Depressed (need advice)

[ChadsLawn]

This has not been a very good year for me at all.Over this past winter i lost about 8 accounts(i dont have alot to begin with),Just today i lost a church which ive been mowing for 3 years,to someone who underbid me.
Over the past 2 weeks i have passed out over 500 flyers and have yet to get a phone call from any.Today i dressed very professionaly and went door knocking.Guess how many i got.ZERO. Not even a bid.
This is getting very depressing because I have alot of bills and im just barley getting buy.
All advice is needed

I do good work.I have a few pics posted on my web site.

Thanks
Chad

[Charles]

Man I lost a church over the winter too due to them being in financial distress. That really hurt the wallet. I did a post about saturation and this is probably what you are suffering from. Its just not a good time to start a lawncare biz in some areas of the country. I would advise find some other type of work and maybe keep this parttime for now. Dont waite til u get behind in the bills. The season is well underway in fla and here

[ChadsLawn]

I have been in this business since 1995,Full time since 1998.

[dhicks]

I have no idea about the competition where you live, but I think one of the Florida guys gave up the lawncare business a few weeks ago because of the same reasons, e.g., underbidding by the competition and too many LCOs in his area.

I'd like to tell you to buck up and hang tough but that alone will not put beans and cornbread on the table. Perhaps it is time to expand your horizions and get a job with steady income until your lawncare co. begins to thrive.

If you are doing quality LCO work your business will grow with time and patience. I'm sure most of the ones making money in this racket were not an overnight success but came with time.

If you need money and LCO is not providing enough money you need to focus your energy elsewhere for the time being.

--David

[Vintage]

I have been in business about the same amount of time as you, and have fortunatly lost only a couple of customers over the winter. So I decided to hang some fliers this year to replace them and some other customers that I need to weed out.

I put out about 300 fliers so far this past month and only had 1 call, I am assuming that the dry weather is holding them back and when the grass starts to grow I will get calls.
Keep hanging fliers, you can never put out too many! The calls will come.

[iski3d]

Encourage your accounts to tell their friends and neighbors about your business. I tell my people that for every job they bring me, I will give them a credit on their account in the amount of the new job. Word of mouth is the best advertisement. Keep the faith.

[awm]

there are some advantages to a part time job,
i wont go into them but you might try a 20 hr
or more evening job of some sort.
thinking about it my self.
one thing , if you dont have a lco job to do on a givin day. spend the work day digging up buisiness.
lets face it its a make it or go under world.
id rather know i didnt spend anytime brooding if i flop.
and you wont if you dig enough.luck to you

[ron]

Hey Lawn Man hang in there Buddy try doing other jobs for your customers other then lawn care expand your business work your knowledge and wisdom you will make it man trust in your knowledge........

[sheppard]

Hey guy! Welcome to sales! Spent 10 years in direct sales. Here is some basic pointers and some resources to look at: get Tony Robbins work(s)- Unlimited Power. Another book I read last year(forgot the author) was Differentiate or Die. This was a great instruction on how to distinquish yourself from competitors. Sales (and getting customers) is much like fishing- if all the fishermen are in the same area the fish will not bite. Find a way to 'wiggle the worm' better.

Cordially,
Sheppard

[Finecut]

Chad,

You sound like you have time on your hands? If you put out 500 flyers and haven't gotten a call...you need to put out lots more to get the needed results...WORK! There's a saying to the effect that even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and again. The more flyers the better chance for work. It seems to me that lawn care is basicly a year round job in Florida...finding work and keeping yourself busy is also a year round job. Don't give up...keep putting out flyers!

I saw you design your own flyers and you do have the ability to create a nice flyer. Perhaps, you need to look at other examples (do a search) i.e. the flyers that other people have designed and incorporate some of their ideas into your flyer. If you design several flyers you could try promoting specials (free aerating with one year contract)and keep track of which flyer works best for you. I know it's tough to give work away when you feel like your on the bottom of the heap...but remember everybody likes freebies. Good Luck and keep the faith!

[Lawngeek]

hey man I usu have a week or 2 of depression in spring too it usuaalt sever right before stuff really starts growing 500 fliers, you may need more do it over time dont worry about the millionj calls a day they are a pain and want low quality youll find a way

[MikeLT1Z28]

putting an ad in the local paper or asked local stores/businesses if you can put a flyer or card on display?

[mowerman90]

Chad,

I feel for ya buddy. I'm a little north of you up here in Spring Hill and this year isn't starting out very good for any of us in Central Florida, what with this drought. I normally go to a weekly schedule begining April 1st but I've found that because of the lack of rain I've had to keep many of my accounts on their winter bi-weekly schedule. Up here the weather has weeded out a lot of the scrubs. The ones that couldn't make it because all they did were per-cut accounts. I'm fortunate in that all my accts are contract. Once the rains start (they better start soon!) we'll all be better off. Just stick with it and keep passing out them fliers.

[CSRA Landscaping]

Hey man, I have to agree with what these guys have said. Keep putting them out there and go for the referrals! I have to deal with the depression thing too and it usually goes away if I go after more work, agressively, because I usually seem to end up with something. You put the effort in and you will realize a return. Just something that I have to remind myself of from time to time ... to time to time to time. Good luck.

[ChadsLawn]

You guys are helping me ALOT.Ill repost in here to let you know how things are going.Thanks mowerman90

[lawnman_scott]

Chad, you have to do alot more flyers than that to get results you want. I do about 10-20,000 a year if not more. They do work very well. Try to put them out in areas that have mailboxes at the road, and just toss them near it, or do it on garbage day when people have to go out to the end of the driveway anyway. You will get a few comlaints, but well worth it, and you cant get a ticket for littering or anything unless you are caught actualy throwing them. Try an advertizment in little local papers, free ones that people have to pick up, then they are more likly to read them. You can get flyers for $20/1000 at staples, and if you do enough its well worth it, thats how i got about 80% of my residential customers. I have found out that cold calling works best for commercial, i had the same luck you did with cold calling residentials. And one more thing, you dont nessesarily have to target upscale neighborhoods, dont do trashy ones, but regular working class neighborhoods are great. Some people dont like to do crappy lawns, but if they pay me every month ill blow some dust around 6 months a year, and mow weeds the other 6.

[ChadsLawn]

bump

[Grassman]

Chad, I'm about 20mls east of you in Lakeland. All us central Fl. guys are suffering somewhat from the drought. Try offering other services such as painting or pressure washing or better yet xeriscaping to your existing accounts. If your willing to drive to Lakeland and work weekends, email me and I can probably help you out. Russ

[Jason Pallas]

Hey keep plugging away. I've been in business for over 20 years. We loose customers every Spring. This year we lost 50! That's about 10% of our total base. But, you have to plan on turnover. For about 4 weeks in the Spring I'm a misreable wreck ..... worrying that business will be down. However, every year we do better than the last. This year we've already picked up more than the 50 we lost and our weekly gross is no about 15% ahead of last year at this time. My point is, plan for turnover. Do everything you can to drum up new business. Advertise, flyers, offer a free cut to customers that refer new customers to you, etc.... Keep you chin up and keep pluggin' away. It'll get better and remember your had work will pay off. It always does. Always be thinking of new ways to promote you business and remember - your work is you best promotion. Keep doing a A+ job and work will come..... trust me. Good luck and don't give up.