How to compete?

[smallstripeslawncare]

Originally Posted by BelleCityLawn1 I wish I could cut all year! The monthly set price is actually a good idea. The best thing to do with the cheaper jobs is to bid them normally. Make everything looks professional as usual and let the FBN screw themselves over. I have landed several jobs just because I "spelled all my words correctly and showed exactly what services were needed and how much they cost." It can be a funny market out there! Thank you, Tim Oezer Belle City Lawn Care, LLC I'm not sure all the guys popping up are FBN guys. A lot of them have wright standers, ztr's, and commercial walk behinds and signs on their SUV's, small trucks, etc...I'm just hoping that they don't care about lawn care and do a bad job so the customers eventually figure out that they should go with someone like us that care and enjoy lawn care.

[dougcaskey]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by smallstripeslawncare I'm not sure all the guys popping up are FBN guys. A lot of them have wright standers, ztr's, and commercial walk behinds and signs on their SUV's, small trucks, etc...I'm just hoping that they don't care about lawn care and do a bad job so the customers eventually figure out that they should go with someone like us that care and enjoy lawn care. Keep a watch on craigslist and you will see them trying to sell the eguipment come july because they are way over their heads in debt..lol... Happens every year....Some idiot will go out and spend thousands of dollars getting the best of everything and soon reality smacks him square in the face ...... Do a good job and the good customers will find you

[LawnBoy0311]

Originally Posted by dougcaskey

Keep a watch on craigslist and you will see them trying to sell the eguipment come july because they are way over their heads in debt..lol...

Happens every year....Some idiot will go out and spend thousands of dollars getting the best of everything and soon reality smacks him square in the face ......

Do a good job and the good customers will find you

That reminds me of a guy posting ALL of his close to BRAND NEW equipment for sale. I wish I lived closer and had the money and I would have done it! Brand new Kubota ZTR, trimmers, blowers, trailer, walk behind....at the very end of the ad he said he had to get out of the business.

[smallstripeslawncare]

That is true. I've seen a lot of guys selling off whole rigs on craigslist before. Usually they all say they're getting out of the lawn business. I do see some that have 5 of the same mower and say they're selling because they've upgraded or got a newer model now them are probably bigger business's that really are upgrading.

Thanks for helping me keep me head up! Its really discouraging riding around seeing tons of lawn guys and knowing that the area is getting flooded with lawn care guys. Hopefully by keeping my quality high and once the season starts some of the neighbors will get on board if they see me out mowing and the FBN guys will disappear.

I notice you always say do good work well of course lawn care isn't brain surgery but the things I always make sure to do is have perfect stripes and I cut different directions each week. I never blow the clippings into the beds, make sure no ruts or turn marks, blades sharp, decks always leveled correctly, and I always cut the right height for the grass type. Edging I always make sure to have perfect edge and not have a gap bigger than .95 trimmer line. I always blow the clippings out of the edge, blow off the road in front of the property and blow it back into the lawn not in the road like I see lots of guys doing. I always blow off the sides of the house if there's no hedges or anything and any playsets and stuff I blow off the slides, etc...Would you say this is keeping quality up? I know the FBN guys and even some of the big companys with crews don't do half of the stuff I do.

[wandfsmall]

Lawn care is a cheap business to start but it takes a lot of business know how to make living wage. I have seen the guys that start with $500 worth of equipment and those start with $100,000 or even more in equipment. It seems you have to both keep your bills low by starting with what you have as well as be intelligent enough to know when to upgrade your equipment so you can improve your profit margins. And you have to be willing to work hard, and buy smart to keep the quality and business image to keep and get more customers.

[paramountlawn]

After working in the industry for 5 years now, I have seen many come and go. One of the major aspects I've noticed and I now put into practice even being a single operator, is how you dress. I understand that it gets hot and humid, but put a shirt on. lol. I've seen to many FBN people working with no shirts and pants hanging off their butts. This is a major turn off for clients. I have lost one client because of this. Former helper wearing a shirt that looked like it was used to pick up an oil spill, pants hanging down, and wearing sandals. I did not get to see it till after the employee came back to the house to drop off equipment.

