Solo vs employee's

[RodneyK]

Darryl G hit the nail on the head, exactly! You could have less lawns next year but make more money if you have that much demand. It happened to us this year. We were almost full and had a new client call. Normally would have been at $45 lawn but we quoted and got $65 per cut. If you are good there are people that will pay!

[Exact Rototilling]

Smaller lawns is most always more profitable solo IMO. If and/or when I hire it will be to train to have them run solo on a tight route.

In my area I've seen as many as 4-5 people mowing, triming and blowing with 21" mowers on one lawn that can more effectively serviced by a solo running a 32, 36 or 44 WB such as what I run and make more $.

The major glitch of a 100% solo operation such as mine is injuries. 2 years ago inguinal hernia that was tricky to schedule last mowings then surgery....then barely 2-3 weeks had to run on snowblowing route and risked ripping stitches and the repair.

Year before last fairly serious back injury and I almost quit the biz cold turkey in July of 2010....and stumbled through the remainder of that season solo and struggled to keep pace till.the.seasons.end.

Solo sounds all great till this happens.

In my own situation there is not much point in hiring an actual worker unless I quit my other buisness which if frankly more profitable with less overhead yet tedious but easy on the body.

Where I need help is with Spring marketing and some logistics, screen some phone calls and paperwork.

Basically what most wives or GF do. Maybe 2013
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[cpllawncare]

Originally Posted by RodneyK

Darryl G hit the nail on the head, exactly! You could have less lawns next year but make more money if you have that much demand. It happened to us this year. We were almost full and had a new client call. Normally would have been at $45 lawn but we quoted and got $65 per cut. If you are good there are people that will pay!

And that works until the lowballers raid your area and leave you with the scraps, we were at full capacity and still getting calls so we raised rates and dropped some lower rates just as your supposed to do, then the lowballers came in and took a bunch of the accounts, as hard as we tried to explain why they weren't getting the deal they thought they were, they went ahead anyway, live and learn. customer loyalty is at an all time low, and these accounts were in high end area's even, It was always the same story,your doing a great job but this guy will do it cheaper.

[smallstripesnc]

Originally Posted by Darryl G

If you're really getting that many calls it's a great opportunity to do some cherry picking and raise your prices. I know that when I first started out my name & phone number spread like wild fire among my customer's friends and neighbors and they seemed to have an endless supply of work for me. I was like, wow, this is easy. It was because I wasn't charging enough....I thought making $20 to $25/hour was good money. If you're really getting that many calls above and beyond your capacity, I recommend you play around with your pricing and try to see just how much you can get.

I think this is exactly what ill do this upcoming season and see how it works.

Staying solo sounds like a better option. I just dont see any reason to hire help if im not going to make much more than I would solo.
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[herler]

Originally Posted by smallstripesnc

After doing the math I won't really be making more with the help. If anything I'll see a loss in income for myself.

Yes, I know.

Here is the bit that for many years I failed to understand ...
We don't hire them for profit, we hire them because it can be rewarding.

[wildstarblazer]

If I had the money to hire someone, I think it would be a business manager instead of a physical worker. I would let him or her, do the sales, marketing, call backs etc. while I take care of the quality. I tend to charge less cause I think it's easy and then end up wishing I charged more. Having someone else do the sales who is not afraid to price right would be awesome .. Just my thoughts anyway.

Also, a stick edger in areas that have concrete edges and bed lines that need be well defined is a million times better than using a wip that can fling things into windows or your face... maybe not faster but way better quality even if you think you do good with a wip, again just my opinion.

[greengiant9963]

Not sure the exact size of most of your lawns but I would add either a small zero turn rider 48 to 52 inch cut or possibly even better choice would be a stand on unit. Solo or employees either way your production will increase.

Example
10 x $25=$ 250 a day
5 days x $250=$1,250 a week
4 weeks x $1,250=$5,000 a month

Adding new mower
12 x $25=$ 300 a day
5 days x $300=$1,500 a week
4 weeks x $1,500=$6,000 a month

This is just a example solo without taxes and expenses. 2 lawns is a example but honestly think 3 or 4 more lawns a day would be more accurate.

[smallstripesnc]

Originally Posted by greengiant9963

Not sure the exact size of most of your lawns but I would add either a small zero turn rider 48 to 52 inch cut or possibly even better choice would be a stand on unit. Solo or employees either way your production will increase.

Example
10 x $25=$ 250 a day
5 days x $250=$1,250 a week
4 weeks x $1,250=$5,000 a month

Adding new mower
12 x $25=$ 300 a day
5 days x $300=$1,500 a week
4 weeks x $1,500=$6,000 a month

This is just a example solo without taxes and expenses. 2 lawns is a example but honestly think 3 or 4 more lawns a day would be more accurate.

Ive seriously considered it but with slopes and all im a little weary to try a ztr on some of the properties I manage. Also most of my clients come to me since I dont use zero turns and only use a walk behind.
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[herler]

Originally Posted by cpllawncare

And that works until the lowballers raid your area and leave you with the scraps, we were at full capacity and still getting calls so we raised rates and dropped some lower rates just as your supposed to do, then the lowballers came in and took a bunch of the accounts, as hard as we tried to explain why they weren't getting the deal they thought they were, they went ahead anyway, live and learn. customer loyalty is at an all time low, and these accounts were in high end area's even, It was always the same story,your doing a great job but this guy will do it cheaper.

Lol yeah but I found out a little trick over the years, that whole thing is how I used to do things too... But nowadays when I run into that problem of having too much work, rather than raising my prices I start to shut down advertising, and keep my prices down.

Because the customer, all they see is that price, as you noticed they don't care about nothing else.

Today I hardly have any advertising, it's almost all word of mouth, and with the money I am not spending on advertising I can keep my prices lower than the lowest lowballers, and then just to piss them off I tell ALL my customers that if ANYONE comes around and offers to do it for less they should CALL me and I'll at least consider not just matching but even beating that offer, too!
Once those lowballers find out their original $30 lawn that they thought they were going to do for $25 is now $20?
Yeah, they don't bust my lower of the lowest lowballing lowball prices up much any more.

Of course at some point you'll have to rely strictly on word of mouth and that can be a scary proposition in some cases, fortunately what I just described can certainly be made into a gradual process.

[orangemower]

Originally Posted by herler

Lol yeah but I found out a little trick over the years, that whole thing is how I used to do things too... But nowadays when I run into that problem of having too much work, rather than raising my prices I start to shut down advertising, and keep my prices down.

Because the customer, all they see is that price, as you noticed they don't care about nothing else.

Today I hardly have any advertising, it's almost all word of mouth, and with the money I am not spending on advertising I can keep my prices lower than the lowest lowballers, and then just to piss them off I tell ALL my customers that if ANYONE comes around and offers to do it for less they should CALL me and I'll at least consider not just matching but even beating that offer, too!
Once those lowballers find out their original $30 lawn that they thought they were going to do for $25 is now $20?
Yeah, they don't bust my lower of the lowest lowballing lowball prices up much any more.

Of course at some point you'll have to rely strictly on word of mouth and that can be a scary proposition in some cases, fortunately what I just described can certainly be made into a gradual process.

You need to take some Exlax.