Posts Tagged lawn care business

Southeast Storm Damage – Lawn Care Business Pricing

Storm Damage Cleanup

Storm damage cleanup means big money in the lawn care industry.

If you are anywhere within the Southeast portion of the United States this week, I am sure you have either experienced severe weather or seen it on television. The past several days have been intense with thunderstorms and very heavy winds (if not tornadoes). In fact, tornado sirens were sounding all over our area last night as storm after storm rolled through. If you or those you love have been affected by this severe weather, we hope you pulled through without property (or personal) damage.

It seems like we’ve written many times about severe weather in just the past few weeks.

Once again, as terrible as it is that many people have down trees and property damage, the potential for lawn care companies to make money right now seems to be greater than ever. Storm cleanup work is plentiful in storm damaged areas. If you have necessary tools, hauling capacity, man power, and a lawn care business already established in an area affected by the storms, you should consider adding storm cleanup services to your existing lawn care business services.

Do you know how to price your storm cleanup services?

One of the biggest problems new lawn care business owners face is the ability and confidence to price their lawn care services correctly. We fully understand how difficult it is to price your lawn care services when you are a new company owner. You don’t want to overbid your jobs and lose your customers. You also don’t want to underbid your services and risk losing money.

We faced this same problem when we started our lawn care company but we quickly developed pricing strategies so we could make the most money possible from all of our lawn care customers and still keep them happy with great services and terrific looking lawns.

If you want to learn how to properly price your lawn care services (including storm cleanup) we encourage you to visit our main webpage and learn about our Lawn Care Business Guidebook and Estimating Software Business Package. This program is a huge resource for new (and existing) lawn care business owners. It includes bidding tutorials and estimating software to help you start and operate a successful lawn care business.

Visit our homepage:

Make Money With Your Lawn Care Business
http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Start A Lawn Care Business – April, 2011

Start A Lawn Care Business - April, 2011

Start Your Own Lawn Care and Landscaping Business

Though springtime is already underway, right now is a perfect time to get started with your own lawn care business.  If you have ever thought about making money during the summertime mowing grass and doing small landscaping work for your lawn care customers, you should not delay starting your business.

April is the time that many homeowners and business owners hire a lawn  care person for the upcoming mowing season.  The grass is already growing and if you don’t get customers during the next several weeks, you will miss out on the rush of customers looking for lawn care professionals.

Proper price estimation is one of the main problems you will encounter when you are acquiring lawn care customers.  Many new guys do not know how much money to charge when they are giving estimates.  Lots of lawn care people think the only way to attract customers is to underbid (lowball) the other guys cutting grass.  Lowballing is a quick way to lose money.

Instead of lowballing, we teach you how to attract high quality lawn care customers and charge fees that will help you make the best money possible doing lawn care and cutting yards.

If you are starting your lawn care business this year, or if you are hoping to expand your existing lawn care business, proper pricing is an obstacle you need to overcome.  By getting good quality customers right now and charging the money you should be making you can dramatically increase your profit potential for the rest of the year.

Don’t lowball.  Learn how to charge the right amount of money with our bidding tutorial and lawn care business estimating software.  We have it on sale for the rest of the month for a price low enough that it should pay for itself in 1 or 2 lawns.

For more information, visit our main website homepage:

How to Start A Lawn Care Business
http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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Fence Clearing and your Lawn Care Business Services. Welcome to the Jungle, baby.

Make money with fence clearing. Lawn Care Business.
500′ of overgrown fence line. Good money for a lawn care business owner.

Can you make money clearing fences for your lawn care business customers?  Yes.
Is it fun? No.

Fence clearing is one of those jobs that no one likes.  It’s laborious, slow moving, and hard on weedeaters & other lawn care equipment (not to mention your back).  Fence rows become overgrown quickly and since nobody truly likes clearing fence rows those jobs can generate good money for your lawn care business.  Especially if you have customers in rural areas where fence rows are common, you should consider adding fence row clearing to your list of lawn care services.
What’s so bad about clearing fence rows and is it worth the money?
Despite heavy brush that chokes your weedeaters, broken barbed wire fence sections that can penetrate your skin, briars & thorns that get tangled in your clothing, snakes, bees, wasps and poison ivy, a properly cleared fence row greatly improves the apprearance of a piece of property and makes the owner very happy (and willing to spend good money on your lawn care services).
There is good money in fence clearing if you know how to price your jobs correctly.  You can use the estimating software located in our (Start A Lawn Care Business) program to help you calculate prices on your lawn care jobs.  It is a HUGE help especially if you are just starting out or if you are looking to expand your lawn care business this year with new customers and new services.
Whenever we’re tackling an overgrown fence row like the one pictured above, I always have Guns’n’Roses playing in my head.
“Welcome to the Jungle, baby.”

