Are you looking to start a lawn care business? Did you just start one? Here is a list of 5 quick tips that I wish I had known before starting my business.
Are you looking to start a lawn care business? Did you just start one? Here is a list of 5 quick tips that I wish I had known before starting my business. If I had followed these tips from the beginning, I would have saved myself a lot of stress and heartache. We have a complete guide to starting a lawn care business from scratch over HERE, but this is the guide for you if you’re short on time.
Take the time to figure out how much you need to earn from your new lawn care business and how much it will cost to run it. A common pitfall for new operators is pricing jobs too low. They land new clients easily but run out of money because they don’t account for all of the expenses of running a business. Use this handy calculator we created to help you figure out what your target hourly rate (THR) should be. (Check THR Calculator) After you know your THR, you can use our pricing sheet to price jobs confidently (Check Job Pricing Sheet).
You might think you can keep track of all of your clients, scheduling, invoicing, and expenses without any software or tools. However, I can tell you from personal experience trying to do it all with pencil and paper is a recipe for forgetting things and disappointing customers. Instead, using a business management app like Check will keep you organized and help you look incredibly professional 💪.
For as low as $21 per month (with a Check Starter annual plan), Check lets you manage recurring jobs, track expenses, send invoices, receive credit card payments, and more. Check Starter is perfect for people who have only a few clients or are just starting out. We put your business management on auto-pilot with Check Pro for $84 per month on an annual plan. Check Pro will send out the invoices automatically, we’ll figure out the best route for the day, and we’ll send out notifications to your clients for you as well. Check Pro is clutch for anyone with 10 or more clients. The best time to get organized was last season. The second best time is today. See the pricing and complete features list here.
Let’s be honest; lawn care operators don’t always have the best reputation for professionalism. However, you can stand out from the crowd in a few ways:
If you have reasonable prices, are organized, and are professional, your company will grow through word of mouth. However, if you want to grow quickly and go after higher-paying clients, you will need to spend time and money on marketing. A little bit goes a long way, and considering that most clients will spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars with you over the life of doing business with you, spending money to land that client is well worth it. If you’re not sure where to start, check out our article on digital marketing, or six easy marketing ideas, or another about showing up online for free.
If you ask any lawn care business veteran, they will tell you all the war stories about how things went wrong. My point is that your stuff will break. You will break your other people’s stuff. You will lose big clients. You will get rained out. But, if you give yourself margins and have backup plans, the mishaps and hard times won’t take you out. You’ll be able to take it in stride. Here are some ways you can plan to weather difficult seasons and events:
Running a lawn maintenance business is not easy, but it can be incredibly rewarding. Our advice is to learn from those who have gone before you. Success is not guaranteed, but if you keep these tips in the forefront of your mind while getting your business off the ground, you can make success a lot more likely.
