Bad Year

[randy2625]

So ya so far this year it has been a bad year. Sent out 2 ads one to 50,000 no calls and one to 120,000 no calls. One was a full page one was a half page. Passed out about 2000 flyers on my own. Then i did 20 commericial bids which 2 have called me back to let me know i got under bidded. So ya hopefully soemthing happens soon or i dont know what im going to do.

[RandyAndSons]

Make sure your ad is not to Overwhelming. A smaller Ad is always good. I my self have a small ad that i run in the weekly paper and get good call backs on.

[daveintoledo]

any instals and such.....if the milbury area isnt too far from you, i might a have a lead for you... im way too busy to do it.... let me know...

[jt5019]

It hasnt been a great start for me either.Im usually booked with spring cleanups but this year im at about half of what i normally do. I didnt lose any customers just didnt pick up as many new ones as i expected. I think the increased costs of everything has some people trying to do their own lawn care instead of paying someone

[MysticLandscape]

Last your I had more than I could handle. This year is slow, after saturday I will have all my clean-ups done and just have to wait for the lawns.

[randy2625]

Ya i guess it seems like a bad year then. These rising gas prices arnt nice either. but the millbury area is about 5 mins from my house, i do installs for landscaping to depending on the size of them. I try to to get any real big jobs, but landscaping is also alittle slow. Do you think it is to late to go out and pass out some more flyers this week maybe do alittle door to door. that has always work well for me.

[Badgerz]

Couldn't hurt could it? Better than doing nothing. :)

[sheshovel]

Do not speak or write the words"Bad Year" you are drawing bad Karma toward yourself every time you think it or say it or write it.Think say and write that this is going to be a "Good Year!"
"Great Year!""Fantastic Year!""Profitable Year!"
Do not allow the negative energy in.Look it in the face and deny it every chance.
You need to be open to good things..
if you continue to think like this you will make your own bad luck.

[dougmartin2003]

give it some time. most people wait till the last minute

[StBalor]

Here is a few tips:

1. pass out lots of flyers, and put deadlines on them. Like 1 free cut if you sign up with us before such and such date. but do not make it to far in advance.

2. Offer discounts, like 10% off on mulch jobs over 500.00 or yard clean-ups over 250.00

3. Offer incentives to your customers, like " tell your family and friends about us and for every 2 that sign up with our seasonal lawn service you will recieve 1 cut free".

I tried all 3 of these ideas this week and i can't keep up with the phone calls. I signed up 11 new grass cutting customers this week. Gonna try it again next week and make the deadline for the 22nd.

After that i am not gonna pass out any more flyers, just thinking of running an add in a couple locations in a paper for a few weeks. hoping it will bring in a bit more work.

[topsites]

I am sorry to be blunt but if your ad went out to 170 thousand folks (be it homes or individuals I don't care) if you got not a single phone call then I feel this advertiser isn't pulling his weight.

...Far as the year in review...
I have some early figures and they don't lie. Yes it is too early to tell for sure but so far I'm ahead for the year by about a grand but April itself is lagging a bit and looking at last year's deposits will be a tough nut to crack, not to mention keep up with.

So this tells me last year's april was busier and I can feel it as well. At the same rate, I was working sunup to wellafterdark last year and now, if I work from noon to 6p, half the time I'm good to go and so not only do my nerves feel better but I am fairly convinced that in time, my machines will show a lighter side to my maintenance department and budget as well.

My customer base is down by anywhere from a dozen to two dozen from last year's, but I no longer have a slew of 25-30 dollar yards either (I have some from retaining last year's customers, but not near as many.) What I do got is some 35+ lots and several larger lots (acre+) and less postage stamp lots and one maybe two dirt lots and fewer folks who never have 5 dollars more money but would like me to do FULL+++ service for less than standard rate, too.

So what I've lost is some bs, what I've gained doesn't quite equalize things but it helps a lot and when I figure working half the hours for almost the same pay (even if 10 or 20 percent less pay), I don't gotta be a genius to tell you I may just like this new-fangled economy.

So I'm ready for a leaner year but I am not ready to call it bad nor am I throwing in the towel. It's a little different, my belt is tighter but my quality is up and I'm putting down my foot on the lowballers, the penny pinchers and the pitas because I won't put up with it, not this year.

Kick some tail, that what we gotta do, I triple-striped the last yard today (criss-cross and then diagonal), almost overdid it, had to let it go before I got too stupid with it but that's what you do: Give your current customers the highest quality, not so much in extras (maybe that too) but give them the best of what you normally do, and do it for as long as you can stand it.

So I'm not working my tail off this year but at least I'm getting paid for what I do, and better than last year.

[topsites]

Oh, by the way...

If this is your first year, you do have around 5k spare cash, right?
Yeah, hang on to that.
If you don't got it, hang on to what you got and learn to live on next to nothing.
Learn to shop at thrift stores and salvage barns and big lots and dollar stores. don't feel bad, I consider food lion a luxury place to shop for groceries, I can fill a shopping cart for 30-40 dollars where I get my stuff. This helps conserve the cash.

If this is your first year, consider doing jobs around 30-35 / hour versus the rates of 5-year old businesses raking in 60 / hour... That is, unless you can cut and trim an acre lot with a 48" Walk-behind in 49 minutes flat (it used to take me 1.5 - 2 hours 4 years ago) - The total money remains the same, the hourly rate is lower but if it takes longer, the job brings in what it is worth, not based on how long it takes - Yes I know you have to do it by the hour somehow but the job has a fair market value which you need to try and target, and I feel 1st year Lco's can do this via $30 / hour.

You don't gotta tell me, I used to do the dirty for 15-20 / hour somedays (that what happens when you underbid a $30 / hour job lol).

ok so then best of luck, it's not a bad year yet, no way.

[Allens LawnCare]

Last year I got 4 accounts from mailings, this yr I took out a business card size ad for two weeks and I'm taking it out this week. I'm swamped. it only takes one cust in an area, then the neighbor wants stuff done which leads to more jobs and more $$$$. Keep your head up!

[randy2625]

Well for the rest of the week im going out and passing out flyers. Im going to try to get as many as i can done on thursday and into this weekend. See if i can pick up some business doing some more. I might even use up more time and go door to door.