Weather Woes of Lawn & Landscape Businesses

If you’ve operated within this industry before, still are, or are just now considering doing so, you probably already know that any services dealing with yards and landscaping are largely seasonal. Depending on location, the season may be longer or shorter. An aggressive marketing plan is essential for season job types. Do you own a lawn care company? Then mow, fertilize, and plant sod in the spring – summer. When the fall comes around, market your company for raking leaves, fertilizing for winter, and reaching out to collect those overdue invoices. In the winter, consider snow removal if you live in an area that frequently experiences snow. If that isn’t an option and downtime is inevitable, consider researching various business software applications to improve the performance of your company.

Who doesn’t love hearing the rain? Well, lawn care and landscaping companies don’t, at least, when it happens in the peak of their season. Wet grass can dull lawn mower blades, cause slips, and be harmed when walked through, not to mention your equipment needing a heavier than usual cleaning afterward. Instead of trying to find yards to mow on rainy days, why not catch up on paperwork or update your business software. Take advantage of any available job you can while the weather is nice because you never know if the weather man is ‘guesstimating’ with the weather like you originally had to do with your pricing. As I mentioned in previous portions of this article, snow plowing can also be a viable solution for the winter months. If you are in a location where that may be an option, consider it. Also, what about installing Christmas lights? Lawn care companies get creative in the down season. Remember, any option to help your business succeed is worth considering.

Landscaping Professions

There are many professions within the world of landscaping, but the major and most frequently traversed include:

Groundskeeper. A gardener or groundskeeper will typically do whatever is required to uphold the perfection of their landscapes. It isn’t unheard of for a groundskeeper to mow or weed eat, but most will contract those jobs to local lawn maintenance or lawn care professionals. Groundskeepers and gardeners will perform landscaping duties minus any design work. If you are a groundskeeper, you may perform most of your work in a greenhouse or shed that stores your plants. An above adequate knowledge of horticulture and plant species is necessary for these positions.

Interior Landscaper. I’m sure you know the expression, ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’. Well, another equally important saying, for landscapers, is that trees don’t have to grow outdoors. Businesses, that control the care and maintenance of indoor plants, have the same chance to thrive as any outdoor landscaping business. Not to mention working in climate controlled environments. Consulting is frequent in this profession, as it is in most landscaping professions. You may need to give advice on what type of plant goes best with the interior layout, but mostly you will be in charge of the care and maintenance of the indoor plant life. You need to have an above adequate knowledge of plant species and the care that should be provided for them. A formal education in design or experience designing landscapes isn’t necessarily required, but being able to visualize what the finished outcome will look like is definitely a plus.

General Landscaper. A general landscaper is a catchall category. Like the groundskeeper or gardener, they will plant and maintain the outdoor/indoor landscape. Most general landscapers, however, will need to be licensed through their state. The licensing requirements vary by state, but a quick web search can tell you what is required for your location. Reasons for why licensing may be required can be if you install sprinkler systems, perform construction, and etc. So it’s best to check your state’s laws.

Landscape Architect and Designer. The landscape architect is the pinnacle of landscaping professions. This business route requires the most formal education as well as the most technical expertise. A list of day-to-day activities may include working alongside building architects, construction engineers, or environmental engineers. You are the lead landscaper in any work environment. Your meticulously designed landscapes transform indoor and outdoor environments. When new construction is commencing on either residential or commercial properties your input and designs are priceless. There are several specialties that you may want to concentrate on to develop the skills necessary to become the leader in your field. These specialties may include working with waterfront environments, preserving government controlled parks and wetlands, new residential construction, or commercial development.

Since a landscape architect is the most technical field in the landscaping world, you are sure to run into a multitude of education and/or state requirements. A quick search within the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the typical education that one must achieve to pursue this occupation is a Bachelor’s degree. However, with the additional certification and education requirements, landscape architects, in most cases, also make the most money. Those who own the companies or firms will in most cases make more than these figures, but according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, published in December of 2015, the 2014 median pay was $64,570 a year or around $31.04 an hour.

