what should i include

[bobcat32]

hi there every one, just another new guy here. im trying to bring in some xtra income to help out with my newborn son and ive decided to try and start my own thing on the side. my question is what is everybody icluding in there residential customers mowing. so far i just mow,trim and blow off sidewalks ect. but its been a month since ive needed to mow, not much income coming in with the few clients i have.. should i change up my service to a flat mnth fee and iclude cleaning up things such as branches,blowing leaves out of beds and so on. i dnt want to cheat my customer with a full month of mows when my blades wont even touch the lawn 3 out of 4 wks .. if sum1 could please help... thank u

[HPI_Savage25]

Lawn care business tips

The way I do all of my yards is pretty much if I show up, then the yard gets cut. I may not edge or weed eat everytime depending on how it looks. I do try and at least run the weed eater in the key areas (each yard is different). I am the one that always runs the Walker mower so if I have a worker for the day I either pick out some shrubs that need trimming or a bed blown out or just find something to get done. Also think about upsells. Mulch, pinestraw, gutter cleaning, etc. If I see something that I can make a few bucks off of, I don't mind offering it to the customer.

[dougcaskey]

Gutter cleaning and or powerwashing are great add ons......I bought a nice commercial grade Karcher washer in the spring and it paid for itself in the fist two weeks...

[xandrew245x]

I mow, trim edge and blow off everything. I only edge every other week, and I only trim what is really needed.

Try to sell them on other things such as mulch, cleanup, gutter cleaning, hedge trimming, anything they possibly need done.


I see a lot of people getting their houses pressure washed, I think thats something I'm going to look into next year as well.

As for the monthly flat fee, I would say maybe try to sell them on some kind of contract where you service their lawn x amount a times a month for x amount of money, that way your still getting income regardless if the lawn really needed mowed or not. Alot of people will wait until their grass really needs mowed, remember you are only supposed to cut 1/3 of the grass height to keep it healthy.

[bobcat32]

i have tried to do the power washing on homes, but the power washer i have is just a cheap craftsman 2300psi 1, i did some door hanging for power washing the other day on a trailer park that has appearance requirements. im hoping i can get some jobs lined up there so i can upgrade to a better unit. i got a late start in the season (3 wks ago). ive been dropping of business cards and flyers at every corner market and in the club houses of some high end golf courses trying to juvinate business. everyone i talk to i treat as a future client. its just a slow year here. people are askn alot for bushhoggn though

[sunsetlandscaping]

Originally Posted by bobcat32

hi there every one, just another new guy here. im trying to bring in some xtra income to help out with my newborn son and ive decided to try and start my own thing on the side. my question is what is everybody icluding in there residential customers mowing. so far i just mow,trim and blow off sidewalks ect. but its been a month since ive needed to mow, not much income coming in with the few clients i have.. should i change up my service to a flat mnth fee and iclude cleaning up things such as branches,blowing leaves out of beds and so on. i dnt want to cheat my customer with a full month of mows when my blades wont even touch the lawn 3 out of 4 wks .. if sum1 could please help... thank u

I hear ya buddy. I have a 6 month old, and finding work in your first year is tough. I almost always advertise in the paper. I will be in the phone book in Sept. so maybe that will bring in some leaf clean ups. I only have a handful of regulars, and they are all 2 week mows because the soil is s%$tty here. The regulars I do have live out of town, so I only get the money every month.

[bobcat32]

yea right now here in central oh the grass isnt growing so well so every1 wants to just call me when they need a mow. but hey its better than nothing i guess. they have neighbors and those neighbors have neighbors so itll get better. ive got less than a grand in evrything, a 5x10 trailer, a bobcat walk behind, push mower, trimmer an blower and the truck. i didnt want any overhead