Money Money

[GrassQuester]

Wanna make money? Hit the new developments !Hit them hard write down the names of the streets that the 20 new houses are being built on go by every week see if someone has moved in meet them Person to Person!!!I am from Orlando Florida like 30000 houses being built here in the next few years not sure how your market is but this works...Having time away from your biz is the best thing you can do market market.....I Dont wanna be weedeating all my life I wanna build my biz!!!

[Grits]

Sounds like great advice.

[GrassQuester]

Of Course :):weightlifter:

[AAELI]

8000 Marines plus family and support coming here over the next 5 years. $10 Billion to be invested for the move along with another $5 Billion the Navy wants to invest in buildup here on Guam over the next 15 years. Homes are going up but not like there in Florida. You really have an opportunity to grow your business.

Good Luck to you in your endeavor.

[Freddy_Kruger]

Door to door isn't for me, I won't even delivery my own flyers never mind knocking on doors.

[CutInEdge Lawn Care]

Yes, but out of those 30,000 homes 15,000 will be part time professionl LCO's, 10,000 16 yr olds with 10yrs experience, and 5,000 pitas. Next

[topsites]

I agree with Freddie and CuttinEdge... I do NOT solicit for work because that sets the wrong tone for me, not to mention I hate doing it. What I mean is, I prefer it when they call me, and not the other way around because I get more / hour when I'm not the one asking.

Also, new subdivisions / new homes ... Don't think you're the first one with that idea, you can and will face a TON of competition (most of it not clearly visible) and that also drives the price down, and yes the people living there apparently know this... I get calls from these kind of folks from time to time and it is very rare I land a job in those areas as it appears someone is always willing to do it cheaper, some go as far as giving me dirty looks when I quote them my price (as if it was my fault lol).

I find it is far better to advertise in the newspaper, the one I use covers the whole county and that eliminates all the targeting nonsense, now everybody gets to see my ad (well if they read the paper, but you know what I mean). So there's my idea of targeting: Advertise to EVERYBODY and not just where I think I see work, that way I don't run the risk of outsmarting myself.

[GrassQuester]

I agree with Freddie and CuttinEdge... I do NOT solicit for work because that sets the wrong tone for me, not to mention I hate doing it. What I mean is, I prefer it when they call me, and not the other way around because I get more / hour when I'm not the one asking.

Also, new subdivisions / new homes ... Don't think you're the first one with that idea, you can and will face a TON of competition (most of it not clearly visible) and that also drives the price down, and yes the people living there apparently know this... I get calls from these kind of folks from time to time and it is very rare I land a job in those areas as it appears someone is always willing to do it cheaper, some go as far as giving me dirty looks when I quote them my price (as if it was my fault lol).

I find it is far better to advertise in the newspaper, the one I use covers the whole county and that eliminates all the targeting nonsense, now everybody gets to see my ad (well if they read the paper, but you know what I mean). So there's my idea of targeting: Advertise to EVERYBODY and not just where I think I see work, that way I don't run the risk of outsmarting myself.

The newspaper would leave you with calls from all over the county =alot of drive time ,flyers you can choose the exact location you want to go to.Of the 67 houses I have they are no more than 10 minutes from my house.

[PMLAWN]

Yes, but out of those 30,000 homes 15,000 will be part time professionl LCO's, 10,000 16 yr olds with 10yrs experience, and 5,000 pitas. Next

LOL, Funny but more than likely true:cry:

[AAELI]

Wanna make money? Hit the new developments !Hit them hard write down the names of the streets that the 20 new houses are being built on go by every week see if someone has moved in meet them Person to Person!!!I am from Orlando Florida like 30000 houses being built here in the next few years not sure how your market is but this works...Having time away from your biz is the best thing you can do market market.....I Dont wanna be weedeating all my life I wanna build my biz!!!

Have a talk with the Realtor/Broker handling the sales to get the job on Demo/Open house. That may be more effective than door to door and give a visual aid to the types that got to see your work before hiring.

[ed2hess]

Often when people move in they are broke and they go get a cheap mower and wack the grass off and never edge. It takes a few years for a neighborhood to be good for harvest.

