JUST CUTS! No trimming.

[casey]

Thinking about adding this service next year to increase volume & profits.

JUST CUTS!
All lawns cut weekly & clippings blown off for $20.
NO TRIMMING.

Reasons:
Hard to train good trimmer men.
Trimming a small res takes 1/4 to 1/2 the time for cutting.
Running 36 or 44 hydro's, & 21's over these props would take only 5 to 10 min.
Alot of people just want the grass cut at a cheap price.
We would likely line up multiples on every street.
Concentrated area so drive time to next street is minimal.

As is we do 150+ residentials cut-trim-blow-hedges&apps.
By adding Just Cuts I could add crews without having to worry about training trimmer men & could probably secure many multiples per street.

Any downside?

[stick9]

People just walking or driving by will think you do shotty work.




STiCK-nIne

[bubble boy]

oh, man.:rolleyes:

[dhicks]

I would think you could get by doing just a cut but I'd makesure that I covered up the company logo and name on the truck/trailer.

[John DiMartino]

i think it needs to be the reverse,no one wants to trim,ive had people ask me to trim,edge and blow.,they will mow.Mowing is easy,they dont want to do the hard work.

[KDJ]

It's you're reputation.

[casey]

I would put a JUST CUTS logo on the trucks used for that service so other people would know what service is being provided.

[Dochere]

Get a set of magnets to put over your existing logo for these accounts (assuming you have one) set up a separate phone line, and incorporate under the assumed name "Just Cuts", and if you can, put the incorporation in someone else's name (wife, brother, etc.). Do everything you can to keep people from associating this "cut only company" with your main stay. I would not want to jeopardize 150 current customers much less future business that was gained from our professional image at our existing sites. I also would not want current customers figuring out what your now offering and say to themselves " I can save ten bucks! ".

[captdevo]

i've done something like this to increase business but...

the people i've done this with i sold them a landscape "upgrade" to qualify:

I "round-off" all beds for ease of mowing and install beds around trees, requiring less trimming.

I ended up making more for the landscape labor, edging, mulch, etc.... and i'm able to get more scheduled mowing accounts.

[landscaper3]

Worst thing imagined, did I mention the worst thing imagined!!!! You get alot of new customers from the quility of work you do at peoples homes, they drive by and say oh doesnt that lawn look nice! Can you imagine a nicely striped lawn only to see grass groing up over the house, flower beds, driveway and every other place it grows!!! YOU WILL NOT GET ADDED BUSINESS DOING A SHODDY JOB!!!!!! If you think about it all you really spend trimming on a average small lot is only a few minutes. Granit some of our condos we maintain are 70plus units and over 100,000sqft of lawn but it only takes 2 people not long at time. Let me repeat you grow through your quility of work and not the amount you do!

[AztlanLC]

Landscaper3, really good point.

You want to add this service because you want to increase volume or is it because you are getting to lazy to trimm, even if you get more customers I'm pretty sure that you are gonna spend more time driving around from house to house.

The problem training people trimming it's that most of us do it while working, three years ago I came up with the Idea of put all my new employees to trimm a field right acrooss from my warehouse, First I made couple of passes with the mower and then told them try to do the make look the same with the trimmer (not strips of course) I'm not talking about 10 to 20 minutes, I put'em there for about 9 hours, I end up paying that day without making profit, but believe I was loosing a lot more not doing it before.

Make a list of thing you know have to be done while trimming, don't ask for speed at the begining ask for quality, you don't want a fast slopy job.

[65hoss]

UUggghh!!:o

Every so often this subject comes up. It makes for a non-complete job. You look bad to others. Regardless of signs on your truck, your not there 24/7. People the next day will only see junk work.

[gene gls]

I have found this year that customers are more interested in keeping the price down for thier service and they are wanting to skip areas that I always trimmed.

This year has been bad in many areas with all the "new commers" to the mowing industery, just wait till next year with all the layoffs due to the airplane highjackings. I think customers will be cutting back on thier standard of acceptance for work performed in lou of lower monthly maitenance fees.

Gene

[casey]

I agree that more people are concerned with price than quality.
You get more customers through pricing practices than quality workmanship. Just look how many shop at Wal-Mart.
I've also worked out some numbers for JUST CUTS.
2 man crew could do 40 props per day at $20 just cutting.
$800 per day.
If they were multiples per street in a concentrated area I figure this could be done in 5 to 7 hrs.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Yes I do some JUST CUTS. You can make some real $ doing it. But they are not my real income, They happen to be vacant props. They wanted a just cut price and that's what they got, but they are an evey other week mow, and I priced it at top dollar. Yes every time I go to mow them I feel like trimming them, and some times they get trimmed, because i cant stand looking at the grass that was mowed at 4" and the other crap at a foot tall. As far as the concept you are looking for, these guys gave some realy good "back lash" examples to look at. I would not want to be known for that kind of a job.

LGF:blob1:

[captdevo]

My Walkers cut-out most of my trimming anyway!

all the properties i do look great, heck i don't have to use a trimmer at my own house because of my landscape design.


my "just cuts" are all nice properties, mostly elderly folks who enjoy weeding their own beds and save money doing so.

but, the cheapest "just cut" i have is $35 for less than 3/4 acre.

i do cut a vacant warehouse "as needed" which i spray round-up to areas which would normally be trimmed.

no way will i ruin my image or reputation.

[Guido]

Unless its some kind of large area or pasture mowing, etc.

Its bad business no matter what you write on your trucks, etc.

If you do quality work, thats what you should be offering. I wouldn't build a road without the proper base, its the same thing.

[Southern Lawns]

You can't do both! It's either scrub or not to scrub. If your like me it will eat you up if you leave the property in less than perfect condition. You'll make the right choice.
Raymond

[awm]

casey ,ive offerd this service for a while ,for those who want to do their own trim etc. they range from the tired buisiness
man who likes to do some but needs help with the mowing ,
to the finicky person who considers their trim thier specialty.
these are usually retired and somewhat physically limited.
they are told the particulars up front . mainly that trimming wont cost that much more,but a few choose this option.
i just believe in letting people do what they want to do ,
and do the same myself. i do make money onum tho

[khouse]

I sold a commercial job that was a cut only. I was a low income housing property. They wanted cheap, but I still bid it high. It was a no trim or pick up trash job, just mow over everything. Two times a month @ $400.00 per cut. It took 2 hours to mow. The rest of the property was run down and the lawn ended up being the best loking thing about it. That property was dropped after 1 year for very slow payments. I would really pick and choose the mow only clients. I think the mow only clients should be commercial. Just my thought.

[TGCummings]

I used to do a few JUST EDGE lawns next to some of my clients, but I dropped them all last year. Even though it supplemented the income I was making on the full service account stops, it just looked shoddy. They were folks that liked to mow their own lawns, but didn't own an edger. Their mowings were so infrequent that the property always looked bad and it was detrimental to my rep, not to mention my state of mind to work on a property that looked so bad.

I don't take on partial service accounts anymore.

I have one customer, a very good customer, with whom I only cut in her backyard. She loves to do the trimming herself back there because it "gets her out of the house". In the front yard I do full service and wouldn't back down on that. She's the only one who sees her backyard on a regular basis so it's somewhat amenable. Still, when she doesn't get around to the trimming, I still feel I'm doing an injustice. She saves very little doing this herself and I've offered to do it very cheap for my peace of mind but she won't relent. Not long ago, however, she was taking care of everything in her backyard and slowly turned over the mowing back there, so I'm slowly turning her around. ;)

She's the exception, however, and I don't take on new accounts for partial service anymore...

-TGC

[KirbysLawn]

Originally posted by bubble boy
oh, man.:rolleyes:

LOL, my thoughts exactly.

[kutnkru]

I think that like TGC said you've got it backwards. Its okay to trim/edge for homeowners who cannot or are unable to.

I have to second the majority that unfinished edges look unkempt and portray a style of turf management that you really can do without having associated with your organization.

Just my .02
Kris

[casey]

Captevo,
I like your idea of a "landscape upgrade" to reduce the need for trimming on the front of these props.
The JUST CUTS contract could read: A $50 to $100 landscape upgrade for the front of your property is required to qualify for this service. Backyard upgrade optional.
These customers would still save about $200 on a yearly mowing contract after a $100 landscape upgrade and $300 each additional contract year.
Thanks.

