"it's Not Rocket Science"

[Lawn-Scapes]

Under Services/Home Repair section of todays paper it says:

IT'S NOT ROCKET SCIENCE
So Why pay those high prices?
Mowing, mulching, landscaping
and yard clean up.
Call (XXX) XXX-XXXX

Here's another:

*ATTENTION WESTMINSTER*
LOCAL LAWNS
FOR LESS
Call (XXX) XXX-XXXX
For Special Pricing


Oh $HIT :eek:

[awm]

may not be rocket science but theres a vast difference in know ,how among people,in this buisiness. boy im gabby today.:D gotta drink that doctor ordered, 6 oz. o red wine.

[E-man]

I see alot of "will beat any bid gaurenteed" Im going to start bidding lawns at 10 dollars :rolleyes:

[accuratelawn]

A guy here runs an ad "Free LAwn Care'. We will mow, trim, edge and clean up for free the first time to prove our work.
I own three acres with lots of trees and edging. I might call him for a free mow.:p

[KDJ]

Originally posted by accuratelawn
A guy here runs an ad "Free LAwn Care'. We will mow, trim, edge and clean up for free the first time to prove our work.
I own three acres with lots of trees and edging. I might call him for a free mow.:p


I think you should, I would like to see some pics of it.
The look on his face when he shows up with his 21" mower.

[Brickman]

accuratelawn

WAY to go!!! :D :cool: If you do this, post the pics on LS.

I tried that sort of thing 5 years ago when hard up for work. I never got a single call. Now I do not need to offer things like that. I turn a ton of work down on a regular basis.

[LJ lawn]

it's not rocket science but it IS an aquired TALENT.still cant find anyone to at least use a line trimmer correctly and efficiently .i'm waiting to see the ad- we'll pay you to cut your lawn!

[Bob Minney]

Ok Heres the plan-check out this idea to get all the business I need.

I'll cut my prices in HALF!!
Then I'll get TWICE as many customers cause my prices are so low.

Man is this a great business plan or what, by the end of the year I'll be rolling in it and I'll buy me a rocket ship.
:D :D :D

[Lawn-Scapes]

It's like putting a sign on your shirt that says:

"I'm A Dumb A$$"

[Garry]

I can teach anyone the science..........................It's the ART of growing plants that can not be taught.

[John Allin]

I don't like the message, and I think it's incredibly unprofessional.... but, unfortunately - I'll bet the guy gets calls from it.......

[lawnkid]

Here's one I've seen before:

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
We will provide all of your
lawn needs for a price close to free.
XXX-XXX-XXXX

I don't even know where they could get the money to put these advertisements up? :D :p

[jeffex]

I live in Eldersburg md. about 30 min. from Westminster. I don't cut around where I live any more because of low prices. People spend all thier money on thier kids around here not thier houses. I do pressure washing too and am amazed at how low some areas have priced 1/4 acre lawns down to as little as $15 per cut. people ask me for quotes for lawn mowing when I wash thier decks. $300,000 homes gEtting thier lawns cut for $15 is a joke. They pay good to have thier decks washed and stained though!

[Lawn-Scapes]

jeff... I may have to look into doing decks. Maybe you can help with pricing ;) The ad was in the CC Times...

$15 is sickening

I only have 4 lawns that are in the 10-12,000 sf range. Three of them in Eldersburg. Two are $35 and the other $40.

You travel to Catonsville? Is it that much better?

[jeffex]

your prices are good in eldersburg. I am a mailman in catonsville. thats how I get my customers. when I leave work my first lawn is 3 min. away I have lawns that are close together and have been building my route for 8yrs. Pressure washing is a great business but there is more potential for damage or messing up a persons deck. I have been doing that for a long time. I started just mowing my mother-in-laws lawn as a favor. Now we can handle only 50 lawn customers. e-mail me your # and I will gve you referrals. A guy practically ran me off the road 3 days ago get a priceon cutting his lawn. I told him I don't have room for another customer and I only cut in one area.

[PrimeGreen Lawn]

TSG, Most of my business is in Ellicott City and Columbia. If you're going to travel to Catonsville, might as well get in to E.C. anyway. Most of mine are in the .5 to 2 acre sizes and I charge anywhere from $40 to $95 depending on the work and location.

[Holloway Lawns]

There are a few in our paper thet say somthing like

LAWN RESCUE
off duty Firemen do all types of
yard work, hauling low rates.
xxx-xxxx

now I am not puting any firemen down I think that they are hero's. Here is another

Mow your yard CHEAP!
Returd o l e m a n.
xxx-xxxx

There are 31 ad's in our paper.

