how to get work

[charlie lawnmower]

i have just started a new lawn mowing business but in one week of advertising got no replys from local paper can anyone give me some advice for inner west work sydney thanks

[Bgs]

i have just started a new lawn mowing business but in one week of advertising got no replys from local paper can anyone give me some advice for inner west work sydney thanks

You could try flyers, door knocking, a website maybe. check out this thread for marketing tips http://www.indmowing.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=2724&highlight=marketing

you may just have to sit tight until spring hopefully it takes of in leaps and bounds then.

Good luck

[administrator]

You could buy a round if you like check trading post local business sales magazines internet etc . :wave-hi:

[administrator]

Also depends what country you are in Charlie your time zone says you are in London and you havent a email . :p
Need your membership number so i can attach a members pic

[Bgs]

You could buy a round if you like check trading post local business sales magazines internet etc . :wave-hi:


Buying a round is not a bad idea what about signing up to a franchise would you recommend this :p

[redbackmowing]

welcome to forum & our industry charlie lawnmower.

winter very hard time to start mowing business. especially if you are just mowing. if you have a caged trailer try advertising also in the rubbish removal section of your local paper. do plenty of letterbox drops of your flyers. once the rains & heat comes you'll find plenty of calls will come your way. try & read through a lot of different threads in this forum. being a new to this industry you'll find plenty of useful hints & tips to get you going in the right direction. best of luck.

[Tender Lovin Lawn&Garden]

i have just started a new lawn mowing business but in one week of advertising got no replys from local paper can anyone give me some advice for inner west work sydney thanks

Mate i was the same way in april and im not doing great but im doin ok now. it just takes time plus ive gotten a few jobs cause the guys the people where using wouldnt do gardening i have a really great customer i stole from jims as they refused to cut her hedge. I got called to cut her hedge charged her 60 to get it back in shape and now charge her 50 a fornight mow snip and every second mow run the hedger over the hedge she reckons its better to pay me an extra $6 on what jims was charging and know its all looked after. Weeding is another way to get in and as long as you weed it nicely the first time round up every fortnight keeps it nice and takes f all time. Hope this advice is good for you.

[glassngrass]

Buying a round is not a bad idea what about signing up to a franchise would you recommend this :p
Pros and cons of this and how to get work is a regular topic of discussion on this forum.

Sucggest suggest you use the Search feature to locate these and you will find a wealth of info that will be sure to help you to build your business.

[Just Love Gardening]

Getting new lawn customers for nothing

I have been working in my lawn business for seven years and have worked very hard building up my client base, spending up to a third of my time chasing new customers. A few years ago I set up my internet site www.justlovegardening.net and was hoping to get new clients that way. The problem with my internet site was, if I want more customers I needed more internet traffic. After many hours of researching and listening to so called internet experts, the only way I was told to get more traffic, was pay per click like Google. In theory pay per click works, although the cost made it totally uneconomical for my lawn business. Even when pay per click visitors came, I still could not figure a way to convert them to lawn clients without offering silly discounts or giveaways. I just didn’t know who my internet site visitors were, so it was pretty much a waste of time and money.

Now the good news that all lawn businesses want.
I found a free way of getting internet traffic to my site, and the big thing is, it is also a way of collecting my internet visitors details, so I can contact then to discuss what they want in the way of lawn care. It’s like set and forget, because when I want more customers I just make more free internet traffic.
How I did it.
I was doing a Google search for “Star Cities International” and found this free SMS promotion I put on my website, I think it is called Richleads, but you find it by the search I did.
If you have the term free as a keyword, and you have a free service on your website, search engines pick this up and your site will be featured in the search results on the main part of the Google page. Free is one of the most searched words on the internet, and having free SMS is very popular. Put these key words together with all the words that relate to my lawn business, you get more traffic and more people interested in lawns. The best part is people have to register through my website to get the free SMS service and I get their contact details to follow them up.
So far I am happy with the early results, mainly because it hasn’t cost a cent, but stay tuned.

[charlie lawnmower]

welcome to forum & our industry charlie lawnmower.

winter very hard time to start mowing business. especially if you are just mowing. if you have a caged trailer try advertising also in the rubbish removal section of your local paper. do plenty of letterbox drops of your flyers. once the rains & heat comes you'll find plenty of calls will come your way. try & read through a lot of different threads in this forum. being a new to this industry you'll find plenty of useful hints & tips to get you going in the right direction. best of luck.
I have started getting work but very slow going only can advertise in one paper at the moment

[charlie lawnmower]

Getting new lawn customers for nothing

I have been working in my lawn business for seven years and have worked very hard building up my client base, spending up to a third of my time chasing new customers. A few years ago I set up my internet site www.justlovegardening.net and was hoping to get new clients that way. The problem with my internet site was, if I want more customers I needed more internet traffic. After many hours of researching and listening to so called internet experts, the only way I was told to get more traffic, was pay per click like Google. In theory pay per click works, although the cost made it totally uneconomical for my lawn business. Even when pay per click visitors came, I still could not figure a way to convert them to lawn clients without offering silly discounts or giveaways. I just didn’t know who my internet site visitors were, so it was pretty much a waste of time and money.