[roscioli]

How can you fit all lawn into a $50-100 upgrade range? What if i have no bed in the front of my house (grass meets foundation), and 115 small trees in my yard? Is that only $100?

[Pauls Mowing]

Our company is thriving on our quality of work. While we are 100% commercial, mow unsold subdivision lots in 5 subdivisions (250+- lots), our business is really increasing because we do trimming. Yes, trimming lots mowed with a 6' rotary mower behing a tractor. Any one can mow, but when you give it the extra effort, it really pays off big. Just trimming around pad mount transformers, property line stakes and water line markers makes the lots for our customer more curb appealing. Today, the boss asked if I'd edge the curbs, they want no weeds hanging over them and into the street. It only takes a little extra time do the trimming, and it's paid by the hour. Our attention to detail has brought us more jobs, and we have just purchased another John Deere tractor. Have pride in your work, your name is on it.

Paul

[casey]

I have plenty of full service contracts but am looking for a way to drastically increase volume for 2 new crews next year. If you do a quality job for the service you are offering you are not doing shoddy work. This would be an entirely different service & the price would reflect that.
Dochere makes a good suggestion to keep this company seperate from our current full service contracts.
Thanks.

[Mowingman]

I bid a "cut only "job at our city's sewage plant and got the job. It is about 15 acres with many tanks, buildings,roads, and sidewalks. My mowing looks great, but the place looks terrible overall as it has not been trimmed or edged this year!! I am glad the public does not see it and think I do sloppy work. However, this has turned out to be my most profitable job, and now they want to add trimming and edging to my contract.:blob3:

[gogetter]

Originally posted by casey
If you do a quality job for the service you are offering you are not doing shoddy work. This would be an entirely different service & the price would reflect that.


Casey, that all sounds nice in theory, but realistically, folks that are driving by and neighbors aren't going to know what the price paid is. They are just going to drive by a house and see a cut lawn with tall grass/weeds growing all around the house/trees/beds/sidewalks/curbs, etc. and see you load your mower on your truck and getting in and driving away.

Besides it looking bad for you, I just can't see that many customers wanting that kind of service. I just picked up a new lawn a few weeks ago because the service they were using didn't trim or blow!! They were delighted when they saw me doing it!
I think you'd have just as hard a time picking up a large amount of customers for this new 2 man crew offering this service as you would picking up full service accounts at a slightly higher price. (by full service I mean with trimming & blowing).

Keep us posted either way.

[kutnkru]

Casey if your really looking to cut back on the time it takes you to complete an account you can always cut back on how often you do the trimming because of how its done.

Since June I have used a stick edger for all walks and curblines every other cut. I have also been able to pretty much keep bed edging to every third without them looking unkempt. I just keep track of what was done and then mark it in the production ledgers I keep in the truck.

This will eliminate 5 to 10 minutes per account per week throughout the season. Heres how it could add up on the low end:
5 min x 20 lawns per crew daily = 100 min
100 min per day x 5 day work week = 500 min per week
500 min per week x 32 week mowing season = 16,000 min
16,000 minutes = 266.66 hours

If you are charging a modest fee of $20 per man hour on your mowing crews this will be a savings of $5333.20.

Thats either winter living funds or a nice piece of updated mowing equipment! And quality has not been diluted because of the drought-like mowing conditions. :D

Kris

[kris]

Seems alot of folks are trying so hard to get more volume when what they should really do is raise rates and do less work, more money.

[V.H. lass]

Qualityy is very important, and should not be scarifice for quanity
Lawns don't look the same without the trimming done

[thfireman]

Besides possibly giving your company a bad image from passerbys you will eventually be asked to trim it out when all the corners and border grow high. Then you have to spend extra time trimming and even if you charge extra this will screw up your schedule.

I tried this once and it didnt work well for me. It is just easier to trim it when you cut. IMO

:)

[Likestomow]

If a customer wants this type of service, they will either do it themselves without trimming or hire someone to do it for them without trimming. And the neighbors are used to these people having their yards done like this anyway.

