Getting Accounts?

[cutterking]

I WAS THINKING OF STARTING MY OWN LAWN BUISNESS I WAS WONDERING HOW YOU GET ACCOUNTS? THE COMPANY I WORK FOR NOW CHARGES $50 BUCKS A CUT FOR HOUSES, I WAS WONDERING IF THAT IS TOO MUCH. THANK YOU:D

[scottb]

If you can get that per account I say go for it.Depending on the size of the lawns,but that sounds like good money.

[MATTHEW]

YOU MUST READ MY POST ON SHOUL I START A BUSINESS.
ON GETTING ACCOUNTS, JUST MAKE UP FLYERS WITH A
SPOT FOR PRICING ON IT. LEAVE A PRICE! DROP ABOUT
500 FOR EVERY 1 ACCOUNT YOU WANT.AND FOR HEAVENS SAKE
DONT LOWBALL IT OR YOU WILL BE SORRY! JUST GO A FEW
DOLLARS LOWER THAN THE OTHER GUYS. AND STICK TO IT.
IGUARANTEE THAT IN THREE YEARS TIME, YOU WILL BE TURNING
DOWN PEOPLE.;)

[LoneStarLawn]

Originally posted by MATTHEW
...LEAVE A PRICE! DROP ABOUT
500 FOR EVERY 1 ACCOUNT YOU WANT.AND FOR HEAVENS SAKE
DONT LOWBALL IT OR YOU WILL BE SORRY! JUST GO A FEW
DOLLARS LOWER THAN THE OTHER GUYS. AND STICK TO IT.
IGUARANTEE THAT IN THREE YEARS TIME, YOU WILL BE TURNING
DOWN PEOPLE.;)

Bad idea....

For one dropping a few dollars below the other guy is called lowballing and to do it just for the fact to get accounts is not smart. You need to find out what your expenses are and what profit margin you want to achieve and go from there. Make sure you are legit and get all the information you can on starting a business in your area to get you started in the right direction. Flyers work great for a begineer..they will get you into neighborhoods and then word of mouth and your presence will get you more accounts.

[MATTHEW]

I DO NOT KNOW IF THERE IS A STANDARD PRICE FOR
ANYTHING IN THIS BUSINESS. ALL MARKETS ARE DIFFERENT.
PRICES EVEN VARY BETWEEN NEIGHBORHOODS. AND AS FAR AS
COMPANIES AND THEIR PRICING... WELL, IT CAN REALLY
VARY.I KNOW OF A GUY WHO CUTS A MINI LAWN FOR $10.00.
TO ME, THAT'S NUTS. I WOULD CHARGE $17.00, BUT MY
EXPENSES ARE PRETTY STREAMLINED. MY ONE BUDDY WILL
NOT EVEN TAKE HIS MOWER OFF THE TRAILER FOR LESS THAN
$30.00. YOU WERE RIGHT IN BRINGING UP YOUR PERSONAL
FINANCIAL SITUATION.I DO NOT WANT TO ENCOURAGE ANY NEW
GUYS TO LOWBALL ME OUT OF THE MARKET, BUT YOU NEED TO
EARN THE RIGHT TO CHARGE HIGH. A GOOD JOB, REPUTATION
AND GOOD LOOKING EQUIPMENT.

[Spence]

In my opinion, you are doing pretty dag on good if you can get $50 for all of your yards. Wish I could. How big are the yards that the company you work gets $50 for?

[Sammy]

Matthew, Your caps are locked.

[ronslawncare]

matthew i hope the information that your are giving out you aint doing .never cut throat any1 theres too much work in this business. people want to be cheap you dont even need them .believe me the amount of time you waste on a biweekly or a cheap person you can be makeing it up somewere else who actualys cares about there lawn or landscape.

[Toroguy]

Cutterking,
Perform a search, there are at least a dozen similar threads on start-up cost, equipment, pricing, philosophy, etc.

Watch those caps.

Good luck, this is the place for getting you up and legit.

[Toroguy]

I almost forgot, If you are working for someoe, lethim know you re interested in starting up an operation in an area he doesnt cover. He should be able to help, maybe even sell you some used equipment.

If you are going into biz in his area, you better be ethical and not steal his customers by mowing for $45.

Remember, good things happen to good people.

[CSRA Landscaping]

I think I'd like to chime in here to second Alan and Toroguy. Know your expenses. You will have them. If you don't charge enough from the get-go, you'll be very sorry later on. Do not lowball, undercut, etc. other businesses. And yes, please be ethical.