Now the good news that all lawn businesses want.
I found a free way of getting internet traffic to my site, and the big thing is, it is also a way of collecting my internet visitors details, so I can contact then to discuss what they want in the way of lawn care. It’s like set and forget, because when I want more customers I just make more free internet traffic.
How I did it.
I was doing a Google search for “Star Cities International” and found this free SMS promotion I put on my website, I think it is called Richleads, but you find it by the search I did.
If you have the term free as a keyword, and you have a free service on your website, search engines pick this up and your site will be featured in the search results on the main part of the Google page. Free is one of the most searched words on the internet, and having free SMS is very popular. Put these key words together with all the words that relate to my lawn business, you get more traffic and more people interested in lawns. The best part is people have to register through my website to get the free SMS service and I get their contact details to follow them up.
So far I am happy with the early results, mainly because it hasn’t cost a cent, but stay tuned.
started get some work but very slow going thanks for the advise

[charlie lawnmower]

Mate i was the same way in april and im not doing great but im doin ok now. it just takes time plus ive gotten a few jobs cause the guys the people where using wouldnt do gardening i have a really great customer i stole from jims as they refused to cut her hedge. I got called to cut her hedge charged her 60 to get it back in shape and now charge her 50 a fornight mow snip and every second mow run the hedger over the hedge she reckons its better to pay me an extra $6 on what jims was charging and know its all looked after. Weeding is another way to get in and as long as you weed it nicely the first time round up every fortnight keeps it nice and takes f all time. Hope this advice is good for you.

get the work is hard but it's there i did get a big job to do some landscaping garden edging but knock it back i havn't done it for sometime

[twin_cities_lawncare]

i have just started a new lawn mowing business but in one week of advertising got no replys from local paper can anyone give me some advice for inner west work sydney thanks

Hey Charlie
Have you approached some of the local real estate agents in your area? Often they will have rental properties/ vacant houses for sale that need regular attandance...maybe a foot in the door, and if you do well with them, you may get referrals for their tenants/ bond work as well.
Selective business card/pamphlet drops could work too in your local neighbourhood (to save you travel costs) Don't waste your resources where it's obvious they have someone caring for their place, just target ones you think need doing and you would like to do if given the opportunity...hand dropping them off might give you the opportunity to meet and greet along the way as well - all good!!!
Good luck...

[Tender Lovin Lawn&Garden]

Hey Charlie
Have you approached some of the local real estate agents in your area? Often they will have rental properties/ vacant houses for sale that need regular attandance...maybe a foot in the door, and if you do well with them, you may get referrals for their tenants/ bond work as well.
Selective business card/pamphlet drops could work too in your local neighbourhood (to save you travel costs) Don't waste your resources where it's obvious they have someone caring for their place, just target ones you think need doing and you would like to do if given the opportunity...hand dropping them off might give you the opportunity to meet and greet along the way as well - all good!!!
Good luck...

You see there is another guy calling him self twin cities lawn and garden. I thought it was you guys at first but found it wasnt.

[geoff]

earlier this year i was off work for a couple of weeks and lost a few customers so that made a few time slots avaiable for free time.Now that spring has arrived we are getting heaps of calls and winning most quotes..since i have been in the game for a long time ive quoted good dollars and have been getting nearly every quote since my opposition are too busy to take up new calls..got me thinking if your run has a few pitas and lowly priced jobs now is the time to get some of that new stuff in...
This spring is the wettest in 15 years so now is the time to make the hay while the sunshines...hopefully it continues but its like starting all over again but this time good returns with good cutomers.

[twin_cities_lawncare]

You see there is another guy calling him self twin cities lawn and garden. I thought it was you guys at first but found it wasnt.

You're not the only one who has had us two confused over the years...

Business names can be confusing, and even having my previous business name on here as my ID has been confusing, so I'm going to change my posting persona to my own name, rather than a business name per se.

Catch you 'round

[Dan04]

Hi Charlie,
I have just started out myself and put an ad in the local paper, threre are 15 other lawn ads in this weeks paper but my ad is the only one that says something different, "same day service" i get 4-6 calls every week. When i ask why did you phone me, they say your the first person I phone because of the same day service. it works really well for me. hope this helps.

