Great Advice!!!!

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Hey guys found this on another forum and figured i'd pass it on. I think its great advice How to Improve Your Work Place... ******************************************************************************** This is a Message I want to get across, I have a Great & Wonderful Audience! I will be Changing this Mile Longer, Editing & adding to it as I see fit on a Hourly - Daily Basis! "Concentrating on Helping Others at all Cost & Making a Few Bucks along the way!"... You know things are a lot different than they were 20 Years ago... Thank God, Al Gore, Bill Gate$, Micro$oft, My Wife, Family, Friends & the Countless 1000's that have Helped me in the Past, Present & Future! We now have the Internet, which if used properly, can Help us all. When I was in the business (Star date late 80's) we didn't have a Wonderful Business Tool like these forums & it was much tougher to learn then. Trust me it was very hard on me. Failure was how I learned mainly, because only a few were there Helping & I appreciated every damn minute of it! Things are different now. But 1 thing I always did & still do it NOW! I always tried to communicate & stay on good terms with my competition. I Helped them & they Helped me. It was a Win Win Situation for both of us! Just think about this... What if we tried harder to Help others in the Business & I mean go above and beyond the call of duty. WE can get a lot more done, if we offer to Help others. Why? What if you Talked, Helped & Worked with just 2 or 3 others in your area, maybe 1 is in your eyes as good as you, (maybe Better than you) the other 2 are what you call Scrubs, Low Ballers or Beginners? What if after communicating with these 3 people, the one guy as good as you or better, decides he can't handle no more work & he sends you just a couple of possible Potential Clients? What if the other 2, that you consider NON Professionals or Beginners, learned from you & decided they better raise their prices, so they can get a truck or trailer like yours... Everybody wants to do better, some don't know better & others will never figure it out unless you Help them? Think about it? How Many Times Could You Have Used Some Good Advice? What if those same 2 NON Professionals or Beginners, not only raised their service fees, but also decided that they had a few jobs come their way, that they couldn't handle, because the job was too big, not enough equipment, not enough employees or maybe they don't want to grow their business anymore & they... Send you a few jobs each? Think about it Now & Think hard about what has just happened? You now have 3 more people on your side, they are sending you work, some of them learned quick that they need to raise their fees & their Work Standards! This is a Win Win Situation for all of you... What if those same 3 people, decide that they need to do the same thing you are doing & they decide to do the same thing with others, because of it Helping all involved so much! Wouldn't you like to be in this Group of People? Hell Ya I would & I would Love every Minute of it! $$$$$ This is How you can Make a Difference & all it will do is... #1. Fatten Your Wallet! #2. Improve your Work Environment! #3. Raise the Green Industry $tandards! #4. LOL, Remove more less desirables off of the Street! #5. Bring You the Best Business Partners that you could only Dream of! And Last but Not Least... Make You One Damn Good Business Person! I promise you Success will Follow! It's a Known Fact, Because I've Been Thar & Don't That. I still do it Today & it's Really made a difference in my Life! Always do this, Every Morning when you wake up, look in the Mirror & Say... I'm sure glad I made it through those first few Years & I'm going to do Everything I can to Make Sure Nobody else has to Go Through that Again... What can I do to Improve My Life & Help Others while doing so! I do this every day & I'm Living Proof it Works! You think I'm Wrong, Not Quite because I have 1,000's that will disagree with you on the Internet alone... I have 100's locally that are my Advocate & I'm theirs, they Know it! One Last Thing Consider this, If you Tried this & just a few others followed in your foot steps, in just a matter of a few years, you could easily see a 10% to 20% change in Pricing & Professionalism in your area. This is what it's all about! Oh Yeah, I just noticed, some of you think I might be Crazy or Just Placing Myself on a Tall Podium or Pedestal, Well... I most Certainly Am & You Know What, It's got Plenty of Standing Room up here for 1,000's more, Watch that First Step, Here Let me Help You Up Here! There's Plenty others up here Now, Let me Introduce you to the others that were up here & this is the Guy that Helped me get up here! (GRINNING) You will also run across some Horses Asses, Back Stabbers, Cheap People & Bla Bla Bla along the way, but as in anything else in real life, the percentage of them is very small... Without them, we would just be another person trying to make a Living so I want to say Thanks A Million to all of them, because without them, I wouldn't look as Good as I do Now! (Bragging) PS: I know I've said this a 1000 times but... The Boy with the Most Toys doesn't always Win... It's the Man that has the Most Show up at his Funeral! What a Great way to Exit the Great Planet Earth!

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

How do you feel that advice has changed what you do? What did you get most out of it?

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You know Steve it kinda takes me back to when I was a little boy and my brother and I were fighting over a toy and she told us to share. I think its a great idea and it will actually help all of us who do it in the long run. It's kinda like parents if your on the same page your better off but when your not you struggle more. I've actually talked to a few businesses around my area and we have a great relationship. Heck one of my competetiors is my best friend.

[Steve]

I think that is a very good point. What do you think you have learned most from talking to others in your area that own similar businesses?

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I think the best things i know now from talking to others is what we offer is a little different and some things are the same. Thos things really depend on how busy you are. The people who don't have alot of customers might try to expand and do more things to try to get those customers. The other thing that helped out was the pricing. Everyone who I've talked to is within $5 apart on hourly and min charges for grass. My friend and I talk all the time about different jobs. we always help each other ou and compare bids. we try to keep our prices the same that way if the customer tries to go anywhere they get the same thing.

[Steve]

The other thing that helped out was the pricing. Everyone who I've talked to is within $5 apart on hourly and min charges for grass. My friend and I talk all the time about different jobs. we always help each other ou and compare bids. we try to keep our prices the same that way if the customer tries to go anywhere they get the same thing.

When you were getting started, how much do you feel you were off in your pricing compared to now that you were able to improve on because of talking about pricing?

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I was off about $10 when I first started but I wasn't really aware of the overhead. As soon as I talked to my buddy and asked him how much he was charging he told me well it really depends on you overhead but i'm charging at that time $50. But like I told you him and I talk all the time and compare prices and jobs they way we stay close. Were almost like a mini union for landscaping

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Heres on of my biggest competitors but its also a blessing. Because I get alot of work from them too. http://www.sposatolandscape.com/

[Steve]

Heres on of my biggest competitors but its also a blessing. Because I get alot of work from them too.

Very neat! Do you have an open line of communication with them? How did you start to receive work from them and how can other lawn care business owners set themselves up where they can get work from others in the local industry?

Also what kind of work do they send you?

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I don't really talk to them but we get alot of what I would call the back flow. Sometimes they just get to many people call and they cant handle them all so they pass them on. Also theres some customers that cant afford them so they go to other places