Humm Breaking into the Professional Lawn Care Business

[Oddball]

Well, let me give you all a perspective from someone not in the business. I expect anyone I pay to do my yard to do a good job for a fair price. Fancy trucks, equipment and uniforms all add up to company overhead that I, as a consumer don't want to pay for. When I see that I automatically think "They charge too much." That means too much for me, not necessarily too much for the service. When it comes to hiring someone to do my yard (which I haven't in years), I don't care if its one guy that takes 2 hours or 4 guys working at once on various tasks to get it done in 20 minutes, as long as the end result is the same. The one guy that has one push mower, one trimmer, a blower, and maybe an edger that all fits in the back of his 25 year old p/u truck and charges me $40 - 50 to do the yard will win out every time over the crew with expensive machinery that gets it done in 20 minutes but charges $75 or more. The business is kind of a vicious circle I think. The small guy with the old p/u truck, only one of everything and virtually no overhead makes good and ends up with a large company with fancy machinery and multiple crews and much more overhead than he used to. Therefore his prices go up and in some cases he gets undercut by the new small guy. A natural animosity develops between the big guy who sees someone taking his business and the small guy that says the big guy is trying to hold him down. As is human nature, we try to limit our competition. Unfortunately, the way we go about it is sometimes distasteful, which is also human nature.

 

[Lawnpro1969]

Well, let me give you all a perspective from someone not in the business. I expect anyone I pay to do my yard to do a good job for a fair price. Fancy trucks, equipment and uniforms all add up to company overhead that I, as a consumer don't want to pay for. When I see that I automatically think "They charge too much." That means too much for me, not necessarily too much for the service. When it comes to hiring someone to do my yard (which I haven't in years), I don't care if its one guy that takes 2 hours or 4 guys working at once on various tasks to get it done in 20 minutes, as long as the end result is the same. The one guy that has one push mower, one trimmer, a blower, and maybe an edger that all fits in the back of his 25 year old p/u truck and charges me $40 - 50 to do the yard will win out every time over the crew with expensive machinery that gets it done in 20 minutes but charges $75 or more. The business is kind of a vicious circle I think. The small guy with the old p/u truck, only one of everything and virtually no overhead makes good and ends up with a large company with fancy machinery and multiple crews and much more overhead than he used to. Therefore his prices go up and in some cases he gets undercut by the new small guy. A natural animosity develops between the big guy who sees someone taking his business and the small guy that says the big guy is trying to hold him down. As is human nature, we try to limit our competition. Unfortunately, the way we go about it is sometimes distasteful, which is also human nature.

Just because you expect every one you pay to do a good job cheep does not mean it is gonna happen. I said cheap there is a difference between a fair price and cheap I can tell cheap is what you want. I have no problem with the one man crew with the old truck and one of everything . I was that at one time myself. My prices stayed the same as I grew and got better equipment. Me and my crew still do good work at a reasonable price. When you say you would rather have the one man crew with a 25 year old truck and only one mower because his work is cheap. Tell me that when his mower breaks down or his truck breaks down and it takes 2 or 3 weeks to get fixed. And your grass is knee high because he has not been able to make it to cut it. You need extra of everything just for that reason last month one of my trucks was hit and it was a total loss. If I wouldn't have had an extra truck I would be out of business because the other persons insurance company is still screwing me around. Also you are one of the few that say it does not matter how they show up on the property. Most people want a neat clean respectable looking crew on there property

 

[Oddball]

Just because you expect every one you pay to do a good job cheep does not mean it is gonna happen. I said cheap there is a difference between a fair price and cheap I can tell cheap is what you want. I have no problem with the one man crew with the old truck and one of everything . I was that at one time myself. My prices stayed the same as I grew and got better equipment. Me and my crew still do good work at a reasonable price. When you say you would rather have the one man crew with a 25 year old truck and only one mower because his work is cheap. Tell me that when his mower breaks down or his truck breaks down and it takes 2 or 3 weeks to get fixed. And your grass is knee high because he has not been able to make it to cut it. You need extra of everything just for that reason last month one of my trucks was hit and it was a total loss. If I wouldn't have had an extra truck I would be out of business because the other persons insurance company is still screwing me around. Also you are one of the few that say it does not matter how they show up on the property. Most people want a neat clean respectable looking crew on there property

No, cheap isn't what I want. Value is what I want, and when I pay someone $60 for 20 minutes work, I just somehow feel I'm overpaying, no matter how good a job they do. Why would I pay a landscaping company $60, 70, 80 or more to send a crew out to do my yard in 20 minutes when I can pay one guy maybe half that for the same quality work? I fired just such a company one time at a rental property I owned and hired a one man operation that was recommended to me. He did a better job for considerably less money. As his business grew he bought expensive machinery and turned into the exact thing I hired him to replace. His work got sloppy because he was in a rush to get done and on to the next job, and his prices went up, so I moved on again. The one man operation is hungry and is willing to work harder for less money, that's what I'm after. I get good service at a better price. Its all moot anyway as I haven't hired out my yard work in a long time. I do a better job than any company I could hire, and if I get lazy one week and skip the edging, well, I've got no one to complain to but myself. Now, if I need some serious landscaping done, sod laid, irrigation installed, flower beds designed and installed, etc., then I can see paying a professional company to do it. But just to come out and cut, trim, edge, etc. I'll hire a little guy.

