Great site

My name is Ron and I've worked on small engines for the past 40 + years, and have been the owner of R & S Small Engine Service for the past 15 years. Although I had always offered free pick-up and delivery, I went mobile two years ago and I wish I had taken this step ten years ago. I have a full service shop in my 16" enclosed trailer and 95% of my service work is done on site - my customers love this. I'm venturing into lawn care service in 2010 and I honestly believe this will be a great addition to my current small engine repair service. If I can't keep busy between these two services, I'm missing the mark somewhere. Keep up the great work. I'm in the middle of "How To Get Customers..." and I'm learning a great deal from this book, as well as all of the questions in forum. Thanks to all of you for your help. Ron

Attached Images

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[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Hi Ron, Welcome to our forum! That is fantastic all that you are doing. What % of your clients are lawn care business owners? Were you concerned that if you started a lawn care business, you might lose their business?

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Hi Steve,
I'm sorry that it took so long to reply, but I have to make time to get to the computer anymore.
You asked what % of my customers are in the lawn business, and I'll answer by saying that I have only a four full time lawn care services who are regular customers and they don't work in the same areas thta I'm targeting. As a matter of fact, a couple of them have offered me some of their accounts just so they can slow down a little - a good position to be in.
You can look at my trailer by visiting my website at www.randssmallengine.com; you can even see how the inside of the trailer is set up. I have a roll around tool box, lift, grinders, saw chain sharpener, work bench, vice, pressure washer, water holding tank, oil, gas, parts ... etc. I'm sure that you get the picture, and this has been an amazing adventure for me.
If you visit my website you'll get a good idea as to my pricing structure, which seems to be very attractive in itself. A typical, single cylinder rider service, which includes tune up, change oil, sharpen & balance blades, clean and adjust carb, clean or replace filter and pressure wash the machine runs $59.95, and it is done right there in the customers drive. As I said earlier, I wish I had thought of this 10 years ago.
Ron

[Steve]

Ron,

I think you have a great set up!

I really like your business. The thing I wonder is, why not focus more on the repairs and preventative maintenance? You could potentially build this business up and franchise the concept!

You asked what % of my customers are in the lawn business, and I'll answer by saying that I have only a four full time lawn care services who are regular customers and they don't work in the same areas thta I'm targeting.

Are you focusing more on getting commercial clients like this or residential?

I would figure that if you built up the commercial client side, you could have more re-occurring customers and that would allow you to grow.

Have you worked out the figures on how using your services a commercial lawn care business could actually save money in the long run?

I think if you could show some side by side numbers comparing how much it would cost to hire you to do this, including blade sharpening and all the services vs. having them do it, they could save time and make more money!

If you could also play up the part that they don't want to work all day cutting lawns and then have to go back to the shop to maintain their equipment. It's tiresome!

You and your business can take that strain off them and they could enjoy running a lawn care business more.

Tell me some of your views on this.

And I love the trailer pics: