I am also sure that, if you are charging out your time based on an hourly rate, then you are being ripped off by your own customers!
I was talking to a contractor the other day, and he said he was charging some customers $45 per hour.
I think he is short-changing himself big time.You see, he told me that if a random customer wanted a bit of gardening done, he would tell the customer he could do the work on a do-and-charge basis. In other words, if the job went for 2 hours, he would invoice the customer $90.
This is crazy!
For a start, he could ask the customer what needs to be done. A bit of weeding, some hedge trimming and a quick mow. He should estimate this will take 2 hours, then give the customer a fixed price of say $190.
Very quickly the whole job takes on a different meaning as follows:
You earn $190 instead of $90, you are in front!
The customer refers you to her friend and says you do a great job. They might say you were a bit price-y, but they will always justify this by saying you did a great job!
When you were charging $45 per hour, the customer would most probablytell their friends you are cheap – then those people’s expectation is for you to be cheap for them.
You are judged on your performance, not on your time!This is critical, as you can test the market by putting your FIXED price up with new customers and see “how much the market can bear”! You will find that maybe there is a ceiling price of say $300 that people will baulk at for a job that may take 2 and a bit hours.
Another important point is…you own equipment that might have cost you $3,000 or more to purchase. You need to factor in a “hiring fee”for this machinery (ie. mowers, petrol garden hedgers, whipper-snippers, vacuum blowers etc). If the customer were to do the job on their own they would need to hire this equipment… So there would a fee attached to hiring this equipment!!!
Some of the best marketing advice I have received is from an Aussie bloke called Scott Bywater. Go check him out!
One of the things that sets Scott apart from other “Marketing Gurus” is that he pumps out emails of business wisdom everyday. That’s right, every day of every week!
One of his “pearls of wisdom” suggests that you should toss out the business plan, and Just Do It!
So in your case, rather than planning your way to nothing, write up a little flyer advertising your services, print off 300 and go deliver them in your local area or closest target market area. This will take about 4-6 hours all up and has only cost you a bit of ink, some computer paper and some sweat.
Scott reckons that with this small investment you will find out very quickly if you have a business go-er. Personally, I think it will go well.
If you want to see a little flyer that I have had great success with, then go to our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/YourLawnAndGarden, LIKE our facebook page and in return I will send you a copyof our flyer.
A Business Plan is not going to tell you what you should be doing each minute of each hour of each day…
So, toss the Business Plan! It has no use in your business.
What you need is a 1-page(r) Work Planner like what I have inserted in my diary. Like I said, it’s a 1 page document
Whether you are just starting out or an old hand at looking after lawns and gardens, you will notice patterns emerging in your life daily, weekly, monthly and so on!
It’s these patterns and work habits that you need to document in to your 1 page Work Planner.
At the start of each week, you write into your diary the important tasks that need to be completed on whatever day they are due to be done.
The 1 page Work Planner may need to be revised every few weeks, and in no time your life will run with more order and calm!
Starting Your Own Lawn Mowing And Gardening Business
I am getting the feeling some people are scared of making the transition from a (secure) FULL-TIME job to running their own lawn mowing and gardening business.
It does not need to be an agonising decision of whether I jump ship or not.
Rather, the answer should be, “Do both, to test the waters!”
Quite simply, the answer is “Hang on to the Full-Time job and run your business Part-Time?”
This idea of testing the waters applies so much to people in the essential services & shift-work type situations. This truly applies to people who have established careers with Police, Ambulance, Fire Brigade, Hospital Nurses and the list goes on!
To help you get across the line, you need the following PROFIT generating REPORTS:
Plenty of contractors, new and experienced, need to be confident when quoting on jobs. Most contractors can get by with their identification of garden plants but many struggle with their knowledge of Turf Grasses.
