Two Pronged Assault

[afpettijohns]

Originally Posted by LuckyImage I like where you are going with it. How do you profit doing free fertilizing and overseeding?? and those prices may be a little too low unless I can get several in each subdivision. And are you not having a problem with door to door advertising right now? I'm getting a lot of complaints from people who are overwhelmed with all these start up companies and want us to stop advertising all together like that. And I do have a lot of people that have sprinkler systems around here that ask about that, but I dont have a lot of experience with it. where did you learn to repair and install them? First, as a salesman (and you have to be a salesman) look at every door slammed as a learning experience. Sprinklers are simple beasts, repairing them is even easier. I started with being a cheap monkey and installing my own. I have a mobile home with a four station automated sprinkler/microsprinkler system that only cost me about $700, I would have charged a client over $2000 for it and done it in a day. Go to Home Depot and bug the poop out of there staff to help you figure it all out. lol (worked for Home Depot for a bit, you gotta be annoying for me, pleeeessseeee!)

[afpettijohns]

Lawn care business tips

This is a longer view. Now there has to be a head man, no partnerships, I think partnerships are bad. Every decision goes to the discussion floor for approval. No, one boss. Okay, you are a one man crew. You get busy enough to warrant paying someone a very very modest income so you can take on more work. Then you buy a new truck, $2000 toyota with the basic equipment for your mow and blows. You focus on the premium clients and fill your time (if any) helping with the mow and blows. The other, the mow and blow meets you in the middle and helps you with the premiums if he ends earlier than you. Then you take on more work, always training and looking for the next premium forman and mow and blow formans. Each will have different qualities and you have to look at a new truck only making you a few buck bottom line profit every day. Including all costs (which intails $for the next crew) you make $10 for the day then it's worth it thats an extra $300 a month per crew. Hopefully more. Focusing on always expanding to the next truck, the next crew and so on. An always moving business is never boring. I know what you mean by not wanting to go to work that day. I've put off clients till the next day when I started only 3 months ago but I'm over that. Schedules have to be kept, clients need to know your reliable, honest and dedicated or none of them will be premium clients. Thank you very much for this insight, it helps me so much. Originally Posted by CHEESE2009 I have thought about this a lot. I think I have a post on this forum from way back with the same idea. I'd like to see the responses! //////////////////////////////////////////// The problem all comes down to time, and man power. Being solo, it's almost impossible to offer detailed work/upsells while offering basic mowings - you'd be too busy. With two guys you can think of two possibilities. 1. A two man crew, double the speed - work together on everything. Pros: *You cut the time in half per job. Your morale is higher. Cons: *The days are a few hours longer. (You are taking on more work) 2. 1 man per crew, one focuses on mowing - the other on odd jobs (gardens, gutters, etc) Pros: *You are able to cater to all of your customers needs. Cons: *You tend to procrastinate knowing you are alone for each job. *Each job takes a pretty long time. *There is no one to "socialize" with. ///////////////////////////// I would say that separating the man power might be a good move for the business, but the next best thing would be to hire two extra men to assist in each crew to make each job smooth and less stressful. When I see my daily schedule "20 lawns, 2 gutter jobs, 2 gardens" - If I don't have someone to assist me and depend on - I tend to stress out. When I'm done my lawns, I don't wanna have that "gotta go back to work" feeling! Doing a job you don't want to do sucks - two people doing a job they don't want to do is FUN.

[afpettijohns]

Your point is to get so much work in a single subdivision that your mow and blow crew is carrying the equipment to the next job. One big lawn. Dominate the neighborhood. Give a free months service if a refferal stays with you for three months. What ever it takes, if you do the job the customer can be happy with then you have a customer for years.

Free Fertilizing and over seeding? That is in the wording and a little bit sneaky. You are doing the fertilizing and over seeding for free, that's the labor it takes to put it on there lawn. You charge a modest price for the materials (materials plus a small margin of profit). If you put down a modest amount of materials, say $2.50 then charge them $5. There lawn will benefit from it, you make a tiny profit on 100 mow and blows and it takes minutes to hand toss it on there lawns every 3 months. But to be honest? the mow and blows won't even notice if they where missed. They don't care.

Originally Posted by LuckyImage

I like where you are going with it. How do you profit doing free fertilizing and overseeding?? and those prices may be a little too low unless I can get several in each subdivision. And are you not having a problem with door to door advertising right now? I'm getting a lot of complaints from people who are overwhelmed with all these start up companies and want us to stop advertising all together like that. And I do have a lot of people that have sprinkler systems around here that ask about that, but I dont have a lot of experience with it. where did you learn to repair and install them?

[afpettijohns]

The third man would be a floater. Depending on demand he would work with either you or your brother. When you have enough work to hire 2 floaters then you start looking at them for being the next foreman, a third truck. If neither fit the bill? fire one and hire another until you find the next foreman. You pay a worker $75-$100 a day, you pay a foreman $100 to $125 a day. Until you can afford your brother? He works for Free, LOL! Mine does.

Originally Posted by LuckyImage

all those facts are true. and if it got to that point for me, "too busy", then I could hire two guys, one to work with me and one to work with my brother. that way I have constant supervisors on the jobs and double the labor. He works just as hard and diligently as I do, so I know that could be a success. And there are a lot of landscapers or just plain laborers available down here, I think would easily be able to help me pull it together. right now with as scarce as the work is out here, I would love that problem.