[Tender Lovin Lawn&Garden]

Hi Charlie,
I have just started out myself and put an ad in the local paper, threre are 15 other lawn ads in this weeks paper but my ad is the only one that says something different, "same day service" i get 4-6 calls every week. When i ask why did you phone me, they say your the first person I phone because of the same day service. it works really well for me. hope this helps.

Thats fine provided you dont have any other commmitments. If you are doing gardening jobs as well i would be defantly putting conditions apply on there ive had people ring me at 3:30 wanting me to come around and do big yard clean ups. I leave till the next morning and they take 5 hours. If you had been starting them at 3:30 you would still be there at 8:30 at night. ive had phone calls at 6-7 at night.

[Bluey]

Yes well said. As your business grows you wont be able to do this for long. In fact you will have to get very good at organising how you do things or it will become a huge headache for you. Do it for the short term to build clients but I reckon let it slide after that

[imoww]

I have built my client base to 15 regulars. Mostly monthlys. ( used the INDY book instructions on advertising)
But they are all over the place at the moment. I have to condense them. But how?

Also i have found that weeding is an easy job once you get it under control and do it fortnightly. Pity about the last few weeks tho. Here in Sydney, It's been raining every 2nd bloody day. So you can't plan ahead.

How do the old guys make a lucritive life out of a lawn mowing business???

Id love to know what the other Sydney based guys are charging these days? Im charging around $40-80 per regular house.

[Wattle GC]

I have built my client base to 15 regulars. Mostly monthlys. ( used the INDY book instructions on advertising)
But they are all over the place at the moment. I have to condense them. But how?

Also i have found that weeding is an easy job once you get it under control and do it fortnightly. Pity about the last few weeks tho. Here in Sydney, It's been raining every 2nd bloody day. So you can't plan ahead.

How do the old guys make a lucritive life out of a lawn mowing business???

Id love to know what the other Sydney based guys are charging these days? Im charging around $40-80 per regular house.


To condense your customers you have to divide your week up into runs..EG.. Monday-customers on the west side Tuesday - customers on the south side Friday - locals (get to the pub earlier) or you can do residential through the week corprates weekends up to you but essentially you need to organise you daily runs to reduce travel times ..

I am based at Wattle Grove in Sydney and start at $45 and go up so you are on the money..I go as far as Mittagong to the south (and charge for it) but stick to local as much as I can..

I now do it part time as I have a full time job which wont let me go but I pick and choose my jobs and have good corporate clients and thats where the money is..Get a few good corporates under your belt and you will earn good dollars..I leave the residential to the franchise world as they eat each other up for 20 bucks a lawn..I only do residential by word of mouth and i charge accordingly and these come from my corporates.

Work yourself a plan ..I learnt the hard way through the franchise model( thank god I got out of that) but the education I got from all that has been invaluable and a few customised tweeks to my business over the last couple of years has made it very very proffitable..

[Bluey]

Yes very good advice. I have runs organised by area and as you get new customers you slot them into that area. You can start a new area with just one customer but slowly or quickly in some cases you can add more clients until you have a days work there

[RSM-Gazza]

Yesterday, I signed up to our second mid week paper we have in town for 12mths into the tradies, "At Your Service Section".
So now I'm in two papers to start me off.

Re the first paper, been featured once in business special feature and have 12wks coverage over spring with larger adverts with more info within the first 11 pages of the paper, along with their every week tradies service section too.
Plus yellow pages full color white back ground 1 unit advert signed off for 2011. Got me first yellow page internet listing job today.

But this week being my slow week, has resulted in quite a few extra jobs that will pay for a fair wack of my further advertising. Then I started thinking maybe I shouldn't have outlayed the additional cash for the second paper as scheduling re me diary keeps growing slowly moving forward.
But I just want to be out there Full On in my first year and in conjuction with one of our best seasons for years.

Then, I got a phone call call today from one of town's major radio stations at 2.00pm.
I thought you beauty, they want me to quote their small gardens etc outside their studio. Nah just asked me if I would like to advertise and do live or taped crosses as a gardener and mower bloke for our town in a spring gardening mower advertising. They said they could introduce me live and I could talk up my business's offering to our city.
I said thanks, but no thanks, I've spent way toooo much all ready to puting myself out there. Although its been working for me, so into 2011 and next season I maybe able to back off and regular clients become more prominate and yellow pages kicks in.

We thats my little update story apart from what I've already posted in the forum on my past advertising re -getting work.