The career routes within landscaping that are listed above are not the only ways to pursue a career in landscaping. You may want to become a horticulturist, which is someone who studies the growing and the creation of new and old plant species. There is quite a bit of education involved, which in turn may allow you to become a consultant or adviser in all things related to landscaping services. Also, if you are ready to venture into the world of landscaping, consider various lawn and landscape business solutions that can help your company succeed.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article. Please feel free to comment and let me know if this article has helped you in any way.

Lawn Care vs. Landscaping: What’s The Difference?

Some people may not know the difference between a landscaper and a lawn care professional, and that is probably because most people use the two terms interchangeably. In fact, when dealing with lawn care services and landscaping services, most companies offer both. So are there companies that offer just lawn care services? Sure. There are companies that just offer services that would fall under one of the three categories: lawn care, lawn maintenance, and landscaping.

You can think about lawn care as improving on the existing yard without dramatically changing its layout or structure. A lawn care company will fertilize, replace sod, perform pest control, and seed. They do other things, but these are just a few examples. A lawn maintenance company also takes care of the existing yard, but by mowing, trimming, and weed eating. To muddy the waters even further, most lawn care companies perform both sets of services. So should lawn care include lawn maintenance and vice versa? The best person to answer that question is you. If your company falls strictly under lawn care, then you have a lawn care company. If you only mow, trim, and weed eat, then consider yourself a lawn maintenance company.

Landscaping, on the other hand, can be characterized by the transformation of an outdoor space either by planting, construction, or rearranging. If you fall into this category, then you have probably planted hundreds of plants, shrubs, and/or trees, while knowing the common and Latin names of them all. Most professions within landscaping require at the very least, ample experience within the green industry. Some even require an array of formal education. I’ve recently published another article concerning landscaping professions, and you can view it here.

I hope this article has shed some light on the differences between lawn and landscape businesses. Please feel free to comment and let me know if this article has helped you in any way.

Service Industry: Business Website vs. Social Media

There are ample choices when deciding how to take your company online. You have the option of venturing the depths of social media to find which media giant you want to spread the word of your business, or you can use all of them. You also have the option of creating a dedicated website for your company, free from any restraints placed on your company by the dreaded ‘terms and conditions’. I’ve broken down the methods of taking your company online because in the end, your company is controlled by you and this is a decision that only you should make.

Social Media Business Page

Communication has never been easier since the rise and global dominance of the social media giants. Businesses are using this method of communication more frequently each day. More than a billion individuals use social media to connect to one another, share interests, and promote themselves or products. It goes without saying that social media holds a wealth of possibilities for your company, but let’s go ahead and break down the pros and cons of operating within these giants.

Benefits:

• Updates – Easily and quickly post updates for your company. Let the people who frequent your page, know that your company is active and wants to talk to customers.
• Simplicity – The pages and profiles, that you set up through social media, take very little time to create and most of the time the cost is free to you.
• Customer Relations – One of the main aspects of social media is to increase interaction between people. Relationship building is most definitely a benefit when considering social media and your company.
• Join the Band – Every year the number of companies, whom direct their customers to their social media accounts, increases dramatically.

Cons:

• Guidelines – When creating your social media page or profile, you have a limited layout that you have to work with. There may only be a couple of images that you can edit, but beyond that you have to work with what you’re given.
• Constant Monitoring – Anyone can post comments and/or complaints on your page unless your social media account has the option of disallowing posts. If you did that, then it might not show that your company wants to socialize with your customers.
• Reports – While having a social media account is simple to use, you are limited in the information that can be retrieved from your visitors. Social media lacks heavily in the ability to give you good data on the people who are being directed to your page or profile.
• Lack of Control – Most of the cons that I have already listed can fall under the ‘lack of control’ category. In a sense, you do own your social media page or profile. You have a username and password that gives you access. But what about when you don’t follow the rules and regulations set forth by your social media account provider? What happens then? Pay close attention to what is written in the ‘terms and conditions’ by your provider. Your account can be suspended very easily and possibly even shut down permanently. Don’t make the mistake of social media being your only online presence.

Business Website

If you’re already a business owner or want to become one, then control is what you seek. To have complete control over your company’s online presence, obtaining your own website and custom domain is a must. At this point, it’s up to you how your website will look, the size, how many pages it contains, and the message it presents.

