New business quickly growing

Hi, my name is Shawn, and I am a 20 year old college student who started my own lawn care business to help pay for college. I had 45 weekly accounts last year, and am hoping to get 60-70 this year. I offer a lot of the main services such as mowing, weed whipping, clearing off sidewalk, edging, aerating, dethatching, spring & fall clean-ups, brush removal, trimming hedges, etc. I also sub contract out my weed control and fertilizing as well as my stump grinding and tree trimming. This year I am hoping to expand the services I provide by also specializing in 'pet waste removal' ie picking up dog poop. I figure I am already there mowing their lawn anyway, so why not pick up their dogs poop right? The biggest problem I am facing is finding a manager to go mow lawns with my employees, and then it will allow me to spend more time advertising and marketing, and working in the office etc. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Hello and welcome! What kinds of marketing did you do last year to attract so many customers? Was there anything you liked or anything you thought that just should not be repeated?

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Steve,
I ordered a mailing list off of Infousa.com... I also went door to door with door hangers, and I went to the same neighborhoods over and over again. I noticed that I got a lot more calls the 2nd and 3rd time around. I also posted a lot of flyers around grocery stores and coffee shops and gas stations.

[EasyPro]

Originally Posted by IrishGreenLawnCare

Steve,
I ordered a mailing list off of Infousa.com... I also went door to door with door hangers, and I went to the same neighborhoods over and over again. I noticed that I got a lot more calls the 2nd and 3rd time around. I also posted a lot of flyers around grocery stores and coffee shops and gas stations.

Congrats your in the top 10% of business owners. . .

Repetition works!

Hey,
So last year the biggest thing holding me back was that I was doing too many things within my business. Sharpening the blades, changing the oil on my truck and lawn mowers, fixing things when they broke, calling customers back, invoicing, mowing, and going door to door, etc. etc. I need to find a reliable trustworthy manager who can go out with an employee and mow the lawns without me. That way I can spend more time doing the books and staying organized within the business. Does anyone have any advice as to how they found the right people to work for them?

Any advice would be gratly appreciated! Thanks!

-Shawn

[Steve]

I ordered a mailing list off of Infousa.com... I also went door to door with door hangers, and I went to the same neighborhoods over and over again. I noticed that I got a lot more calls the 2nd and 3rd time around. I also posted a lot of flyers around grocery stores and coffee shops and gas stations.

This is fascinating! Nice work! I haven't seen too many members on here using infousa. How did you like working with them? When working with infousa, what would you suggest a new lawn care business owner purchase? How many names would be a good number to start with?

Also, what do you suggest they send out? Postcards, letters?

So last year the biggest thing holding me back was that I was doing too many things within my business. Sharpening the blades, changing the oil on my truck and lawn mowers, fixing things when they broke, calling customers back, invoicing, mowing, and going door to door, etc. etc. I need to find a reliable trustworthy manager who can go out with an employee and mow the lawns without me. That way I can spend more time doing the books and staying organized within the business. Does anyone have any advice as to how they found the right people to work for them?

Any advice would be gratly appreciated! Thanks!

Are you working with anyone now at all? Do you have any staff that helps you either out in the field or in the office? Do you have any family members that can help out in any way?

well I was going to hire someone to be my bookkeeper and do my books because I am not good at getting invoices out on time and what not... but my dad has offered to help and could probably help me with my books, but other than that I dont have any siblings that could help.... My friend Justin has been working for me in the past years and I was going to hire him again this year, but I just don't know if he has the motivation/is responsible enough to go out and mow the lawns with my other employee without me.... He's not as friendly as I am when it comes to talking with customers, and I don't know how good he is with telling what others should do and leading....

[mcarlin]

Well I wish you were in the KC area, I would consider working for you.

[Steve]

I ordered a mailing list off of Infousa.com... I also went door to door with door hangers, and I went to the same neighborhoods over and over again. I noticed that I got a lot more calls the 2nd and 3rd time around. I also posted a lot of flyers around grocery stores and coffee shops and gas stations.

This is fascinating! Nice work! I haven't seen too many members on here using infousa. How did you like working with them? When working with infousa, what would you suggest a new lawn care business owner purchase? How many names would be a good number to start with?

Also, what do you suggest they send out? Postcards, letters?

I am also interested in the Infousa.com sense im looking to get into direct mailing.