From that day my helpers only dress the part. If they dont, they are gone.

[dougcaskey]

Originally Posted by smallstripeslawncare

That is true. I've seen a lot of guys selling off whole rigs on craigslist before. Usually they all say they're getting out of the lawn business. I do see some that have 5 of the same mower and say they're selling because they've upgraded or got a newer model now them are probably bigger business's that really are upgrading.

Thanks for helping me keep me head up! Its really discouraging riding around seeing tons of lawn guys and knowing that the area is getting flooded with lawn care guys. Hopefully by keeping my quality high and once the season starts some of the neighbors will get on board if they see me out mowing and the FBN guys will disappear.

I notice you always say do good work well of course lawn care isn't brain surgery but the things I always make sure to do is have perfect stripes and I cut different directions each week. I never blow the clippings into the beds, make sure no ruts or turn marks, blades sharp, decks always leveled correctly, and I always cut the right height for the grass type. Edging I always make sure to have perfect edge and not have a gap bigger than .95 trimmer line. I always blow the clippings out of the edge, blow off the road in front of the property and blow it back into the lawn not in the road like I see lots of guys doing. I always blow off the sides of the house if there's no hedges or anything and any playsets and stuff I blow off the slides, etc...Would you say this is keeping quality up? I know the FBN guys and even some of the big companys with crews don't do half of the stuff I do.

Your right....Lawn mowing is not brain surgery :eek

What I have found over the years is that customers will notice the little things that you do for them that maybe not connected to your business...

Some things like...On garbage collection day...put the garbage cans back in place for them, if the news paper is in the driveway...Put it on the porch...Many guys want to get in and get out as quickly as possible so they would never think of these little things, but seriously how long did that little extra cost you maybe 2 minutes

Good luck this year...I wish you the best.....

[jsslawncare]

Originally Posted by smallstripeslawncare

I'm located in Charlotte, NC and have been in business two years now. The competition is getting worse every year. I constantly see mini vans pulling walk behinds with signs saying "$20 lawn service", etc...So I know they're all lawn care business's and I even see tons that are probably lawn business's but just don't have a sign on their vehicle.

After talking to a few guys I've ran into filling up at the gas station I can clearly see the reasons so many people start up a lawn care business. Its a relatively low cost business to start. A used walk behind, trimmer, blower and even use the wifes SUV to haul it all is pretty easy on the wallet. Getting a DBA doesn't run that high and its overall a simple business to start.

With gas prices on the rise and the crazy amount of competition how can I compete?

Just do good work at fair pricing. You will see fewer and fewer as it gets hotter. They have few customer's, not enough for pay plus fuel. I see it year after year.

[smallstripeslawncare]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees the tons of lawn guys popping up. Your right about dressing halfway decently. Usually my clients aren't home because they're at work but I do see their neighbors home every now and then and I'm sure they'd happily tell my client if I was shirtless and looked like a bum with a mower lol.

My father is a machine operator in a factory and he says half of the guys he works with do lawn care either before work (He works second shift so in the AM) or on the weekends. I'm sure some of the guys I'm seeing are doing the same. I don't work weekends and most of my clients say they pay me to cut the lawn so they never have to see or hear a mower and they like it that way so I'm sure they wouldn't hire a guy who only cuts on the weekends.

I have a lot invested in my business and the thing is I actually love what I do. From loading up the truck to laying down beautiful stripes to edging and trimming etc...I don't love the running over dog do do though. I guess thats why I'm solo because I can't stand someone else doing it besides me lol plus having employee's is a headache in my opinion. But the point is so many do lawn care because its an easy business to get into but the majority don't even like it or care about lawn care and really don't know what their doing.

[jasonw]

This is a very interesting topic. Over the past 2 season I have gotten little to NO calls. I always wandered if people were tightening up because of the economy and just doing it themselves or maybe there is a truck of people out there doing it for half the price. I may never know but I do know it is nearly March and I am getting ready for my day job, No lawn care scheduled or planned for this year.