Do we really have to go through this again...



Ok ill bite.


At one time I was a scrub. I had no insurance. I was underbidding. Hell, the lights on my trailer didnt even work!


As the years have gone by Ive picked up insurance, paid my taxes and fixed my lights. My truck is lettered and always kept clean as is my equipment. Im still around after 5 years.


Most companies start out are scrubs. I had nothing handed to me and I started out small making next to nothing.

You learn as you go. If your not making mistakes then your doing something wrong.

 

Just getting started and the guy avoiding the issues are really different types.
Thanks for the response. There is no right or wrong opinion here. I have been in business for 25 years with over 220 mowing accounts and 250 plus applicationn accounts. BUT..I am relatively new to this forum. I can learn...and I can advise....and nobody knows it all except the main guy up above.

 

If a guy is lowballing and does not know his costs, he is an idiot, not a scrub. As stated in numerous other posts, if someone figures: I can mow a yard in 1 hour and charge $25 Im making $25/hour, these are the guys that kill us. Yes they eventually go under, but there are plenty of others one step behind the guy who went out of business (they have not learned their lesson yet). Someone who is not legal (licenses, insurance, workman's comp, taxes, etc) to me is a scrub. He has a distinct advantage due to lower hourly cost. What I do for $30, he can do for $15 and still come out ahead.

 

Great reply Marko. That is exactly what I am looking to hear...true honest opinions. I run into this stuff here too even after 25 years. My grandson charged this...the neighbors son charged that.....etc..
We all see it and it wil never be eliminated.
We deal with it in a professional manner and we survive jsut fine.
That is my belief...my opinion.

 

Great reply Marko. That is exactly what I am looking to hear...true honest opinions. I run into this stuff here too even after 25 years. My grandson charged this...the neighbors son charged that.....etc..
We all see it and it wil never be eliminated.
We deal with it in a professional manner and we survive jsut fine.
That is my belief...my opinion.

What they dont understand is that their grandsons and neighbors arent in business to support their family.

I told a guy I charge 55 an hour for cleanups and he had a heart attack screaming his plumber doesnt get that much. I laughed and said get your plumber to rake your leaves.

 

I agree!!! I had some plumbing done at a new shop we built this past year. The plumber charged ridiculous rates and I confronted him. He told me he like to get $65 an hour for himself and $35 for his non-trained helper. I told him what you like and what you get are 2 different things. He planned poorly..making several trips for parts instead of one and charged me for the entire time. I balke and he reduced it by 25%. I told Him I would like to get that ($100 an hour) and he made the mistake to say we were just wacking weeds!! Bad idea. I asked what degree he had in plumbing...as my son has a degree in business and turf management. I asked how much in equipment was in his truck....and was it all listed with the county as business equipment....
As you night expect we no longer talk....but he is now formally a "scrub plumber".

 

Ironically this morning (while im waiting to get my mower out of the shop) I ahd an older customer call for some work.

I went over there and installed some gutter guards and she asked me to fix her toilet. I threw a new handle on and adjusted the flush valve.

All told I was there for an hour and I got my usual 55 bucks.

She told me she had called a plumber and he wanted 75 just to come over and look at it.

 

Stuff like that happens all the time.
Another scrub definition...
3. A lawn care contractor that does not treat the environment properly. (Dumps clippings, trash, etc.. on other peoples property, etc.)

 

A guy who mows with jeans on BUT wont wear a shirt and just unloaded a 36 Bunton covered in rust out of the back of his van.


Sounds like the guy I saw yesterday...

 

Yep....that is a scrub. No concern for his own appearance or health.
Last year we gained a new very nice account. The previous lawn provider's crew had a guy....no shirt...tatoos all over but the two things the homeowner hated....nipple rings and a 6 inch tall tatto on his back "KILL".
Said that didn't go over well when she had the broge club over. Gotta love those guys for sending business my way!!

 

A SCRUB IS SOMEONE WHO JUST CUTS GRASS TO MAKE SOME EXTRA MONEY. Nothin else matters, Most of us here cant go and take a 100K loan out to buy all new stuff and pay all the bills. You have to start from somewhere.

