Fun Day

picframer · #1 11-08-2009, 06:40 PM

A few months ago (May) I bid on a government (city) contract, there were two parts I was able to bid on and they had broken out each phase as seperate contracts.

In short, and yes for image, they were seeking bids on tree clearing, then excavation, then construction of two outdoor skating rinks. Both are in the area most of our work is and yes I know the eleceted official although we never spoke about this project.

I lost the tree clearing and chipping then in the heat of the summer, heat being my stress level, they asked if I would take on the job and re quote as they were not happy with the work performed, I said no. We simply did not have the resorces and I do not clean up after people, well unless it's excavation.

So my contract is to have the excavation for the two sites finished by November 30th, I contacted all the parties two weeks ago and said today was the day for the first one, what a blast. No pictures as I was a one man show however it will be in the news/papers tomorrow, the second phase I guess, as the company hired to do the lining and construction of the boards, lights etc. will be there this week.

Everything went very well, media was there, the community got together and had a food stand, sinage provided by the government guy with my company name as the excavation company, I see about 70 of my cards were gone from the display on my truck, let the government guy use my equipment to dig the first stump for a photo shot...whatever. I suspect over the course of the day around 200 to 250 people were there, including kids, gave a few photo shots of them setting on my lap.....all marketing and perhaps they will work for me someday

Anyhow I found it to be a very fun day and everything went so well, it was perfect, well except for the skiff of snow which melted by noon.

I will be back to take pictures, probably Wednesday as we have a job up the street that was booked a month ago.

__________________
Andy
Halifax, Nova Scotia

#2 11-08-2009, 09:20 PM

Lawn care business tips

Sounds exciting! and looks like you would be able to grow more if you just wanted to!

picframer · #3 11-09-2009, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuperiorPower

Sounds exciting! and looks like you would be able to grow more if you just wanted to!

It was a very relaxing job, I took an excavator that was a lot bigger than required but just for show, there was free food (always a great thing on a job site) the bigger excavator allowed me to have a lot of extra time to talk with people and the weather was perfect unlike the snow just this past Friday as I could do the job in a fraction of the normal time.

Lot's of interested people and I received a lot of comments from folks they see my trucks everywhere, I laugh to myself as we are a small operation, I think that it's due to our colors etc. stand out as well as the company logo which kids love. We also have to make several trips on some sites to get all the equipment there and we are in the area for coffee every morning, we always park together so I guess it could look like a bigger company.

I am doing another this coming Sunday, my son will be doing the excavation as he will be home from University, this will allow me time to talk to people and he is an amazing excavation operator and he too loves the interaction with people, as for the free food, man that will save me a pile as the kid is never full and in amazing shape

Steve · #4 11-09-2009, 09:51 AM

Andy,

That sounds exciting! Would this be like a ground breaking ceremony? Is that why so many people were there and the media?

Did you check the paper so far? Is there anything online about it we could see?

picframer · #5 11-09-2009, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve

Andy,

That sounds exciting! Would this be like a ground breaking ceremony? Is that why so many people were there and the media?

Did you check the paper so far? Is there anything online about it we could see?

There are three parts to each of these rinks and the local MLA (elected official) puts on a big show, phase one was the tree clearing, phase two was the excavation which I won for both and the final is the liner, boards and lights.

It was on the news last night, I didn't see it however my son said he did, it didn't make the city paper however it will be headlines in the local paper which is out Thursday.

And yes in a way iit was ground breaking, it's one thing to cut the trees, but when you bring in an excavator you see the final stages, I gave kids seat rides, it's a marketing and it seems to habe worked, I had 10 email inquiries today alone however we are not taking on any more business this season and I explained that to everyone we talked to.

Had one person write basically begging we fix their drain problem but weather is not on my side and we are going to be pushed to the limit with the jobs we have to complete.

Steve · #6 11-10-2009, 10:09 AM

I am sure the kids loved all the attention! Did you have tshirts for the kids too? Didn't you do that in the past?

picframer · #7 11-10-2009, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve

I am sure the kids loved all the attention! Did you have tshirts for the kids too? Didn't you do that in the past?

No we do baloons, I will do this at the next site....all I had was marketing material, I am asking the staff to come out and put on a show, I will drop a lot more gear than we need so the kids can be given rises.

Steve · #8 11-11-2009, 09:30 AM

I like the balloon ideas.

What if you could team up with a local restaurant to cook burgers and hotdogs on site next time and then maybe get some plastic mugs to hand out with the drinks that promote the ground breaking on one side and then your services on the other?

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