Benefits:

• Pricing Choices – You can do a quick internet search and find multitudes of companies who specialize is designing websites. Their prices range from free to very expensive. Remember that any decision you make for your website now can be changed or improved upon later. So don’t reach out for the most expensive option at the beginning.
• Trust – Even in the age of social media, customers still expect to see websites for the companies they are considering buying from.
• Save Time & Money – Consumers, in most cases, will attempt to get their information online before calling your office to find out what they need to know. Supply the answers to the most frequently asked questions on your website and answers to the most frequent concerns. This will save your company time and money by reducing the amount of calls and technical support coming to your office.
• Control – With your own website, you now have many options of control for your company’s image. You will have access to search engine analytics that provide very useful reports. These reports can track anyone who comes across your website, whether it’s their location, age, gender, and etc. Remarketing campaigns will be particularly useful using the information in those reports. You can upload as many pictures and videos as you like and write as much text as you like. The amount of content, depending on how you obtained your website, is up to you.
• Strategic Marketing – Research the best methods to apply marketing to your website. Change it up by adding pertinent articles and different promotions. Add a page for customer reviews or a page dedicated to videos. It’s up to you.

Cons:

• Updating Your Content – If you decided to keep your content low, updating the text, images, and videos may not be too time-consuming. However, if you want a lot of content on your website, the time needed to update that information can quickly add up. Consumers like to see fresh content so updating that content frequently is a must.
• Marketing – There are benefits to marketing with your website, but there are also downfalls. People won’t get to your landing page if they don’t know it’s there. A marketing strategy is a must but this also takes time to implement. You can go the route of paid advertising to help with your organic search results. That does help but providing fresh content and creating blogs will help raise your organic search results even more.
• Pricing – Depending on the sophistication and functions of your website, you may be spending a decent amount of time and money to get it working. But like I said earlier, think small for the time being. You can always upgrade!

A Few Notes

I highly recommend having your own website along with an array of social media accounts. Spread the word about your company through social media and redirect your potential customers to your website. From your website, direct customers to your social media accounts for likes and reviews. Imagine that you have many physical locations such as stores. One location may not have what the customer needs, so you redirect them to another location where that service or product is located. Having multiple online locations is the same principle. Every online location of your company needs to be linked to one another with your business website being your headquarters.

If you work within the service industry (pool cleaning, lawn service, home repair, pest removal, maid service, etc.), check out WebWorksForMe.com or give them a call at 1-844-281-7300. Once you sign up, you will receive a website with a custom domain, an automated and paperless back office, and mobile application. WebWorksForMe.com also integrates your social media accounts into your business website. The current promotion is $9.90 total for a full three months, then $29 a month after.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article. I hope that at the very least, I’ve answered some of your questions concerning business social media and business websites. Please feel free to comment and let me know if this article has helped your company.

Service Industry: Processing Credit Cards

Processing Credit Cards From Your Business Website

Are you looking for a way to process credit cards from your business website? Do you own a lawn service or maid service company and your customers would like the option of paying with credit cards? A report published in 2014 by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco shows that cash is the most prominent method of payment, with credit and debit card usage on the rise.  When talking about small-scale payments, cash is ‘king’. However, as the price of products grows higher, the method of payment begins shifting to credit and then to debit. Another factor to consider is the income of the households making the purchases. According to the data represented in the report, as the level of income within a household grows higher, so does the rate of credit and debit card usage. If you are a service company and provide services such as lawn care, cleaning, home repairs, or pool services, the homeowners may have higher incomes than most. So in turn, they may prefer paying with credit cards or debit cards.

So what does this mean to you?

Take a moment to consider your products. Who will primarily use your products or services? What are the costs of your products or services? Do you operate strictly online or do you own a service company and want your customers to have the option of paying online? For the latter question, if you answered yes to either part, then you NEED to accept credit and debit cards. Customers love options, they thrive on it. That is especially relevant when payment methods are being decided.

How can I process credit cards or debit cards?

There are two methods: create a merchant account through your bank or subscribe to a third-party merchant. If you want to do this through your own bank, first you have to learn if they actually provide those services. If they do, then they will have transaction fees that you will have to pay close attention to (third party merchants will most likely have fees as well). Your bank may also charge a contract fee and/or equipment rental fee. I suggest you call your bank immediately if you are considering this and run the numbers. Even if they do allow you to create a merchant account, how experienced are they with web-based purchases? You will also have to create or purchase additional software to be placed on your website which people will use to pay for your products or services.

