The Only way to make money in Mowing in Residential is!

[greatdane612002]

The by far the best way to make money is have a bunch of accounts in one stop!!!!

[LAWNS AND MOWER]

Can I vote for both?? I have a cluster of commercial accounts.:confused: :confused:

[landscaper3]

We are Commercial & Residential, commercial is where the steady check comes from but residentials (the good ones) are FULL of add on services which relates to a endless possibilities of $$$$$ We like both and thats why we have a commercial crew and a residential crew.

[ronslawncare]

how about dont go with the flow and lowball everything in the world /today i bid a $50.00 lawn some a$$hole is doing it for $25.00 and she thought that was to high,the lady said i was looking for 20.00 and under when i told her $50.00 she said is that for the monthcome on the property is almost 12,000 sq ft.I consider this a great price i gave her.

[Green Pastures]

Did you mean:

The only way to make money is in residential.

???

Your statement the way you posed it:

The only way to make money in mowing in residential is....

leads me to believe you're looking for an answer to a question, but you posted a poll that has no answers to your question. Only statements that would validate your opinion that the only way to make money is in residential.

So, is that what you meant?

The way to make money in this business is not found in residential or commercial but in a balanced mix of both.
Doing the best possible job every day every property and ALWAYS, ALWAYS sticking to your original price.

[FrankenScagMachines]

RON PLEASE EMAIL ME!!!!!

[EJK2352]

I find much more loyalty with residentials. Seems like you get a good relationship w/ a commercial, and then they put some penny pincher in charge of the grounds maintenance. I swear they give these guys a bonus for saving the company money. ED

[lawnkid]

I always like Green Pastures posts. He's very straightforward and always got you thinking. Anyway, I only do resdential clusters and I am doing well now so sure it works if you know what you are doing.

[Swampbeast]

I voted for residentials because I only have about 16 out of my 187 accounts are commercial. All the rest are residentials, and I nearly have each persons name memorized! Except for the six new ones we got last week, still cant remember thier names....

:cool:

[Fantasy Lawns]

The ONLY way to make $$ in this business .... At least the Only Way I can Think of is ...... ??

"The Price Charge for a Job ==> MUST Be Greater Than the Cost to Perform the Job"

N That's IT!

[darryl gesner]

Making money is illegal unless you're a US Mint. Do you mean earning money?:D

[Fantasy Lawns]

Very True ;->

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Originally posted by BushHogBoy
RON PLEASE EMAIL ME!!!!!

Again with this "email me" post, email him, if he doesn't email you back, HE DON"T WANT TO TALK TO YOU!!!!

Either one can be better then the other in different situations.

What I said went all the way around in a circle didn't it.

Same goes for commercials, you're not the only one who is thinking this, thus they are bidding them also, unlike resi.

[crazygator]

Originally posted by Green Pastures
The way to make money in this business is not found in residential or commercial but in a balanced mix of both.
Doing the best possible job every day every property and ALWAYS, ALWAYS sticking to your original price.

While this is true, you can make it in doing either one 100%. You HAVE to know your cost's, and your pricing. If one or both of these are off then you will suffer big time.

Plus as so stated, you MUST do great work.

[LawnGuy73]

Commerical baby............:D

[Expert Lawns]

Grass is grass. Money is money. They are both green. You do the math :)

[GraZZmaZter]

There is money in both com and res.

Just the way you go about it.

ronslawncare

You can complain or you can do something about it. I tell people simply " you can find someone cheaper than us all day...but your going to get cheaper service" it goes along with " sure we are more, but you get more" Ive been saying that alot lately.

Just yesterday i had a lady CANCEL a co. she just signed with, and sign with us. WHY?? Because she gets more with us.

[rodfather]

Mowing lawns (residential or commercial) is not where the money is IMHO. It's the add-on services you get with a resi or comm acount (fert, aeration, mulch, etc.) where you make the bucks.

Mowing pays our overhead, but I haven't gotten rich from it.

[tiedeman]

I have to agree with rodfather..we make most of our money from our customers not from mowing, but from add on services.