I do not put any one down for wanting to make extra money by working hard.

[Brickman]

I am a volunteer Fire Fighter, and I can tell you I am not the cheapest in town. But I do try to do the best job in town. You won't be able to find any body in town that can mow and make it look nicer than my lawns. They might look just as good, but never better. (just my opinion)

No kidding this isn't rocket science, but it does take pratice and tons of it, to make things look nice, to run a business, to relate to customers. Some customers are easy to get along with, and their monthly bill shows that, others are a pain, and their bill shows that. If I have to put up with their bad attitude, then they had better be will ing to pay.

I went out and bid a small lawn, it was just a simply mow, nothing more. $20 is my minimum. Lady calls back and leaves me a message. "thank you for coming out, but I found some body else that will do it for significantly less" FINE. I didn't want to do your lawn any way. WHATEVER

[proline32]

Yea, seen ads today...WILL MOW ANY LAWN $25.00
CALL XXX-XXXX
we even had one that said WEEDPULLING GLADLY DONE
$12.00 per hour
XXXXX weed service

I called and left a message for the weed pulling lady, told her that she was $15.00 below market value and that it didn't make sense to spend $100 dollars for a newspaper ad if your only getting $12.00 for an hours work.

BTW, I stopped advertising in that newspaper this year and started in another one, those free weekly newspapers seem to only attract loosers like that and the customers that look in there are el cheapos too.

This year, I put a message on my answering Machine that my Minimum monthly rate starts at $105 a month for service. It's working pretty well at eliminating those that are calling looking for cheap mowing, they just hang up instead of leaving a message and the ones that do leave a message understand the cost and still want an estimate. Cuts down on wasting time with loosers.

[Lawn-Scapes]

I got a call today from a potential customer..

"How much to mow an acre to an acre and a half"?

I told her.. It wouldn't be fair to you or me to give a quote w/o seeing it.

"Is it a free estimate"? "I don't want to spend more than $50".

I referred her to the local paper :rolleyes:

[totallpm]

Just a thought.

We have a guy who andvertises no lawn over 25.00 and free spring cleanup and fertilizing with seasonal contract.

I have often wondered if I sent him a list of properties I would probably make a greater magin by him doing them, I keep my eq. parked, I bill em and I golf.

1099 vs W4 and all that goes with it.

I know it wouldn't work but just a thought.


Kevin Totallpm

[jeffex]

The question is, do any of us who have been in business for at least 3-5 yrs still advertise this way. Cheap may be the way to get started in this business but you wont last. A friend of mine called and asked me for advice starting a lawn business. He needs extra money. I suggested he and his two sons walk the neighborhood knocking on doors letting people know they do lawn work. Above all I reminded him to set aside $5 per lawn to replace his "Harry Homeowner" equipment as i tbreakes down 1/2 way through the season. He asked me how I started an I said with one lawn at a time. I did my best job no matter what and above all I showed up or at least called the customer to let them know I would be late a day or so.

[maple city]

Saw this one on little cut up peices of paper at a local super market:

LAWN MOWING
AVG. $6 - $8
SEN. DISCOUNT
EVERY 4TH MOWING 1/2 OFF
GOOD REF.
CALL XXX-XXXX


I'm thinking about getting him to mow my own $40.00 lawn while I go out and mow my customers.

[65hoss]

I actually looked in a local paper here today. 2 ads said, all lawns 1/2 acre or less $25. 2 other ads actually said, "dirt cheap". Anyone willing to call these guys are customers I don't want.

[KirbysLawn]

Evidently it is…

[FrankenScagMachines]

maplecity-
Say you've got a 1/4 acre yard, and you pay this loozer $10 (OK, so that is his high end!) but then you get a 5% Senior discount (is that what they get?) and then every 4th one is free. That comes to about $33.25 per month, at 4 mowings per month average. That's two acres of mowing for just $33.25! But it gets better... if gas costs about $1.50 per gallon, and he burns 3/4 qt. of gas per hour in his push mower, and it takes him an hour to mow, then he's spending a total of about $4.50 per month on gas. If he possesses a trimmer and blower, that will increase to about $5.50 per month? So he's only turning a total of 4 hours per month, with a 'profit' of about $27.75 for labor. Supposing his Joe Blow Homeowner wallyworld push mower is paid for and doesn't need any repairs at all (i don't wanna bother with all that cost!) then he's making about $6.94 per hour. That's about 12 cents per minute.... This guy is past lowballer, he's just a scrub....boy i'll bet he's rolling in the dough after all this huh? I'll bet he likes lawn mowing better than his air conditioned $8.25/hour factory job... man some people are nuts.
Plus, he's got insurance, vehicle if he's got one, any other equipment etc to pay for.

