Bi weeklys and their worth.

[Will P.C.]

Originally Posted by scotts lawn care

Every spring I seem to always be on the fence about our EOW accounts.

It's hard to turn down customers that I have been mowing for many years. And most of them just don't have the income for weekly mowing.

The ones that bother me - the ones that have $ - and are too cheap to pay for weekly service!

100/month is a hell of a lot more affordable than 200/month.

[MOturkey]

Originally Posted by 32vld

My first EOW was an old lady that claimed her lawn never grows.

I agreed to do her EOW with the warning that it looked as her lawn would have to much growth to stay that way and we would have to go weekly.
Well her lawn needed to be mow weekly and she would not switch over. So we parted ways.

Next year a I picked up a weekly lawn that wanted me to do her FIL's law EOW. I told her about my first EOW and that if this lawn grows too much it WILL be switched over to weekly. This lawn had a ton of shade. Hardly grew. Got my normal price.

When you get your normal price and have another EOW so you alternate the weeks you mow there is no reason to not take them. EOW can be cheap and not want fert, or any up sells. There are weekly's that don't want fert or any up sells either.

Better to have a schedule full of 40 hr work a week with any type of customer at your price then to then to sit around waiting to fill up ones schedule with "only the good customers". Then to only bill out 10, 20, 30 hours at your normal rate.

Exactly the way I look at it. Turning down bi-weeklies because you are fully booked is one thing, doing so just because you think they are beneath your dignity to service, is not smart from a business standpoint.

[bel-nor]

I must say the 2012 season was my best year yet. This amist the worst drought in the midwest history. I aquired several aditional customers and had to have a helper this year. my customers are mostly bi weekly and 10 day which I have seen are not lookeed upon highly here. During the spring the 10 day accounts needed service every 7 days and bi weeklys were serviced every 10 days. Adjustments were made and still getting random calls for cleanups and one timers, rentals and out of towners. The drought hit and the service was adjusted as needed, as not to burn out a single lawn. The drought showed me and my helper exactly what can happen to the die hard weekly servicers who overcut during the heat wave. Then some servicers were not servicing during the 100+ weeks. I only have a few customers with sprinkler systems and their grass did a little better than most, however weekly servicing would have been disasterous.

We have come a long ways from the real 3.5hp pushers of the 1960s (olde to cutman) to today. The reality is as anyones accounts change you have to change with them. This under appreciated non regulated industry puts money in your pocket and helps your family. I like the work and I enjoy at 55years old watching a young man try to keep up with me.

Happy New Year and I hope we get another early starting season

[dmk395]

I've done quite well with bi-weekly's because I price them right. Jack up the prices, and it becomes worth it!

[Patriot Services]

Originally Posted by dmk395

I've done quite well with bi-weekly's because I price them right. Jack up the prices, and it becomes worth it!

The way it works best is get the customer to disclose first they are looking for EOW. People get it their heads that EOW is automatically half the weekly rate. I get 75% my monthly rate for twice a month cutting this way. Per cut guys are going to have a harder time getting a higher rate.
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[JimLewis]

I haven't taken on a bi-weekly account in 16 years. Once I got to the point where I had enough accounts to keep me and a helper busy all week long, and enough money to pay my bills, everything started to change. I figured every account from that point on was just bonus. So from that point, I only took on accounts that I WANTED to have. And I didn't want bi-weekly accounts, when it was fairly simple to get weekly accounts. From that point until today we have never taken on a bi-weekly account. And we continue to grow at a fairly rapid pace every year.

[DaveyBlue32]

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[DaveyBlue32]

My biweekly's buy landscape work, mulch, pruning, tree work, Ect. And they're on the way to the next job, or down the street, ie it cost me less, my sign is parked / stopped infront of more houses on that block... I diamond cut the front of there's too...there neighbor's see the strips and the 3 new weekly's paying me top dollar for that cut makes it work out...its my block...world domination by straight stripes!
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[DA Quality Lawn & YS]

biweekly residential are worthless to me, unless they are very large properties and pay.

[JimLewis]

I don't understand why anyone would want a bi-weekly account when you could just as easily fill that spot in your day with someone who's willing to pay you for weekly service. It's like settling for a part time job when you could just as easily keep looking for a few more days and end up with a full time job. Why would you settle?