Hello from MD!

[CrazyLatino]

hello everyone my name is tony, I'm a high school student. Maybe some of you can help me out. Me and my friends want to do this as a summer job and hand out flyers and all that. But i don't know how to make good flyers for students summer jobs. Can someone give me advice or help me with ideas of flyers cuz I'm blank with ideas. Thanks You: Tony

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Hi Tony, Welcome to our forum. Have you played around yet with the free flyer templates? They should help you with some ideas. Keep us posted on how that works.

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[CrazyLatino]

No help.....not cool

[CHEESE2009]

If it's just for the summer, why not ask a service to hire you? It's less expensive & will most likely pay better.

Customers these days like inexpensive service, but they will usually always stick with a service that has been around awhile or will continue to be around.

The best thing you could do is make up some flyers & hand them out door to door *ringing doorbells* and speaking face to face with potential customers.

Your flyer could say "We are students looking for people interested in lawn maintenance, all profits will go towards our education"

Some people like that sorta deal, & would love to help out students. I tell my customers that I'm not a student, but I only hire students. It gives them a chance to be productive during the summer.

What kind of equipment do you have? Let's start from scratch so we don't set you off on the wrong path.

How many guys are you? What's the split?

[CrazyLatino]

well the equipment we are not worried about that cuz my friends dad is putting on the equipment..what equipment idk...but he does so he gona do that...we are 4 guys...plus his dad if he joins us thats 5. The split we dont know yet we got to talk about that but its gona be depending on what u do...like we have a kid in 8 grade so he gona do the easy jobs and he gona get a lil less and we told him that..his cool with it. So thats all we know for now. My friend that just said make the fliers so i we got to come up with fliers. I never done fliers so idk. We also gona do lil jobs aside from cutting grass like cleaning gutters etc. (i think thats how u spell gutters)

[CHEESE2009]

Originally Posted by CrazyLatino

well the equipment we are not worried about that cuz my friends dad is putting on the equipment..what equipment idk...but he does so he gona do that...we are 4 guys...plus his dad if he joins us thats 5. The split we dont know yet we got to talk about that but its gona be depending on what u do...like we have a kid in 8 grade so he gona do the easy jobs and he gona get a lil less and we told him that..his cool with it. So thats all we know for now. My friend that just said make the fliers so i we got to come up with fliers. I never done fliers so idk. We also gona do lil jobs aside from cutting grass like cleaning gutters etc. (i think thats how u spell gutters)

I'd hand out flyers or business cards in envelopes.

If your offering lawn service, 2 of you cut grass, the other 2 can do gutters and odd jobs.

With flyers, it can be pretty stressful. You will need to print quite a few. So who out of your friends has a printer (if your flyer has color you need a color printer)

Some of you can purchase paper, and the others can print the flyers out.

Now you should all get together & start folding them, this is a big job unless you have a folding machine.

With 4/5 guys, I recommend having 1000 flyers minimum, they will go by fast.

Before you hand them out, you need to print a street map of your area, and cross off streets you hand out your flyers to, this saves you a lot of confusion!

Your business cards should be dropped off in shops that allow it. I have 2 convenience stores & one famous restaurant. I stop by and put out more cards every month, they go pretty fast as well!

Don't get rid of your cards in one shot, save a few because they are good for writing estimates on the back when you have a potential customer. It looks professional.

********

When you get a call, you should have a list of answers to questions the customer may ask you. And on the list you should have things you should tell your customer.

Your list should include when your service Starts & Ends, & how many weeks.

What your service includes, "Lawn mowing, trimming, blowing" etc

The locations you service, this gives them a chance to refer a friend.

Etc...

Ask, & if the customer wants an estimate you need his address. Tell him you will stop by whenever you can.

This is where you go to his home & by walking & using your feet, find out how many feet his lawn is, bring a pen & paper (i have a handbook), calculate how many feet & decide on a price. Write the total price on the back of your business card, & the price per month below it.

I would charge a tad extra if it's a lawn that looks annoying, hills & ditches, tons of obstacles, etc. I've had a lawn worth $450.00, I charged $510.00 because of the obstacles.

Think about the wear & tear on your equipment while giving an estimate.

[CHEESE2009]

Let's say your giving an estimate.

The front yard is 20 ft by 30 ft

The side of the house has 10 x 7 ft

The backyard has 20 x 25 ft

front yard, 20 x 30 = 600ft

Side, 10 x 7 = 700

Backyard, 20 x 25 = 500

600 + 700 + 500 = 1800ft of lawn

For every 1830 feet of lawn, I charge $420.00. My competitions price is similar.

Because this lawn is below 1830ft, I would do;

1800 divided by 1830 = .98

.9836 x $420.00 = $413.00

Now if I'm charging cash, & my customer has to pay per month, the total cost per month would be, "$68.00"

Customers will be annoyed with having to have change, so let's round it up to $70.00, it's easier for everyone.

Now because you did that, your total price should be, $420.00, charging $70.00 a month.


COOOL?

Don't follow my price, in most areas other then mine, it would be considered LOW.

Find out your competitions price, & take it from there!

[CrazyLatino]

wow thanks for all the info...this means alot and i learn alot...i see i never thought about any of that. And i dint get how much u charge for cut? like for 1 cut about how much?

[CHEESE2009]

Well lets go back to what I had written previously, on how I estimate my customers lawn.

The total came out to be $420.00 for the season, the season in Montreal is 6 months.

$420.00 divided by 6 months = $70.00/month

$70.00 divided by 4 weeks per month = $17.50

Remember, my price is low compare to in the states or other cities. You would probably be able to charge $20.00 - $50.00 per cut in many areas.

Call your competition & pretend your a customer looking for service, ask them how they give estimates, & how much X sqft would cost you.