Forecast in town is for up to 30mm of rain again leading into this weekend. grrr-ate

[imoww]

To condense your customers you have to divide your week up into runs..EG.. Monday-customers on the west side Tuesday - customers on the south side Friday - locals (get to the pub earlier) or you can do residential through the week corprates weekends up to you but essentially you need to organise you daily runs to reduce travel times ..

I am based at Wattle Grove in Sydney and start at $45 and go up so you are on the money..I go as far as Mittagong to the south (and charge for it) but stick to local as much as I can..

I now do it part time as I have a full time job which wont let me go but I pick and choose my jobs and have good corporate clients and thats where the money is..Get a few good corporates under your belt and you will earn good dollars..I leave the residential to the franchise world as they eat each other up for 20 bucks a lawn..I only do residential by word of mouth and i charge accordingly and these come from my corporates.

Work yourself a plan ..I learnt the hard way through the franchise model( thank god I got out of that) but the education I got from all that has been invaluable and a few customised tweeks to my business over the last couple of years has made it very very proffitable..

Yeah. I agree with the way to condece the run but the clients get agro when i ask them to alter their days.....
I might look into commercial jobs... I was put off on commercial jobs (people saying they dont pay on time)

[geoff1969]

Yeah. I agree with the way to condece the run but the clients get agro when i ask them to alter their days.....
I might look into commercial jobs... I was put off on commercial jobs (people saying they dont pay on time)

it is very hard to do , you can sort of do it by playing with the wet weather = its to wet so will move you to this day weather pending then keep them on that day as to the agreed service cycle fortnight / 3week etc ... but you might have to wear it for now , but try to devide your service area into locations area 1 mon , area 2 tuesday and tell the future cliets there schedueld day will be ???? and lock them into the day of the nearest existing customer and build it from there = dont give up ...hope that makes sense = had a few tonight ...cheers

[RSM-Gazza]

I was put off on commercial jobs (people saying they dont pay on time)

They don't, you will always be say up be up to a month owed.
Getting them to direct debit saves a week as against cheques and thats easier at our end as we know.
But once the system of payement is regular per cycle job, all is good.

I target commercial and small business quite hard in signage and advertising, but there not easy to get. I've just 3 at the moment that I look after hard by doing more for them than just edge and mow. Takes me a little longer, but the rig sits in one spot and I'm consuming no fuel in doing so.

[Wattle GC]

Yeah. I agree with the way to condece the run but the clients get agro when i ask them to alter their days.....
I might look into commercial jobs... I was put off on commercial jobs (people saying they dont pay on time)


Dont be put off by payment terms.. Note your payment terms on your invoices,bank details etc and find out the name of the person who pays the bills get their e-mail and phone number ..My terms are nett 7 days unless otherwise organised.. If its over 7 days i drop a kind e-mail that the account may have been overlooked and after 10 days a call.ALWAYS DIRECT PAYMENT INTO YOUR ACCOUNT I NEVER accept cheques of any kind.I get them to sign a contract where possible so everything is clear and kindergarden simple.This is generally done after a few months and we are happy with each other and my service is becomming more regular

To get into corporates that are hard I give them a sample of my work or do a free job to see if my service is for them.. I have never lost one doing it this way and if they let you go ahead you are more than half way there..I find asking for the job up frount does turn them off but if you offer a freebie and explain your business they will always take it..Once your foot is in the door it will snowball quickly.I have turned a $60 job into $600 within a week with a brand new client.

You need to be geared up and understand how businesses pay but once you have a few corporates payments will not be a problem..Try it see how ya go..

[RSM-Gazza]

Yep when I got my Church lawns and ground job. I did a freebie job to show them my standard like Wattle GC does.
The job is not every week, so the grass gets up in height.
They could not believe that I don't leave lines of grass with my rideon as the other guy did, as my rear tunnel Husky can mulch it to invisible with two pass overs.
Now they want low overhead height branches on the large trees taken down after I told them I have a pole chain saw and it's within my Pub Lia limits.
They also asked that the regular job be done prior to the rotating Sunday services and doing Thurs/Frid is OK.
I said it will be done Saturday if thats OK as the lawn will look it's best for Sunday. I don't mind two hrs on Sat at all.
Do my car dealerships on every second sunday for 3 hrs and have the rest of the day off. They also said to do it during the week very early in the morning, But I don't like working around the cars/staff and customers that rock up by 7.45am onwards and would feel like I'm in the way and Public Liabilty concerns hit maximum. So I'm happy with Sunday's or if somethings on then it's Sat arvo. Just try my best to keep business clients to the same level as residential.

[m287j]

Wattle - your prices start at $45 upwards in the Western Suburbs and you have payment terms of 7 days for all clients, and you only work part-time.