The second option, which is preferable, is to at least start with a third-party merchant. Another word for these third party merchants is ‘payment gateways’. Using these payment gateways will greatly simplify the complexities of accepting credit and debit cards, especially for the beginner. You will fill out a short application and in most cases, have to send in a few documents verifying who you are. They are indeed banks, but ones that have obtained a wealth of experience in online transactions. Another benefit of using a third party merchant is that there are some very reputable companies out there that specialize in what you’re looking for. Your customers may already trust the merchant and therefore their trust in you as a company has increased.

Cost of Credit Card Processing Software

When looking at the cost of merchant accounts, pay close attention to monthly fees. You may be charged even if you don’t have any credit card transactions. The industry standard for these fees is around $20 a month. On top of the monthly fee, most merchant accounts will charge around 3% on each transaction. In one year, you can easily be charged hundreds of dollars in monthly fees. If you are just now considering accepting credit cards, try to stay away from monthly fees. You don’t want to be charged for something that you may not use, right?

Business Websites with Business Software

If you are looking for a complete business solution that includes a website, credit card processing, and an automated business suite, then check out WebWorksForMe.com. WebWorksForMe.com holds the key to a successful service industry business, whether you’re a lawn service, pool, maid, home repair, or pest control professional. There is no monthly fee for the credit card processing software through WebWorksForMe.com. On top of that, you will not be charged a transaction fee for the first $50,000 of credit card transactions. After the couple of minutes that it takes you to sign up for their business software, you will receive a business website, automated back office, and mobile application. The automated back office is just what the name implies…automated. Set up your appointments via the integrated calendar, then go into your mobile app and track the appointments by times and locations. Once you have finished a service, let your customer pay with a credit card directly from your mobile device. Throughout this process, your back office is generating reports that you can download in many different formats. Update your business website with pictures of your performed services and watch as customer reviews are submitted to your website. Their current promotion is $9.90 total for three months and then $29 a month after. This also includes a custom domain name for your business website. If you’re interested in their services, please go to WebWorksForMe.com or call 1-844-281-7300 to get set up with the promotion.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article. You also may want to read another article concerning credit card statistics. I hope that at the very least, I’ve given you enough knowledge to decide which route to credit card processing you will take. Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know if this article has helped your company.

Service Industry: How Much To Charge?

Are you trying to figure out what your maid services are worth? Do you have a lawn service and are struggling with pricing, or is your home repair competitor constantly lowering their pricing and you’re loosing business? The question of ‘pricing’ is largely answered by ‘guesstimation’. I suggest looking into what other companies, like your own, are charging. Hire a lawn company to do your lawn or a maid service to clean your home. Do you want to run a home repair company? Hire a handyman to fix a few things in your home. Divide the total charge by how long they took to complete the job. Add any offered services that you may consider offering. Take note of the size of your lawn, home, or difficulty of the job because they may be calculating a lump sum based on those factors and not necessarily the time to complete the service.

Consider providing estimates for your customers. If you work in lawn care, review their lot to determine a minimum charge amount, then add a base price per service. To learn more about estimates, a quick internet search for ‘lawn care estimate calculator’ will result in several online calculators to determine the low and high costs of lawn care in your area. You can also find these calculators for any company type within the service industry. Begin by inputting your own home information and see what the local service companies are charging.

Set your pricing, but consider fluctuations in the market climate. Competition in the service industry is very competitive, so knowing what your services are worth is very important to the success of your company. Pricing will vary by location, company notoriety, the demands of the homeowners, and the extent of what you offer as a company. You don’t want to price too high nor do you want to price too low. If you set your prices somewhere in the middle of everyone else, you should be fine. In order to raise your prices and keep loyal customers, you need to show your elevated status of professionalism and be consistent with your quality of service or even improve it. This will distinguish your company from the rest and justify your higher prices.

You obviously have to make a profit in order for your company to succeed. Some ways that you can reduce your business related expenses, may be to research various service industry software applications and to go paperless. Reducing your business related expenses will allow you to lower the cost of your services.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article. I hope, at the very least, it was able to help you in determining how to price your services. Please give a comment and let me know if this article has helped your company.

