Target super rich? Travel?

[Lawn-Scapes]

I posted this over in the business section and didn't get a response so I'll try here... Maybe a moderator can delete the other.

In the last couple of weeks a couple of people told me that they do work for the super wealthy and make double, even triple the $$$ I make.

I took a drive today to take a look at these neighborhoods... It's about an hour and fifteen to thirty minutes drive time. 3 hours of travel time but lots o' money...

What do you think? How far would/do you go to make a buck? How would you market yourself? Do these people take the time to look at a flier? What about the neighborhoods that say no soliciting... flier them anyway?

I think I'm gonna give it a try... Do you have any words of wisdom?

Thanks

[cantoo]

I would think that people like this usually go for word of mouth. They want to hear good things about you from their friends, they wouldn't even read a flyer. Maybe you could break in by contacting a real estate company in the area and cutting places that are For Sale first , then the word of mouth will come into place.

[mdb landscaping]

im going to be a little stereo-typical, but i usually find the really wealthy people usually are pretty cheap. i find the average income seems to be the best market. willing to pay for services with no questions asked. just a thought. im sure there are other wealthy people that will pay for the best, those are the people you need to find. if you can find enough in that neighborhood, go for it

[Randy Scott]

I don't think you could be very competitive with prices if you have three hours of drive time a day to figure into the picture. I take what people say for what it is worth also. Everyone likes to stretch the truth about money. Who says they are telling the truth about how much they are really making. People like to talk BS alot. My travel radius is 30 minutes any direction and somedays that's a pain in the a$$. Do what you think is best though!:dizzy:

[Fine Lines Lawn]

I work a lot in areas that appear to be "really wealthy" but I actually marketed those areas for the opposite reason. It has been my experience that exclusive homes require that everyone in the household, work all the time in order to maintain that life style. Therefore, no one is ever home to do the lawn care.

[thelawnguy]

"im sure there are other wealthy people that will pay for the best, those are the people you need to find. if you can find enough in that neighborhood, go for it"

This will only work if you actually do the best work. Dont expect to gain a foothold in an exclusive neighborhood and command premium prices if your main intent is to mow blow and go in under 10 minutes flat.

[Ssouth]

In my experience the people who have tons of money are a little more particular about the work but they are willing to pay more for good work. I have a few high dollar accounts that don't think twice about there bill. When they ask me to do extra work they don't ask what it will cost. I bill monthly and sometimes their bill will be double or triple the contracted price do to extra work. No one ever complains and most of them return a check 5 days after recieving invoices. Having said this, I would also like to add the these accounts have the same labor fees as the small accounts. What I'm trying to say is don't go in and think these people have more money than god and try to charge them in relationship to there income. Treat these clients or potential client like anyone else and let them know you are honest and do quality work. In the end they will be happy and you will be happy because your making extra money.

[Lawn-Scapes]

I would think that people like this usually go for word of mouth. They want to hear good things about you from their friends, they wouldn't even read a flyer. Maybe you could break in by contacting a real estate company in the area and cutting places that are For Sale first , then the word of mouth will come into place.

This is what I figured. It's gonna be tough to get in. As we were driving we passed a real estate office and my wife said "I bet they do well here". I said "yeah, I should talk to a few agents".

im going to be a little stereo-typical, but i usually find the really wealthy people usually are pretty cheap. i find the average income seems to be the best market. willing to pay for services with no questions asked. just a thought. im sure there are other wealthy people that will pay for the best, those are the people you need to find. if you can find enough in that neighborhood, go for it

This hasn't been my experience. I maintained some exclusive coastal properties in the Palm Beach Florida area a few years ago. I do think they (the wealthy) are a little slower to pay and expect things to be just so because they are paying top dollar.

I don't think you could be very competitive with prices if you have three hours of drive time a day to figure into the picture. I take what people say for what it is worth also. Everyone likes to stretch the truth about money. Who says they are telling the truth about how much they are really making. People like to talk BS alot. My travel radius is 30 minutes any direction and somedays that's a pain in the a$$. Do what you think is best though!

I agree the drive time is a killer and will cut into profit for sure. The sources are pretty reliable... One is a friend and his brother in law is who he was speaking of. He told me he is making sickening amounts of money.

I work a lot in areas that appear to be "really wealthy" but I actually marketed those areas for the opposite reason. It has been my experience that exclusive homes require that everyone in the household, work all the time in order to maintain that life style. Therefore, no one is ever home to do the lawn care.

I think Potomac MD is one of the richest areas in the country. Even if they did have spare time on there hands, I don't think they would be caught dead on a lawn mower :)

"im sure there are other wealthy people that will pay for the best, those are the people you need to find. if you can find enough in that neighborhood, go for it"

This will only work if you actually do the best work. Dont expect to gain a foothold in an exclusive neighborhood and command premium prices if your main intent is to mow blow and go in under 10 minutes flat.

I don't think I've ever had a job that has taken less than 30 minutes... never mind 10. I'm detail oriented. I just can't leave unless things are just so... or I feel guilty.

Thanks for the feed back guys. Keep it coming if you feel something should be noted.

[lawnboy82]

the area that i work in, westchester county. this is one of the richest counties in the country. you cant get a home year for any less than 100,000 dollars. i work out in bedford, where mariah carrey had a house that burned down a few years ago. that went for 22.something million dollars. a lot of big money around here. david letterman, paul shaefer, calvin klein, um... glenn close, chevy chase, lots of other people too. you go and you look at the big money accounts for landscaping- some of the guys have the new trucks and what not. like alfredo etc. is over there makin their money. but most guys have older trucks and what not, with the old buntons on the back. these people are cheap a lot of the time. granted i have accounts that will pay for good work, and pay on time. however you cant go in there and rip them off. if you go in and rip them off they will leave you real fast. even if it is only on one job, if they feel that they have been ripped off they will leave you. i got at least one job that way. old guys ripped them off with moving some wood. only real way into those nice money places is with word of mouth. or knowing somebody. otherwise they wont be so gung ho about hiring you. but if you got that recommendation from a trusted friend they will use you and only you. also think about this- you do a job for 100,000 dollars. how much goes back to materials? how much goes back to labor? how much do you put into your pocket for that amount of time, that you spent on that one job?
now you go and do a job for 100 dollars. how much of that do you kick back for materials? how much do you kick back for labor? how much do you get for yourself for the time you spent? how many of those jobs can you do in the time it takes to do one that costs 100,000 dollars? just a thought.

[HOMER]

I guess getting your feet cut off would be better than Matt killing you!

[joshua]

homer thats good, but i talked to the lawnboy last night on here nice kid, just to stressed out like alot of us.

[jaclawn]

I would travel to target SUPER PROFITABLE accounts, not super rich people. You can often make more servicing middle class america.