Residental Lawns On Saturday?

[XOFMOT]

Here is a question for all of you.......


A customers lawn is scheduled to be cared for on a FRIDAY.....Heavy rains and thunderstorms prohibit you from going there.....When do you do it?....SATURDAY? wait and fit it in on MONDAY?....

Do you call your customer up and tell them you will not be able to address thier property due to weather? Should that be a clause in a contract?

I only got one customer at this time, so help guide me the right way....Thanks All!

[Charles]

Only time I work on saturday is when I get rained out a full day during the week and yards are still due. Even then i just do the yards I am behind on.

[Fantasy Lawns]

ditto ....... we just worked last Sat ...... first time in 3 weeks .....(Rain) .... usually we try to pack extra yards in when the forecast shows rain late in week or just any day ....so we are done by late Friday .... we work hard all week ......so Sat & Sun off is Family time ....better to work to live than to live to work :->

[Eric ELM]

I would do it Saturday. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to mow if it's growing fast. Since you only have the one lawn, you could do it whenever, but when you get a bunch of them, I would want to get caught up. I hate being behind.

BTW, we got RAIN today. :D

On the last lawn it started raining when we just started it. By the time we got done, it started pouring and as soon as we headed home, the sun came out. We did get 1/4" which will never help a lot, but it's a start. More coming tonight maybe, also tomorrow and thursday we have a chance. :)

[rixtag]

I make it a rule to finish the weeks work that week if at all possible. I also try not to work any later than noon on saturday. If all else fails, call the customer and ask them what THEY would like and go with that.

Rick

[roscioli]

Tom- Can you mow this person on thursday normally, so you can have friday as a make up day? I prefer not to mow on fridays, and dont unless it rains. People dont complain, because i just TELL them when they are to be mowed. (politely of course). If it has to be mowed on fridays, and it rains, sure, do it saturday, i have done it a few times with no complaints.

[awm]

when i was young sat. was my production day.now my customers know unless a tree is laying in there living room ,
its going to wait until monday.thats the day i get everything ready for the next work week.including myself. later

[carl28]

Don't work on saturdays seems to be the general concensus here well it ahsn't worked for me in nearly 12 years we work satudays and sundays from april to october we do however rotate these weekend assignments so everyone has some time off every month. This however is the north east and we do get plenty of time to rest in the winter when it isn't snowing that is and one of our 150 or so customers isn't calling to say they need sand for thier parking lot or snow removed for the next BIG STORM or a truck needs to be moved or somethings broke or..........................................................

[Bassman]

I will not work on weekends unless there is something of major importance. (Just my policy, any one who wants to work 7 days, go for it). I can always manage to fit in work that is behind due to rain, down time with equip., etc. throughout the week. I would put that account onto Monday's schedule. Even if you have sixty accts. and are working solo, just make out your work schedule for that day and start early and or work late in order to get that days work load done. My contracts state that in case of inclement weather, the property will be serviced the next available day. No biggie. I have to get the fishing, golf game, cookouts and party time in on the weekends. I don't mind busting my arse all week but weekends are down time for me.

[XOFMOT]

My feelings on this subject are as most of all yours are...KEEP SATURDAY FOR YOURSELF.

Saturday seems to be a day to sit back/ relax/ play with the kids..and so on. PLUS I bet that most RESIDENTIAL customers don't want to hear our lawnmowers going by their bedroom window the day that they can sleep in late!

I like your idea ROSCIOLI, keeping fridays open as that "MAKE UP DAY". That is something that I can do at this time due to my limited # of customers........by the way, Got another call this evening, going to be doing an estimate in the A.M.!!!---MAN o' MAN, this is FUN!:D

[dhicks]

I cut on Saturday (residential) and Sunday (commercial). I do one doctor's office complex on Sunday because the streets are narrow and limited parking during the week. Sunday is the only day I can get my rig parked.

[gusbuster]

The only time I wouldn't work would be based on religious reason. I do have clients that Saturday's are their sabbath, so I respect them and don't work on their property. One client, I think you can ask that client if the machines bug them. They'll tell you. Why be afraid. The only time I ever received a complaint for working on a Saturday are from non clients. Cops come out all the time. Can't do anything about it unless I'm not working standard business operating hours (9-5)
John

Just depends on your prefrence. I sure wouldn't like to work on weekends, but that's why I'm still married. Never have a chance to fight with the wife.

