[Kennyman]

Just curious IF others have particular areas where they "struggle" a bit.
Maybe it's with employees.
Maybe it's with marketing.
General organization(broad area I know)

Or something else.

And of course maybe some are willing to offer suggestions on what you have done to combat these sticking points.

Cheers

 

[[email protected]]

Probably getting paid, and believe me I’ve tried card on file, invoice, Venmo,PayPal, check etc. I’m not sure if you can find one that is 100% all the time.

I think in any service business this is a struggle. I always tell people that owning a business, you find out how people really are.

I don’t have employees anymore, but I read thehorror stories on here, and at 67, I’m at a loss to tell how to hire and retain. That to me is one of the bigger struggles as you grow, right up there with acquiring and retaining customers. You’re competing for people in the same pool your competitors are hiring from.

 

[Johnny Outside]

I don’t have employees anymore, but I read thehorror stories on here, and at 67, I’m at a loss to tell how to hire and retain. That to me is one of the bigger struggles as you grow, right up there with acquiring and retaining customers. You’re competing for people in the same pool your competitors are hiring from.

Yeah, I think employees has always been a major struggle in this industry. Smaller towns may do better since there is limited job opportunities, but it seems the industry attracts a lot of college kids looking for summer work and other people that don't stick around long. I worked for several lawn companies growing up and don't know 1 person that actually stayed with the company long-term. People just don't see this as a career unless they do this to ultimately start their own business.

 

[[email protected]]

Good point @Johnny Outside and I’ve never really thought on the small town connection.
I know I’m happier with my spraying and commercial mowing. Spraying is not fool proof, and has its own set of problems( why are there still weeds, you just sprayed yesterday). But the moneys better and the barriers to do it legally are higher!

 

[JFGLN]

The most difficult part for me is hiring. Selling is easy. Getting paid isn’t bad with many with Cc on file. Scheduling can be challenging at times.

 

[Stihl4lyfe]

Bidding/marketing is the most difficult thing for me. Because I have a year to go until I get my license my market is really small. All of my lawns are on a col de sac. Not to mention that these clients are cheap and I just now figured out how I want to start bidding (still learning). I’m hoping once I get my license that I’ll be able to expand my area, mainly into the rich neighborhoods.

 

[Turf Chopper]

taxes

 

[RSG]

Marketing, and smoothing out the cash flow between seasons, which marketing would help with.

 

[J. Baker]

Estimates.
They take forever.
Everyone wants one.
Everyone wants an EXACT one, not a “ballpark figure”.
After you do all the work to come up with the number, plan the scope of the project, draw it out, get material prices….. it’s too expensive.

I’m sure part of the issue is the demographics of my area. Lots of people living paycheck to paycheck but like to keep up appearances. The people with the money haven’t heard of us yet, or hire big time contractors from literally hundreds of miles away to come in. Hopefully that will get better with time and advertising.

I seriously don’t know how some of you guys work in the field with the size of businesses you claim to run. Running the business is a full time job. Keeping the pipeline full of work takes up a huge chunk of time.

 

[Toro44]

Estimates.
They take forever.
Everyone wants one.
Everyone wants an EXACT one, not a “ballpark figure”.
After you do all the work to come up with the number, plan the scope of the project, draw it out, get material prices….. it’s too expensive.

I’m sure part of the issue is the demographics of my area. Lots of people living paycheck to paycheck but like to keep up appearances. The people with the money haven’t heard of us yet, or hire big time contractors from literally hundreds of miles away to come in. Hopefully that will get better with time and advertising.

I seriously don’t know how some of you guys work in the field with the size of businesses you claim to run. Running the business is a full time job. Keeping the pipeline full of work takes up a huge chunk of time.

The good news is that estimates get a lot easier as you get more familiar with materials and end up with your go to products. A ball park figure will weed out the price shock people, then you can get to work on the potential customers with the money. I almost never draw out detailed project renderings, I've found a quick sketch with the basics works pretty well for me.

 

[J. Baker]

I almost never draw out detailed project renderings, I've found a quick sketch with the basics works pretty well for me.

I want to add a little more clarity.

There are no hardscape contractors in my area. None. None for 75-100 miles. Everyone pours concrete. Concrete pool decks, concrete sidewalks, concrete patios, concrete walls, driveways…. Everything is concrete. I’m literally trying to tap an untapped market. No one even considers hardscape. Trying to convince people to go to something “different” is a challenge. These estimates are the hard ones.

We also build decks and fences. Those estimates aren’t so difficult. They get easier as we have a larger portfolio to pull from and establish a price per square or linear foot, as the case may be.

 

[JFGLN]

Estimates.
They take forever.
Everyone wants one.
Everyone wants an EXACT one, not a “ballpark figure”.
After you do all the work to come up with the number, plan the scope of the project, draw it out, get material prices….. it’s too expensive.

