Suggestions for a new lawn care business trying to break into the marketplace.
There is a huge void in business knowledge. Most of us never get any training on how to run a lawn care business, or how to build a lawn care business. If you are a new business owner you are hit with a double whammy. You don’t know much about the service you are providing and then you don’t know much about business. So I asked this question on the Gopher Lawn Care Business Forum, what suggestions do you have for new lawn care business owners who are trying to break into the marketplace?
Rich: “This is a wonderful industry we all work in, and a very competitive one, and someone new to it needs to take the right steps. The majority of lawn care business owners have come into the industry as a ‘career change’. Some with no experience, but perhaps cutting their own lawn or the neighbors. The first thing I would recommend is to get educated in the industry. Anyone can push a lawn mower, or weed a garden. But do you know:
- How much to cut
- When to cut and when not to
- The types of grass you deal with
- Watering and bylaw restrictions
- What types of weeds you are pulling
- What types of fertilizers to use and when
- Plant ID
- Insects and disease
Those are just some of the areas that you need to know. Now I know that most people have learned all of that through experience. But wouldn’t you rather have the upper hand? Especially that you are new to the industry? A company that can offer the answers as well as the service is key. I have seen companies out there buy all new equipment, spend thousands on marketing and get a client list well over 1000…just to go out of business the following year. Simply because they could not provide what their clients needed to know.”
These are very good points. It is worth noting and researching each of these topics as you go to improve your knowledge base.
