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lemonhead
21-12-2012, 06:26 PM
Have taking middle stump gaurd and hearing the umpire say play !!!!.....survived the first opening overs off LILLEE AND THOMMO...... 3 months......have 11 regulars and have learnt HEAPS!!!!....3 months.....11 regulars...(lawn mowing)...id have taken that if someone had offered me that in september....ID have snapped their hand off....i bought my house in 1994....so now have a fairly manageable mortgage....so can be patient......Thnks everyone for their advice esp SOUTH EAST MOWING.........NOW 2 weeks off........after 21 years in retail....i see this as comp:rolleyes:letely new.....2 weeks with my family...W.O.W......

Lawn Mowing Professionals
21-12-2012, 07:24 PM
Well Done...

Stepping outside your comfort zone is one of the hardest things for anyone to do.

In your first 3 months...

what are the main things that you have learnt in business?
What would you change or do different ?
What are your plans in 2013?

What you need in the next 3 months is momentum... Do you know if you have built momentium in your business to get through your first winter?

Simmo.

lemonhead
22-12-2012, 06:12 AM
Hi SIMMO....The main things i have learnt are their are many ups and downs when your starting off.The thing is NOT to let these put you off.I had about 3 or 4 mini meltdowns were i thought.."this is all too hard"....but towards late november learnt not to listen to the negative little voice in my head saying "give this away"....

I now know flyers are the best way to bring in the business and they must comply with direct response techniques ....which definetly beat a flyer with list of services on it.Just about all my business was generated with flyers and the sign on the front of my house...@ newspaper ads are a waste of time....$540 dollars..very expensive and hardly any responses...So ive been trawling these pages for good flyer ideas and have a few im quite excited about now...

My speed around a suburban block with my equipment has dramatically increased.....I time myself on every job and my times are way quicker so that was great..
No, i dont have e nough business to get through winter,so will have to pick up casual work through that time...Again im not going to panic about this,its gotta to be done,so deal with it...

Plans for 2013...My web adress to be put on my trailer..learning how to service my equipment.....taking more advantage of the web...i.e explore home4help and service seeking and others...and put all my energies into flyers....
cheers daz

Lawn Mowing Professionals
22-12-2012, 08:57 PM
No, i dont have e nough business to get through winter,so will have to pick up casual work through that time...Again im not going to panic about this,its gotta to be done,so deal with it...



Or... you can focus on getting more clients before winter hits so u don't need to get a casual job to get you through and kill the momentum...

just putting the idea out there.

Simmo.

Treecat
05-01-2013, 12:42 AM
i picked up most of my main clients in winter, as i offered someone who was stable and not just another cowboy who disappeared, so dont think you wont pick up customers over winter.look at other services that are required and see if you can offer them too?

Lawn Mowing Professionals
05-01-2013, 07:22 PM
i picked up most of my main clients in winter, as i offered someone who was stable and not just another cowboy who disappeared, so dont think you wont pick up customers over winter.look at other services that are required and see if you can offer them too?

I wonder if those people who say advertising in winter isn't worth it have actually advertised in winter?


Simmo.

ian
06-01-2013, 08:23 AM
I wonder if those people who say advertising in winter isn't worth it have actually advertised in winter?


Simmo.
from memory i think i thought advertising in winter was a stupid idea because you then had to go and work in the cold and wet to do the new clients you got instead of sitting at home lamenting the lack of work :)

PhilG
08-01-2013, 04:55 PM
from memory i think i thought advertising in winter was a stupid idea because you then had to go and work in the cold and wet to do the new clients you got instead of sitting at home lamenting the lack of work :)

Not as silly as it sound Ian.
I went full time in July about 14 years ago. I found winter ok. I already had a good base of customers from doing it part time for 9 years. I would have picked up more work that winter but we were extending our home and my wife had our youngest daughter so I had a couple of distractions. Since then I have found winter a good time to expand the business especially the gardening side of things. No point in targeting lawns.

ian
10-01-2013, 09:38 PM
Autumn and winter are when a lot of the new spring startups find they don't have enough work or savings to survive and just walk away so if you're in a position and advertising you can pick up this work and have it booked in before spring and the new batch of start-ups

lemonhead
11-01-2013, 02:39 PM
Yes....bit nervouse about winter,but done a few mulching jobs reently and am thinking of designing a flyer based on just mulching/coupled with weeding first...anyone got into mulching as in deliver and install?

Redeye
11-01-2013, 02:49 PM
I do lots of it

Kathryn
11-01-2013, 03:17 PM
Yep its a good earner. Put a mark up on the mulch to cover transport.

Lawn Mowing Professionals
11-01-2013, 03:30 PM
Yep its a good earner. Put a mark up on the mulch to cover transport.

Everyone should be charging for delivery.

Simmo.

myles5239
19-05-2014, 10:20 AM
In the 3 months that I have been in this business, mulching seems to be the constant source of work for me. It really helps that I'm in an ageing community so they find it difficult to do themselves. I also do drainage jobs for people who had their gardens installed by builders (most of which tend to back fill the drainage/ag pipe with soil instead of gravel (cheap bastards...). In fact, I've spent a fair amount of time fixing "builders" gardens (ranging from 1 to 5 years old). I'm not having a shot at builders, but they (or at least most) aren't gardeners!