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Lawn Care Business and the Price of Gasoline

Lawn Care and the Price of Gasoline

Gas prices and your Lawn Care Business

Once again, the lawn care season is starting out during a period of rising gas prices. If you are new to the lawn care industry then you probably don’t remember a time when you could fill your van, the crew truck, all the lawn mowers, and the extra gas canisters for under $100. Filling all those tanks today costs over $200. Yikes.

Are you looking for ways to reduce the cost of gasoline for your lawn care business?  We have written many articles dealing with high gas prices and we would like to share a few gas saving techniques with you.

1) Maintain proper inflation in all your tires. Check tire pressure daily in the tires on your vehicles, equipment trailers, and equipment. Proper inflation will increase your miles per gallon.

2) Properly maintain your equipment. Oil changes, filter changes, tune-ups, and sharp lawn mower blades will greatly increase the amount of grass you can cut per gallon of gasoline.

3) Plan your routes carefully. Using careful routing strategies not only saves you gasoline but also save you time on the roads.

4) Store your gasoline canisters properly with lids closed to avoid spillage.

5) Close gasoline valves on your equipment during transport and storage.

These are just a few tips on how you can save gasoline in your lawn care business. Our lawn care business program contains much more advice such as how to properly develop grass cutting patterns on your customer’s lawns to reduce time and reduce costs.

To learn more, visit our main website:

  • Reduce Gasoline in your Lawn Care Business
    http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
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    Lawn Care Business and the Recent Unemployment Numbers.

    by:
    Start A Lawn Care Business
    http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

    Economists are so funny.  First, they make up forecasts based on their best guess estimates.  Then, when the numbers don’t come in as expected, they claim the unemployment numbers are disappointing.  Everyone gnashes their teeth and the stock market plummets as the television news stations make us common folk feel like the world is coming to {yet another} end.

    Maybe the numbers themselves aren’t “disappointing.”  Maybe it was the economic unemployment forecast that was “disappointing” to begin with.

    My formal education is in finance and economics.  I earned my degree long before I broke free of the cubicle and started my own lawn care business.  I will alway remember one professor who told me, as I was trying to analyze an economic report, “the numbers can be good or bad, it all depends on what kind of spin you put on them.”

    Yuck.

    Anyway, what do you guys think about the latest unemployment numbers?  Do you think that they are good or bad for the economy.  How do you think they will affect your lawn care business.  I will tell you what I think.  I think a lowering of the unemployment rate to under 9% is a huge step in the right direction.  As more people are put back to work, more people will have less time at home.  And they will have more money in their pockets to hire out their lawn care services.

    One other benefit of more people going back to work is that many guys who were cutting grass as extra income while they were out of work will stop mowing grass.  Less competition in the lawn care industry is good for the guys  who are still doing it and for the guys who are starting their lawn care businesses this year.

    So, if these talking heads on TV are getting you down and making you feel there is no hope for your life, turn off the TV and take your destiny into your own hands.  Someone is always going to have a bleak story to tell.  However, we (www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com) speak with LOTS of lawn care industry insiders and we feel we have a pretty good idea of what is going on within the industry.  Lawn care is going to be strong again and we think this year is going to be one of the best years in recent memory for anyone with a lawn care company.

    So, wether you are wanting to grow an existing lawn care business or you are wanting to start a brand new lawn care business of your very own, we hope you will stop dreaming and start doing.  Right now is a great time to get started.

    We would also like to tell you that if you don’t know where to start and you don’t know how to acquire customers and price your jobs, we have developed an EXCELLENT series of guidebooks and ESTIMATING SOFTWARE to help you start your own successful Lawn Care Business. Maybe by using our Lawn Care Business Estimating Software, you will be able to give better estimates than the economists. 🙂

    For more information, read more about the business program on our main website.  Click the link below:

    How To Start A Lawn Care Business
    http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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    Commercial Lawn Mowing Equipment – Spring Tuneup.

    Spring is here and it is time to pull the tarps off the lawn mowers and prepare them for the busy mowing season ahead.

    As much as I have always liked to maintain my own equipment, I believe it pays to have lawn mowers, blowers, and weed trimmers professionally serviced at a favorite commercial lawn mower repair shop at least once per year.  Changing oil, oil filters, air filters, and gas filters as well as lubrication service is well within the reach of most all lawn care business owners.  However, perfectly dialing-in a lawn mower is a skill reserved for the repair professionals.  Perfect tracking, carb adjustment, and preventative maintenance inspections will help keep your equipment running smoothly.

    Commercial Lawn Mower RepairIf you are like many lawn care business owners, you are well capable of routine maintenance  on your lawn care equipment.  But paying a professional lawn care repair center will help ensure perfectly operating equipment and less downtime in the months ahead.

