Is it me?

[Steve]

Is it me or has the forum gone into some kind of turbo drive? I am having a hard time reading everything! Oh my! So much great content!

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[justin_time]

Lawn care business tips

Originally Posted by Steve Is it me or has the forum gone into some kind of turbo drive? I am having a hard time reading everything! Oh my! So much great content! No I think it's just you, your suppose to click on New Posts

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Justin Pitre
Just in Time Yard Services

[swstout]

Originally Posted by Steve

Is it me or has the forum gone into some kind of turbo drive? I am having a hard time reading everything! Oh my! So much great content!

The economy is bad and not really improving. The old lawn services are disappearing as fast as congress is spending our future taxes. New services are our future (if we supply a customer need or want now it will set us up for the "old" services when the economy improves).

Successful companies are of great interest to the now faltering companies. New services, new markets for our companies are of great interest to everyone. R & D (rob and duplicate) is in full access mode. (picframer) Andy is showing us how to expand and pay for new equipment and services in days, not months or years, by capitalizing on customer needs!

I am here to learn how to grow and be successful. I guess everyone else is also.

Steve

[Steve]

No I think it's just you, your suppose to click on New Posts

Oh ok well thats good to know

The economy is bad and not really improving. The old lawn services are disappearing as fast as congress is spending our future taxes. New services are our future (if we supply a customer need or want now it will set us up for the "old" services when the economy improves).

Successful companies are of great interest to the now faltering companies. New services, new markets for our companies are of great interest to everyone. R & D (rob and duplicate) is in full access mode. (picframer) Andy is showing us how to expand and pay for new equipment and services in days, not months or years, by capitalizing on customer needs!

I am here to learn how to grow and be successful. I guess everyone else is also.

I am greatful for the fact the forum can be helpful

[swstout]

Originally Posted by Steve

Oh ok well thats good to know




I am greatful for the fact the forum can be helpful

I have gone from very cautious optimism to planed ultimate success because of this forum!

I read, analyse, investigate, and plan. I have gone from a one man operation to a 3 truck operation in only 2 months. I'm still learning (a lifetime new occupation) and excited. Record keeping and taxation are still a major concern along with time management.

Steve

[swstout]

I realized something else I do and everyone else should do. I am not afraid to ask questions. I find successful people and ask questions on their techniques, their services, and how they find nitches.

Steve

[XtreemGreen]

Originally Posted by swstout

I realized something else I do and everyone else should do. I am not afraid to ask questions. I find successful people and ask questions on their techniques, their services, and how they find nitches.

Steve

I asked a fellow lco last year(he does about 15 very close to each other) how much he charges and how he got all the accounts.. he said, I charge $65 a month and got them all from word of mouth... I thought to myself.. Word of mouth yeah..."Hey this guy is super cheap"...

[picframer]

I joined the forum, I believe this spring. I started reading it last September off and on as I started to do my research trying to decide if I wanted to leave the company I was running and start another new company. Traffic here has always been steady but I haven't been around as long as most.

What I do see is a lot of fellows getting into this business, if the new posts here are any indication, there must be a massive amount of people starting lawn care. Why?? Because it doesn't cost a lot, doesn't require a lot of skill to start, yes there is a learning curve however it is not beyond the average person.

I learned something years ago, no matter how tough the economic situation is, there are still needs our clients will have and they will pay for.

There is a family here in Nova Scotia, the Sobey family. They are the Bill Gates of Grocery stores, I believe they are the largest in Canada.

The founder Frank Sobey had a small store and delivered groceries with horse and wagon, anyhow during the depression he looked at clients needs and decided to start building movie theatres, guess what??? It was a hit even though people had next to no money, Sobeys now own, I believe all but 3 movies theatres in Atlantic Canada, they are massive

http://www.canadianencyclopedia.ca/i...=M1ARTM0011834

I became very close friends with two of his sons while in the banking industry as I did all their financing, his boys taught me a lot, things they learned from their dad, we are still good friends.

The only people close to me that supported this Yard Care business was my kids, probably because they know me better than anyone. My friends thought I had lost my mind, 9 years ago I took a small security company of 9 employees, high debt, loosing money over from a lawyer friend, the goal as to get it making a little money and sell, that was his (major shareholder) goal not mine, I took a 48% ownership and very little pay and went at it, as of January we were 451 employees, no debt and the largest in Canada, I did not do this on my own, I hired skilled people for the various areas of the company, our gross revenue for last year was 7.2 million, why leave it??? It was time to move on and find a new challenge, aside from that I am in my mid 40's and wanted a business that would allow me to work outside.

Now my friends look at the Yard Care and laugh, how is it you do this Andy is a constant question. Yes it takes money to make money, I was able to jump start a few months by putting my own money in however what I did is no different than I have done in the past, where is my money coming from, what is it this client needs that they are not getting, what can we do better, with that in mind the plan is set and I go after it.

Friends in the community say I have a horseshoe up......not true at all, I am focused on the clients needs and driven to meet them, it's actually quite simple. I have ideas, services and plans that I haven't even rolled out yet as what I started doing has put the company under a lot of stress to keep up, so it's time to let things settle a bit then introduce other ideas.


So folks my point is no matter how bad things get, stay focused on clients needs, watch what they do that you could, you will be successful.

[turfmaster]

Originally Posted by picframer

I joined the forum, I believe this spring. I started reading it last September off and on as I started to do my research trying to decide if I wanted to leave the company I was running and start another new company. Traffic here has always been steady but I haven't been around as long as most.

What I do see is a lot of fellows getting into this business, if the new posts here are any indication, there must be a massive amount of people starting lawn care. Why?? Because it doesn't cost a lot, doesn't require a lot of skill to start, yes there is a learning curve however it is not beyond the average person.

I learned something years ago, no matter how tough the economic situation is, there are still needs our clients will have and they will pay for.

So folks my point is no matter how bad things get, stay focused on clients needs, watch what they do that you could, you will be successful.

Your right Andy there are more people starting a lawn care business than ever before. I have been involved in this biz since 1982 and have never seen so much competition.

I have seen this before though during other recessions. Generally when the economy turns around the "trunk slammers" will go back to their full time jobs.
These are the people that low ball mowing jobs. Most of them just want to cut grass for a fast buck and that's it.

There are a lot of people on this forum who really want to make it in this biz and realize that there is a ton of work out there other than mowing. With the competition the way it is you have to be progressive and offer other services that either homeowners can't do themselves or do not want to do themselves.

Don't get me wrong I still love mowing but to make in this business you have to diversify.