Is it worth spending $20 to bring in a $30 customer? Sometimes, when I talk to lawn mowing contractors, I am told that if the lawn is low-value, it is hardly worth the advertising it took to bring in the customer. Your average lawn-mowing customer is worth a lot more than that. Let's do the sums Considering the different seasons, you would expect to get around 21 mows yearly. If you were looking at a minimum charge of $30 and your average customer lifetime length being three years, this would...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Donna (My wife) was talking to me the other day about our dog. He is a nine-year-old German Shepherd, and he has a few health issues. We were fortunate that when we bought him home as a puppy, we also bought him some health insurance. Even More fortunate for us , they have covered most of the bills. As Donna says, they lost out on that deal. However, as generous as they are, we still need to raise some of the funds ourselves. This latest round of meds was going to cost us $100 a week. At...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
It was all going so well.... The other day, I had a tyre that had a slow leak. I've been pumping it up when I get the chance. Its amazing, the amount of gas stations that have broken air pumps, but that's another story. Anyway, it was time to get the tyre fixed. I wasn't going to take it to our usual guy. The last time they mucked up and I failed the WOF "warrant or fitness" They had to rechange a tyre. Long story short, I was looking for someone new. There is a local place I have been...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Spring is on the way, and we are cleaning up our books. We are creeping up to 200 lawns again, and we don't want to work that hard in spring. We need to do some pruning of a different kind. It is time for the slow payers, the hard-to-get-to lawns, the trampoline owners, and lowest profit lawns to go. It's just when the lawn numbers get up, and we don't want a fourth vehicle and something has got to give. This is the time of year when we normally sell off our excess lawns, but this year, we...
2 months ago • 1 min read
This idea is a good way to start but not the best way to continue. When you first start a lawn-mowing business, finding customers is one of the hardest things. One way to get some work from day one is to approach local property managers. They always need things done, and usually quickly. When you start your business, you have one thing available to you that the bigger businesses don't: time. They may have the work, but you have time. Having time available in your schedule is a godsend for...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Careful how you handle that weedeater Reader When I lived on the Hibiscus coast, the lawn guys were careful with their weedeaters. Some of this was learned behavior, and it was necessary. If your machine broke a downpipe, you were in trouble. All downpipes were connected to water tanks. If the pipe were cracked, the customer would start running out of water. You needed to fix it quickly, smart. However, when I arrived in Hamilton, I was shocked. Every other house I looked at had a broken...
3 months ago • 1 min read
I received a question the other day that took me back to my early days: "As a complete beginner in the lawn mowing business, I haven't had the chance to work on many lawns yet. I'm wondering how I can practice and improve my skills before taking on more clients. Is there a particular method or resource you recommend? Also, are there any ways I can get feedback on my work? I appreciate your help and guidance!" I remember being like that, eager to grow but unsure where to start. Here's the...
3 months ago • 2 min read
It's funny how we take some things for granted, like the sun rising, grass growing, and our laptops working when needed. But not always (just the laptop bit). And it always happens when you're in a hurry. Sometimes the solution is right in front of you (more on that later). My day was going well until my computer froze. Panic set in (it's strange how emotional I get). I went through my recovery steps. No issues with the mouse batteries. My go-to fix, Alt-Ctrl-Delete, did nothing. Time for...
3 months ago • 1 min read
I read an article today, and I couldn't believe it. A guy who works as a waiter in a restaurant has gone viral on Tick Tock for all the wrong reasons. He actually stated that "said that his “favorite part” of his job is “punishing people for poor behavior at the restaurant.” He went on to say that when customers decide to sit in his section without waiting to be seated, he will let them sit at the table for around 20 minutes until they eventually flag him down to alert him that nobody helped...
3 months ago • 1 min read