    If you are starting your lawn care company this year and want to know more about proper landscaping equipment selection for your business, we include an equipment selection manual in our lawn care business guidebook.

    Learn more on our homepage:

    http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
    Starting A Lawn Care Business

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    Money Raking Leaves – Even in January

    If you think the leaf raking season is over, you might want to think twice before putting the leaf rake away until autumn.

    Last week, after a 7″ snowfall had finished melting, I was driving through a few local neighborhoods checking on lawn conditions.  Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a sign proclaiming: “Leaf pickup. This area next. Last Round.”   This morning, I heard the familiar high-pitched whine of the county’s leaf vacuum as it made one last pass through our city’s streets.  If you’re still hoping to make money raking leaves, don’t give up yet.

    While most lawn care customers have long since composted all their leaves, late leaf fall due to winter winds and a procrastinating public make it necessary for leave trucks to make one last pass during January.  If you are in an area of the country where leaf pickup is an ongoing concern even during January, it’s time to grab your gloves and leaf rake so you can make some much needed money during this long winter season.

    Don’t forget, if you want to make money raking leaves, proper pricing is essential so you can make great money for your lawn care business.  Our “start a lawn care business” training package teaches you how to bid lawn care jobs including leaf raking.  You can learn more on our main website:

    Start A Lawn Care Business
    http://www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

    Make Money Raking Leaves - Even in January

    Leaf Pickup. This Area Next. Last Round

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    2010-2011 Estimated Tax Payment Due for your Lawn Care Business

    If you operate your own Lawn Care Business and you make quarterly tax payments to satisfy your federal income tax withholding requirements, another important tax due date is only a couple days away.

    The normal due date for the January payment schedule is January 15.  However, since January 15 falls on a weekend this year and MLK day is January 17, the payment due date is not until Tuesday January 18.  If you are like thousands of other lawn care businesss owners, I am sure you will enjoy the extra couple days to get your receipts in order.

    This date may or may not affect your lawn care business.  So, check with your tax professional and read the IRS guidelines on their website: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf

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    New Link Structure for Start A Lawn Care Business

    Hi everyone:

    New years often bring new changes and this year is no different.

    This year, we are continuing our efforts to continuously offer free and fresh content to our StartALawnCareBusiness.com blog.  We are not the best writers or the best producers of content.  However, we are sincere in our goal of making this a great website for lawn care business owners to come and learn ideas and strategies to make their lawn care companies more successful in the coming year.

    To continuously make the Start A Lawn Care Business website more accessible to our readers, we have instituted a new link structure to our blog posts.  We understand this is going to cause some confusion for a few weeks.  Links from other websites will be broken and you will probably not be able to find your favorite articles.

    Over time, link will be updated and everything will sort itself out.  In the meantime, if you are looking for a particular article, please use the “SEARCH” box to the right.  It will help you find your article.

    We hope that everyone has had a wonderful first week of 2011.  If you have any questions for us, please do not hesitate to ask for help.  We are always open to share ideas with you.

    Also, if you have not yet purchased the lawn care business guidebook and software package, please consider purchasing it for your company in 2011.  It is a HUGE business resource to help you run a successful lawn care business this year.

    Thank you and Happy New Year to all:

    www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com
    Start A Lawn Care Business

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    November Rains Bring Lawn Care Pains

    by: Start a Lawn Care Business

    Ouch! My neck hurts.

    No, it doesn’t hurt because of a recent car crash or an old football injury.  It hurts (figuratively) because I’m getting whipsawed back and forth with this November weather. 

    November weather is notoriously fickle in the southeast and this November’s weather is no exception.  Two weeks ago, we had freezing overnight lows, last week we were into the high 70’s with cloudless skies, and this week is starting on a bleary note with showers and highs in the mid-40’s.

    Ahh, November, it keeps life interesting for a lawn care professional. 

    As much as you might like to complain about the weather, I hope you realize what a blessing November weather is for your lawn care company.  For instance, if you are in the southeast, last week was a perfect time to aerate and overseed all your customer’s lawns before this rainy spell kicked in.  Aeration before seeding allows perfect seed-ground contact.  Seeds will have a great oportunity to germinate and set roots as the rains moisten the soil before harsh winter weather.

    We are already hearing from many of our readers in the North and their issues with the first snow plowing jobs of the season.  And, as always, sunny south Florida and Texas are the envy of us all being able to mow practically year-round.

    No matter in what part of the country you reside, November weather brings its challenges.  However, if you play it right, November can be a very profitable month for your lawn care business.

    Don’t forget, if you need to learn how to properly price-estimate all your lawn care customers, pick up a copy of our lawn care estimating software on our main web page:  www.StartALawnCareBusiness.com

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