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Bi weeklys and their worth.

15K views 65 replies 29 participants last post by  2ExploreTech 
#1 ·
I am sorta on the fence with the bi weekly lawns. The belief that they are all cheap does describe most of mine but not all.

I was looking at the dollar income of the 30 I have this year and I come up with $16,400. So at first glance my partner and I were not that enthused then we looked closer and 5k of that came from 5 accounts. Which makes the typical gross per account even worse when you look at the remaining 25.

The year had some curve balls at the end the hurricane followed the week after with 8 inches of snow cost us the last 2 weeks of lawn cuts. Even so it looks like we will fall just a little short of last year and end around 218-220k. So minus off the bi weekly's and the remaining 150-160 accounts generated 202-204k so roughly 1200-1300 per account.

So I am looking at this from a few different angles. Income is certainly one but the other has to be scheduling of extra work and the effect this type of account has. The 30 bi weekly's had 1 perhaps 2 fertilizer accounts for us. You can forget about mulching all together and they produced a few bush trimming jobs. So they do not clog up my other days with any notable requests. I am neither happy nor unhappy with that. But the one area I did see a positive in was spring and fall clean ups and in this case I did add them together. So the 30 accounts which could have been as many as 60 clean ups only produced 11 total for the entire year. My remaining accounts produced 121 total for the entire year. So I only have a 36% chance of getting work I hate doing from bi weekly's but I have about a 78% chance of getting either a spring or fall clean up from a weekly account.


And so I am wondering if its worth taking on the lawn cuts meaning filling in space I want filled in with accounts that do not fill in space on my very limited spring and fall clean seasons. As long as they are priced high enough and are not hyper growth over ferted nightmares I am thinking there is reason to believe with the right ratio of them in the list it may be more profitable to keep them they cut them loose.
 
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#2 ·
In todays economy, I try and keep as many income streams as possible. Bi week mowing being one of those. Like you, they do bring some other maintenance work as well.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Yes most of them are cheap but speaking of just the grasscutting mine really only need it bi-weekly except maybe the Spring and then they let me cut every week until it slows down.

I've got as much additional work out of them as any of the weekly clients so its working for me.

I know some guys that wouldn't touch them in the past but they're probably singing a different tune since the economy tanked.
 
#4 ·
Well, one way to look at them is whether they are in an area you are wanting more business in. If you are being seen in that area, maybe it is increasing your chances of gaining more clients there. Another way to look at it, is if you don't particularly think your return on those lawns is quite worth the time they take up on your schedule, you could consider raising your prices substantially for bi weekly work. It would most likely weed out the clients who weren't interested in tossing extra work your way, and you wind up keeping the clients that are still happy with your work for the increased amount. It ups your bottom line for that particular category.
 
#5 ·
Good topic. I do all of my bi-weekly accounts on alternating Wednesdays...we call it "crappy lawn Wednesday." I do reserve the right to cut them as-needed in the spring. My cleanup numbers differ greatly from yours though. I did spring and fall cleanups on all but 1 of mine. I really don't give them much of a choice. My service agreements state "We perform spring and fall cleanups on all properties we service unless it is clearly not necessary or you make other arrangements and inform us of them in advance. The lawns we service need to be free of debris in order for us to safely maintain them."

I have 19 bi-weekly accounts (actually one is monthly) that ranged from $640 to $1,892 in total charges for the year with a total gross of $20,966. They were serviced between 11 (he does the first couple and last couple himself) and 16 times with the norm being around 14. My average per account was $1,103. The montly one is actually invoiced together with a bi-weekly for the same customer and I didn't calculate them seperately because I'd have to go through my actual invoices to seperate them. Total billing on those two together was $2,597.24 for the year. These numbers include the cleanups and anything else I did for them, including snow plowing, but that was minimal last winter (maximum 2 times) and I only plow about 1/3 of them, so most of that is lawn care/maintenance. I don't do applications so none of that is fert/pest. Two of those accounts are fertilized, one by the homeowner and one by TG.

It's interesting to me that with 58% less bi-weekly accounts (19 vs 30) I billed 28% more than you did on them Kelly ($20,966 vs $16,400). Mine are priced from $25 to $80 per service with an average of $49.31. 10 of them were billed $1,000 each or more.

Do you charge extra for bi-weekly service? Do you go ahead and mow them more often in the spring during peak growth? I do? How do you do the mowing in the spring if they aren't getting a spring cleanup? Do they do it themselves or does it just not get done? What about in the fall...how do you mow them without doing a leaf cleanup?
 
#6 ·
I dropped many biweekly accounts last year, I still kept a few if they met certain criteria. Here are a few items which will allow me to service or turn down EOW yards.

