Hello, I am new and need help with pricing!

[Steve]

Oh Wow! Why aren't you doing more electrical work then? Wouldn't you be able to make better money doing that since there is a barrier of entry (having to spend years to get a license?)

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[jones26r]

Lawn care business tips

Well, I do not like working commerical electrical. It is dirty, dangerous, and I just do not care for it. I just wanted a change. Something different. I did forget to mention that I will be going to school starting this fall for electrical engineering. I still love mowing though. It is relaxing and it feels as though you have accomplished something at the end of the job.

[Steve]

Well maybe then outdoor landscape lighting and irrigtion systems? These services need electricians to perform certain functions and you could really promote that you are licensed! Finding a niche is soooo important because you can then charge a premium for it!

What's your thoughts on that?

[jones26r]

Well, prior to doing my lawn maintenance business, I did have my own electrical company. The money was good. Business was not however.

So, in April I decided to dissolve and become a stay-at-home parent. During this time, I wanted to do something else during the evenings, so that is when lawn maintenance came up.

It is low-cost start-up. I had most of the tools needed to run the business.

Next year, if I became real serious, I could advertise with my lawn maintenance, that I also do landscape lighting and other outdoor related things that require electrical.

[Steve]

Yea I think that would be great! These are unique skills you have that most other lawn care business owners don't. I bet you could say you are the only lawn care operator in town with an electrician's license.

Then you could go on to say why hire a landscaper and an electrician when you offer both for one low price! Something like that.

Could you share with us some of your experience about the electrical business? What did you like or didn't you like? What was it about the industry that made it so difficult to get customers?

[jones26r]

What made owning an electrical business difficult is that the market is saturated with electrical contractors.

I placed a phone book ad and just having the name of my business with a telephone number cost me over $80 per month. Of course, the bigger companies have full-color page ads that just drown out my little ad.

I believe to be a good electrical contractor, you have to be established for a good length of time or have a different niche. A friend owns his own company but he mostly does HVAC control work. A niche that not many other electrical contractors have.

Another problem with owning a company is that if you estimate wrong, it could hurt you. An example, my friend estimated certain breakers to cost him around $500 per breaker. My friend needed about 6 of these breakers. When he went to place the order, months later after being quoted the $500, that price was actually $5,000 per breaker. That is a huge screw up. Not only did he not get the $500 per breaker in writing, but the miscalculation will now have to come out of his pocket.

I also found that customers expect to pay for the material and not the labor. Yes, copper prices have gone up but that is life. Some customers just did not understand that.

[jones26r]

I have some questions about lawn mowing equipment. Lately, I have been mowing lawns were the grass is above my ankle and is wet. My current mower get jammed up by this and creates clumps of grass everywhere and takes forever to finish mowing the lawn. Jobs I though should take 45 minutes to an hour, has taken me 3 hours. What mowers do you recommend to mow grass like this?

Also, I have looked into Stihl weed eaters and they seem pretty good. Any recommendations on weed eaters?

[Little's]

Are the yards that you are mowing regular services? If you mow a lawn every 7 days, it shouldn't get long enough to clump up. That is one of the reasons a weekly service is a must for me. Talk to the owners and see if you can adjust their timer to water at a different time. A good hour will allow the water time to soak into the gound and evap. from the grass. Or set it to water just after you leave.
Most mowers will plug up if the grass is too long and wet. I did find when starting out that a mulching mower will clump up more often when the grass is wet due to the nature of the mulching process. I use a Snapper Hi-Vac mower and as long as the lawn is mowed once per week, it wont clump even if soaked.
I haven't used a Stihl wedd eater, but I have heard they are good (and hard on the pocket book also). I have been using Echo for over a year (weed eater and blower) and have not had a single problem. Great product at an easier price.
Hope this helps!