PDA

View Full Version : drought



PHolmes
11-06-2004, 06:54 PM
Hi,

My husband is considering starting up a mowing business part time. We have discussed things and if he decides to definitely start his business we will join independant mowing contractors. However, my biggest concern is the drought. We live in Sydney. My mother has a guy who does her lawns. He had 48 regular clients and since the weather has become colder and we have had no rain only 8 of his 48 clients have kept him on. How are other people going, particularly in Sydney? Any ideas for other ways to make up some of the loss of mowing income during the drought and winter? I would be grateful for any feedback.

Tonyr
11-06-2004, 07:40 PM
I think you are at the stage where you should call the indy's, this will prove how legit they are, the only thing they can't yet control is the weather :)

Dean and Ebony are the best, if drought is a prob. part time is good, but do it with pride and do a great job, not butcher n go types, get insurance, best is from independants to, project a professional image.

The independants can advise you how to get rolling etc.

winter income....basically this is holiday time, unless you get into landscaping.

pbm
11-06-2004, 11:08 PM
Seems a bit tough losing 40 out of 48 customers. Unless Sydney is worse off in the drought than we are in Melbourne I would say he just wasn't running his business in a professional manner. we have been on water restrictions here for a while and I haven't lost one customer through the drought. I have gone from 2 week cuts to 3 or 4 weeks but no one has put me off permanently. As we come into winter I remind customers about pruning roses etc. and jobs that I didn't have time to do when the grass was growing. If a customer asks me to do a landscaping job early in the year I ask if it can wait 'til winter, most are happy with that and of course there are those that don't want to wait. Overall I find winter fine, it can be a good time to start a business. I went full time in July '99 and within a short time had more work than I could have imagined. As Tonyr said, start with the right advise and do it professionally and you will be ok.
:Rain:

Indyanswer
12-06-2004, 10:42 AM
pholmes

For twenty years Ive heard similar stories for one reason or another .Some may blame a drought some may blame the economy some blame the competition some blame the weather . The funny thing is there just stories. Now if you start a business part or full time you just may pick up 48 customers that he had if you get my drift they will have there lawns cut again and every winter sydney lawns just shut down because of the type of grasses that are grown it happens every year in sydney like clockwork . S0o clearly he doesnt know what hes doing and he hasnt done his research what is happening now has nothing to do with the drought it has to do with the season . Remember nothing is new, its all ways been there, but when you discover someting, it is new to u . :Rain:

One question is the lawnie that is cutting your mums lawn a franchise operator . ;)

Hills Lawncare Services
12-06-2004, 04:25 PM
Hi All,

I wouldn't write off what pholmes has to say all together. Many of the people on this forum are not from Sydney, I can't speak for the other states, but I'm telling you Sydney is a tough market at the moment. I'm not far off getting my landscaping license and if I had not headed in that direction my business would not have survived. With that in mind, if you start the business up part-time you really have not got much to lose, the equipment can be all resold if it doesn't work out. Please don't think I am trying to deter anyone, but I think we would be lying if we said lawnmowing guys are doing it tough at the moment. No excuses ebony, but all the guys with me at tafe who have maintanence runs (guys who have been in the game 15 years and have 8 full time employees) are saying it the toughest they have seen it for a long time.

Ebony
12-06-2004, 05:15 PM
Hi Guys and girls,

OK, perhaps I should change my name lol.

Indi_gal is me, not indyanswer ;) Easy mistake and it seems a common one hehe.

OK... yes starting out part time, especially at this time of year is a great idea. I personally think that Sydney is one of the best markets around. This year we were taking calls from each state and the busiest states were Qld and NSW, there is no doubt that it has been a quiet year, around christmas it was all anyone could talk about Australia Wide. Winter is always quiet for mowing lawns in Sydney, but at the same time, there are a lot of add on services which can be taken advantage of. It is a real shame we do not have some of our members from Sydney here who have advertised with us over the past two years.

One gent started off part time 2 years ago I think it was, and he was built up and mowing full time within 3 months and that was with a start of mowing lawns on weekends and after work. My golly me, he went away for christmas break and I had no choice but to pass the calls over to him as he was coming back the next week, and it was just ridiculous how much work we were getting. Then this year it was in complete contrast, I wish he had gone away as it was so quiet. BUT he was still getting work, he just had to work a little harder for it. It's fair to say it has been a very tough year this year for everyone, Melbourne would be the worst off actually, because they did not get the rain when Sydney and Brisbane did.

Those with employees or franchise fees etc. those that you think are big, they will feel it worst, they have high overheads and they can't afford for it to go quiet. The independent can usually addapt, offer add on services, work a harder, really canvas and advertise themselves. To be honest, if we did not expand in our business when we did, we would not be here today. We rely on the work for our income, and we do not get repeat business when it comes to the call centre etc. it's all "once off" for us.

Start off small and grow! Starting part time in Winter allows you that option, it allows you to test the market, get used to the business side of things, set yourself up in preperation for the "silly season".

Neither I or Dean would ever under state the drought or it's effects. It has been hard. We have felt it as much as anyone. But I cannot use the winter in sydney as a reason not to start part time. The lawn growth alway slows in winter :)

Ebony

Indyanswer
12-06-2004, 08:07 PM
and heres a real eye opener New South Wales allways gets more rain than Victoria thats why you guys play a ground football and we play and aerial football. ;dealers; ;dealers;

PHolmes
13-06-2004, 08:07 AM
Hi,

Thanks for the advice. In answer to your question, No the guy mowing my mums lawn is not a franchisee he is an independant. My husband acyually has a few ideas for earning an income, other than mowing. The landscaping sounds interesting. It was good to hear from some people in Sydney.

Indyanswer
14-06-2004, 06:30 PM
Still cant see why a guy would loose so many love to hear the real reason

PhilG
04-03-2012, 06:05 PM
Seems a bit tough losing 40 out of 48 customers. Unless Sydney is worse off in the drought than we are in Melbourne I would say he just wasn't running his business in a professional manner. we have been on water restrictions here for a while and I haven't lost one customer through the drought. I have gone from 2 week cuts to 3 or 4 weeks but no one has put me off permanently. As we come into winter I remind customers about pruning roses etc. and jobs that I didn't have time to do when the grass was growing. If a customer asks me to do a landscaping job early in the year I ask if it can wait 'til winter, most are happy with that and of course there are those that don't want to wait. Overall I find winter fine, it can be a good time to start a business. I went full time in July '99 and within a short time had more work than I could have imagined. As Tonyr said, start with the right advise and do it professionally and you will be ok.
:Rain:

This guy sounds like he knows what he is talking about.....lol
But now.....what drought!!!!

Scooby Steve
04-03-2012, 06:19 PM
But now.....what drought!!!!

Dont speak too soon Phil they will be back.

Lawn Mowing Professionals
04-03-2012, 06:27 PM
interesting read...

I found this quote interesting... "Some may blame a drought some may blame the economy some blame the competition some blame the weather"

yep, there all excuses! It's interesting that there were no mentions of bloody floods 8 years later :)

I wonder if any of them are still in business?

Simmo.

PhilG
04-03-2012, 10:36 PM
I was bored this arvo so I started going through old threads and found this post that I had written back in 2004. Only posted it for nostalgia. In answer to your question Simmo, at least one of us is still in business. Tonyr got out of the game years ago and bought a truck. Last I heard he was thinking of getting back into the mowing biz. Ebony didn't actually work in the business, she helped Dean with admin from what I remember. I think she is related, Dean will correct me if I am wrong. Don't know the others, maybe they are still mowing lawns or whatever.