client income demographic profile

[turfman59]

Would like to start a lawn maintenance co. but was wondering what range of incomes people normally have that pay for this service?? Also what kind of employment in the family. Example
1 professional other spouse stays home. Retired widow or Widower, Single Male Yuppie ( or Female) Just wondering if there is a common denominator or a profile? Or are these people that just hate gas engines and cutting grass?
Thanks again Bruce

[gslam88]

Bruce,


I live here in Connecticut. I don't know if this will help but the state has a web site from the dept of economic development

http://www.state.ct.us/ecd/research/townprof98/98townpdf.html#mno


it breaks down a lot of things, maybe mich has something similar for a idea of the income and resources of the housholds in your area.

Pete :)

[turfman59]

I know my counties profile I was just wanting to know the real gut feeling of a broader bunch of guys in the biz. where do they see the incomes at are even houses if there better at that. Like use market value of the house the client live in. EXample 250,000 dollar house 25,000 dollars worth of landscaping. what ever they can relate it too. Doesnt have to be real specific. Just curious what kind of person wants this service. I have such a hard time thinking that someone would pay enough for this service because I like doing it, and Iam such a cheap SOB
Bruce

[odin]

Here where im at we have villages that have million dollar homes and two miles down the road they might be working class or 2 miles from there there might be a ghetto.You go west where we consentrate our business and they are all 350000 or more homes.There are couple of upper middle black neigborhoods here that have been great money makers the key to them is if they like you they will get you more business then you can handle. And their preachers will pay you well.They dont like to get companies thought the papers or advertisement they like word of mouth.
A buddy from my gm days got us accounts in these areas and in no time they became quite profitable .I would say the vast majority of our cilents are two income and most have escalades and mercedes benz and lexues .
So you get a lot more from a millon dollar home then a working class neighborhood.
There are so many guys out there that the price in the working class areas are as low as 25$ in some villages.And you might go two blocks up the street and cut one for 75 a half acre in a well to do and sell all the extras you can provide .
Needless to say the last two seasons we have been fortunate to conentrate on the well to do and commercial properties.
It took and good 4 seasons to get in that position.

[BigJim]

If a person has a house with a lawn it needs cutting,either they do it or some one else has too.I mow lawns for people who's car is worth more than your house,and for people so poor they have to take a bus.Its how they pay is the main factor,some rich people are incredably tight with their money,and some people without much money are good payers.You really have to work with the people that live around your area,its the travelling between jobs that kills the profit.

[HOMER]

It's hard to judge a book by it's cover......................the ones that have money don't seem to want to pay it or they're always late. The little old lady on a fixed income wants to make sure your paid before you leave. It takes a while to develop a customer list that works for you...............upper class does not always = dollars in your pocket.

[turfman59]

So if I follow you what your saying is there isnt a true picture painted from income level alone. My county is only 22,000 people
its 548 sq miles like any other place in Mi it has some nice properties and some very large yards not alot of highend landscaping or cultured grasses I would like a walker ,mower but kind of think with the larger props a dixie chopper or an exmark would be better, probably would like to cater to commercial props also, thanks again Oh by the way the politicaly correct way to express high income is not " upper class anymore" for the same reason you dont say low class or lower incomes...
Thank you very much for your post Bruce

[odin]

homer

Tell me about it im not a biggot but the indian doctors are the worse payers we ever had and these are well off people.
An yes some rich are late and even try to beat us out of money but 3 rich properties around here will bring in more money than 20 of the little ole ladies.I aint got nothing against little old ladies but it's a fact of life around here you go where the money is.Go to a poor area around here you might get yourself shot .We maintained some hud houses two seasons ago for a realtor and never again will we do it had to take a special day to do them and bring my rottweiler with us and a sawoff shotgun hidden in the truck cab.
But then again turfman59 is in a much smaller area than i am here in chicago our area has 100's of thousands of potential cilent's one village after the other here.His situation would be probably be different from mine.
And i aint polically correct i have always called the rich what they are rich.

[mdb landscaping]

i have found that not necessarily the nicest homes with the biggest incomes are always the best payers. a lot of times i find the middle class and senior citizens are happy you do the work for them and pay you on time. ive had many times where my nicest yards are a pain to collect money from. this year alone i dropped two accounts cause i had to physically go to their house to get my money.