First Steps of Starting a Lawn Business

So you’re considered starting a lawn or landscaping company? I’ve put together a short article that I hope will help you along your way to success.

Consider having a home based lawn company. If you are a start-up, working out of your home will be much cheaper than buying or renting commercial space. Working from your home will save countless amounts of time and money. You may even focus on homes in your immediate surroundings so as to short your commute. Your home is your domain so include your business within it and managing all aspects of your company will be much simpler.

Create your own work schedule. Don’t be tied down by a 9-5 schedule. Work the hours you want and however many hours a week you want. It’s all up to you at this point. You have the freedom to obtain your own future and not one that other’s plot out for you.

To obtain this freedom, lawn and landscaping companies fall below most other startups in terms of starting costs. If you plan on working alone, all you need is a mower, weed eater, oil, gas, a small set of tools, and plenty of water. It is entirely unnecessary to apply for a business credit card, especially within the early years of your company. If you purchase new equipment to operate once you start your business, look for the best warranties that you can find. This would allow you to work without the worry of having to replace broken equipment. Most new equipment carry short-term warranties, but you can normally purchase extended ones just to be safe. You will be tending to a lot of yards, so that may be a good idea. That small list of equipment should keep you going for close to three years.

Things To Consider
You might be saying, “This sounds amazing. I’m going to start now!” Don’t get ahead of yourself. The world of lawn care and landscaping is not all cut and dry. Yes, the benefits of creating a lawn service and landscaping company greatly outweigh the cons. However, there are a few things that you need to consider.

• Never limit yourself. Always be open to other types of jobs. However, at first you may want to consider sticking to the three basics: mowing the lawn, edging the lawn, and weed eating. If you want to offer additional services as an add-on, consider the trimming of bushes and small trees but also consider the extra time and work that will be needed.

• Typically, a lawn company will have a couple of people at one service appointment. One employee with mow and the other will weed eat and trim. This obviously shortens the amount of time required per yard. Also remember that yards don’t need to be edged every time they are mowed. Keep notes on the yards and the services that were provided. Various software applications make it easy to record notes on the service that you provide per location.

• While you are starting your company and are looking toward the future, consider the dreaded ‘office duties’. I know you want to be out in the field, making your imaginative masterpieces come to fruition, but a successful business is operated from two fronts: the field and the office.

• If you are going solo at the beginning, make a plan now for office time. You will need to operate phones, e-mail, social media, send out bills, and collect income. In this day and age, credit card processing is the most automatic and easily accountable method of payment, at least based on the amount of time required to do your books. There are many types of lawn business software that can help you will all of this. So you may want to take some time and consider getting help with your office duties.

• No matter how good you are at your job, or how good you think a service was performed, there will always be an occasional customer that wasn’t happy with it. Provide quality estimates and include pricing for unforeseen difficulties. If there are no difficulties with the service, reduce the price that you had for the estimate. A happy customer is a happy business. Utilize a good appointment creator and make sure that every appointment is accounted for. If you’re falling behind, let the customer know beforehand that you will be late or try to reschedule.

• Every business requires supplies, whether it’s supplies for the field or a computer and printer for the office. Try to imagine where your business will be in a year or two. Slowly acquire your supplies to meet that destination and you won’t be caught off guard. Don’t go crazy with your purchasing; you may be in debt before enough work is coming in to pay it off.

Taking care of yards, whether by cutting grass, landscaping, planting, or fertilizing, must be something that you enjoy. Or at the very minimum find appealing. You should have adequate knowledge of the seasonal growing schedule for your area, as well as knowledge of the various plant life and the many chemicals that you will possibly use. There are physical requirements for this line of work that many would not be able to satisfy. You will do a lot of walking, pushing, carrying, sweating, digging, and possible climbing. Being a good self-starter is also a must. If you are in control of your hours with no one to supervise you, you must be able to manage your own business.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article. Please feel free to comment and let me know if this has helped your company.

Lawn Care: Gaining New Customers

When trying to reach out for new customers, it’s important to understand who these potential customers are. I’ve tried to condense all the information that I’ve gathered into a short article, which I hope will help you increase your customer base.

