How many weekly customers in first year?

[green-pa]

Just wondering what u guys got your first year as far as weekly customers.
I'm not starting off big; just 21in, blower, and line trimmer. I've put out about 3,000+ flyers now, yet only have done like 3 estimates on mowing and about 4 others for cleanups/landscaping. And I'm hoping that as the lawns actually NEED cutting that I'll be getting a lot higher response rate when I'm putting them out. But I'd like to know what some of u veterans got your first year or if this is your 2nd or 3rd year at this, what did u get the first one and also, how many flyers approx, did it take and/or was most of your
1st year just cause u knew people who knew people and thus word of mouth?

[Lynden-Jeff]

I think many people don't think about it until the grass really takes off. I'm hoping for that as well. I picked up 10 accounts starting in august last year. I'm hoping to pickup nearly 100 clients this year with some aggressive marketing. Stick with it!

Cheers
Jeff

[green-pa]

Man! 100 acounts in 1 year!? So if u don't mind my asking, how many do u have altogether now?

[Lynden-Jeff]

Right now I have 20. I plan on sending out 30,000-50,000 flyer's, poles sign, and some other advertising to pick up the remainder.

Cheers
Jeff

[green-pa]

Wow! That's a very large amount of flyers! U have a distr. crew?

[ncls]

When I first started in 1995, I had 30,000 flyers printed and passed out by a company that specialized in that. The target audience was seniors, and homes less than a 1/4 acre. My first year, I got 95 customers off of those flyers. It cost me 1800.00 that got me 70,000 in business the first year.
Last year, we had 100,000 flyers passed out. Plus, J.B. dollar Stretcher magazines, newspaper ads, etc.

I have to laugh at some people on this forum, who pass out 2000 flyers and expect the phone to ring off the hook. It ain't gonna happen.

Your advertising budget whould be 4-7% of your gross. Figure it in on your budgets.
My second year, my advertising budget was almost 20% of my gross.

[GravyTrain]

I don't think that's a fair statement. Depending on the area that you are marketing, it can be a much higher call rate. As of this minutes, I have passed out roughly 600 flyers (300 of those within the last few hours). I have received 5 phone calls, and picked up 3 potential customers while walking around. I have also gotten 2 one -time mows (selling the houes, lawn mower broken) that I hope to bring into full time after they see my work).

[daveintoledo]

now i know you are just starting out, but you have no real experience, so....... get a few accounts and learn... then get some more and learn.... these guys with 100 accounts there first year.... if they made it through it is because they already had the experience...

slow steady growth..... especially with no experience...

[topsites]

I have to laugh at some people on this forum, who pass out 2000 flyers and expect the phone to ring off the hook. It ain't gonna happen.

My second year, my advertising budget was almost 20% of my gross.

While I can not envision your figures from my end of things, what stands out is an Lco who learned early on a very important lesson in the business: It doesn't cost to advertise, it PAYS, and there is almost no such thing as too much of it and yes you have to put out a TON of it and then some and some more and don't stop, don't ever stop until you are so flooded with requests for work that only a steep increase in your prices helps stem the flood a little bit and by that time you should be feeling right around as good as a pig in the muck.

You're right, at LEAST 20,000 flyers, then 20k more and you will wish you had more experience and better equipment but at the least you can breathe sighs of relief one after the other as you quote sky high prices and watch people faint and develop headlighted deer looks over the few who accept, now you're getting paid for your work and loving it.

In short, advertising is key, word of mouth helps but don't count on it, word of mouth by itself really won't do squat for you.
Thou 20% sounds high, my budget is 10%, for a solo op that's 3 thousand / year for last year, and since I grossed 37k last year, my current year's projections for the ad budget are, well gee, almost 4g... Funny thing is, I don't spend but half of that and still I got a lot of work, but then I took it like a man for a few years while I learned the hard way which forms of advertising worked vs. ones that didn't, nowadays I just spend the money and hope to get it back, but flyers work good so long you put out a LOT.

