Johnson Lawn Care

JLC_LLC

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Aug 17, 2011
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I have a lawn care business that I started last year, have a few weekly accounts but I am going door to door with flyers next week. Also I am buying the toro time cutter 50" depending on how many accounts I can pick up.

What are opinions on this mower?
Going door to door a good idea? What should I say? Is it to late in the season already to go door to door?
Is April 9th a good week to start mowing?
 

Cuttinup

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Door to door is a great idea. Look professional and clean, get you a uniform shirt printed up would be even better. People will feel better about giving you business and recommending you to others once they have met you. Bring business cards with you. Once you start cutting bring flyers/ cards with you, walk 10 houses up and 10 down from the yard you cut passing them out. There is a book called Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Levinson I recommend you getting. It's full of cheap and great marketing ideas for small businesses. Word of mouth is everything, show up when you say you are going to show up, do a neat job, charge a fair price and be HONEST!! That puts you ahead of most just doing that. Also remember you are in the business to make money not payments. Too many lawn services fail because they put themselves to far in debt with equipment payments, a new truck to impress others with a big truck note etc... I would beg you to Start small pay cash and expand slowly. This could save you if the weather would turn dry for a few weeks. You will have less stress, you won't be desperate to take every yard as well. 1 zero that will fit in all yards but might take you 15 minutes longer to cut a big yard is better than 2 zeros sitting on a trailer and 15k + of your money tied up. More yards will come available a couple months into the season as all the new guys go out of business. Never buy their accounts either. Keep up with your collections don't let them get ahead of you. Good luck and God Bless!
 

ranger101

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Apr 7, 2012
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I think Cuttinup hit it right on the nail ,,, My son started a few years back and started small and paying cash for all of his equip. He might have started out with some say junk equipment but it was paid for. Now he picks and chews his clients has nice equipment and it,s all paid for. If he has a few dry weeks in Aug.or Sept. who cares ,,, He has about 40 - 45 accounts.
 

Ric

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I have a lawn care business that I started last year, have a few weekly accounts but I am going door to door with flyers next week. Also I am buying the toro time cutter 50" depending on how many accounts I can pick up.

What are opinions on this mower?
Going door to door a good idea? What should I say? Is it to late in the season already to go door to door?
Is April 9th a good week to start mowing?

Going door to door with flyers is great and it may get you a few clients but word of mouth will be your best advertisement. If you're going to buy that Time cutter you had better do some checking and find out what you're buying, does it have commercial drives? does it have a commercial grade engine? How many gallons of gas does it hold?etc,etc. Personally I'd go with a low end commercial rig to start.
I agree with cuttinup on this point that too many lawn services fail because they put themselves to far in debt with equipment payments. Start small pay cash and expand slowly. That said too many lawn services also fail because they don't have the correct amount of equipment. Having two zero turns on your trailer is exactly what you need and more, in fact two of everything is the only way to run a business. Blowers, Edgers, Trimmers etc. The reason I say this is because the guys that show up with a mower, trimmer, edger and hand held blower never last because if one piece of equipment fails he's screwed. A small business can not afford down time. Down time cost you time, money and clients and a small business is easily replaced by the guy cutting down the street.
 
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