 

$500 trucks, home made trailers, illegal mexicans, paying everyone in cash, expired license plates, junk mowers that are never serviced or washed, and the list just goes on!

 

A SCRUB IS SOMEONE WHO JUST CUTS GRASS TO MAKE SOME EXTRA MONEY. Nothin else matters, Most of us here cant go and take a 100K loan out to buy all new stuff and pay all the bills. You have to start from somewhere.

So you never had a part time job in high school to earn extra cash?

 

A guy who mows with jeans on BUT wont wear a shirt and just unloaded a 36 Bunton covered in rust out of the back of his van.

Sounds like the guy I saw yesterday...

Are you sure you weren't in New Jersey? LOL

This is such a tired and overdiscussed subject. I can't believe it has come up once again.

 

Are you sure you weren't in New Jersey? LOL

This is such a tired and overdiscussed subject. I can't believe it has come up once again.

He did have a mullet! Was it a Gedd sighting?

 

I went up against one (scrub) yesterday. I told this women I needed $65 to mow her property and he said $40. Why?

1. He had no Federal EIN
2. He carries absolutely no insurance
3. He requested payment only in cash and immediately after service
4. No commercial tags or signage

I won't get into the truck and equipment he had, but yes, after recognizing the above, he can do it for 40 bucks.

 

Buddy in Leavenworth, Kansas!!!!!!!!!!!
BR, Are you using a computer on the inside of A chainlink fence with a lot of concrete around you?

 

Sorry, forgot to mention. I got the job in lieu of what I was up against...quality and reliability sells.

 

That New Guy in buisness that you refer to a good client, He so posed to cut while the client is on vacation,. He Doesent, but bills anyway [ and the neighboors let the client know hes never been there!]....They get back and "I" get fired for refering that "Scrub". - Saxon

 

I get fired after they "Pay the Scrub" -Saxon

 

I went up against one (scrub) yesterday. I told this women I needed $65 to mow her property and he said $40. Why?

1. He had no Federal EIN
2. He carries absolutely no insurance
3. He requested payment only in cash and immediately after service
4. No commercial tags or signage

I won't get into the truck and equipment he had, but yes, after recognizing the above, he can do it for 40 bucks.

I know why but did that job really mattered if you didn't get it ? Have you always had ins,ein,comm tags, ???? A scrub can pay the 400 ins 200 tags ein don't cost a thing and still bid them with it all being paid but why do you got to point it out to every one do you really need the work ?

 

Some one who think there better then every other lco because they start off being 100,00 in the hole . So any one with out all new mowers and the top commercial qupmeant money can buy . Or they go to lowes or home depot . So if any of you Don't have all and only Snap-on tools in the tool box your a scrub. And whats wrong with an older truck i have two 79's if something gos wrong pull it in it can be fixed in a night now pull the 93 in it might be done in 4 days 3 nights .

 

I know why but did that job really mattered if you didn't get it ? Have you always had ins,ein,comm tags, ???? A scrub can pay the 400 ins 200 tags ein don't cost a thing and still bid them with it all being paid but why do you got to point it out to every one do you really need the work ?

Yea, pretty much had all those things since Day 1. Do I need the work? F*** no, we do already over 300 acres a week in mowing alone and just added a 81 acre school district as well. I could care less whether or not I get any more week for this year. I was just trying to make a point is all...

 

The first post on this thread is absolutely the best description of a scrub. I have said the same thing in the past.

1. If you ask what the charges are of the present LCO and then under cut, you are a pond sucking no good scrub.
2. If you are doing an LCO business, and not carrying insurance etc. to keep your costs down, you are a pond sucking no good scrub.

I have absolutely no problem with people that bid lower. They may be making more money per hr. than I am. I have a real problem with cheaters.

 

I get the point but some people just want it done . And who doesn't go for the cheapest one if you were going to get the new truck and abc ford had it for 32,000 but xyz had it for 30,550 where would you go ?