[greenman]

Originally posted by BushHogBoy
RON PLEASE EMAIL ME!!!!!

LMAO!!!!:D Again? Are you doing that just to get under LGF's skin?

[GraZZmaZter]

Ron will you email Eric

[LAWNGODFATHER]

Originally posted by greenman
LMAO!!!!:D Again? Are you doing that just to get under LGF's skin? He wants to sell him one of his OCDC's.......:blob3: LMAO

[thartz]

I'm with rodfather.Offer a decent price to get in the door doing lawn care and pick up the fert. apps. landscape renovations and so on.Give me one lawn bid in a high end resi. area and I feel like a shark in bloody water.Do a nice job and you'll own the neighborhood.

[SLS]

"Do a nice job and you'll own the neighborhood."

How true!*






*Unless you decide stay solo for another year and have to turn away half the neighborhood because you are booked solid. :D


Yeah, the money is in the extras. I LOVE the gutter cleaning $$$ on the one-story ranchers.........

[darryl gesner]

Thartz and SLS - That's what I'm hoping. I just picked up this lawn. It's three houses into the nicest and biggest new subdiv. in town. The guy doesn't know that I'd pay him to have my truck parked in front of his yard!

[Green in Idaho]

For a small operators:
Commercials on Tuesday, Wednesdays & Saturdays. Residentials on Thursday & Friday.

Fishing on Mondays!

[LAWNS AND MOWER]

Originally posted by darryl gesner
Thartz and SLS - That's what I'm hoping. I just picked up this lawn. It's three houses into the nicest and biggest new subdiv. in town. The guy doesn't know that I'd pay him to have my truck parked in front of his yard! In regards to parking in front of his yard, it helps sometimes to block the road!! Nice way to meet the neighbors!!

[thartz]

Here's what helped me a lot.I did the first cut on a Friday afternoon around 3:30 and took my time and did a really clean job.New blades the whole deal and parked my truck in front of the neighbors house( asked the neighbor if i could then got his yard on the spot)I mowed perpendicular to the road so anyone going by would see the stripes on a big hill so you couldn't miss them.Asked the new client if I could fertilize and did.Did the fert app on the following Sat.Got about 15 customers and the main developer in one weekend.Do the Sat deal at about 1:00 because everyone seems to get out & moving about that time.I spent as much time as I could there changing blades and so forth so people would see me working but not just standing around and took no help so it would intentionally take me that long.Man it is great.If anyone builds now they know I'm the go to guy and there are about 100 houses left to build.Get ready to work long hours and provide service 24/6.Some people don't like that idea but we are in a service industry.I worked Easter diamond cutting a doctor's lawn but people like that take good care of you.

[GraZZmaZter]

lawnsandmower

It helps to use some pylons also. Draws attention to the truck.

[Gravely_Man]

The ad on services is the real moneymakers for both for commercial and residential. Both of these can be cut throat with the client wanting to cancel the contract over $5.00 a cutting.

Gravely_Man

[lasher66]

Commercial is nice, but if you lose a $300 a cut account, that is a big blow to your income. When you lose a residential customer, they are usually easy to replace and its only a $25 to $50 cut most the time.

Lasher

[thartz]

Lasher66; take that $25 cut and turn it into a larger moneymaker.The lawn care for my accounts is small compared to the add ons that are waiting for you to apply a sales strategy to.I always leave a note either in the invoice or in the door(time to fert. etc.) half the time your client needs to be educated on what needs to be done! several of my resi. are as expensive as a medium sized commercial account and I don't have a facilities manager breathing down my neck always trying to get something for nothing.

[gusbuster]

In California, the people from down south have destroyed the easy money from grass cutting. Believe me, I'm not the only one that has this thought here in CA. I site a featured article about a company from the San Diego area, that was in I believe Feb's Lawn and Landscape magizine.

The way to make money is thru value added services such as aeration, plantings ect..Knowing your clients, whether commercial or residential. But the most important, just be the best person\company that does the job. You will make money as long as you watch your cost and don't blow it away on non-essential machines.

John