[wesLESCO48]

bushhogboy, you forgot to mention the half hour drive time
their not getting paid for as well as the gas it took to get them
to the property, so they are probably making less than minimum
wage all things considered. It's a shame that people are this desperate to get work. It just makes it harder for the rest of us to get a fair price for the work we do. The sad thing is although
this person will likely go broke their first season there will be
several to replace him the next season. It's a vicious cycle we
have to deal with year after year and it seems to be getting worse. The only things we can do is be reliable, do the best job
we can, and try to get customers that value these things.

[kerr lawn]

Around here it is honestly insane how many lco there are. i have seen 10,15,20 different companies/scrubs/lowballers in one day and that doesn't inlcude all the ones i saw the day before. Everyone and their grandma has a lawn mower, so now they think everyone is doing it so lets go make some money. Then we get ppl charging these prices that are sad. Didn't get a lawn told her 30 every week, and she told me i had a guy do it for 20 every two weeks. Told her to call him because i wasn't coming down in price. Sorry lady.

peace
bryan

[LAWNS AND MOWER]

Don't you love the ads:

Joe Blow Lawn Care
SPECIALIZING In: Mowing,Weedeating,Mulching,Fertilizing,Gutter
Cleaning,Aerating,Thatching,Edging,Bushhogg-
ing,Spring and FallCleanups,Overseeding,Paint-
ing,Pressure Washing,Roofing,Babysitting,ETC.

You get the point. What don't they "specialize" in ???

And then there's the: Hardworking highschool junior trying to
save money for college. Great Prices!!!

This is great. What happens when Mr. Ivy League goes off to school. Who's going to cut your yard. Thankgoodness I have all the accounts I want or need and don't have to advertise. Haven't advertised in 9 years.

LAWNS AND MOWER

[MikeLT1Z28]

i wanna one of those who can do any yard for $25 for my soon to be ex-wife's yard. all tree'd 2.2 acres of it with a nice ditch running thru it that needs to be trimmed with a string trimmer.

i thought about advertising in the local paper here but i think i'd wind up wasting more time giving estimates to cheap shoppers than i would actually gaining customers from it.

[MTS2357]

It's not Rocket Science.
It's more important than that, it's Your Lawn.

Sounds like a good tag line for an ad.:p

[MATTHEW]

The one I've seen in the paper that cracks me up is "MOST LAWNS $25... WE COLLECT GRASS" We have acre size lots here, and bagging even ONE of those would fill a truck ($10 dumping fee avg.) What's up with that???:rolleyes:

[steve225]

I lost a client i was cutting for 20 yrs. because i couldn't do it on friday . The guy hacked her lawn up so bad she called back and said Tues. was fine with her would i come back . I have lost 3-7
cust. because idiots are coming in 10$$ cheaper sometimes ther is no loyalty in this bus. Price whores!

[maple city]

We've got a pretty big outfit here that is bidding jobs at $27.00 per acre. I lost two jobs to them a couple of weeks ago. There were two lots for the same lady. I bid one at 35.00 and one at 25.00. When I called her to tell her the prices, she told me that her other quote had come in at half that price.

This other company is going to haul their equipment around town to two seperate locations to do these jobs for 30.00 total and I know for a fact they have a 3 man crew. I think this company has money to burn. If they pay their guys each 7.00 per hour (I'm guessing), and each of the jobs will take about 1/2 hour (plus a little driving time), not to mention that one of the lots has no place to park a truck and trailer... I figure they will be in the hole after they get done with these ones.

I guess I shouldn't worry, they will be out of business soon with these bidding skills.

[maple city]

We've got a pretty big outfit here that is bidding jobs at $27.00 per acre. I lost two jobs to them a couple of weeks ago. There were two lots for the same lady. I bid one at 35.00 and one at 25.00. When I called her to tell her the prices, she told me that her other quote had come in at half that price.

This other company is going to haul their equipment around town to two seperate locations to do these jobs for 30.00 total and I know for a fact they have a 3 man crew. I think this company has money to burn. If they pay their guys each 7.00 per hour (I'm guessing), and each of the jobs will take about 1/2 hour (plus a little driving time), not to mention that one of the lots has no place to park a truck and trailer... I figure they will be in the hole after they get done with these ones.

I guess I shouldn't worry, they will be out of business soon with these bidding skills.