According to a 2015 Harris Poll survey, which was commissioned by the National Association of Landscape Professionals, 74% of millennials agree that spending time outdoors in their own yards is important. Data from the Harris Poll survey also shows that 83% of Americans agree that obtaining their own yard is crucial and 90% of homeowners, who have a yard, agree that it is important to maintain it. The results are in! Americans love having nice yards! So what does this mean for you?

According to the Harris Poll survey, 67% of Americans concur that your services would increase their satisfaction with the appearance of their yard. 90% of Americans favor their home encircled by various trees, plants, and well-manicured grass with around half of those hoping to hire a professional such as you.

When looking at these figures, what type of people do you think will hire you?

Professional Landscaping Services:

• Individuals who lack the skill to visualize all the possibilities that can make their yard perfect.
• Any homeowner who has an idea in mind but doesn’t have the equipment or the expertise to see it to fruition.
• Individuals looking to sell their home and are in need of a fresh look and updated curb-appeal.
• Professional builders who contract for commercial and residential properties.

Lawn Care Services and Maintenance:

• Individuals who travel frequently for business purposes.
• People with disabilities or those who find lawn maintenance difficult.
• People with multiple properties or summer/winter homes.
• Groundkeepers who may hire you to help with their responsibilities.
• Associations for rental properties such as homes or commercial spaces.
• Government building managers.

Hopefully this article will give you a better idea of how to market your area of expertise. Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know if this article helped your lawn or landscaping company.

Lawn Care: Earn As Much As A Lawyer

It’s possible that you can earn as much as a lawyer does, but it’s very important to understand the multitude of factors that can affect how much you earn. These factors include, but are not limited to:

• How many employees do you have?
• How many lawns do you maintain in one week?
• How long/short is the season for your work type?
• What are your expenses?
• Do you operate in a heavily populated area?
• Do you offer additional services other than mowing and weed eating?
• Do you use software to help you run your business?

Doing a quick web search of various salaries for lawn service professionals and landscaping business owners, you can see that the figures range between $25,000 and $113,000 a year. So it’s entirely possible that you can make as much or even more than a lawyer, as seen here.  But again, please don’t pay too close attention to these figures. As previously discussed, there are many factors to consider when determining how much money you will make from your business.

Time To Hire Landscaping Employees?

You are the company owner. When you are going solo, you are your own employee. If you feel that you need help, you are going to have to spend time interviewing potential employees, training the employees, and making sure that they are working to your specifications.

Who wants to do this kind of work? The work is hard, sweaty, and the chance for injury is higher than most jobs. Your workers don’t need to have formal education, but experience working with their hands is a must. Most employees will gain that experience by starting off with small jobs and learning from the rest of the crew. This work is very demanding on your body so why would anyone want to do this type of work? There are plenty of entry-level jobs open to anyone with a basic high school diploma. The short answer to the question is MONEY.

To get qualified and dependable workers, you are going to have to open your wallet a little wider for these jobs to be filled. Paying above the minimum wage and above what the climate-controlled entry-level jobs are dishing out, will attract dependable workers. Quite a few lawn service owners are paying their employees an average of $12 an hour. Paying around this amount has created loyalty within their employee base and these employees are sticking around to grow and learn with the company. One of the hardest lessons you will learn in this industry is employee retention. So paying well will increase the chance that your employees will remain with your company for much longer than normal.

An overall look into the green industry will show you that an average of $10 an hour is being given to employees. If $10 an hour is still too much for your company to start out with, consider starting a couple bucks above minimum wage. Unskilled jobs that pay above minimum wage are few and far between. So enticing good workers to do the work you expect from them will come down to bumping up your pay scale. Also, pay attention to certifications that an employee may possess. Giving them additional incentives to obtain new certifications or training can only help your business.

What is your competition paying their employees? If they are even just 20 cents above your hourly scale, you need to find new incentives for your crew’s performance. If you can’t afford to give everyone raises, occasionally buy them lunch. Show them that they aren’t expendable and your company would suffer without them. Garnishing loyalty is the way to keep an employee driven company. Once your employees have been trained and you are confident in their abilities, send them to their appointments. You may want to lessen confusion by using lawn service software that allows for route scheduling and appointment locations on their mobile device. Give your company every chance to succeed.