Growth

[musician/lawnman]

Everyone on here is asking how to grow their business all the time.
We see alot of the same questions over & over & that's fine...

I just want to say this.... Guys, set yourself up to both appear & actually run like a professional company. Get some shirts, signage, custom estimate forms & business cards etc. Do A GOOD JOB! If it looks like **** when your done.... YOUR NOT DONE.

Yes you need to market & however you do it is fine, some better than others. But If you do the job right you wont lose your existing customers. & as you pick up new ones you grow. If you do a crap job you'll lose em faster than you gain em. My company has exploded even more this year. It was alot of work, but now I have alot of work because of it. My client list is easily twice what it was 8 months ago, I am now at almost 200 clients. I think I only lost 2 (per cut) clients this season & they moved out of their homes & didn't need me anymore.

Things are good, Getting better &this off season looks much more promising than last winter did going into it.

You are the boss, so do your job!

[Steve]

Chuck,

This is a great lesson for everyone to learn.

Have you figured out what % of your customers you have gotten through word of mouth?

[cklandscapingorlando]

I agree 100%.I put in a sod bid for a lady in a upper class area.I not only put in the bid but I walked her around her property and explained every thing from why her bougainvilla was'nt flowering to the stress points caused by the mower.Within 30 days I've gotten 4 bids from her word of mouth which has lead to 3 jobs.The to kickers are that I have'nt even done any work for her yet,and turns out that she's the lady that has to aprove all new landscaping.Every time someone ask her about have'ing some work done she gives them my name.I'm also working on getting all the maintanance work because their guy just aint good enough.Thats 4 houses at 150.00 each month year round.Thats 8.6 hours a month for 600.00.All because I market myself and my knowledge.

[Steve]

That is fascinating.

Did I read that correctly, she hasn't had you install the sod but has told other people about you?

Why do you think that is the case?

Also how long do you feel you spent with her discussing all that?

[musician/lawnman]

No Steve I haven't crunched those numbers yet but when the lawns slow down here in a few weeks I'll have more time & will be doing alot of analysis on every aspect of how things are going. I want all the number & percentages on everything.



CK- That's good to hear man. She's sending you work because you showed her that you are a professional & that you are knowledgeable in your field. She feels she can trust you & thus that other people should trust you too.