Need Some Advice

[GreenBlue]

I have been doing alot of research and its not going to be easy where I live to try and get certified to offer fertilizer application to customers. So since I am a newbie, I want to know can you still operate a successful lawn service by not offering fertilizing to customers? This puts a huge damper in my plans and sort of has me second guessing myself because of the unknown, so any help and advice is greatly appreciated.

[wat5150]

Lawn care business tips

Of course you can run a successful lawn biz without fertilizer. Besides mowing you could mulch, edge, install flower beds, trim and plant shrubbery, learn how to work with pavers and do that, pressure wash. I mean the list goes on and on. Get your feet wet with a few of the standard services then if your doing ok and want to get certified for fert then go for it.

[Hedgemaster]

Depends on who your clients are.

[mike affordable]

you can also go with organic fertilizer.im doing my reserch on it now .think i will be offering it this year. good luck!!

[Steve]

You can't do everything right out of the gate. Most things need to be scaled up. You learn as you go and you can expand the services you offer.

Do what you can do now with what you have. Learn more as you go and grow when opportunities arise.

[GreenBlue]

Originally Posted by Steve

You can't do everything right out of the gate. Most things need to be scaled up. You learn as you go and you can expand the services you offer.

Do what you can do now with what you have. Learn more as you go and grow when opportunities arise.

That's the plan, I just wanted some advice, because alot of competitors offer fertilizing. But yes I am only starting out with mowing, edging, spring/fall cleanups, gutter cleaning, and flower bed maintenance, might do a little bush/shrub/small tree pruning, but not sure if its worth the time and trouble on that.

[warbuff]

Originally Posted by Steve

You can't do everything right out of the gate. Most things need to be scaled up. You learn as you go and you can expand the services you offer.

Do what you can do now with what you have. Learn more as you go and grow when opportunities arise.

Sub and mark up jobs your uncomfortable with when you can. You can pick up a lot of tricks by watching others work too...

[Steve]

I really don't think the fertilizer work will be that big of a deal as far as effecting your growth. There are plenty of other services you can offer that will make you good money without the need of the fert license.

[GreenBlue]

Originally Posted by Steve

I really don't think the fertilizer work will be that big of a deal as far as effecting your growth. There are plenty of other services you can offer that will make you good money without the need of the fert license.

Thanks Steve. Just means alot to me and when I found that out it was like a smack in the face, but I appreciate everyone reassuring me of other services and how not offering fertilizing won't affect growth, that's a big relief.

[Steve]

You are welcome.

You never know what will or won't work in your area. This applies to services to offer, marketing methods or whatever. It is all based on what the local market is doing.

If no one offers service X and you do, then you can charge more for it and make a good living at it.

If everyone is offering service X, you want to look for something else they are missing and they are always missing something.

When it comes to marketing, if no one is advertising in craigslist, then you should advertise in craigslist. But if everyone and their grandmother is using it, look for another method that allows you to stand out. There will always be other ways to stand out.

We can provide you with a lot of ideas to try, but you will just never know what will work until you experiment with it in your market.

Keep us posted