I’m sure part of the issue is the demographics of my area. Lots of people living paycheck to paycheck but like to keep up appearances. The people with the money haven’t heard of us yet, or hire big time contractors from literally hundreds of miles away to come in. Hopefully that will get better with time and advertising.

I seriously don’t know how some of you guys work in the field with the size of businesses you claim to run. Running the business is a full time job. Keeping the pipeline full of work takes up a huge chunk of time.

What size we talking about here?

 

[J. Baker]

What size we talking about here?

Size of estimates? If no, what are you meaning?

$10k and up.

 

[MowDaddy]

Probably getting paid, and believe me I’ve tried card on file, invoice, Venmo,PayPal, check etc. I’m not sure if you can find one that is 100% all the time.

I mainly deal with commercial and municipal lawn care, very little residential. I've never had issues with getting paid. I actually have more issues with customers saying I need to bill more often.
I figure 2 bill's per year is sufficient.

I seriously don’t know how some of you guys work in the field with the size of businesses you claim to run. Running the business is a full time job. Keeping the pipeline full of work takes up a huge chunk of time.

Pipeline filling. That is 100% why I got out of residential building contracting.
Now for the past 13 yrs I never have to hustle for jobs. Never advertise. Sign 3 year contracts on mowing and have steady weekly profitable work. I'm in the field daily. I absolutely love sitting on mower. Best therapy on earth.
Worker's can be a slight pain, but without them I would be so limited it would be ridiculous.

To answer OP.
Taxes and any form of paperwork.
That's why I only invoice once or twice per season. Cuts way down on paper work.

 

[Gus McGee]

Probably getting paid, and believe me I’ve tried card on file, invoice, Venmo,PayPal, check etc. I’m not sure if you can find one that is 100% all the time.

Ya, not getting paid on time, and in some cases not at all, has been a thorn in my side for as long as I have been running a business. Some folks just don't like paying their bills or have no sense of responsibility.

I am probably going to get shot one of these years, but I have found the most effective way to get paid is just repeatedly start banging on the doors of delinquent accounts. Folks don't like that, and most of the time will cough up the money when you become a nuisance. Though I can't say it hasn't almost gotten me into a few physical altercations.

 

[Mitty87]

Not getting paid, even though we have only lost like $1000 out of millions I always feel like people are ready to burn me because I know I've been lucky and I know it happens. It will happen eventually for a good amount. There is always a handful of people I still have to chase down.

Otherwise, scheduling is difficult because with installs, people change order all the time, on top of good clients wanting things fit in on short notice. Then with material/supplier delays and weather its always a nightmare no matter what. We usually have like 5 jobs all at a different stages with just 2 crews.

Employee training and retaining.

Its all stressful and difficult to me.

Estimates are a breeze, do 1 every weekday and whether 2000 or 50,000 I can bang them out in 10 minutes because I know production rates and prices on everything.

 

[FLC2000]

Estimates.
They take forever.
Everyone wants one.
Everyone wants an EXACT one, not a “ballpark figure”.
After you do all the work to come up with the number, plan the scope of the project, draw it out, get material prices….. it’s too expensive.

I’m sure part of the issue is the demographics of my area. Lots of people living paycheck to paycheck but like to keep up appearances. The people with the money haven’t heard of us yet, or hire big time contractors from literally hundreds of miles away to come in. Hopefully that will get better with time and advertising.

I seriously don’t know how some of you guys work in the field with the size of businesses you claim to run. Running the business is a full time job. Keeping the pipeline full of work takes up a huge chunk of time.

That might be the problem...

Pretty large difference between an "estimate" and an "exact" number.

 

[gardiner]

Making new friends, most people I meet, I'm looking to take they money,

 

[flashsmith]

Dealing with Bubba's lawn care. Unlicensed and uninsured "businesses". In 8 years I can count on one hand how many people have asked me if I was insured when giving a quote. But in that same time I've gotten dozens of calls from people who were ghosted after their property was damaged by the "company" they were using. Windows broken gates/fences broken, cars damaged etc.. All to save a few bucks a month. 😂 People never learn.

 

[RGM]

Bidding/marketing is the most difficult thing for me. Because I have a year to go until I get my license my market is really small. All of my lawns are on a col de sac. Not to mention that these clients are cheap and I just now figured out how I want to start bidding (still learning). I’m hoping once I get my license that I’ll be able to expand my area, mainly into the rich neighborhoods.

what do you cut with? When i was young before I had my license I had a DynaMark 10 hp 36 in cut tractor and a trailer I put my push mower rake and broom. I would go to a few lawns in the neighborhood and on Saturdays I would go to a neighborhood about 2 miles away driving down the side roads on sidewalks and cut 6 lawns.