Gees, maybe i should work out west, over here in the Northern Suburbs and North Shore payment terms are when the client pays (30 days max) and prices for contractors seems to vary from $35 to $55 per person per hour.

[RSM-Gazza]

Another happy day,

As of last midnight to 8.41pm tonight a further 38mm of rain has fell and there's heap more to come.
So today I couldn't complete any jobs, so I did the 3 quotes that calls came in for and I have a full 3.5days of back logged work now for previous booked work. Rang all clients and apologised for not being there even though it was obvious why.

Got all three quoted jobs and two are to be regulars that coincide with a run. The third job I just got the call at 8.24pm tonight to go ahead.

The first job was from a respected business leader in town with who I have done a once off job prior for his private house. He now wants me to service his property as a regular. He also said I have been referred to a business premises by him and can expect a further call tomorrow or Friday.

So for any newbies, hit it hard when you launch with effective planned advertising to get you out there rapidly and do the extra mile with every job. I don't stop watch my jobs, just work the hrs required to impress. Guess I will need to get smarter with scheduling very soon.

Love it everyday and conditioning myself for when the heat hits. As I've only had to work in mid twenty degrees so far.

[Stripes]

Good stuff Garry. You come across as being very professional, and you're off to a flying start. Good on you mate.

[RSM-Gazza]

Good stuff Garry. You come across as being very professional, and you're off to a flying start. Good on you mate.


Bryan, thanks for the encouragement, as 3 months ago I was very nervous about moving forward. Especially when I committed to the trailer build in late June and purchased the hilux in June. I knew there and then there was no turning back. Just tuck it in, stay positive, research hard here in the forum from guys/gals that will help you and plan business actions. Plus some praying!!!! and some liquid dutch courage.

I not trying to sound over confident as I have not been on occassions as my wife and family well know as we all entered the unknown. Coming from a very well paid past, but that helped me set up.

It's just that the business is growing fast and sit home days are less and less. Whilst those sit home days are now equipment maintenance days in my workshop or research learning days in moving forward.

My second local paper signed up advertising paid for 12 mths only went out today, but most where not delivered due to the mega rain. So more work can be expected from it. As 30% off all my clients are from past career contacts, 20% word of mouth and 50% from one local newspaper hit real hard and still is for the rest of October untill I just stay in the rear Tradies/At your Local Services section for the next 4 months.
Yeap have spent some real dollars on advertising, but have recovered advertising costs in sales already. So all future work and into the next year are the cream from the advertising,etc.

Plus I changed my advertising artwork with the easy to remember phone number with outlined thick bold fonted with D/Green outline with amber infill. To black outline and blood red infill for all adverts as of this week. To re freshen it and make folks who now glance over it, maybe take a relook.

So I think some of the above ties in with the post Topic, "how to get work"

[Wattle GC]

Wattle - your prices start at $45 upwards in the Western Suburbs and you have payment terms of 7 days for all clients, and you only work part-time.

Gees, maybe i should work out west, over here in the Northern Suburbs and North Shore payment terms are when the client pays (30 days max) and prices for contractors seems to vary from $35 to $55 per person per hour.


Yep.. I run a tight ship with payment terms ..7 days is for my corporates only unless other arrangements.. I have two on 30days but I charge more per hour...Like I said i do not do much residential now and when i do its at my price or i walk away..

Mbey you should stand your ground or sell your qualifications and business better to your potential customers..I spend a lot of time building my business and therefore will not sell it short..I learned a lot from the franchise model when I was in it and have vowed not to make the same mistakes as they do with stupid adds,undercutting prices, marketing etc.

I dont do contractors.. If need be I will pull in other lawnies with their own equipment,insurance etc and work together on bigger jobs and split the Invoice that works fine for both of us.

[Chris B]

Yep.. I run a tight ship with payment terms ..7 days is for my corporates only unless other arrangements.. I have two on 30days but I charge more per hour...Like I said i do not do much residential now and when i do its at my price or i walk away..

Mbey you should stand your ground or sell your qualifications and business better to your potential customers..I spend a lot of time building my business and therefore will not sell it short..I learned a lot from the franchise model when I was in it and have vowed not to make the same mistakes as they do with stupid adds,undercutting prices, marketing etc.

I dont do contractors.. If need be I will pull in other lawnies with their own equipment,insurance etc and work together on bigger jobs and split the Invoice that works fine for both of us.


Hi Wattle,

Sounds like a good idea splitting the invoice. How does that work exactly? Do you put two amounts on the invoice? like lawnie 1 and lawnie 2? or do you take the whole total and pay the other lawnie?

[Wattle GC]

Hi Wattle,

Sounds like a good idea splitting the invoice. How does that work exactly? Do you put two amounts on the invoice? like lawnie 1 and lawnie 2? or do you take the whole total and pay the other lawnie?


