New Guys

[mxr163]

Been cutting family and friends since i was a little guy. Ventured out and cut a few yards last summer but i really want to step it up this year and try to make something of it. Was just curious what the guys that have been in the bussiness for many years and have a nice set up think of the new comers to the lawn care industry. Because i only have a 5x10 trailer with no racks or anything fancy, and kind of feel out of place and as though i am invading in on there territory as i drive buy a professional looking company with their zero and walk behind and all the weed eaters and things. just curious, thanks

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Welcome to our forum! In such a situation I would say who cares what others think. The greatest thing is that you are getting started. Utilize what assets you have access too. Then you can grow step by step as you learn more and get more customers. Try your best to project a look of professionalism. Learn as much as you can about the industry and impress your customers. What are some of your upcoming business plans? What will you be doing next?

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[CHEESE2009]

No matter how old or new a company is, any person with a mower is a threat.

I'm not a big company, but I know a lot of people are getting pretty frustrated with me. Good thing I don't have much to lose compare to them

Keep yourself organized & you will do fine. The bigger you are, the harder you fall. Never bite off more than you can chew.

I want to be able to see every aspect of my business in motion, if I have to rely on too many people, a bad reputation may follow. If I have jobs lined up & people taking care of them for me, I make sure I have a few minutes during the day to stop by & check out their progress.

You can be a small powerhouse, whereas the competition can be big and clumsy & often ignorant when it comes to quality service.

A lot of big guys around here really don't care for quality anymore. It's like they have become more strict on time, & their work is rushed. Makes it easier for the small guy to come in and show the customers what your made of.

I talked to a guy who has been with a few companies & he's going to hire me.

I know of the previous companies he had hired, and their flaws were understandable.

Company A: Messy, they had 5 guys on one yard which took them 2 hours to mow. I could do it in 45 minutes max. These guys were so unorganized they were each trying to do a different pattern on the lawn. They had no PLAN.

One guy was on a rider, mowing in a circle, the other guy was doing zig-zag lines OVER the already mowed grass... Another was boxing the perimeter in, etc... The job was disgusting.

Company B: They thought too highly of themselves. Sure they're work was really good, but they really outta stop acting as if their work is worth gold bars. They aren't a fair company either. They don't just want to profit, they want their customers to go broke. Not too mention they have gotten lazy, cutting the grass 1 1/2 inches so they can have faster weeks. That's when quality goes downhill.

This company has gotten so ****y, they refuse to take on simple work. The outcome of doing that, is losing a valuable customer. They take business WAY too seriously, it's great from a perspective, but they really lost the friendly image they once had.

They can say, "He can be replaced", sure he can, but your burning your bridges & creating bad word of mouth for when I come in & rape you of your customers. I will never poison my company like these guys have.

mxr163-

I was kind of in your boat last summer. I have been mowing since I was about 12 and last summer I finally turned 16, so I could expand my business now that I had my drivers license. I saved up enough money to help buy my truck, (parents payed for half of truck), I also bought a 6x8 trailer, and used my families zero turn mower, as well as a regular 21" mower. After things got rolling, I was doing 11 weekly cuts.

When I would pull up on a job and saw another service down the street, I loved it. That would make me want to do a better job than they did. I feel that the lawn care business is kinda a "dog eat dog" type of business.

I'm very competitive, so I guess that's where I get the drive to do better than the other guys. By about half way through the summer, I put stripers on both my mowers. This made my yards definitely stand out. After I did this, people started noticing how nice the stripes looked, and I picked up 5 more customers. I then bought a 36" walk behind so I could get into gates easier, and use on my smaller accounts. I also put a striper on it.

So basically, I think that your business can really take off if you always do a great job, and constantly think of ways to out do your competition, I used the stripes. Good luck to ya

[Steve]

You should show him some of your lawn pictures and how the stripes look! WOW

[bhowell]

Hate to ask a silly question, but what are stripers and how do they work

[Steve]

Basically they will drag on the grass to make it lay in a uniform single direction. So as you go back and forth, mowing the lawn, on different paths of your cut, your lawn will begin to have the stripes like a baseball field.