Hello from Canada

[Ducke]

Hi My name is Graham but I go By Ducke (pronounced Ducky). I have been in the lawn care biz for 5 years now full time working for someone else.(Weed Man ). I have decided it is time to make some Money for myself and not for someone else. So I welcome any imput that anyone has to make about starting out and I'm sorry now if I seem to ask too mant questions

[fieroboi]

Lawn care business tips

Welcome Ducke, I'm sure you will find things here very helpful. I certainly did and continue to do so. Steve and so many others are very knowledgeable and insightful. You ask about start up costs. My biggest piece of advice would be to stay away from any debt getting started. I struggled at first, but it sure has paid off. Wishing you well with your endeavor. Lloyd Blue's YardFX Camrose, Alberta

[Steve]

Hi Ducke,

Welcome to our forum!

Working with that company for 5 years must have been quite an experience. How involved did you have to get in acquiring new customers?

Did they provide you with much training on that topic or no?

[Ducke]

Originally Posted by Steve

Hi Ducke,

Welcome to our forum!

Working with that company for 5 years must have been quite an experience. How involved did you have to get in acquiring new customers?

Did they provide you with much training on that topic or no?

In my time with them I have done sales as well as Teching.
I have had quite a bit of training with the application side as well as small equipment repair, I have Fertalized Limed Pestiside and herbicide applications
Aeration's Lawn renos as well as Top Dress and over seed.

[Local Edge Lawn Care]

Welcome ducke, You found an awesome lawn care forum for sure.. Some of the conversations can be a lot of fun and great advice.. steve has done a great job putting this together for sure..


Whats the population where your at? what kind of competition? are you looking to just start up lawn fertilization or lawn care as well?

[Ducke]

Originally Posted by Local Edge Lawn Care

Welcome ducke, You found an awesome lawn care forum for sure.. Some of the conversations can be a lot of fun and great advice.. steve has done a great job putting this together for sure..


Whats the population where your at? what kind of competition? are you looking to just start up lawn fertilization or lawn care as well?

Where I'm located Dartmouth Nova Scotia the Population is approx 101,500
and we are part of the Municipality of Halifax Region which has a Population of approx 398,000. As for competition there are a few Big Guns in town Nutra Lawn, Weed Man, Lawn Ranger etc. plus there are a few big Landscape companies But as for small lawn care individuals the local yellow pages list 45 companies The Registry of Joint Stock has a list of 500 companies of which only 52 are active.
There is a demand for the services the major companies here have to turn down little jobs as they just don't have the manpower to do them, I even know some of the owners and they have told me that if i get thing up and going they will send some of their over flow my way.

[Steve]

In my time with them I have done sales as well as Teching.

With all of your sales experience, do you have 5 top tips lawn care business owners should do to improve their sales?

Or maybe even 5 things you should avoid doing when putting on your sales presentation?

[Ducke]

With all of your sales experience, do you have 5 top tips lawn care business owners should do to improve their sales?

Or maybe even 5 things you should avoid doing when putting on your sales presentation?

Well In my Opinion and its only my Opinion 5 Things you should Do/not do are.

1) Appearance No one wants to hire someone who looks like a street bum. Take a few minutes and dust your self off You don't need to wear a suit and tie but you should show Pride in you appearance it shows you care.
Customers will pick up on the fact that you care about your appearance and that of your truck or car then you will care about your work and how their lawn looks.

2) Be on time and if you are going to be late call and let them know.
Nothing will turn a customer off if your late and they don't know why They will wonder if you will show up to mow their lawn on time or miss weeks etc.

3) Be pleasant listen to what the customer wants let them show you around
compliment them on their gardens etc. People will be more open to a friendly
fun person then a rude rushed sales person.

4) Don't use Trade Jargon (Fert , App, etc.) This just makes the customer feel dumb because they don't know what you are talking about be precise and clear with your lawn care terms.use terms everyone knows Fertilizer, Application, Spreader etc.

5) Know your Products and Services Don't over or under sell them. Most customers know more then they let on or can look up what you tell them on the Internet You do not want to get caught in a lie. You also don't want to look inept on a lawn when you can't tell them what it is that your putting on their lawn Ah ah ah ah is NOT a intelligent answer.

Sales are easy Be yourself neat clean pleasant and knowledgeable.
have fun and your business will grow.

Graham
Ducke's Yard Services

[picframer]

Originally Posted by Ducke

Where I'm located Dartmouth Nova Scotia the Population is approx 101,500
and we are part of the Municipality of Halifax Region which has a Population of approx 398,000. As for competition there are a few Big Guns in town Nutra Lawn, Weed Man, Lawn Ranger etc. plus there are a few big Landscape companies But as for small lawn care individuals the local yellow pages list 45 companies The Registry of Joint Stock has a list of 500 companies of which only 52 are active.
There is a demand for the services the major companies here have to turn down little jobs as they just don't have the manpower to do them, I even know some of the owners and they have told me that if i get thing up and going they will send some of their over flow my way.

I would encourage you to test the market to find business before you start buying equipment, I am located about 15 min from you and we do a fair amount of excavation/landscaping in Dartmouth/Cole Harbour. While we do spray Organics in your area it can be tough to market starting out (we have around 97 residential in Dartmouth), lawn mowing - you will discover more unregistered companies than registered and they work for next to nothing, good money in Silviculture and wood chipping, start up cost for this service about $30,000, pressure washing is a very busy part of our business and not a large start up cost, excavation and landscaping are the biggest for me.

[Ducke]

Originally Posted by picframer

I would encourage you to test the market to find business before you start buying equipment, I am located about 15 min from you and we do a fair amount of excavation/landscaping in Dartmouth/Cole Harbour. While we do spray Organics in your area it can be tough to market starting out (we have around 97 residential in Dartmouth), lawn mowing - you will discover more unregistered companies than registered and they work for next to nothing, good money in Silviculture and wood chipping, start up cost for this service about $30,000, pressure washing is a very busy part of our business and not a large start up cost, excavation and landscaping are the biggest for me.

Thanks for the heads up one thing for sure I do not want to step on anyone's toes.
As for equipment I have most everything I need to start out and then I would add as needed, I'm not looking to get into the heavy stuff like excavation or big landscaping. I kind of plan to start small and then go from there. Mow some lawns trim some hedges weed flower beds edge, trim do a little pruning, Yard clean up, snow blowing service, leaf vac etc...