People cutting back on lawn care?

[Steve]

Have you been getting any feedback from your customer base or your community about the economy? Are there rumblings that people might cut back this year on their lawn care services?

Belt-tightening among wealthy U.S. shoppers could choke blue-collar households (http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gK4Rmlz5r7mymxRKP5TMAStB7Wzg) - Over the past three months Wiederhoft pared her spending on clothes to $500 per month from about $3,000; that means no more Jimmy Choo shoes and David Yurman jewelry. Her cutbacks also included cancelling the services of a cleaning woman and a lawn-care company. She also plans to trade in her BMW for a Ford when her lease expires in about a month.

[StartALawnCareBusiness]

Quote[/b] ]pared her spending on clothes to $500 per month from about $3,000;

Good grief. I might have spent $3,000 in my LIFE on clothes.

The feedback I am receiving is that Lawn Care is going to be strong this year. This is not to say a LCO can sit back and expect customers to knock his door down though. Creative marketing and service additions are going to be key in 2008.

To keep my software current, I try to keep my finger on the pulse of what lawn care consumers seek from LCOs. I am constantly speaking with consumers who are likely to hire LCOs. I am learning that as the price of gas remains high, customers are more likely to hire out their lawn care work. They would rather pay someone to take care of the whole job instead of paying $3/gallon to fill up their lawn mowers.

It is neat to think that high gas prices might actually work to the industry's benefit.

Keith

[Steve]

I do wonder, what would cause consumers to cut back more on lawn care, higher gas prices or the economy going into a recession?

[B7 Enterprise]

I have had three property management companies call me already. and I had to turn them away. man life sucks...

[Steve]

You had to turn them away? Why?