jaclawn
LawnSite Senior Member
- Location
- South West PA
I am considering changing the focus of my business and would like to hear some opinions from others who may have been in the same situation as myself. <p>First, a little background so that you know where I am coming from. I have been doing the "Green" thing for about 10 years now. I started as a mowing only contractor, part time. After about two years, I went full time. At this point I was working solo, and making a decent buck at it. At about the same time, I started getting requests for some landscape work. I did some clean-up work, renovations, mulching, pruning
not getting into any major projects like complete new installs or hardscaping. <p>I found that I was not able to fit all of the landscape work into my mowing schedule. With weather being a large dictating factor in mowing, I always found myself behind on the landscape work. You can put a landscape job off for a week without it taking twice as long to do, with mowing, if you are a few days behind, lookout. Sure if you are behind on landscape work, you may have a few upset customers, but the work is not nearly as time sensitive as mowing.<p>I was at the breaking point. I hired a helper, and was able to get the mowing route completed in 4 days, leaving 2 days per week to do landscape work. This was my original plan, but without the helper. So, I was using a part time helper 3 days per week, one day mowing, and 2 days landscaping. It worked out well, until the helper quit. I was overwhelmed at the amount of work I was faced with. I was not able to complete it on time, and had angry customers. <p>I continued this way, all the time having trouble finding and keeping good help. I have thought/tried everything, and short of adopting a 17 year old son, I have come to the conclusion that I am going to have to be a solo operation once again. I simply cannot put up with employee car troubles, no notice of needed days off
<p>Currently, most of my work comes from my regular mowing customers. I like to be the full service guy for them, cutting, mulching, pruning, fert
The customers like the one stop shopping, knowing that there is no "passing the buck" when it comes to problems, knowing that I am there every week to take care of problems when they are in their infancy. <p>The biggest problem with this type of setup, )mostly full service accounts( is that everybody needs the same things at the same time. For example, in the early spring everyone wants a clean up, now, everyone wants mulch, in the summer, everyone needs shrub attention
This plays havoc with my mowing schedule. IT also makes for some unhappy customers, when some will have to wait for their mulch or whatever. People seem to want things done yesterday. <p>So, at times, I am faced with overwhelming amounts of work. I end up working very long days and weekends just to keep on top of things. <p>I have been thinking of changing the focus of my business. Late last season, I thought that I may concentrate strictly on turf. Mowing, fert, maybe some de-thatching and aerating. This would eliminate the landscape work. The thing that I don't particularly like about this is the fact that the mowing is still there, and so time sensitive. <p>Over the winter, I had given some thought to going landscape only, and dropping the mowing. I would still have liked to do the applications, as they are profitable. The problem with that is that most all of my landscape work comes from mowing customers. Would a customer be likely to have someone else do the mowing for them, while I landscaped? I don't know. Another downfall to this is the fact that the landscape work is often heavy and hard, many tasks simply too large for a single person. Another downfall to this is that you must keep looking for work. Much like on any other business, you have repeat customers, but it is not like mowing, where you are pretty much set for the season. That means more advertising, bidding, estimating; that all takes time.<p>Since the 2000 season started, I have been doing some serious thinking. What if I were to go into lawn applications full time, and drop the mowing and the landscape work? I can see many plusses, as well as some drawbacks. <p>The applications that I currently do are my most profitable services, with the possible exception of maybe plowing. I know that the apps have a much broader market that mowing and landscape work. How many people have the lawn treated, but cut it themselves??? There is also a higher barrier of entry into that field. Applicators must be licensed, and have knowledge of turf pests. Anyone and their brother can have a mower and a pickup. Also, the equipment investment is lower than what I currently have. I have much invested into equipment, $50K plus, and I am a single operator. All that costs me to maintain and insure. With applications only, I can eliminate a good chunk of that. I would also be able to reduce the amount of warehouse space that I currently occupy. <p>Now, there are some downfalls to doing applications only. I would need a much larger customer base, 300+- customers to keep busy full time. That means a lot more advertising, bidding
That also means that I may have to cover a larger geographical area to get that number of accounts. I am currently in a 10-minute radius. I don't think that I could be that concentrated with applications only. <p>Another downfall is that I would need a larger operating capital than what I am used to. I am sure that once things got going it wouldn't be a problem, but coming up with the money for material to treat 300-400 lawns in March may be a bit troublesome. ( I know about pre-payment, and also open accounts). <p>Another thought is the long-term health effects. Currently, I treat about 30 lawns, and take the proper precautions when doing so, and feel rather safe about doing so. If I were doing that all day, every day, would I be causing myself a health risk???<p>The biggest thing that appeals to me is the fact that the applications are not nearly as time sensitive as other work. Sure they do need proper timing, but if you are 3 days behind on your route, who would know? With mowing, that is another story. Also, I have not had a vacation other than a weekend since I started mowing. Simply can't schedule anything of any length in advance. Don't know for sure if August will be slow this year or not. Can't make plans in advance. With apps, I could "double up" before and after, and take a vacation(something I desperately need). Can't really double up on the mowing, it needs cut when it needs cut. <p>Now, another downfall; People love to hate lawn care companies(fertilizing companies). They seem to be less loyal than to mowing/landscaping contractors. Perhaps they are not living up to their promises? Perhaps people aren't doing their part? I don't know, but I do know that people seem to make changes more often than with mowers. I know that the lawns that I treat that I also am full service on look great, but, I am there each and every week, and can spray that one weed before it becomes many. I can treat for grubs as soon as the damage becomes visible to my trained eye, not wait 6 weeks like an application company. Could I deliver the same quality of service only being on the property once every 6 or so weeks? <p>Another thing that concerns me is that fertilizing is not a necessary service. In times of economic downfall, are people likely to put that off? You can't really do that with mowing. Are people spending their "fun" money on treatments, and when the fun money is tight, they stop spending???<p>A plus to the apps is that if I were to lose a customer, I would only be losing a tiny part of the pie, not like now when one lost customer accounts for a larger chunk of revenue. <p>It seems to me that this may be the way to go. I do have one commercial mowing only account that I would like to keep. The money is great, and I like the work there. I would only need to keep a minimal amount of equipment to service that account. It would also give me a tiny bit of security. <p>I don't think that this transition can happen overnight. IT will probably take a few years to complete, acquiring new customers, and dropping old ones. I hate to lose some of these customers; we are on such good terms. Most don't even ask price anymore, or even get bids. Just do what needs done they tell me. <p>So, if you are still reading this, and not asleep by now, let me hear your thoughts. Is it worth going from 30-40 customers to 300-400 customers? If so, how does one market the fertilization end of the business successfully?<br>
