Are you thinking about starting a lawncare business or you want to expand your current lawncare business? I will give you a little insight and my perspective on building a thriving lawncare business.
now that you know who your competitors are in a nutshell then you have to study your economic climate of your market. This also raises another question, do you want to service a high end market or a low end market? In a high end market there is a lot more potential which is why it is also very competitive but in a low end market you don't need to pay a lot of attention on quality.
Find out who your competitors are and see what kind of services they provide. You can have someone be a secret shopper to see what they charge and the type of service they provide. You can have multiple secret shoppers to make and accurate reading of your competitors.
now that you know what kind of client you will provide service, you have to choose the proper equipment. How much money do you have to spend on equipment? You will need commercial string trimmer(s), backpack blower(s), Commercial Lawn mower(s) a trailer to haul it with. If you want to start small then have 2 by 10 planks ramps or some kind of ramp kit that you can push your mower up and down your Pickup truck.
What are your goals with the business? Do you want it to grow fast or do you want to start slow and build at your own pace? If you want to build fast you will need a lot more start up money and better organization.
Getting customers can be easy because there are many ways to get them. Make a list of all the people you know and segment them into groups. Now make a phone call to the people that you think might be interested your service and/or know someone who would be. The bigger the list the better your chances of getting some customers right of the bat. Always have more the one way of finding clients. Use the internet to your advantage. Put your name out for free on google maps and you will no doubt have calls from that. Craigslist is a Free Classified ad that is also good for getting clients. Be prepared to have some business cards and start passing them out to just about anyone that wants to know what you do or is interested in your business this will help spread the word. On the back of the card you can have some kind of promotion to will help boost your business you can be creative with that. You can meet lots of qualified prospects in landscape nurseries. You can even network with nurseries and other business owners and have them help you get more clients. If you can budget some money you can buy some ad space in the newspaper, telephone books and other media. But the best way to get the customers of your dreams is to have your existing customers refer you lots of other qualified customers. You can do this buy providing exceptional service.
Next is getting business and building a reputation. You need to figure out what is your competitive advantage. What are you able to do that others are not or can not do? Here are some starters that will help you build a solid reputation. Follow through on any promises that you make to the customer even if it takes more time then you estimated this will establish you as an honest person that they can trust which is extremely important when you want referrals and repeat business. Be consistent with your service and reliable with your timing of the service. Keep a close eye on your schedule and prioritize your workload never do more then your capacity because it will either burn you out or you will not be reliable.
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