[Mike (MLC)]

If we cannot get to a customer's yard on the day that they are due on, then we try and fit it in the very next day. Due to the fact that the longer you wait the taller the grass will be and the harder it is to deal with. I don't know if your customer's are like mine, but if I don't get their yards done with in a couple of days of when they are due, they start getting antsy. I would like to have my Saturday's off, but I am just so busy that I have to work. :rolleyes:

[GreenQuest Lawn]

I schedual my accts. Mon-Thurs. Fridays are for the odd jobs(small landscape jobs, fert, clean equip. Ect.) I do work some Sat & Sun but they are usually short days (till noon) and not all the time.

I have not mowed on Sat since I started my business. The Sun work I do is commercial accts. Like if I want a long weekend I will start on Sun and be done by noon on Thurs.

If I have something to do with the family the customers wait

My family always comes first

[Fallguy]

if it was a pounding rain and ground conditions are soft then you would put it off longer and tell the customer your intentions- however - if the rain slackens and the property is dry then you owe it to yourself to keep the customer happy and be there the next day.
happy customers = fat wallet

[TotalLawn]

Make up days because of RAIN. Rain...what is that? I wish I could work Saturdays because we got some rain. It's STILL in the 100's here!!!

[HOMER]

Caught up? What's caught up mean when your a grass cutter? How in the world do you not work on Saturdays when the grass grows every day, I know there is a customer out there waiting for his grass to be cut. Either you don't have much to do or your putting somebody off. I try to stay out of residential areas on Saturday. I mow as many commercial accounts as I can and hope to get them done early..........the only break we get is in the winter. I don't understand some of these responses. I guess if your wife was making 50,000 grand a year then you could just do enough to get by......................I gotta work while the work is there.

[SLS]

I work on saturdays only if I have yards left to do from that weeks schedule. I try to save saturdays for catching up or for that big $$$ hedge and bush trimming job that I can't fit in during the week because of cuts.

Lets say that you got rained out on friday and waited until monday or tuesday to cut it you would have to stretch it out over 9 days to get them back on friday again. You wind up only cutting the lawn twice instead of three times in a three week span. There were thursdays AND fridays that were rained out for me this season. And if it rains more on that particular monday our tuesday you are really screwed. :( Get too far behind and its the same as losing a weeks worth of income.

If this senario occurs 5 or 6 times a season then you've lost 5 or 6 days income as well. If you are doing several hundred dollars a day then it adds up big time (at least for a small solo guy like myself) at year-end bean counting time.

Mow as much as you can as quickly as you can as the season is over before you know it.

The bottom line is this: You want to cut your clients lawn as many times as possible over the season.

[XOFMOT]

Luckily for me my wife makes in excess of 60K a year. ( and that is only working 32 hours a week!-----She's a REGISTERED NURSE)

But that doesn't mean that I only want a couple of accounts........I feel something around 40 to 50 accounts in my area will be suffice. I still work for a company, and I am planning on replacing that "JOB" with my property care business. So I am trying my hardest to accomplish this goal by the start of the 2002 mowing season here in new england.

[HOMER]

If she makes that then I would be looking for around 20 good ones, no way would I want to hanndle 50 if I could get away with it. We're trying to cut down on the numbers now and still make a living. I would take one account at a time and be very particular.

[geogunn]

saturday work is a necessary evil for me.

Sunday work is performed on a "have to" basis. it's kind of like..."when the ox gets in a ditch (on Sunday) , pull it out".