A quick summary as follows:
There are 2 broad categories of grasses, Cool Season Grasses and Warm Season Grasses
Cool Season Grasses include grasses like rye grass, fescue etc – these are more commonly used in cooler climates, for example, Canada, UK etc
Cool Season Grasses are mostly single stem plants, mostly not a runner type grass
Warm Season Grasses include couch (bermuda grass as it is referred to in North America), kikuyu, buffalo (St Augustine as it is referred to in North America, zoysia, seashore paspalum
Warm Season Grasses can be built with Stolons (above ground runners) and Rhizomes (below ground runners), OR with only Stolons
For more easy identification of grasses refer to the following video:
Just a QUIET ANNOUNCEMENT: The Team at LawnGreen are looking to grow their business in Sydney, NSW, Australia. If you are interested in joining the team with your own LawnGreen Franchise (preferably the North Shore side of Sydney), we would love to hear from you. LawnGreen’s email address is: mail@LawnGreen.com.au
This opportunity would see the new franchisee benefit from a very hands on teaching/coaching role by Gerry Faehrmann – Managing Director of Lawn Green.
The 3 Key Components Of Your Advertising Flyer Or Brochure
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the need to have a good structure for your flyer or any advertising piece you are putting together.
The 3 key things you need for your flyer are:
Headline
Copy
Call To Action
The Headline is a catch-your-eye thing that grabs the customer’s attention. However, the Headline must shout out Customer Benefits. I talked about Customer Benefits (a while back) when coming up with a good business name.
One of my old advertising flyers (for Garden Makeovers) demonstrates the Headline as follows:
So You want to turn Your Over Grown Back Yard into a Landscape Showpiece!
The Copy is the story of your Lawn & Garden Maintenance Service which might read as follows:
So, with the Latest Gardening Equipment, a Little Bit of Time and Lots of Know How, the Garden Makeover Experts:
->turn old shrubs and bushes into Beautiful Hedges and Plants
->add Lots of Colour to Your Gardens with Great Plant selection, etc, etc
The Call To Actionis the last thing you want your prospect to do. This may be to go to your website and give prospect’s name and contact details. It could be to Call Now on “whatever phone number.
Call LawnGreen Now on 1300.55.74.72 for an obligation free assessment of your lawn and weeds
It sounds a bit basic but you have to spell it out to prospective customers! You must tell them exactly what they need to do to get your service.
It’s Saturday, early evening. My family and I are getting ready to meet some friends from our Family Group. While the others are getting ready I thought I would expand a bit on last week’s Random Thoughts.
A couple of common threads that tie all of my marketing efforts at LawnGreen are a combination of a well designed Logo with plenty of thought going into your advertising’s 3 key components. These 3 essential components of any advertising piece are your HEADLINE, COPY and CALL-TO-ACTION.
It’s as simple as that! No BS!
These key components are critical for the success of any advertising campaign!
What a strange name for a Headline / Title…mmm! Should be “Ramblings Of A Busy Man”!
Lately, I have not contributed much to www.YourLawnAndGarden.com/ … because my primary income source from my (Sydney, NSW, Australia) Weed & Feed Lawn Care business at www.LawnGreen.com.au/ has become very busy .
Besides filling our sales funnel with really good leads from various successful marketing initiatives inc vehicle signage, word of mouth referrals, website ranking well on google for multiple keyword phrases, flyers etc, we have just started a 4 week advertising campaign on 2GB’s Garden Clinic weekend program.
Talk about being swamped with calls!
Anyway, we have become quite busy, so things at www.YourLawnAndGarden.com/ have to give way a bit. As we have to look after the Lawn Care enquiries as they call in, it is really important to “Strike While The Iron Is HOT”!
Now talking about making sure the Sales Funnel is being topped up with plenty of good (well qualified) leads, it is important to have your marketing initiatives set up properly.
To summarise, our marketing initiatives include:
vehicle signage – very clear & beautifully crafted signage on all Lawn Green vehicles
a word of mouth referral system – a system that encourages customers to refer their friends and family to LawnGreen
flyers and leaflets – crafted with compelling headline, copy and calls to action!
and lately, for us the unknown, untested, untried advertising medium of RADIO
Anyway, it is too early to say how we are going to go with the Radio gig, but so far it looks good!
Meanwhile, I have been thinking a bit about the different products we have for sale here…all of these e-books are priced at a very low SEVEN DOLLARS…
I have decided that the content of these e-books (over 30 pages and more) is too good to be giving away, so have decided to put the price up to $17 (per e-book) by the end of the month. So get to it before the price hike!
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