Biggest Frustration of Growing Your LCO

[LawncareMarketingMagic]

There may already be a poll like this on the site, but I guess I was too lazy to search for it. Sorry! Anyway, I'm curious to know what areas are the most frustrating for anyone just starting out OR for those that have been in business for any length of time.

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Chestin

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

This is a great post that I saw at the bottom of another post. I love that feature. Have you voted in this poll yet?

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[Steve]

Is everyone voting? This is a fantastic post.

If it is something else besides that which is in the poll, let us know! I'd love to hear it.

[justin_time]

Originally Posted by Steve

Is everyone voting? This is a fantastic post.

If it is something else besides that which is in the poll, let us know! I'd love to hear it.

I think I am at the point where I am about to expand this fall/spring.

I need a new trailer... the old one ain't tough enough,

I need a ZTR.. so i can be more productive.

I need a better truck so I can plow/pull my trailer

Spending money is also a big factor

[Steve]

I thought I should bring this poll back to see what the newer members are thinking.

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Steve

I thought I should bring this poll back to see what the newer members are thinking.

For me it's managing workloads, sometimes a client will ask us to do a little more (with pay) however I tend to run the schedule pretty tight.

Other issue is vehicles which is why I am focusing on projects that alow us to be on sites longer, I want to take a year to work with what we have even though I know we need a small dump truck, I know what can happen if we grow to fast and last year was nuts when I reflect on what we had to buy in order to carve into a niche market to make real bucks while still offering lawn care.

I think my biggest frustration right now is just trying to be "official", in terms of getting a d.b.a, licensing, insurance, things like that. I'm 16 and feel that in terms of how the business is running, it is official, but i'm lacking the legal part of it.

Also, battling school and running a business is a bit frustrating.

[CHEESE2009]

I put "selling more to existing customers".

Instead of getting new customers for lawn maintenance, my goal is to make every current customer worth more with other services.

The problem here is, I don't like to stay in one place too long. With lawn maintenance alone, you are in & out.

Another thing I like is to have little costs in order to perform a service.

For garden maintenance, all you need is garbage bags & an assortment of tools that will last forever, & someone to take care of it for me

The profit is amazing, & the job is simple.

Same goes for gutter cleaning. Ladder, bucket, garbage bag, screwdriver, blower, & maybe a rake... and your done.

Pros of Gutter Cleaning:
Minimal Expenses
Takes no time at all

Cons of Gutter Cleaning:
The profit is good for what you do, though it's too small to get excited about.

Kinda like when you are young & your parents tell you to go pick up the dog crap in the backyard for $5.00. It takes a few minutes to do, but overall you'd rather just sit on your arse.

I've had jobs where I'd rather pay my boss to let me to stay home, you know what I mean?

That's why I feel the need to pay my workers more. I couldn't imagine them being excited about cutting 3 lawns an hour to only make $9.00.

So back on topic, a good up-sell is one that makes a wonderful profit, doesn't require a lot of work, & is exciting. Something that can't backfire & take longer than expected, something with a short list of tasks.

Example, back to garden weeding. You remove the weeds & throw them out, done. You sit there for an hour & make $80.00.

So when I grow my client base a little more, I'll get into lawn spraying. I'd like to pass around a note to my customers to see if any at all would be interested before I spend any money.