Doesn't matter, 10% or 20%, except 20% will grow omg fast while 10% is a bit more controlled, either way it translates to TONS and somewhat unfortunately it is the only way to keep that phone ringing, the only other way is time in years, after 5 or 6 years I find my phone rings on its own, but I wouldn't dare to step back on the advertising throttle, because if I do then the business slowly but surely dies, yup, I know this for a fact too.

[mattfromNY]

last year I bought 2000 doorhangers and still have over 1000 of them left. I also ran 4 newspaper ads last year at key times (One when I first got going, One in june for hedge trimming, one in October for fall cleanups and one in November for 'last chance for fall cleanups') I started in May and by July I had 27 regular mowing customers. Since then, mostly through word of mouth I am currently at 45 signed for this year. I also just came off my first season of plowing snow, and was servicing 8 commercial accounts and 24 residentials.
It definately makes a difference where you are located, and if you know people or not. I have worked retail for years and I have built a lot of trust with many people over those years. I seldom burn bridges and it has gotten me a lot of good work.
Good luck!!
Matt.

[supercuts]

remember not all advice is good!

for me, in the last 2 years the only advertising ive done is put a small handpainted sign infront of my house and picked up about 20 new accounts. we're in 90's range for accounts and ware maxed out running the 2 z's 5 days a week, leaving extra time for all the other work, mulch/hedges/trees/brush clearing/ etc. so i disagree on the advertising comments. you certainly dont need to budget the numbers listed if you dont need the work, as is my case and possibly yours(read ahead). im thinking about hiring this year and advertising in the paper to pick up another 25 accounts. i certainly wont be paying anywhere near 1% of my gross for it! i couldnt imagine paying in the thousands. maybe im just in a good area?

if your new i still couldnt imagine forking over thousands for advertising. it will take a long time to recoup your money using a 21" push mower. the advice given clearly isnt for you. my reccomendation for you is place an add in the paper, and make a flyer on your computer for free and run off some copies. starting out your going to be swamped simply doing a few large lawns with a 21" because it will take you so long. dont go crazy because if you get too much work with a tiny mower you will not be able to keep up and you will become unreliable which is the worst advertisment out there. start small and grow as you become educated to what you can handle, dont start with a $5,000 advertising bill!!

[Precision Lawns]

Year 1 had a text-only flyer that I printed on my computer - passed out about 800. Started the year with 0 customers, ended with around 20.

Second year, started with 14, passed out professionally-printed doorhangers (about 1700) and ended with 36 accounts.

This is my third year, I'm starting with about 25 accounts, am aiming to end with 45-60. I've put out around 1200 doorhangers so far, and have another 1300 to pass out, just as soon as I have a day where I'm not working. I've gotten a bunch of calls off the 1200 I've already put out and have been working steady since the week after I put them out. Most are calls for landscaping work and cleanups, but I've gotten about 4 new mowing customers off them. I pick up most of my customers when they actually see me in the neighborhood mowing. I'm also planning on buying about 10-15 accounts from a guy in a neighborhood I'm already in.

My retention from year to year doesn't look good, but it's because I keep refining my route and the type of customers I want (in other words, I keep firing my customers). First year I took pretty much anything I could get. Second year I tightened my route, but still took any TYPE of customer I could get. This year I am tightening my route again, getting rid of the annoying customers, and only accepting new customers who will allow me to work the way I want to.

I get a pretty good call rate from my doorhangers. I think it's because I have them professionally printed, full-color, and put pictures of my work on them. Actually I know that has something to do with it. Just yesterday I had a guy call and say "I want my lawn to look like the lawn on your flyer." I'll meet with him Monday, so we'll see how that goes.

[green-pa]

[QUOTE=ncls;1764014]When I first started in 1995, I had 30,000 flyers printed and passed out by a company that specialized in that. The target audience was seniors, and homes less than a 1/4 acre. My first year, I got 95 customers off of those flyers. QUOTE]

So is it possible to have a company send just to seniors and 1/4 acre or less lots? How much did this cost per flyer and was your flyer included along with a lot of others or? I've walked and drove about 4,000 so far and plan on doing about 500 per day. I guess that would put me at around 20,000 flyers by May, but then that's kinda late, but I figure, why stop if I'm getting calls. I walked over 8 miles yesterday in about 3.5 hours! 70k your first year is awesome! I'd like to get at least 20k my first as I'm on a limited budjet for promotion.

