What's your opinion?

[Steve]

I was sent an email from a new lco who was having a very hard time getting new customers. Here is my view and please tell me yours. If you are starting a LCO from scratch and you are doing a lot of sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. Why not do this. Why not make up a flyer with an expiration date that says I will mow your lawn for free. Just pay me for the gas money. Then if you like how good of a job I can do, please hire me to continue mowing your lawn in the future. Do you think it's a good idea to try and maximize your time in that manner? Please tell me why you are for this idea or against it.

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I like the idea, but I would be afraid at the number of people that would take advantage of it. I ran into a problem like this when I first started out, before I had contracts. A customer contacted wanted to know if I could mow their lawn, it hadn't been mowed in about a month. I went over there and it was a huge job. I told the guy that if he wanted me to maintain his lawn for the rest of the year, I would give him a break on the price. He agreed (and of course no contract was signed). Well, I finished the lawn and it looked great, and give him a heck of a deal. The next day I get a phone call from him telling me that he no longer needs my service, he can mow it himself now. Talk about a kick in the groin area :blush:

[Steve]

That is the downfall of offering this.

However on the flipside, would you say this was an important learning experience for you that helped you grow?

Do LCOs just starting out need to learn these lessons as well?

[kc2006]

If you were to say "let me do it for gas" or however you'd put it, and most would be about $5 then only...I wouldn't feel so bad about people taking advantage of it then, because your really not losing anything. At that point you don't have any other work to do so your time isn't of high value and your expenses are paid (For the most part). But if you did lots for free I could see how you'd lose alot of money fast.

[Steve]

I think what's important when you get started is getting your name out. It's going to cost you one way or another. Either in money or time. If you have no money, you can still take advantage of your time.

That's the thought at least.