I really am amazed at some of the broad-brush comments made on these boards. How about taking a deep breath and trying to imagine circumstances other than those in your own little world before making such sweeping pronouncements of "truth".
Someone mowing 3,000 ft lawns in close-by subdivisions making $25 each and taking 15 minutes on each is going to go out of business, eh? I'd love to see your math on that one.
Another example: I do 5 lawns side by side in one subdivision. "only" $30 each. Takes me 105 minutes, average. $150 for 105 minutes. Even tossing in a 5 minute drive to the next neighborhood, that's still good money.
Or alternatively, I could have demanded an arbitrary "minimum" of $35 each and made exactly $0.00 after they went with a lower bidder who would still be making a killing.
I do one lawn at $23 and another at $24. Neither takes me more than 15 minutes. The rest are all over $30. But I'm still in business after 12 years. Must be a fluke.