[haybaler]

Year 1 had a text-only flyer that I printed on my computer - passed out about 800. Started the year with 0 customers, ended with around 20.

Second year, started with 14, passed out professionally-printed doorhangers (about 1700) and ended with 36 accounts.

This is my third year, I'm starting with about 25 accounts, am aiming to end with 45-60. I've put out around 1200 doorhangers so far, and have another 1300 to pass out, just as soon as I have a day where I'm not working. I've gotten a bunch of calls off the 1200 I've already put out and have been working steady since the week after I put them out. Most are calls for landscaping work and cleanups, but I've gotten about 4 new mowing customers off them. I pick up most of my customers when they actually see me in the neighborhood mowing. I'm also planning on buying about 10-15 accounts from a guy in a neighborhood I'm already in.

My retention from year to year doesn't look good, but it's because I keep refining my route and the type of customers I want (in other words, I keep firing my customers). First year I took pretty much anything I could get. Second year I tightened my route, but still took any TYPE of customer I could get. This year I am tightening my route again, getting rid of the annoying customers, and only accepting new customers who will allow me to work the way I want to.

I get a pretty good call rate from my doorhangers. I think it's because I have them professionally printed, full-color, and put pictures of my work on them. Actually I know that has something to do with it. Just yesterday I had a guy call and say "I want my lawn to look like the lawn on your flyer." I'll meet with him Monday, so we'll see how that goes.

ya your numbers look really bad.I've only gotten rid of about 5 lawns in four years and now have 75 mowing accounts. I think you have to be carefull about "firing" that many accounts every year, usually you don't start thinning out until you've been in business for awhile and then you just up your prices. you may get a bad reputation.

[causalitist]

last year was my first.. i got 12 customers from just a 1/2" yellow pages ad .. they came in pretty steady, like 2 a month all the way till august. lost 2 this year ... 1 died, 1 was my worst.. underbid AND pita.

this year i have the same yellow pages ad and im running a 2 week newspaper ad in the classifieds.

i've passed out 1000 flyers so far and got 3 calls.. only one for mowing.

10,000 flyers should be shipped from "gotprint" to me by april 5th .. which i hope isnt a little too late since its already in the 70's here.. as soon as i get them i plan on paying 2 people help me pass em out.

i hope to get all 10000 out within a week of getting them. passing them out all day, everyday. i just hope april 5th isnt too late... with the weather that should be about first mow time.

as far as trusting people to pass em out, i plan on driving down the road really slow, with one worker on either side hanging them... and they come back to the car to get more. ... i'll be putting the flyers in bags as they hang. i hope to get at least 20 more customers..

[Vikings]

Right now I have 20. I plan on sending out 30,000-50,000 flyer's, poles sign, and some other advertising to pick up the remainder.

Cheers
Jeff

All those Post Cards last year didn't get very many jobs for you. I think it was "Minimum of $35 a cut" on your flyer. But if you're going to send the rest of them out this year I guess you should target large properties.

If I put a price like that on my flyer I would find it hard to isolate neighborhoods where it would apply. Around here people are doing 5-8k sq. ft. lots for $65-$85 a month.:rolleyes: :canadaflag:

[Bueller]

It really does not matter how many accounts you have. I only have 10 -12, not sure, have'nt seen them in awhile. But all of mine are bigger, and I am solo, at least right now. Not to say that I won't take a neighbors clean up or something now and again if I have the time. I see some people have 100 accounts, that is good and fine. But it depends on the area you are in. Just like how much do you get per hour. One area maybe $30 the next is $60. He our lawns are bigger so you can have fewer, so your route is tighter which in turn save you money. I find word of mouth is the best way to go. Do a good job and get noticed.

