A long time ago I had a customer. He was an accountant, and he had a nice little office on a nice property. He also had a sports car and a boat. All the trappings of luxury one would assume. I mowed his lawn for a while and we would talk occasionally. One day he came out and told me that he was really happy with my service. He said that he liked the way that I smiled and waved every time I saw him. It always cheered him up. He then went on to tell me about the last guy he had who mowed his...
2 days ago • 1 min read
"I guess this is the last time you will be mowing that lawn." This is what the guy with the orange overalls came over and told me while I was working. I knew it wasn't his lawn, so I was understandably confused. So I asked him to explain. The guy in the orange overalls went on to tell me that he had just bought a lawn mowing franchise... And I was working in his territory. This meant that I would no longer be able to mow the lawn I was working on. I was dumbfounded. Seriously?? I couldn't...
3 days ago • 1 min read
a hiss and a roar That's how I went about starting my first lawn mowing business back in 87. Things were easy back then. Drop off a hundred flyers and you would get a few new customers. Then when I wanted more customers, I simply got on the phone and worked my way through the white pages. I built my first full-time business in less than six months. You cannot do things like that anymore. Everything has changed so much. You would need to deliver around 1,000 flyers to bring in a customer......
4 days ago • 1 min read
You know at McDonald's they're always asking if you want fries with that? That's an upsell to get you to spend more money. But here's the thing... Fries and a burger are actually a perfect pairing. They just work together. Of course... That's a pairing that costs you money. How about a pairing that feels like it was made in heaven... And actually makes you money? For a lawn care business... The perfect pairing is a website and a Google Business Profile. When you set these up correctly... You...
5 days ago • 1 min read
I was talking to somebody the other day who told me that when he started his lawn care business... He had no idea how to price a job. He looked at a garden cleanup job and quoted $50. The lady said that sounded good... She also mentioned that the previous person had quoted $275. He immediately suspected he'd quoted wrong. But what could he do? He'd already given her the price. So he turned up the next day to do the job. Ten hours later he was done. Ten hours for fifty bucks. He told me that...
6 days ago • 1 min read
Six weeks ago I bought a new mower. It was fantastic to use... Had this switch between mulch and bag that really sold me on the machine. Won't mention the model... But it's a popular brand sold worldwide. The first thing that went wrong was that it started smoking. I don't mean a little bit. Great clouds of white smoke. The oil was fine... But when it was still happening at the end of the week, I took it back for repairs. They gave it back to me on the Monday and told me it no longer smoked....
7 days ago • 1 min read
The other day I finally bit the bullet and bought a new TV. I only watch it for a couple of hours a day... but we were finding that sometimes in nighttime scenes, we couldn't see much at all. I assumed it was a sophisticated new method of filming designed to enhance authenticity. You know... moody lighting and all that. But it turned out that old TVs can lose color. It happens gradually over time. So gradually that you don't even notice it's happening. When we replaced it... suddenly we could...
8 days ago • 1 min read
This is one reason behind most of the issues lawn care businesses face. “I haven’t got enough lawns.”It's a lead issue. “I’m not charging enough.”It's a lead issue. “My jobs are too far apart.”It's a lead issue. “There’s too much competition.”It's a lead issue. Different complaints... Same concern. It’s almost always a lead issue. Here’s why: If you’re relying on referrals, random inquiries, and people finding you by luck... Sure, your business can continue. But it will never really thrive....
17 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader I was looking at our numbers this morning, and it reminded me of the single best asset in our lawn care business. It’s not the mowers, and it’s not the trucks. It’s our Google Business Profile. That little profile brings in calls and website leads every single week like clockwork. But here is the hard truth I see too many business owners ignore: Most people think the job is done the moment they click "Save" on their profile setup. Let me be blunt: A Google Business Profile is as...
24 days ago • 1 min read