1. I will not accept lawns EOW in higher end neighborhoods.
Perception is reality, I do not want residents seeing an
overgrown lawn with my name attached to it.
2. Payment is due at the time of service.
3. 50$ minimum for EOW.
4. I will not double cut, height of mower will be adjusted to
prevent an unsightly finished product.
5. Option to go 10 days if growth is fast in the spring.

I am down to 3 or 4 EOW yards. They are all close by my house. Bigger yards that sit by themselves with minimal trimming. The 50$ minimum was established so they would meet the required amount of total revenue on an anual basis needed to be a customer. These accounts can be very profitable if ground rules are established and they fit into the schedule. Otherwise they can be hard on equipment and a scheduling nightmare on weeks where there are rainouts.
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#7 ·
Yea a bi weekly tends to only be about 12 weeks and some cap you at 10 cuts and of course you can add them late season so the numbers aren't always true.

But my bi weekly's tend to always be small lawns. Doing half an acre or more bi weekly doesn't sound to good to me thus the prices reflect smaller lawn prices. Some tiny 25 dollar cuts mixed in with mostly 30-35s. My best bi weekly is 2 properties a rental that's 35 and a machine shop that's 65 so its 100 every 2 weeks. Most of my bi weekly's are on my partners list and reflect that the lawns are smaller and houses denser on that side of town.

But we try to split them up as evenly as possible so ideally 15 being done each week. In reality someone always asks for a favor or something causes us to skip them on the on week and by the end of the year it seems to always be 10 one week 20 the other. And thus we talk in terms of heavy week and light weeks. But never all on one week that would be unworkable.
 
#8 ·
Lawnking...sounds like you have a pretty good handle on it. One of the nice things to me about them is that I'm billing them higher year round, but in summer they cut fast because they're generally not fertilized and none are irrigated.

Thinking about my numbers vs Kelly's a little more, I'm billing my bi-weekly accounts on average over twice what he is $1,103 vs $547. Something just doesn't seem right about that. His average $ per account is lower than every single one of mine.

P.S. - I see Kelly replied while I was typing. Yeah, some of mine are good sized lawns.
 
#9 ·
Lawnking...sounds like you have a pretty good handle on it. One of the nice things to me about them is that I'm billing them higher year round, but in summer they cut fast because they're generally not fertilized and none are irrigated.

Thinking about my numbers vs Kelly's a little more, I'm billing my bi-weekly accounts on average over twice what he is $1,103 vs $547. Something just doesn't seem right about that. His average $ per account is lower than every single one of mine.

P.S. - I see Kelly replied while I was typing. Yeah, some of mine are good sized lawns.
You are correct. During the summer, these type of yards are gravy, non fertilized with little growth very nice profit margins. I will not skip these yards, they get mowed no matter what. If I could find more of these yards within my perimeters I would take them. My business is built on high end accounts clustered in the same developments. These are nice steady streams of income. But the fences, swingsets, pools, edging, ect .... wears you down by the end of summer. These EVO week accounts are just wide open mowing, no sidewalks or mulch beds to worry about. Pull up, run the grandstand for a bit, collect payment and leave. Nice break from the high end yards.
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#10 ·
A few years ago I just stopped taking on bi-weekly accounts. Slowly but surely I have replaced all but 3-4 with weekly just by various reasons like customer moving, divorce, bought mower etc. etc. Less paperwork, easier scheduling and routing makes my life easier. After all one weekly account eliminates the need for two bi-weekly.
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#11 ·
Sorry, you have to take the good with the bad, can't win them all, goes with the territory, just how it is, grass isn't greener the other side of the fence, I ain't right in the head, you want the cake you have to eat the potatoes, I hate it too but if you want the rich customers you have to service the poor ones, I'm not rich either.
 
#12 ·
A few years ago I just stopped taking on bi-weekly accounts. Slowly but surely I have replaced all but 3-4 with weekly just by various reasons like customer moving, divorce, bought mower etc. etc. Less paperwork, easier scheduling and routing makes my life easier. After all one weekly account eliminates the need for two bi-weekly.
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Not really....not when you factor in other services. I look at it more in terms of how much the account brings in per year. I billed one of my bi-weekly accounts over $1,000 for a storm/fall cleanup (it's usually around $600).

I'm not saying they can't be a pain and that I wouldn't rather have all weekly accounts, but I'm not about to drop them either (with one exception - the one that cuts it himself at the beginning and end of the season will be gone). But these customers all know that they're not priority customers and that my weekly ones take priority....it's nice to have something that can slip without getting stressed out over it.

All of my bi-weekly accounts ended up falling on the same week this past season due to weather. It was a bit of a trick to get them back in shape and on their proper schedule. I ended up cutting a bunch of them at 16 to 18 days...that wasn't much fun! I do reserve the right to charge an excessive growth surcharge due to conditions not under my control, but it's not something I do often.
 