Either way.We work out what is best.But i would normally pay him cash and I invoice the job but it depends on the size of the job..Cash is a good incentive to motivate him for next time..I run it very transparent with the other guy so there is no dudding and I send him copy's of the invoice for his records..It works well.

Occasionally I have handed jobs over at times and I ask for a fuel voucher instead of a $$ fee as this can put gst credits back into his business( if he is registered for Gst)..Just depends but around 20% of total Invoice is what I ask which works ok.

[courty]

I have built my client base to 15 regulars. Mostly monthlys. ( used the INDY book instructions on advertising)
But they are all over the place at the moment. I have to condense them. But how?

Also i have found that weeding is an easy job once you get it under control and do it fortnightly. Pity about the last few weeks tho. Here in Sydney, It's been raining every 2nd bloody day. So you can't plan ahead.

How do the old guys make a lucritive life out of a lawn mowing business???

Id love to know what the other Sydney based guys are charging these days? Im charging around $40-80 per regular house.

imoww
I'm pretty much at the same point you are with regular clients though mine are split between 2 & 3 weekly. Most are close to home so not a problem but I have picked up a few further afield recently. I service them asap from the time they call(usually next day)but let them know that my regular day for that area is ______ and thats when the next service will be,so far no problems.

cheers
Glenn

[South East Mowing]

I find if you answer your mobile when it rings it is a good start!:doh

[RSM-Gazza]

I find if you answer your mobile when it rings it is a good start!:doh

At 5.30pm today I was returning home with some groceries and a box CL. The phones rings again as I pull over to the side of the road. Yep another quote is requested and I was 45seconds away from his house. Knocked on the door and said amongst the intro, this is quickest response todate I have achieved and won the quote and offerred first thing tomorrow morning prior to do the job being walking distance from home. Can't get any quicker than that I guess as luck would have it.

[Bluey]

I find if you answer your mobile when it rings it is a good start!:doh

lol...true. But on the serious side I have just picked up a block of 14 units over a well known bearded brand because I actually answer my phone when the strata manager calls. That was his biggest peeve. Could never get hold of the other bloke and he was let down on numerous occasions.

[Bluey]

At 5.30pm today I was returning home with some groceries and a box CL. The phones rings again as I pull over to the side of the road. Yep another quote is requested and I was 45seconds away from his house. Knocked on the door and said amongst the intro, this is quickest response todate I have achieved and won the quote and offerred first thing tomorrow morning prior to do the job being walking distance from home. Can't get any quicker than that I guess as luck would have it.

Let me give you a tip Gaz. It is about time you went and purchased Gopher. It is fine now whilst your setting up to take these clients on straight up but within a very short time given the spring we are experiencing you will find yourself struggling to organize all the work. Gopher is without doubt the best product out there to help you with this. Don't use it for the accounting side simply as a scheduler and inventory controller.

[RSM-Gazza]

Let me give you a tip Gaz. It is about time you went and purchased Gopher. It is fine now whilst your setting up to take these clients on straight up but within a very short time given the spring we are experiencing you will find yourself struggling to organize all the work. Gopher is without doubt the best product out there to help you with this. Don't use it for the accounting side simply as a scheduler and inventory controller.

Bluey,

I need to ASAP as actually another 2 jobs came in today, (one regular) that I won over others. Said to the misses that I need the Gopher program, not that she cared or knew what Gopper was. LOL.
Re accounting I'm OK with MYOB now thanks to folks here -thanks. So yep just for scheduling as you said.
Got a job today to do for two members of the NSW Police force over the week end. I will do my upmost best to impress here as those guys and gals are usually in rented homes due to constant movement. Word of mouth at the station could lead to more work, maybe.


Bluey, getting 14 units must make you feel on "TOP of THE WORLD" tonight one would think. Well done.

[Bluey]

Lol..thought so mate. Yep and your right. Was happy to take the units on. Bit of work up front but will be easy for maintenance and very good money. Another gold customer to the stable. Getting the boys in blue is also a coup for you. Your right and not only word on mouth in the service they have great contacts within the whole community. I still have strong contacts within the enforcement game and having worked in it for so long know how it works. Look after those guys Gaz.

[RSM-Gazza]

Getting the boys in blue is also a coup for you. .

Yep, I thought the same and we are talking Guys & Gals here re the force. Very nice people too to communicate with.

Re Gopher and I have seen the varied posts on the subject from time to time here.

I know there is a trial version available to check out. But I have not gone further with looking into it other than view there Videos.

Are there different levels of gopher to purchase, ie, like in MYOB, Then just use the scheduling side of it.