 

[Ric]

No, cheap isn't what I want. Value is what I want, and when I pay someone $60 for 20 minutes work, I just somehow feel I'm overpaying, no matter how good a job they do. Why would I pay a landscaping company $60, 70, 80 or more to send a crew out to do my yard in 20 minutes when I can pay one guy maybe half that for the same quality work? I fired just such a company one time at a rental property I owned and hired a one man operation that was recommended to me. He did a better job for considerably less money. As his business grew he bought expensive machinery and turned into the exact thing I hired him to replace. His work got sloppy because he was in a rush to get done and on to the next job, and his prices went up, so I moved on again. The one man operation is hungry and is willing to work harder for less money, that's what I'm after. I get good service at a better price. Its all moot anyway as I haven't hired out my yard work in a long time. I do a better job than any company I could hire, and if I get lazy one week and skip the edging, well, I've got no one to complain to but myself. Now, if I need some serious landscaping done, sod laid, irrigation installed, flower beds designed and installed, etc., then I can see paying a professional company to do it. But just to come out and cut, trim, edge, etc. I'll hire a little guy.

You say Value is what I want and most people want the same. Most of the big professional crews are being replaced with the one and two men operations today because people are looking for the value in lawn care. The one man operation will generally do better work than the bigger outfits and put in more time on a lawn to do it and do it for considerably less money, not because they have to or they're slow but they have to do a better job to compete with the bigger outfits and they do that with less overhead.
The problem I see with these bigger outfits is that they are ten minute cut and run deals and most don't pay attention to detail work and they leave the job half done when they leave and then they brag about how many lawns they do in a day.
It was said that people want a neat clean respectable looking crew on there property and there's nothing wrong with being clean respectable but what defines C&R. In all actuality 85% of the people I do lawn care for are not at home when I'm there to see me :smile: so why do they care if I show up in a Tee and Cargo shorts or not as long as the job gets done and they are satisfied.
I do agree with Lawn pro about equipment, you need two and three of everything to run a business because as a small business I can't afford down time and most people are not willing to here the excuses.

 

[LandN]

You say Value is what I want and most people want the same. Most of the big professional crews are being replaced with the one and two men operations today because people are looking for the value in lawn care. The one man operation will generally do better work than the bigger outfits and put in more time on a lawn to do it and do it for considerably less money, not because they have to or they're slow but they have to do a better job to compete with the bigger outfits and they do that with less overhead.
The problem I see with these bigger outfits is that they are ten minute cut and run deals and most don't pay attention to detail work and they leave the job half done when they leave and then they brag about how many lawns they do in a day.
It was said that people want a neat clean respectable looking crew on there property and there's nothing wrong with being clean respectable but what defines C&R. In all actuality 85% of the people I do lawn care for are not at home when I'm there to see me :smile: so why do they care if I show up in a Tee and Cargo shorts or not as long as the job gets done and they are satisfied.
I do agree with Lawn pro about equipment, you need two and three of everything to run a business because as a small business I can't afford down time and most people are not willing to here the excuses.

hey ric, good stuff there,just a couple thoughts though,i know its tough to compete with the biggies (i'm solo and slowly getting away from the workload with age) but should the price be 'considerably less' than the biggies?.i've tried to be 'near' the higher end of the scale and still, like you say do a lot better job than the biggies.i think its a little easier to drop to a lower price to a client than it is to raise it because of some economic reasons etc. (higher fuel prices).after all we small ops have to pay bills and save for a rainy day too.medical costs these days are unreal if a person has to check into get worked on.then my thoughts on C&R. other than the client not being home to see your appearance,there are the 'scoping you out' neighbors(potential clients) and the getting out at the gas station or the store or wherever you may be when in transit to the next house.all those people are potential customers just my thoughts :biggrin:carry on

 

[Lawnpro1969]

Not all of the bigger companies are in and out in ten minutes. There are some of us that take the extra time needed to do a good job. A lot of my customers are older people and retired so the neat and clean means a lot.They are home most of the time when I'm there. Like I said in an earlier post a couple years ago there was a company in my area that there crew was always in cut off shorts no shirt and filthy dirty.they only lasted a couple years then went out of business.also as someone else stated the people you meet at the gas station or when stopping for lunch are all potential customers.I have picked up several customers at gas stations somebody pulls in beside me while I'm filling up equipment they ask if I'm looking for any new customers and give me there name and phone number.

 

[Ric]

hey ric, good stuff there,just a couple thoughts though,i know its tough to compete with the biggies (i'm solo and slowly getting away from the workload with age) but should the price be 'considerably less' than the biggies?.i've tried to be 'near' the higher end of the scale and still, like you say do a lot better job than the biggies.i think its a little easier to drop to a lower price to a client than it is to raise it because of some economic reasons etc. (higher fuel prices).after all we small ops have to pay bills and save for a rainy day too.medical costs these days are unreal if a person has to check into get worked on.then my thoughts on C&R. other than the client not being home to see your appearance,there are the 'scoping you out' neighbors(potential clients) and the getting out at the gas station or the store or wherever you may be when in transit to the next house.all those people are potential customers just my thoughts :biggrin:carry on

The question of pricing is a subject that's always been open for debate. If you ask the bigger company's about pricing and the smaller businesses pricing structure naturally the comeback is the little guy is a Hack or a Lowballer which intern becomes there excuse for there pricing. The little guy on the other hand will say I charge what I have too to cover my cost, pay my bills and have a few dollars besides and that's basically what I do.

Being C&R can be done without bumping ones overhead for uniforms with a company name and logo. As someone else stated when I see that it just means added cost that people don't want to pay for. People look for price, reliability, and a job being done correctly.

I think if you set down and actually think about what these bigger outfit claim and say about what matters to people and what they want it's basically a fabrication to justify the money they've spent and what they have to make to cover there overhead. I come to that conclusion because If what they say were true He-- you wouldn't have to worry about the little guy with his cheaper prices because he wouldn't exist and as we all know the little guys are coming out of the wood work.