This week's tip:
Google Earth and The Lawn Care
Business
In today's competitive world, small
business owners should take every opportunity to cut costs and get a jump on
their competition.
The lawn care business is no different
from any other business. Professional lawn care businesses are faced with
obstacles including: new competition, the dry weather this summer, and ever
increasing gas prices.
Although lawn care can be hot and sweaty
work, technology has not left us behind. You just have to know where to
look for the benefits in today's high-tech world.
I have recently discovered a brand new
way to search for new customers and give estimates on large grass cutting
areas.
Both tips come in the form of Google Earth. (Download Google Earth for
free at:
http://earth.google.com/ )
One problem with conventional advertising
is that you never know what type of customer will respond. If your
company tries to focus on larger lawns, you do not want to spend your time
giving estimates for 1/4 acre yards.
This is where Google Earth comes in.
Until Google Earth came along, there was
no way to properly determine the size and layout of a lawn before actually
visiting and viewing the customer's lawn. Once onsite, you would have to
eyeball the property or measure it with a measuring wheel to get an idea of
the exact size of the area.
Using Google Earth, I can survey an area
online to get a rough idea of yard sizes on any particular street without
actually driving down that street. Google Earth gives me a detailed picture
of the size of the property. When I come across a yard that looks to be the
right size I zoom in to get a better idea of the layout of the yard. Then,
I make a note of the address and I will visit the property to give a quote
to the customer. This way, I have not wasted time and gas driving around
looking for suitable yards.
An additional function within Google
Earth is particularly handy when bidding on larger jobs.
Several years ago, my lawn care company
bid on its first large scale mowing contract. The area to be mowed was a
water treatment plant. It was roughly a 90 acre job to be mowed twice per
month. In addition to many large fields that had to be mowed, there were
countless smaller patches of grass around buildings and water tanks.
Additionally, the contract called for string trimming along all features
that couldn't be mowed such as fence lines, roadways, and sidewalks.
When preparing for the bid, I spent an
entire day with a survey wheel getting an idea of the acreage that would
need to be cut as well as the total number of lineal feet that had to be
handled with a string trimmer. In the end, I gave a successful and
winning bid. The reason I was able to give a better bid than the other lawn
care companies was that I had done my homework and I knew exactly how many
man-hours it would take to perform the work.
If I was bidding that job today, I would
not even have to leave my office to get a very good idea of the total
acreage and lineal feet of the project.
This is how it works:
Once you install the Google Earth
program, simply navigate your way to the desired destination. You can find
the location by simply typing in the address in the Search box.
When you find the location, zoom in until
the mowing area takes up the entire screen on your monitor. The picture
returned by Google Earth gives a detailed view of the area you will have to
mow. You will be able to see roadways and sidewalks. You will also be able
to see any buildings on the property.
At the top of that window, click on
"Tool" and scroll down to "Measure." Make sure that "Path" is selected.
From this point on, simply use your mouse to trace all of the areas that
will need to be trimmed. You will need to write down each different length
of roadway, walkway, and the distance around each building. After you have
learned the total number of lineal feet of trimming, you can measure all of
the larger grassy areas.
Once you have all of the measurements
from Google Earth, you can easily transfer those figures into our Lawn Care
estimating calculator. It is very simple to input the trimming estimates in
lineal feet as well as the estimates for the mowing areas. The estimating
calculator then gives you an estimate of the total price needed to bid on
the job. The calculator is designed to help lawn care companies take known
calculations and compare those to a new property in order to give an
estimated price that should be bid on the new property. Very
straightforward and easy to use.
Of course we always suggest that you
personally visit a job site before giving a final quote as there are
numerous other factors to consider other than just size of the area.
You may freely distribute this Lawn Care Business tip providing all links
remain in place and it is printed in its entirety inclusive of this notice.