Howdy ya'll

[mmaston01]

I just wanted to say a quick hello to everyone. My name is Mary and my husband and I just recently "re started" our business.Things are finally starting to pick up a bit. I have to say, out of all the jobs I've had, this is definately the most strenuous, but also the most rewarding. We both worked for TruGreen for a number of years, and decided that we were tired of company politics and wanted to try it on our own. I think the thing I like the most is being our own bosses and not having to report to someone else, or requesting time off for sick kids, etc. Hope everyone has a busy and prosperous year!! Mary

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Hi Mary, Welcome to our forum! You mentioned that you just re-started your business. How did you like the experience of starting your business the first time? What did you feel you learned from that experience that you have been able to apply to this startup?

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[mmaston01]

Steve,

The first time around, I was mostly the "cheerleader" and wasn't able to really help all that much with the actual work, but I did generate several leads and jobs for my husband. He had over 20 accounts and was doing all the work himself, while working a regular 40 hour/week job. The money was rolling in and everything was great. I think once summer was over, he was just ready to relax and take some well deserved time off. I think he didn't really take it as seriously then as he does now, it was just something to do to earn some extra cash (we had a baby on the way at the time). I plan on being more involved this time with the actual labor since I have time to do it now.
One thing I have noticed around my area is that people expect the service to be outstanding and want alot of "extras", but aren't really willing to pay for it-this is something we have encountered on more than one occasion. My husband being the kind of person he is, is always willing to go the extra mile, but sometimes I feel that he almost gives his services away. I plan to make use of alot of the tools on the website to see if we can get on track and stay on track this time- I wish I would have found your website years ago, we would most likely be more established. Any advice you have for us would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mary

[Steve]

One thing I have noticed around my area is that people expect the service to be outstanding and want alot of "extras", but aren't really willing to pay for it-this is something we have encountered on more than one occasion. My husband being the kind of person he is, is always willing to go the extra mile, but sometimes I feel that he almost gives his services away.

This is very interesting! My immediate thoughts on this are that it might be your customers and it might be your husband's personality. I haven't done any studies on this but I think customers can tell when they can get a lot more out of you. When they sense this, they will do it. Or many customers will at least. Then on the flip side, you have to look at who your ideal customer is. It might be possible that a small percentage of your customer base is eating up mot of your time with their exacting requirements.

If that is the case, you might want to consider trying to find other customers that are more relaxed and replace your time consuming customers with more relaxed ones.

What's your view on this?