GEO

[bubble boy]

we run exactly as green quest lawn. M-Th, with fri as the open day. obviously could make more runnig 5 days, but also could make more running 13 hour days(we usually go about 9)

in the spring usually end up cutting halfday fri anyway due to growth. by summer, we do a good four days, then hit the "to do list" for the week. love doing odd jobs on fri to keep things interesting.

and of course there is the dreaded paperwork.
just find i get too stressed when constantly working saturdays.

find tues-fri would be to much worrying. in canada, summer civic holidays all fall on mondays. these weeks i will run tues-fri give the guys monday off, so they can go to the cottage. usually take it off myself, too. then i spend monday watching the weather network. always seems to rain those weeks

i guess i all im trying to say is that running mon-thurs makes things way less stressfull for me, and thats worth a little bit less income.
:)

[TJLC]

I have been working Saturdays because of the season. I also have a big medical property that I start on Sunday and finish on Monday. Hurting my hand didn't help things either. I cut it on 7/1/01 and it's still not healed yet. Trying to keep up has been a struggle, to say the least.

[GreenQuest Lawn]

on the same note: I have not had a Fri off all year. There is always something to do(usually a job). I could fill in two days with odd jobs if I wanted.

[TGCummings]

Early on, I worked a lot of Saturdays & even Sundays and holidays, but I do not do that anymore. I was a miserable wretch of a man when I didn't have time for fun & family in those days.

I schedule everything so that Friday is a make-up/extra work day. If weather interferes with that, I'll pick up what's left on the next available week day. Only in emergency situations (frantic call or special promise of deliverance) will I load up and work on a Saturday morning (hasn't happened in a year now...).

As far as getting paid, I charge a flat monthly rate for my services, so that's not a bother. I explain, when asked, that weekly scheduled lawns get done an average of four times/month, but are likely to get done 3 or 5 times some months during the year. No extra charge for 5, no reduced charge for 3. Generally, there is not a complaint on those terms. By and by, people understand that weather affects the lawn care business. When I meet with the occaisonal disgruntled person that cannot understand that, I do not cut their lawn for long.

-TGC

[eslawns]

I set up things to be scheduled for Mon or Thu. Weekly mowing has the priority over 10 day or EOW mowing. I make a list on Mon AM and work until it's done (usually Tue). If I get behind, Wed is a catch up day, or a day off. I do the same thing on Thu and use Sat as a C/U. I have a contract with our city to mow overgrown lawns. They get assigned to us at random, and I usually try to do these on Wed, unless I can fit them in on a regular mowing day. This has worked out very well for me. Before, it seemed as if I was always catching up and I have 50% more lawns now.

[bubble boy]

i dont think my original response went thru, maybe this will.

eslawns-i like that set up, never heard of it before. breaks up the week nicely, and would help ease boredom factor.

how does the town contracts work? are they municipal areas or private homes? and do they pay well?

[CSRA Landscaping]

I guess I look at it like this: there's a reason that we call business days by that name. So I stick to working on business days. ;) I even took the 4th off! :D

[Bassman]

Originally posted by HOMER
Caught up? What's caught up mean when your a grass cutter? How in the world do you not work on Saturdays when the grass grows every day, I know there is a customer out there waiting for his grass to be cut. Either you don't have much to do or your putting somebody off. I try to stay out of residential areas on Saturday. I mow as many commercial accounts as I can and hope to get them done early..........the only break we get is in the winter. I don't understand some of these responses. I guess if your wife was making 50,000 grand a year then you could just do enough to get by......................I gotta work while the work is there.

Homer, you are a working son of a gun! I guess I'm just turning into an old fart, but I get my 60 accts. done one way or another throughout the week. Life is tooooooo short to work weekends for me. One day their going to throw that dirt in our face as our carcus is buried. If'n I can make ends meet and build a little nest egg, I don't want to give up my weekends to work. Just me, whatever floats your boat do it!

[BUSHMASTER]

Either way i would definilty call if it is a new customer ,a long standing customer will pick up on your pattern,friday resis that get rained out get picked up on monday.

[GrassChopper]

I must be doing something wrong. I have 43 accounts and work 7 days a week. I am having to turn away business. Homer and I are not as fast as the rest of you I guess. Saturday is my catch up/Landscaping day, Sunday I mow the commercials.

[CSRA Landscaping]

I don't think it's so much taht you're doing anything wrong. That's just your personal choice to work that schedule.

I choose not to work on the weekend so that I can have time with my family or whatever else. I'm leaving Mon. & Tues. open at this time for any install jobs that I get. Otherwise I just go out and give estimates on those two days.

That's my personal choice, so I don't feel that I'm doing anything wrong.