[ncls]

[QUOTE=ncls;1764014]When I first started in 1995, I had 30,000 flyers printed and passed out by a company that specialized in that. The target audience was seniors, and homes less than a 1/4 acre. My first year, I got 95 customers off of those flyers. QUOTE]

So is it possible to have a company send just to seniors and 1/4 acre or less lots? How much did this cost per flyer and was your flyer included along with a lot of others or? I've walked and drove about 4,000 so far and plan on doing about 500 per day. I guess that would put me at around 20,000 flyers by May, but then that's kinda late, but I figure, why stop if I'm getting calls. I walked over 8 miles yesterday in about 3.5 hours! 70k your first year is awesome! I'd like to get at least 20k my first as I'm on a limited budjet for promotion.


I'm sorry, what I meant was, the advertising in the flyer was targeted to seniors. The area chosen were mostly homes with 1/4 or less. The flyers were black and white. Made it on the computer, and took it to Office Max. 30,000 flyers at .02 a piece. $600.00. A company in the cleveland area, passed them out for $250.00 per 5000. They mixed mine in with local grocery stores, and others. Some areas, only mine were passed out.

Total outlay was $2100.00. I'm sorry, in my original post I said $1800.00. You made me think of the numbers again.

In Cleveland area, they were passed out the 2-3 week of March. The temps were fairly good. I didn't want them passed out with snow on the ground.

That first year, I spent 3% of sales on advertising. initially. I have at least 15 of them still.

I have flyers that I have since passed out that have a coupon on them. No expiration date. Every year, i get a few calls with 2-4 yr. old coupons wanting to be used. It's amazing what people will hold onto.

[thesargent]

i got 25 my first year, no advertising, just word of mouth. this year i got door hangers.

[sodmower]

flyers are very very very important....another thing to keep in mind is also what you have on the flyer...and how it is layed out...include things for FREE...FREE estimates,etc.....senior discounts 5% or so......average for me is to pick up at least 35 or so mowing and a few weed pulling and clean ups....

[sodmower]

flyers are very very important....but also keep in mind what is on the flyers as welll......FREE is always a eye catcher...FREE estimates,senior discounts...5% or so...but to answer your question 35 new residential lawns and about 3 or so weedpulling jobs....

[rfed32]

i do 10-15 a year but i also have a full time job and part time job....i also do clean ups mulch jobs and small instals..last year i was doing 50 for a guy and ended up stoppin that was with one other guy helpin my equipt. and no full time job...

[A1Lawns]

Honestly, and not trying to be mean, but I think the best advice you can get on this subject is to lose the idea that your going to make any money working with a 21" mower. To me this is insane. I can see if you're a 15 year old kid and just doing it on the side after school and/or on weekends for extra cash, but trying to start a business with a mower so small is going to get you NOWHERE dude.
If you're going to invest in ANYTHING, invest in at least a 48" mower(new or used-there are many good used ones sold cheap everywhere), before you worry about advertising.
Get prepared, THEN worry about advertising. This way you can handle the work load and actually make some money.
Good luck.

[AbsoluteH&L]

I must agree, you need an up grade! go with a 36 or 48. I would lean to the 36 because you can still use it in small gated back yards. 36's are super cheap & even cheaper if used.

[Ecoscape01]

Dude good job with the 4000 flyers so far.....That's really good. This is my first season too so I know where you're coming from. I would suggest though to try and find a used 36" walk behind. Mine is 20 yrs old. I got it for 400 bucks from a small engine repairman but ya know what, it runs and it runs damn good and it will cut grass a lot faster than a 21" residential and with much higher quality. Nothin to brag about but it will allow me to do a property in half the time that I would've had I chosen to use the 21" that I too was planning to use just a few months ago. Hopefully by mid-season I will be able to upgrade to a newer 36" or larger, and then I will have my old 36 as a backup. Try to get as much commercial equipment as possible. I thought that commercial equipment was gonna be too expensive. Through the guys on this site, I've realized just how important having commercial equipment is going to be. I just bought a used commercial craftsman string trimmer tonight for fourty bucks. It started on the second pull and the throttle response was great. I nabbed it from the son-in-law of an old guy with a big prop just lookin to get rid of it cuz it became too heavy for him. It's old too but the thing's a beast. It will take a beating that a home owner grade trimmer won't. Craigslist.org and Ebay are good sources for starting equipment but shop wisely and be picky. With patience you can find a lot of awesome deals, save yourself a ton money, and enable yourself to be more profitable.