starting out..

[adcare lawns and gardens]

to all experienced lawn care providers...
what are the thee most important things you did or wished u did when starting your business???

[lawnpro724]

where there are several things I did before I started that I would suggest to all. 1st - work for another landscaping company for a couple years to gain experience. 2nd - Only buy what you can afford to buy when it comes to equipment in other words pay cash. You never know how the season is going to go and you don't want to have hefty loan payments during a drought or worse. 3rd - gradually increase your advertising over time when your ready for the extra work, growing to fast is a good way to go out of business. Never take on more obligations than you can handle or have the experience to do.

[Wells]

1. did not start out with major debt like most others do.
2. was legal and insured from day one.
3. hired employees.

[dutchhook]

1"CASH IS KING" most businesses fail because they run out of cash.
2. start and stick to a budget that works
3. Provide great, memorable service, and TRY to keep your pricing at a level that brings in a good net profit margin

Steve Hoogenakker

[swim]

1. Be reliable:rolleyes:
2. Pay cash for equipment
3. Be reliable:rolleyes::rolleyes:
4. Get insurance
5. Be reliable:rolleyes::rolleyes:
6. Be reliable:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
7. Be reliable:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

[dutchhook]

lol Ditto with Swim,but I noticed NO smiley faces after insurance?!?

[M&SLawnCare]

Wished i did:
1) Stayed in the field rather than leaving it and wasting 2 years in college
2) Advertised more and grew quicker. I'm a bad procrastinator at that apect of the bussiness



Glad I did:
1) Paid cash for everything. Zero debt from day one.
2) Bought equipment as i needed it, rather than as i wanted it.
3) Been reliable and always left a quality result which has helped with my lazyness on advertising :laugh:

[smcunningham]

Wish I would of:
1)Bought comm. grade eqmnt from the start(even it is used so you can afford it.)
2)Found this site from the beg.

[Valk]

1 be reliable ~ numero uno
2 work with pride & integrity
3 make sure facetime with your customers is enjoyable for them :laugh:

Be patient...
Experience comes with time...with time comes wisdom.
Treat folks the way you'd want to be treated...sounds golden to me! :waving:

In the beginning, IFF you're not behind your mower AND moving forward...you ain't making money.

Above ALL...enjoy your craft! It's your time to shine: and no one else can enjoy it for you. :jester:

Some folks are not naturally happy...if that's you, fake it til you make it.

START YOUR DAY EARLY!!!!!!!!
(except in the Winter when you can loaf a little) :cool2:

[Runner]

Wow...this is a great thread for having such a generic name. I would state mine, but they have already been mentioned. This would be good sticky material.

[adcare lawns and gardens]

thanks u guys are a big help

[rjgolfer]

Dutchhook mentioned Great and Memorable.....that was the mission statement of the company I used to worked for. We walked our talk at that company..if you didn't.... you didn't work there!!

Do the little things...like put the morning paper on the porch...help the little kid get his chain back on his bike....help the Ms. move that heavy planter...tons of ways to make your service MEMORABLE. Those "stories" will be told by that customer 100 plus times!! WOW what a great way to build your brand with costing you just a few minutes of your time!! And those stories turn into NEW customers....$$$

And never miss the opportunity to tell your customers THANK YOU!! That is very powerful and again cost you very little!! Great way to do this is using hand written notes. You read any business book 101 and they will preach the power of hand written notes....and if you have employees make sure you treat them the same way!! Happy New Year!!

[wvale1]

Great advise! I am new to this industry and all of these things are what costumers remember.... Anybody can cut grass.. The great customer service is what keeps people talking and coming back. all of this is free advertising. Nothing like referrals by word of mouth and believe me people talk and everybody this day in age is looking for customer service!