Neighborhood Takeover

[Meauxmoney]

Thing I think are not realizing is that being 16 yr old I can't do the same thing that normal lawn care services do to get clients.

[djlandscaping06]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by dougcaskey Don't ever LOW BALL That's the worst business decision you could ever make...If your serious about making a living at this you have to charge to make a profit....By low balling you will also end up with all the wrong kind of customers.... I agree 100%! I have a lot of that going on in my area and when I first started I did some myself just to try and get business. The worst thing was I got some of them jobs and turned out by low balling I was losing money and was not worth it. As dougcaskey said we are in the business to make a profit not to lose money. Don't do it anymore they either take my price or they can move on. Don't mean to be mean but that is the nature of the business. You just keeping doing it the right way and business will come your way!

[Steve]

when I first started I did some myself just to try and get business. The worst thing was I got some of them jobs and turned out by low balling I was losing money and was not worth it.

How did you ultimately handle these situations to turn them around or did you have to drop the customer?

[LawnCareMan280]

If you do your pricing right and do a quality job and take your time. That's how I got my accounts.

[danamalon68]

Do a quality job and gain people's trust. Get to know your neighbors/customers on a personal level. I try to greet them by their first name if appropriate. I have been servicing just my neighborhood of about 120 homes for 4 years now. I work a full time 6 day/week job and I do the lawn care on the side. I have used Vistaprint each of the last 4 years and it works great for me. I use magnet advertising from them and place them on mailboxes 2 weeks prior to mowing season. I also advertise for free on our neighborhood Facebook page. Great exposure and it's free! The first year I had about 6 customers and this past year it grew to a high of 18-19. I live in a military town, so customers come and go. The good thing is, not all residents have mowers and a lot of people rent.

[LawnBoy0311]

One HUGE problem with lowballing is chasing yourself to catch up. Here is what I mean:

Prior advice to you was saying to lowball to get customers. He says his business blew up that way. Lets say you do the same. You cut prices to gain customers, and in return, customers refer you to friends and family. All is well, your making money and your business is growing.

Here is where the problems comes in. You cut your prices to the point where you will be losing money. You won't be able to pay for things to be fixed if they brake....this WILL put you out of business. Eventually you will realize you have to raise prices, but the damage is done. Your current customers are referring you BASED ON YOUR PRICE. Your deadlocked because you can't raise prices.

Here is what I would not consider lowballing. A local company charges $35 per mow, and you quote them as $30 per mow. The reason you can cut by $5 is because you have no overhead. I'm assuming at your age your parents are paying the bills for you.

Charge at a reasonable rate and do quality work. I'd say by 18 or 19 you'll have a nice company going for you.

[Steve]

I use magnet advertising from them and place them on mailboxes 2 weeks prior to mowing season.

How many of these do you get printed? Do you put them out to everyone you want to service or just to customers from your previous year? Also do you do anything specific on the magnet to get the customer to sign up or do you keep it to just have your business name and contact information on it?

[LawnBoy0311]

From what I understood placing things on or in a mailbox is illegal. Anyone know if magnets are ok?

[jymie]

Best place for magnets is on metal doors

[MontanaBob]

Originally Posted by dougcaskey

Don't ever LOW BALL

That's the worst business decision you could ever make...If your serious about making a living at this you have to charge to make a profit....By low balling you will also end up with all the wrong kind of customers....

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