[JFGLN]

Excellent business to work 7 days a week sun up to sun down. Chasing the American dream they say.

lawn mowing paid for my house, well almost. Couple of years left. I don’t work weekends.

 

[JFGLN]

I didn’t listen to the video.

but Missing from your list is as the largest con -
“Do customers place a value on the service that overcomes all the other cons.

in other words. Some business have lots of Cons to them. Lots of issues and challenges to overcome….. but then their product or service sells for a much higher amount.

I don’t think lawn care is valued by our customers

I think they do and there are many more potential clients then when I started out.

 

[JFGLN]

Let me specifically address cons 4 and 5.

my original comment was that the customer pays you enough to overcome 4 and 5 and in such a way that your business is “great”

A crappy business is one where you pay everyone off at the end of the year and you have no idea if those guys will come back. And for some people - besides owner/operators - Some people actually run their business this way.

But to be great, These are your two options.

A) you charge so much, that even in your off season you do not lay anyone off. You made so much money that you keep them on normal full time hours

B) you do lay them off, but you pay them so well that there is zero chance that they wouldn’t consider returning. So your pay scale is so high, that no competitor could match what you pay, and your guys make so much they couldn’t imagine doing anything else. So coming back to work becomes a no brained.


AND after that issue is figured out, Managment/ownership still makes so much money during the season that they too are making more than a job which did not contain seasonality. That you’re being paid so well, that it makes sense to be in a job/industry which has seasonality risk vs one that does not.

you see it’s not just that you make money, it’s that your making significantly more money than a different business which doesn’t have that risk.

I think the seasonality of the work is the biggest hurdle in growing a business.

 

[JFGLN]

You also inherited an established business from your dad, right? That definitely helps.

Lawn care in general can be great, but mowing is getting rougher by the year. Some companies by me are dropping residential mowing. I'm guessing it's because some people are still charging the same price they did pre-covid. I've watched hourly rates go up over the last 5 years but the mowing price is slow to follow. I continue to raise my prices, but it can only go so far if you want to get new customers.

No, we merged our companies in 2006 then he "retired ' in 2008. We both started mowing(separate companies) in 1990. I was studying horticulture at the community college when I quickly figured out that being in business was a better fit for me than a 9 to 5 job.

 

[JFGLN]

I’m hoping all these companies that bailed on maintenance work the last few years to pursue hardscaping, pools, etc don’t jump back in with the economy changing. I thought people were getting tight with money the last year or 2, but I think reality is setting in this season, with a lot of people realizing they need to tighten things in their budgets.

I remember when this happened in 2008. I hired a guy that had worked at an install company that had gone bankrupt. I had a job listing on Craigslist that received over 100 applications.

 

[JFGLN]

To answer my original question, I would say yes, lawn care is a great business.

 

[JFGLN]

This video is on topic.