I have had customers like this and it has never ever bothered my other customers, new customers or anyone else. These accounts are the greatest money makers. Sometimes I’d make $70 - $80 per hour doing mine. I didn’t have very many, but I gladly took everyone that asked for this type of service.

[John from OH]

Amusing responses. 50 years ago people told some brothers that owned a hamburger stand that no one would eat at a restaraunt without wait staff, silver ware, and a burgers only menu. I believe that little diner might have turned into one of the most sucessful corporations in the history of the world while changing the way many of us eat, especially lunch in this industry .............................................................................................25 years ago, full service gas stations said people will never buy gas without getting the windshield washed, oil checked, and so on.......................................

Times change, peoples expectations are not all the same. I would go for it under a different company name. Sit back, collect the money, and laugh all the way to the bank. Look at all the lawns in the country that are not cut by a lawn service. The vast majority of them aren't willing to pay the price. Many would pay a reduced rate. Its a huge market...............................

[TurfGuyTX]

Personally I never agree to "just cut" a lawn. My reputation is too important. I want to feel good about how a lawn looks. I cringe at the thought of all those untrimmed lawns. Maybe you can charge $10 and triple your work? This industry doesn't need to go backwards with quality. My thoughts anyway.

[FrankenScagMachines]

I beleive there is a good profit there but I currently don't do it. I do however do like Kris-kutnkru does on my lower paying accounts and just do it every other week on most of it and let part of it go even three weeks sometimes because some of it doesn't grow that much. In spring it's pretty much every week though as long as we had a good wet spring like this year. If it needs it I do it. I think it honestly would work quite well in many areas around here because at least 50% of LCO's who do a professional job don't have signs on their truck and trailer etc. So they would easily get away with it. I would be tempted but not alot especially if it's not much trimming to do. Besides I get alot of one timers that just have me do it when they vacation or their mower's broke etc. so I always always trim those and do a good job. They remember that trust me. It's your business, do what you like. I think it mainly varies on the situation though.
Good luck,
Eric

[Currier]

WOW way to resurrect a seriously OLD thread! Casey don't even post here any more since the stuck walkbehind incident! :)

[PaulJ]

I will admit that I do have a couple of these but about once a month they get a standard service with trimming and bagging. So I can still keep it looking pretty good. And yes they do get charged for for the full service visit. I only did this because they really whined:cry: :cry: about price when I was signing them up for the season. ONe almost never watters so it only gets mowed about every 2 weeks anyway. I think I'l drop that one and sell the other on standard service next year.:)

[Fareway Lawncare]

Amusing responses. 50 years ago people told some brothers that owned a hamburger stand that no one would eat at a restaraunt without wait staff, silver ware, and a burgers only menu. I believe that little diner might have turned into one of the most sucessful corporations in the history of the world while changing the way many of us eat, especially lunch in this industry .............................................................................................25 years ago, full service gas stations said people will never buy gas without getting the windshield washed, oil checked, and so on.......................................

Times change, peoples expectations are not all the same. I would go for it under a different company name. Sit back, collect the money, and laugh all the way to the bank. Look at all the lawns in the country that are not cut by a lawn service. The vast majority of them aren't willing to pay the price. Many would pay a reduced rate. Its a huge market...............................

Good Point....I Don't Even run a Premium Service Anymore...It's Just not as Profitable...

[MMLawn]

:dizzy: Good Point....I Don't Even run a Premium Service Anymore...It's Just not as Profitable...


Casey, Calvin you must have really gotten into some bad mushrooms this time since you have spent the past 3 days digging up 4 year post to respond to

[K.Carothers]

They are good points! Lets face it guys/gals, times are a changing and we have to change with them. If your area demands full service then thats where the money is and if your area is more the cut/blow/go type then thats the focus. Also, we all have a different vision of what we want out of the lawn care business and life in general. The more negative energy that we put into talking about"scrubs,lowballers,larry's,100,000 set-ups, 400 craftsman's set-ups etc... derails the main focus of our business.. :)

[Fareway Lawncare]

i've done something like this to increase business but...

the people i've done this with i sold them a landscape "upgrade" to qualify:

I "round-off" all beds for ease of mowing and install beds around trees, requiring less trimming.



"Landscape Upgrades" are free if they Sign for the Season....Usually Takes less than 1/2 hr.