Fliers, try some doorhangers, should be able to find a printer in town that will do 1k for around $70 or so. If you get one account that makes it worth it.

Otherwise, the best of luck to you!

[Lawn DOG]

$50.00 "WOW" is this a 1/4 acre or maybe a townhouse. Let me quess your working for a guy and are getting paid cash from him. Now you see the big bucks and want a piece of the action. Does your friend have a legit business? Do you have any idea how long it takes to mow the property? Do you have the money to start up. A suggestion, I have seen this one too many times before. If you have a regular job(McDonalds, Burger King, what-ever). Don't quit. Start out slow. Find a couple to maintain on your days off. I did this for almost 3 years. Then if you still think your gonna get rich, go for it. I know it can be done but I have seen alot of guys jump in with both feet when they did not know what they were getting into. A sure recipe for failure. On the other side I am sure that some people will not agree with me but that is what this is all about. So take my advice with a grain of salt and remember it is just one persons opinion.

[SLS]

ronslawncare:

I couldn't agree more with what you said. Hit the nail on the head.

Matthew:

500 flyers for one account? WOW!

Cutterking:

I got VERY lucky last year with flyers although I did not put price quote on them. I wanted to talk to the interested potential client and walk his lawn first. If you put a cheap "guesstimate" on the flyer you are inviting trouble and selling yourself short. People will call you to do their yard for only one or two times because their mower is broken or their going on vacation...and will hold you to that price when you find out that the lawn will take a bit more time than appeared when you just cruised by it. Backyards are full of surprises and you need to establish things like how often the client expects you to cut his lawn, if they want it bagged, if the client is going to be a pain-in-the azz, etc. I have cut loose several because they wanted to call me when they were ready for it to be cut...usually every 2 to 3 weeks. :(

Oh yeah, the "lucky" flyers.....last year I put out 75 flyers on my first run around the neighborhood and received a call from a nice lady right around the corner from me. I met her, we talked, agreed on a price, and I cut her lawn. Turns out that her lawn guy had quit the biz and he also cut 7 of her friends that she went to church with. She was impressed, called all her friends and told them about this nice lawn guy she had found and BOOM-phone rang off the hook the very next day and I still have them all as valued customers. 1 flyer=8 accounts...plus all the referrals that they have given me....I guess it was my lucky day! And I think I got about 6 more accounts from the other 74 flyers :D.

I hope some of that luck comes your way too!

Peace! :)

[P&J Lawncare]

I am from Oregon Ohio wich is 2 minutes from toledo and I do alot of work in toledo and I can pretty much guarantee you that a average lawn ac**** in toledo is not 50 dollars not even close the competition wont allow it. The guy you work for probably has $50.00 accounts but to average that is unheard of in this region to many scabs lowballing the residentials to make this possible. I have been doing this for alot of years now and I know alot of the companies in this area and no one I know averages $50.00 per residental there is just to much competetion in this area. The best way that I know of to get accounts is to go out every day and look for work, pass out flyers and once you get a couple of accounts you should work hard in every account you have sooner or later the hard work will pay off and word of mouth will begin to spread and that is the best advertisment in the world. 25.00 and up is reasonable for this area. Good luck and remember that you work for every dollar you make in this buisiness

[MATTHEW]

See, this only proves my point. The vibes I'm getting is that some
guys are astounded at the $$ some of us are getting. Others think
we are scrubs. Markets vary. Let's talk personal profit. I'll be
honest.I made $30,000 gross in mowing.(70% of my total business)
is that acceptabe? I want to make much more.How are you guys doing?

[LoneStarLawn]

I think everyone understands that markets are different from one place to another...gross (as posted in another thread..a little off subject..but) does not mean a thing ( making $30,000 with $25,000 in expenses is not good)...it is your profit margin that makes the difference.

Back on subject..

Flyers: We have gotten a 1.2% call back from flyers (12 out of 1000)

From that we will get 8

Word of mouth is stronger now for us that we have been in business for a while now.
As well as noticing us in the neighborhood with advertising on truck.

Ads in community newsletters and papers have not been great for us.

[Toroguy]

$30,000 for a season is a decent amount. The unfortunate thing about Northern climates is the short mowing season. From the sound of it the Southern climates are pretty "saturated" with competition so the rates are lower in comparison.

I cant share my sales figure due to my Mom reads this page and she will hit me up for a loan! Hi Mom, can you make me some meatloaf?

TOPIC:

My flyer campaigns have failed.

Word of mouth is your best friend.