#13 ·
Not really....not when you factor in other services. I look at it more in terms of how much the account brings in per year. I billed one of my bi-weekly accounts over $1,000 for a storm/fall cleanup (it's usually around $600).

I'm not saying they can't be a pain and that I wouldn't rather have all weekly accounts, but I'm not about to drop them either (with one exception - the one that cuts it himself at the beginning and end of the season will be gone). But these customers all know that they're not priority customers and that my weekly ones take priority....it's nice to have something that can slip without getting stressed out over it.

All of my bi-weekly accounts ended up falling on the same week this past season due to weather. It was a bit of a trick to get them back in shape and on their proper schedule. I ended up cutting a bunch of them at 16 to 18 days...that wasn't much fun! I do reserve the right to charge an excessive growth surcharge due to conditions not under my control, but it's not something I do often.
I agree with you 100% about the extra services. I had all my bi-weekly's scheduled on the same day each week like you. But as I stopped taking on new bi-weekly's and they naturally phased out (I didn't just drop them) that day got filled with weekly's.
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#14 ·
i dont' think you could have a business down here if you didn't do bi weekly cuts. most of mine are bi weekly. some of the yards are 2 1/2 acres and i charge $125 a cut. that's $250 a month. i don't think anyone would pay $500 a month for lawncare here. lol the few i have that are weekly are small yards that take 30min or less paying $35 a cut. i do have one that pays $45 a cut that gets weekly but it's in an upscale neighborhood.

there's another company that does most of the houses in that neighborhood and they only charge $35 a cut. i've seen them many times. it's 3 mexicans working for someone. they just jump out of the truck and one guy cuts like 5 yards and another trims them all and another blows them all off. i guess they can afford to do that since they get done alot quicker and being solo i can't compete with their prices. i'm not gonna spend 45min-1hr somewhere and only make $35. i guess their recipe is to charge less and do more to makeup for it. my plan is charge more and do less lol.
 
#15 ·
Sorry, you have to take the good with the bad, can't win them all, goes with the territory, just how it is, grass isn't greener the other side of the fence, I ain't right in the head, you want the cake you have to eat the potatoes, I hate it too but if you want the rich customers you have to service the poor ones, I'm not rich either.
I agree with that thought. What would you guys think if you stopped at McDs for a hamburger and they told you only if you buy fries and a drink also, no single sales? I split mine so half one week half the next. Like said by others, in the spring bi-weekly will get cut weekly if needed and all my customers are good with that.
 
#16 ·
I agree with that thought. What would you guys think if you stopped at McDs for a hamburger and they told you only if you buy fries and a drink also, no single sales? I split mine so half one week half the next. Like said by others, in the spring bi-weekly will get cut weekly if needed and all my customers are good with that.
I'd go to Burger King :laugh: !! Bi-weekly has their place, on commercial accounts I don't mind them but as far as resi's go I've found they're usually price shoppers who want somethig for nothing.
 
#17 ·
I'm a mowing only service, so I'm not looking to book extra services like many of you, but I have actually become quite the fan of EOW accounts. That said, not every account should be considered for an EOW service schedule, but for those that qualify, they can be good money makers, at least from my standpoint. I was actually going to run the numbers on mine this year, but haven't gotten around to doing so, but I'm almost certain my EOW accounts netted a higher percentage of cuts (based on the maximum number possible during the growing season), than did my weekly accounts.

I have around 15 EOW accounts. Many are weekend or vacant properties, most have poor soil conditions resulting in slow, thin growth for the most part, and mowing on a bi-weekly basis is not a problem. This year, with the drought, I skipped a lot of weekly accounts, but the EOWeekers, not so much. It has to get really dry on most properties before you don't have enough growth to mow on a two week basis.

If priced correctly, I feel they can be quite profitable. In my case, I serviced most of them the same day, so in theory, every other week, you can have an extra day off.
 
#19 ·
I dropped many biweekly accounts last year, I still kept a few if they met certain criteria. Here are a few items which will allow me to service or turn down EOW yards.

1. I will not accept lawns EOW in higher end neighborhoods.
Perception is reality, I do not want residents seeing an
overgrown lawn with my name attached to it.
2. Payment is due at the time of service.
3. 50$ minimum for EOW.
4. I will not double cut, height of mower will be adjusted to
prevent an unsightly finished product.
5. Option to go 10 days if growth is fast in the spring.

I am down to 3 or 4 EOW yards. They are all close by my house. Bigger yards that sit by themselves with minimal trimming. The 50$ minimum was established so they would meet the required amount of total revenue on an anual basis needed to be a customer. These accounts can be very profitable if ground rules are established and they fit into the schedule. Otherwise they can be hard on equipment and a scheduling nightmare on weeks where there are rainouts.
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Thats a good "laying down the law" to the EOW customer. I have one customer that wants the 10 day cut in a an area where I have five every week customers.

