Looking for a nitche

[coronelli]

Do you think there is a niche for a lawn care/landscaping company that promotes environmentally responsible equipment such as new more efficient mowers, a combination of gas and electric hand held tools, and a light weight all aluminum trailer? I live in a very eco conscience, granola eating, soy milk drinking, Eddie Bauer wearing, bike ridding community in Colorado.

[Grits]

You could probably use the enviro-friendly angle to your advantage. Why not? Most manufacturers try to use it.

[Allure]

if you think it's important to customers & potential customers then go for it. create a new marketing message that communicate what makes you different from your competitors. one that is geared towards women since they make more purchasing decisions & are more sensitive to environmental issues.

Once you have a clear, concise plan, drive it home until it becomes integral to your brand image. i'm not saying you have to spend a lot of money.

Marketing law - head+heart=wallet (customer loyalty)
from a seminar i just took.

[huh]

first look in the organic section of this forum.....i think you will find many disenfranchised "eco friendly" LCOs because they have sadly discovered what many of us have known for years.......greenie weenies only talk the talk......when it comes time to pay up or shut up they are not to be found......also they are all as green as can be......until it makes them look bad with a lawn that is not always 100% green and weeds that do not die in 24 hours and dry up and go away soon after

if you are like me and only look at greenie weenies as a way to make a lot more for doing/providing a lot less in exchange then welcome to the club, but choose your niche carefully.....and from this and other forums I can tell you that lawn care is not a good greenie weenie niche.......takes way too long for the results and not enough "daily feeling superiority" (especially when the lawn is not the best on the block) and other niches can rake the greenies over the coals much better (stick to food)

also electric equipment is a joke....it barely last a week for a home owner.......i could not imagine running around with extension cords.....strung over 2 acres :laugh: :laugh: ....talk about a time killer.......wrapping/unwrapping cords.....carrying around 20 trimmers cause they break every hour.....man what a beating ;) ;) :dizzy: :dizzy:

like I say stick to food or something else....to be green really just means not using the best product for the job and a lot of paperwork....if you are going to put up with that might as well make money on it and that ain't gonna happen in green lawncare from what I see in these forums

if you are one that really believes in "green" and I offended you then yea I am a jerk and ignore me and GO FOR IT.....GET-R-DUN.......man I can picture a kickass extension cord holder for your trucks now.....and yea it would be cool to have the electric weedeater all quiet like so you can hear your MP3s and maybe a couple cool electric mowers and maybe you can be the next "Better" with an electric 36 or a 7 iron deck on a club car electric......you will make a killing and lead product development....PLEASE report back in a year with your results and show us the setup for your Prius that your crews roll in

if you are just looking for more bucks for less bang then greenies are your target market.....just make sure you are shooting them with the right arrows...and I don't think the LCO arrow is cutting it :)

that is my fifty cents :laugh: :walking: :cool2:

[HOOLIE]

For this to work I think you would have to charge a good bit above the going rate for services there...mainly to compensate yourself for all the extra time it will take to do the work with lower-grade equipment. So the question is...will potential clients be willing to pay $45 for what others offer for $30???

You're probably better off not going this route. Perhaps after you get established and have a good client base you could test the waters and experiment with this idea, but to get started I would just buy regular commercial equipment.

[mdvaden]

Upscale retirement communities with small properties might blend with your goal.

Smaller quieter tools - not so fast paced.

Not a social security dependent area, but a financially secure one.

:)

[LawnBrother]

Well, I am trying to be as enviro friendly as possible with my biz. i sent out letters to all my customers at the beginning of the year touting EF practices. Guess what? SOME thought it was great. MOST were worried about spending more money for organic this and that, or worried about weeds, and only 2 would commit to firing their chem lawn companies in favor of a more EF approach. Its about money to most of them. My advice is to push if if you want, but don't expect many to bite. Make sure to keep it as an option to existing and new customers. You can do a little of both(although I will never use any harful chemicals) I can still refer them to a co. that will spray, but I try to talk them out of it. I am not a tree hugging hippie, but I am concerned about the environment. However, not everyone will be ready to make the change until pesticides are banned to a degree that they have little choice. The EF revoloution is on the way, but it's still 10-20 years down the road IMO.

[fiveoboy01]

I'm sure there is a market for it.

Question is, is that market big enough for you to make any real money?

My opinion is that the majority of people just want their property to look nice, and don't really care how it gets done as long as you're not killing their pets/plants and making them sick.

[Uranus]

Just don't tell the customers your using electricity from a coal power plant or the nuclear power plant at the end of the river where the 3 eyed two tailed fish live.

[WJW Lawn]

There is a guy here that promotes all natural mowing in his signature: A cow and a Goat. I thought that was kinda funny.

[mdvaden]

Maybe you could approach it from a broader concept - environmentally friendly landscape management.

Both equipment and practices.

It would be broader in scope than just "organic" which has been a successful selling point, but more limited than what you could achieve if you plan it right.

[coronelli]

My game plan was to always be a lawn Care company first. A awesome looking lawn has to be the #1 priority. The ecological benefits would be secondary and understated. Eco language would only make up about 30% of my business description and mission statement. I would be very careful in the words I use. The word organic often means more expensive and not as good to most people including me. I like the idea of using 4 stroke engines or Epa & CARB Tier II Certified stuff. I am not sure if converting engines over to propane would be worth it. I will have to do some more research on that.

[Jay Ray]

The greenies are just a political bloc with no sincerity at all. If they really gave a hoot there would be a cashback system for taking your old CRT's, TV's, and batteries back to the retailer for proper dismantling/disposal -- something like the cashback system for glass bottles -- but that would be too simple. All they want to do is bash big business.

You see them using electric 14" mowers and an Expedition in the drive.

It would be a tough life trying to market these hypocrites.

[mdvaden]

My game plan was to always be a lawn Care company first. A awesome looking lawn has to be the #1 priority. The ecological benefits would be secondary and understated. Eco language would only make up about 30% of my business description and mission statement. I would be very careful in the words I use. The word organic often means more expensive and not as good to most people including me. I like the idea of using 4 stroke engines or Epa & CARB Tier II Certified stuff. I am not sure if converting engines over to propane would be worth it. I will have to do some more research on that.

In other words "Organic" = a mind's image of a guy mowing in Birkenstocks, for a lot of money?