What is the best city/state to start a lawn business?

[TheGoat]

you don't have a location problem. you have a marketing problem. if you suck at sales there you will suck at sales where ever else you go. craft your pitch more carefully and work harder for reasons on why it is better for you to mow their lawn than them. explain the benefits. Convince them it's a good idea for them to pay you to do the work. If you can't do it where you are then you won't do it where you go. it's competitive everywhere, fight or die.

[GreenI.A.]

Originally Posted by FLAhaulboy

Check out the area below Nashville, mainly Brentwood, Tn. I've been thinking of moving to that area, been there twice to scout the area out & liked what I saw, nice paved roads, traffic flowed smoothly, untold gated communities, Big homes with lots of acreage. The Walmart in Brentwood, has "valet" parking! I kid you not. see pic. I saw new $$$$ construction everywhere. Below are some pics I took while driving around south of Brentwood on the outskirts. I drove out in the county roads around Nolensville, Tn, and encountered huge mansions with 5+ acre front yards, rows of mansions. If there is/was a "recession" in the Brentwood area, I did not see it, I saw big $ everywhere. These are pics of a fairly new sub division below Brentwood.

Are you considering these mansions??? Just curious because ever new development going in up here are houses like this. We call them McManshions, a new street goes in with 12+ houses, 10 might be the size your last two pages and the other two are the size of your first pic. Just curios??


Gotta love when someone describes a nicea area as "nice paved roads"

[Fine Gardens Landscaping]

You mentioned So Cal but you may want to be cautious about that. I'm pretty sure there is lots of competition from south of the border immigrants.

[PL&L]

not georgia! theres probably 12 lawn guys for every 1 residence! no joke..

[Texas Lawn]

you should have asked where not to go, because thats all your getting. Not a lot are going to say,"My market is great!! Please come here!!!" Good luck though

[swbluto]

Originally Posted by j-ville native

stay out of florida we don't want u here

no, but seriously if you're not doing well with your lawn service where you are now then you'll have more problems if you move somewhere else because you'll have to start all over with zero customers and that is as dumb as it gets

I'd sell the current business and then reinvest the money into advertising. I advertised at the "wrong time of the season" and didn't exactly put in 8 hours a day into advertising and still impressively built up the customer list pretty quickly, so I have no doubt I'd do even better where there were greener pastures (pun unintended), so to say.

[swbluto]

Originally Posted by Texas Lawn

you should have asked where not to go, because thats all your getting. Not a lot are going to say,"My market is great!! Please come here!!!" Good luck though

Learning where not to go is one step closer to figuring out where to go, lol.

But, yeah, it seems the "low skill" segment of the landscaping market is getting flooded by the unemployed, so to stay fairly profitable, it looks like you need to diversify into something that takes education/skill/licensing that not a lot of layed off 7-11 employees are going to get into (Like fertilizer, pesticide, sprinkler repair, etc.).

[bebyb]

Nashville, Tennessee.

[Andy31]

I'd love to have been mowing in Washington this summer. Why not find work over the winter, like snow plowing maybe? I agree with the others on S. Ca. I am sure it is expensive and you will find plenty of low balling competition, just like everywhere else in the country.
I say Hawaii, Oahu would be the only logical island though. Just remember when you get there: stay Windward and never Leeward, and remember this aint the mainland.

[greendoctor]

Good advice. Stay away from the west side of the island. There is no work there and you are not safe. Plenty of work everywhere else. People are looking for a real lawn care professional. As I said before, lots of people think they know how to mow and install landscapes. There is a paucity of people who know beyond that.