He gets his three cuts every month but the 10 day thing doesn't work out. It gets cut when I'm there which ends up being cut one week skip a week cut the next two.

In the Spring I convince him to go every week and most of the time he agrees so its not so bad. He is one of the top three PITA customers but he is right across the street from the other customers I service so to protect my territory I keep him.

Its a waterfront high end small town in the county about 10 miles off my route but its worth it as long as I have enough business to make it profitable. With the cost of operating I can't go down there on a odd day to cut just one yard. They are all small yards but add up nicely.

If I had a set of ground rules to follow like you have I'd probably be better off. I'll have to keep it in mind for the next time.
 
#20 ·
I'd go to Burger King :laugh: !! Bi-weekly has their place, on commercial accounts I don't mind them but as far as resi's go I've found they're usually price shoppers who want somethig for nothing.
My point exactly. If you were Mcds and the other LCO BurgerKing, sooner or later there may only be BurgerKing..... I understand why some don't want to have bi weekly accounts. I look at it as an opportunity to show that customer, their friends, family and neighbors the quality of work provided by us. Sorta advertising that you get paid for. I have received referrals from bi weekly customers. So if you connected the chain, the value of those customers may be higher than some numbers may show.
 
#21 ·
Awww the shame of it all my thread has been corrupted by people who not only eat fast food but openly brag about it. When working if and when we stop its always a deli and if I choose to eat out its Ruth's Chris steak house or Pepe's Pizza or at the very least Outback. In a free country where you have a choice on where you eat I don't know how you ever pick the fast food. :rolleyes:

Back to the bi weekly's mine tend to be sickly lawns and very fast cuts. 10 mins per on more then half of them. The advantage of a bi weekly is in drought times you seldom skip them where the weekly's can blow a hole in your schedule.

So while my numbers aren't close to yours Darryl at first glance I am on them for a very short time. 30 works out to about 20 on my partners list and 10 on mine so he has typically 10 to do in 3 days so it adds only 3 per day to his list each week (he does 30-35 per day) and that's less than and hour per day for him. Me its even less than that about 5 on each week so less than 2 per day. Our numbers are lower because we do not have the clean ups to bump up those numbers. And the point I was making was we were finding that's a good thing. We wouldn't have the time to get to them all anyways. So this gives us extra cuts with out the problems all those extra accounts would cause trying to get to their clean ups. Much like some of my new developments are they have thick lush grass and are often beautiful lawns but the developers tend to remove all the trees so all thats there are little ones that got planted at the time of construction 5-10 years back. And whats sweet about them is they often do not require nor want fall clean ups and thats a good thing it allows you to pack more cuts in your year with out the clean up hits.

Some of you out there actually advertize for fall clean ups we haven't done that since our first season in 2003. We work for our contracted clients and we still seldom finish each fall there is no room to take more work in fall and hasn't been in 9 years. So I was looking at the 16.4k the bi weekly's made us as good money with no strings attached. And that makes me wonder why some here constantly put down lawn cuts and talk up all the other stuff. I am quite happy with the 5500-6000 we bring in a week mowing lawns Wednesday thru Friday. Id like to see that number grow to 10000 its the extra work that holds us back and I was thinking perhaps the bi weekly's aren't so bad it if allows for a fuller schedule when it matters.
 
#24 ·
I have a few EOW customers. All but one makes me more then some weekly accounts. I have one EOW account that I charge $60 to service. I can trim, cut and blow it off in less then 30min. I've gotten a bunch of other work from her as well. Good example, she has a pile of decorative rocks and she moved into a new place that I'll be doing work at now. It took me 2-1/2hrs to load them by hand, haul them to the new place and unload. When she asked what she owed, I told her whatever she thought was fair. She handed me a check for a $150. She's been a great customer from the start.
 
#25 ·
I know the topic of EOW has been brought up here on LS many a time. I don't doubt that those accounts can work well up north, but here in Florida, forget it. We work year round on fixedobthly payments. So someone who is EOW in the summer, is either non-existent in the winter or you cut maybe 3-4 times. I just don't have time for that not need it. Plus, no extra work. Extras might be a deterrent to some of you, but it's the best money here in Florida. As I always say though, Florida is its own thing...
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#26 ·
Just charge accordingly for the projected extra time, fuel, and drive-time involved. They can be more profitable than really nice lawns if the lawns are actually good prospects for biweekly mowing. Just don't try to mow luxurious thick lawns like that.

But for a lawn that gets no fertilizer, irrigation, etc, it's worked well for me. I'm averaging about $75 to $80/man hour on-site vs about $60-$65 for the nicer weekly places. Since I do the work I'm more interested in revenue per unit of exertion than total dollars, period, as my limiting factor is fatigue, not time.
 
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