Logos

Out of curiosity, are any of you using one of the logos presented here at the Gopher Forum??? The reason I ask is because generally speaking I don't find most "free" logos appealing at all, but there are a few in the gallery that I'm really considering taking advantage of, but I don't want to do it and find out that it's the same one 85% of you are using! LOL Anyone care to share?

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

This is my take on it. You can always change your logo. When you are just getting started, this site allows you to quickly through together an image and a marketing package. Once you get on your feet, you can always make it better. For instance, I just did a quick search for lawn care logos and found this site. http://www.warrenlandscape.com/ Now this business owner didn't even edit the logo template, just used it as is but now he already has a website up and a logo. He can now focus on other things that his business needs to build. Without these free templates, Sometimes it can take years to getting around to such issues if they ever get a chance to do it at all.

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Excellent advice, Steve. My thought is I don't want to have to re-brand in two years if I don't have the branding package that I like on day one, which is my motivation to get it all in order right up front. I'm a very visually-oriented guy - I think that's one of the things that draws me to the industry to begin with. I can be pretty OCD about minutiae!

[Steve]

My take on getting a small business started is to throw as much as you can against a wall and see what sticks, then roll from there.

It seems to me the toughest part is always taking your first step. Once you get started you will be on your way.

Branding a small lawn care business in my view is no big deal in the beginning because you are selling you. If a customer likes you they will buy from you. If they don't like you, they will move on to the next business.

You could change your lawn care business name every year and if your customers like you, they will stick with you.

I wouldn't be concerned with branding until quite a ways later. That's my view at least. Initially the branding is you.

More excellent points! My main concern was that I didn't think people would "follow" me (or be able to find me) if I did a name change mid-game. Good to know that isn't always the case!

[Steve]

Your logo is looking good.

When people buy from you now, it's because they are buying from YOU. Not your business, not your logo or your brand, it's YOU.

All these other issues become more and more important and your business becomes it's own entity. It takes on more employees. It grows.

As all that happens, you want to be able to promote a corporate image. A business image. What YOUR business stands for.

Although no matter how big you get, you can always put a personal touch on it and make people think of you when they buy from your company.

For a long while Dave Thomas was synonymous with Wendy's. When you got a Wendy's burger you would look around and see if Dave was in the restaurant. In fact, when I am at a Wendy's I do often look to see if they have pictures of Dave up on their wall and most do.

However, do you think of Ray Kroc when you buy from McDonalds? I don't. I think of the Golden Arches.

So as you get bigger you can choose, do you want your customers to associate your business with you or with a brand you create. Each is possible but because you have options you can tailor you marketing to position you to be different from your competitors.

[StartALawnCareBusiness]

I have to agree with Steve on this. I think all of us (yep, including me) tend to overthink this business. We get bogged down with flyers and logos instead of simply pounding the pavement and meeting prospects.

Don't get me wrong, your logo is important but you can do a thriving business without any logo at all. Read this blog post and look at the sign in the picture. This guy does HUGE business with a VERY simple layout:

Steve mentioned Dave Thomas as a brand. I like to think about Bill Gates and Microsoft when I think about product development. Bill knew that he didn't need a perfect product from day one. (Heck, they don't even have perfect products today) Microsoft put the best products they could out to the market place. If they had attempted to be perfect from day one they still wouldn't have Windows 3.1 on the shelves.

Business is change. You will always be changing, adapting, tweaking. That's just the nature of business.

Scottler, you're asking good questions. Try to not get bogged down with the infinitesimal. The important part is getting out there and meeting customers.

[Steve]

Scottler, you're asking good questions. Try to not get bogged down with the infinitesimal. The important part is getting out there and meeting customers.

What I wonder is, do you think this is an individual trait or a societal trait?

When you are new to something, you don't know the b.s. boundary. Meaning you don't know what you NEED to know and what you can just do to get away with it to get the job done.

Do you think we all tend to get focused on the minutiae of everything or is this something that certain personality traits tend to focus more on than others.

I think knowing this could help us all produce more in the future if we could be aware of it.