Kudos to the members!

[LawnTeam]

I have to admit, I was a lurker for some time before deciding to participate in the forum. What got me hooked is that, for the most part, advice is friendly, honest, constructive, and relevant. Even in an industry with a high degree of competition, you all come together to hash it out, and in the end, really help support each other to make the industry respectable. I'm impressed because I expected something totally different. In fact, I have sent lots of people here for info. Only recently did I take the time to register, take the class, and start to get involved. I look around town and realize there is more than enough business for everyone. By the way, I'm also a salon owner so I hear what women say and want when it comes to their lawn care and gardens**always taking notes. Looking forward to all of your posts.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Welcome to our forum! By the way, I'm also a salon owner so I hear what women say and want when it comes to their lawn care and gardens**always taking notes. This sounds like a very interesting story. What got you interested in lawn care as a salon owner? Does it stress you out to have two different business interests like that?

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[LawnTeam]

Lawn care actually came first. I started mowing lawns and weeding when I was 12 years old. We had a local rent-a-teen organization in town. After a few referrals, my dad helped me rebuild the carb and fix up a lawnmower i found in someone's trash. He said if I saved enough money, he would match it and i could buy this sweet japanese racing bike. Saved it in no time and started getting knock down jobs from the city for people who had been fined for too tall grass. My grandfather was a farmer and i continued to garden throughout the years, taking classes, mastergardening, and doing green volunteer work. Grafting, saving seeds, my lawn, garden, and massive composting efforts continued as a hobby while I went to college. I opened a salon when I was 18 with the help of a loan from the parents. That was 1985. Since then, I just kept going to school, gardening, writing and working in the salon. I still write for the magazines but had to give up traveling and doing speaking gigs last year due to some health reasons. I got a referral to a landscaping company that needed some help with organizational and admis stuff and found myself back in Heaven! So, I split up my time there with writing and working in the salon. Hey, the way I look at it, they are both beauty and hospitality vocations. They both make things pretty and make make people's lives more comfortable. This time around, I don't mow but rather help keep things running smoothly and safely. The guys teach me so much!

[Steve]

That's a great story! Have you found a lot of what you learned at the salon is applicable to the lawn care business? Did you have to do a lot of marketing for the salon? Do those skills apply to the lawn care field?

Also, I would figure being able to talk in front of people could be really beneficial too because you could help put on presentations in your community about different green topics that could attract new clients.