Must say I've some Gold customers already and most others if not all folks at least have been so kind to me, even the one offs. (Country Hospitality so far)

Are these 14 units, individual units or a two storey block. Either way it brilliant to secure them over the man who could use one of these
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS6J0sR-UbuNEKq3lw9Uc-td5X1cpxD-Zdk4aKrhgk8cvscd9o&t=1&usg=__2ZHHqwOIB_Klry2ZRha3sl9Cj3M=
(Not MowerRob though)

Thanks,

[Chris B]

Let me give you a tip Gaz. It is about time you went and purchased Gopher. It is fine now whilst your setting up to take these clients on straight up but within a very short time given the spring we are experiencing you will find yourself struggling to organize all the work. Gopher is without doubt the best product out there to help you with this. Don't use it for the accounting side simply as a scheduler and inventory controller.

Is the basic version of Gopher enough or do we need the plus or pro version?

[Bluey]

Pro is the best version to get because it has equipment usage and PM stuff as well as the chemical usage. I have not used the chemical stuff but I know David S does use this.

Just as a scheduler it is worth it's weight in gold. Prints you daily run sheet or weekly if you want which are an absolute gem. You can set it up to track your equipment usage. I would love to do a bit of work on it to make it more workable. Best of the bunch out there from what I have seen.

[geoff]

so bluey my old diary for which ive returned to after using a multi computor programmes is no good??? i can write heaps of stuff in it including estimates etc

[imoww]

Wattle - your prices start at $45 upwards in the Western Suburbs and you have payment terms of 7 days for all clients, and you only work part-time.

Gees, maybe i should work out west, over here in the Northern Suburbs and North Shore payment terms are when the client pays (30 days max) and prices for contractors seems to vary from $35 to $55 per person per hour.

7 Days payment conditions?? I thought the normal business laws are invoiced at 30 days payment ends..

[Bluey]

so bluey my old diary for which ive returned to after using a multi computor programmes is no good??? i can write heaps of stuff in it including estimates etc

If it works for you mate then it is the best. I just know what works for me. I do actually use a diary still but not for scheduling.

[geoff]

yeah but somtimes after a long day my writing is a little bad lol i do like the look of that programme though

[Bluey]

7 Days payment conditions?? I thought the normal business laws are invoiced at 30 days payment ends..

I work on 14 day payment.

[geoff]

our business vary down here , some pay next day some 7 and some longer , get to know the person that does it , that is the payment side , works a treat...bottle of vino , flowers works a treat...one of my large clients pays me next day because i am nice and considerate ,

[Bluey]

Way to go Geoff...I too am well schooled in bribery and flirtation. The two oldest languages in the world.

[geoff]

mate get the money in ....

[PaulG]

Garry reading through your post on the previous page you sound like your on fire mate! How have you found the newspaper advertising? Especially the cost?

I started up earlier this year but too late in the season. Had very little work through winter and am still trying to build my customer base now.

There have been a few new start-ups again here this Spring, advertising in the paper, and all seem to be getting work.

I have been hesitant to fork out around four - five hundred dollars for a month in the paper here but maybe I should bite the bullet and do it...

[Wattle GC]

7 Days payment conditions?? I thought the normal business laws are invoiced at 30 days payment ends..

You set your own terms and conditions for payment and this can also be a good negociating point when quoting jobs..There is no set rules..for instance.. I always go in at 7 days nett.. If they want to stretch it to 30 days I then negociate the $$ per hour ..I have one corporate on $55 ph 30days and another 45 for 7 days ..Its up to you..
Things to remember is to make sure your terms are on all your Invoices and its very clear..Get the name of the person who pays the bills.. E-mail and phone number...(Very Important).Once you panel beat them a little about late payments it usually works out fine.

Remember you are a small business and dont have lines of credit and huge pull like some of these corporates so stand your ground because cash flow is important in our game and dont be affraid to say so..

[RSM-Gazza]

Garry reading through your post on the previous page you sound like your on fire mate! How have you found the newspaper advertising? Especially the cost?

I started up earlier this year but too late in the season. Had very little work through winter and am still trying to build my customer base now.

There have been a few new start-ups again here this Spring, advertising in the paper, and all seem to be getting work.

I have been hesitant to fork out around four - five hundred dollars for a month in the paper here but maybe I should bite the bullet and do it...