[Bob Minney]

If you want to base your advertising on income levels, the Cole directory is very good. It breaks it down for you by street & neighborhood. Your library should have a copy.
As far as my customer profile
1. Double income household 80%
2. Single ladies 15%
3. Retired 5%
4. Single men 0%
Median household incomes range from 45 to 65K depending on the neighborhood. Houses 150-275K
Most of my customers don't want to do the work, a few can't.

[AGG Lawn Maintenance]

Homer my man you hit the nail on the head!!! You sure we're not twins? LOL's. Any way I have worked for them all Million $$ houses middle class etc. I have noticed not all but some of the Million $$ houses are the ones that always want the money breaks. I do have ones that pay and pay well. But I think we have the most success with the working class people and elderly. The only thing bad about the elderly people is that they can talk you to death if you let them. The working class people want their lawn to look nice but don't have the time to do so. And the little bit of time they do have they spend relaxing. I live in New Jersey and most of my customers work in New York. The last thing that they want to do is cut the lawn when they get home. I work for Real estate agencies which some are good some a pain. The of the ones we work for pay really slow. We also do apartment complex’s. Those places are cool just a pain in the fall and winter. In the winter they complain if you plow them in. If they have to move their cars for us to plow the complain as well. Hellooooooo!!! In the fall don't let your guys blow anything on someone’s car forget it. Travis

[awm]

my observation has been that those busy making lot o money will pay more. they want 1st class lawn etc ,but need all their time
to make more money.the folks with older money ,dont like to pay as much
.i work for a lot o older people.some with money will subsidise their less fortunate neighbors.others will nickel u do death if u let them. i dont. .i gotta neighbor im dreading right now . just sold 20 acres of prime land, drive new high end cars and trucks.
its about all i can do to be around them.oh well gotta take the good with the bad. i guess
:rolleyes: ps my luck hes reading this,which wouldnt be all bad.

[tlcservices]

iv found the best payers are regular folk that just want the yard cut ive done em all from 250 a month to 50 a month and ill take the 50 anyday

[odin]

I agree the rich are not always the best payors rich people rich bills to pay but 3/4 of our income comes from the upper middle to rich neigborhoods
When you do get stung by the rich it stings worse because they most times owe a lot.
Commercial accounts have stung us to by fileing bankruptsy.
We dont turn working class down but we dont consentrate on them either.Im an ol working class blue collar guy myself.
And i agree seniors pay great and them and our black custormers are our most loyal cilents.
You get a african american custormer and he likes you personally and likes your work you have a custormer who is extremely loyal.
And we have had very little problems collecting from them .
The key around here to seniors is getting the ones who dont nickle and dime you to death.
A lot of the seniors here are going to condos.
Condos are great when you can get the ones who have plenty of money in the association fund and can deal one on one with the association president.
Get one where you have to deal with 3 or 4 people is a nitemare.
Dont turn our noses up at any work just conentrate more on some areas then others.

[kerr lawn]

i have them all almost old ladies, old men, the fat, the ugly,the black, the white, the hot daughter( that one time we show up and she is tanning on the driveway with a white bikini, honestly i'm not sure how i mowed that yard) the hot wives, the wives that want this nice stuff and the husband is right there thinking how am i'm gonna pay for this, but somehow fiqures it out, families that don't care how much it cost, ppl that can't remember how much i charge them per cut, the ppl that tell me that i don't charge them enough even though i'm making the money i want to, around here the jewish, asains, and the indians are the worst ppll to work for by far. The jewish don't want to pay for anything, the asains can't understand how could that possible cost that much, the indians don't mind spending money on a plant but never want to pay for your labor. The rich I have never really had a problem of getting my money out of them.
but somehow i get up and go to work everyday.
peace
bryan

[kerr lawn]

the ppl with there own business, ppl that sit a desk all day looking at a computer screen, all types of blue collar (carpet, masnory, electrical, office supplies, pyschologist, doctor of some sort, female doctor (i would love and hate that job but way too much schooling), relator, communication ie phones, and magnetics that go on military planes, boat, submarines, automoblies to detect anyone and anything, and painting.