[SWD]

On new construction move-in's, people are usually economizing on "spurious" costs like landscape, turf maintenance, irrigation systems.
For my business, I have found that professional association memberships such as a local Builders Association or equivalent is much more efficacious in obtaining customers who will "pay" for services - not the cash strapped yuppies struggling to move in.
I unequivocally refuse, I will not do it - NEVER - go door to door or hand out flyer's.
Provided you wish to identify your company in a market of door to door, and it works for you, hey go for it.
Personally, I will not give some one at the door any consideration at all for any services they wish to perform.

[topsites]

The newspaper would leave you with calls from all over the county =alot of drive time ,flyers you can choose the exact location you want to go to.Of the 67 houses I have they are no more than 10 minutes from my house.

In my experience it is always a trade. Basically, you get the good with the bad, so one picks that which one tolerates best. In your case, evidently a short distance does the trick but with me, I prefer the raw numbers so I can be more picky with the work and the customers I get.

Supposedly this all balances out in the end but I believe it is truly a matter of which lie one finds the easiest to believe as somedays I find myself believing a TON of lies just to get motivated LOL ! When I get like that, I have been known to start out with the house that is the farthest of a drive from my own because this tends to smooth things over some, then work my way back home throughout the day, I know when I finish, I will be close to home :)

[Freddy_Kruger]

For what its worth I don't use the Yellow pages because I don't like going all ove r the city, I like selecting my areas. Plus I don't like paying for yellow pages in the winter when I have almost no work. we have long winters here.

[scagchevy4life]

lmao.. wow u guys are cool.. too bad your soo worried about your own personal pride that you wont make money.
I have the same situation as this cept im one of those 17 years olds with 25years of experiecnce that just moved in. I moved in the beginning, 5th house in of 150. I never even advertised, trust me, the buisness doesnt need advertising, have your guys go hosue to house, works 100x better. I currently have most people in neighbrohood for lawn cutting. The real trick is catching them with a decent price before the go out and buy themselves a new mower(which i calcualte to be 3 weeks after grass starts to grow, or when home dopies has first decent sale). As people passed me by, they just took the number off my truck and called me the next day, or they just openeed up there window and asked me to do there lawn sometime that week. These nieghborhoods are HUGE for money if you can hit them correctly. I know most of you have a $35 minimum, but if you think about it, tkae that 5 off there, and you'll get the customers, they know gas prices are risieing, plus.. if you have over 15 houses in a street, then you wont have to worry about your gas guzzlin truck suckin down all your gas?
its been the one thing i got my entire buisness set up on.
I currently own Same setup as local professional crews.
all scag, sthil and shindawia, paid for,
tell me neighborhood suck

[KINGjosh]

Wanna make money? Hit the new developments !Hit them hard write down the names of the streets that the 20 new houses are being built on go by every week see if someone has moved in meet them Person to Person!!!I am from Orlando Florida like 30000 houses being built here in the next few years not sure how your market is but this works...Having time away from your biz is the best thing you can do market market.....I Dont wanna be weedeating all my life I wanna build my biz!!!

This is what I was doing exactly about 3 years ago. My experiance from it was a bunch of cheap azzholes who were jumping into the real estate investment craz
and didn't care to do anything until they sold the F-ing house.

But now might be a good time to do this, because the Craz is certainly over, and the real estate market is slowly cooling off.

**Now is the time to advertise for Landcscaping, Cleanups, and Mulching, etc
this is the time when people will spend a little extra cash to try and sell their houses.

[Sandgropher]

My experience here with new devolopments, is that nobody knows who to call when they want there lawn mowed because:

They dont get the local free paper delivered because its not worth it to deliver one here one over there,later down the track they will.

They dont have the yellow pages, gets delivered at other time.

They may be new to the area and dont have a clue who mows the lawns.

They may be at work

[Sandgropher]

ahhh well theres half, until the computer rudely cut me off, got to go back to work.

[KINGjosh]

The best method for new developments is to cut the houses you do have in there at a time when alot of poeple drive by or get off work. They will be stopping you to ask for service

[PMLAWN]

The best method for new developments is to cut the houses you do have in there at a time when alot of poeple drive by or get off work. They will be stopping you to ask for service

Very good-- exposure