Paul,
It hurts to fork out the dollars and today I paid for a fair slice of it with one paper. But it's generating income, Whilst I'm not pocketing income at the moment, just spending it freely covering start up continued costs it would seem. That over and above spending will cease shortly and I should have a customer base (Gold customers) to move forward with. Well thats the plan plus prepaid advertising to ride on for another year as I build further.
Send me a Pm with your e-mail if you wish and I'll go into some detail re the costs. paper advertising locations/size of and durations and slight changes to the adverts along the way to refresh them whilst not change there formats too much. I'll tell ya about a $220 spend that I believe was a waste in hindsight, but it may not have been, as I don't really know.
One thing I do know with no further calls I'm booked for about 9 days straight with some fortnightly normal mows in that mix. I will be working all this weekend and next weekend to get back to my normal routine. Sounds like I'm working as much as the seasoned here, but I'm not.
In the short time I've been in the business I have paid for the advertising costs already with business income.

[imoww]

To condense your customers you have to divide your week up into runs..EG.. Monday-customers on the west side Tuesday - customers on the south side Friday - locals (get to the pub earlier) or you can do residential through the week corprates weekends up to you but essentially you need to organise you daily runs to reduce travel times ..

I am based at Wattle Grove in Sydney and start at $45 and go up so you are on the money..I go as far as Mittagong to the south (and charge for it) but stick to local as much as I can..

I now do it part time as I have a full time job which wont let me go but I pick and choose my jobs and have good corporate clients and thats where the money is..Get a few good corporates under your belt and you will earn good dollars..I leave the residential to the franchise world as they eat each other up for 20 bucks a lawn..I only do residential by word of mouth and i charge accordingly and these come from my corporates.

Work yourself a plan ..I learnt the hard way through the franchise model( thank god I got out of that) but the education I got from all that has been invaluable and a few customised tweeks to my business over the last couple of years has made it very very proffitable..

If you have any Mittagong jobs you to get rid of.... I can look after them....

[imoww]

i have just started a new lawn mowing business but in one week of advertising got no replys from local paper can anyone give me some advice for inner west work sydney thanks

Try flyers with a quote wrtten on it. ( for front & if so, the nature strip) Some nature strips are huge on some corners...

People want to know what the price is stright away.
If you can, put a before & after pic on your flyer also.

[geoff1969]

If you have any Mittagong jobs you to get rid of.... I can look after them....

hey charlie dont get disheartened takes time if you got no reply from that advert try changing it , the work will come

[The Local Gardener]

7 Days payment conditions?? I thought the normal business laws are invoiced at 30 days payment ends..

30 days lol, not in my books!!!!!!!:before

[Tender Lovin Lawn&Garden]

7 Days payment conditions?? I thought the normal business laws are invoiced at 30 days payment ends..

If you havent been paid in seven days (for domestic yards) then your probably not going to be paid.

[Bugga]

Tender I think you might be right. Done my first jungle job last week, got paid for half of it & nothing more as yet. Dont want to stir the pot as this job came through a source where I get a fair bit of my work.

Ian ( Yard & Car Care )

[Tender Lovin Lawn&Garden]

Tender I think you might be right. Done my first jungle job last week, got paid for half of it & nothing more as yet. Dont want to stir the pot as this job came through a source where I get a fair bit of my work.

Ian ( Yard & Car Care )

Get on to pushka they will get you your money there is a thread on here about them.

But if you dont want to stir the pot mighten be god idea.

I have found sometimes if you send a text saying just a reminder from blah blah as your account of x dollars is now over due please pay into account xxx-xxx xxxx xxxx

from this message I have gotten replys ill put it in tonight and could you rebook me this week. dont rebook them though untill you have payment in your actuall account.

[Bugga]

Thanks Tender.Will take that all into account.Have sent text a couple of days ago, still no reply.Will hang tight for a couple of days then go and front them politelyif no result will look up the thread you were writing about. Thanks mate.

[Tender Lovin Lawn&Garden]

http://www.indmowing.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=7937&highlight=purshka

Heres that thread mate

[Bugga]

Good on ya Tender

PS Good to see you bugga`s up there pitching in while VJ was out of action.

[imoww]

I had my first unpaid customer the other day.
His flatmate was supposed to pay me.
When i asked, he said he didnt know anything about it.
I called the owner and he said there has been a mix up. He will pay me tomorrow.But never did.
Ended up as a learning experience and removed him off my 'to do list'
A month later, he had the nerve to call to get his lawns mowed.
I said NO.
The next day he called again and i said you pay me for the last time and for this job up front before i do the lawns today. he did and I said sorry but i cant do your lawns anymore.
Lucky, i got paid.

[Scooby Steve]

At present because its growing so well down here in Melbourne if i were a newbie and had a good handle on my skills i'd be heading straight for the Real Estate agents, Body Corporates/Owners Corporations and be trying to get my foot in the door while all there regular blokes are flat out trying to cover the work they have been given. Never been a better time to try.