list the major.....

[Bobbygedd]

list the major reasons lawn services fail. failer= going out of business cus it's just not profitable, running it part time, going out of business cus of "burnout." ok, i'll start with 2 major reasons, please add to the list: #1- extending credit. most lawnboys extend credit without finance charges, yet, in order to do so, they are paying finance charges on the credit they are using, to make this possible. #2- taking responsibility for acts of god (rain, excessive wind causing a mess which requires an unseasonal cleanup) . most lawnboys , if slowed down by rain, and forced to miss a scheduled mow, will mow the following week, at the fee of a single mow. also, if wind or drought conditions cause a unseasonal drop of leaves + debris, most lawnboys would clean it up, at no extra charge. these are just 2 reasons, on a list of many, why most lawn boys fail. can anyone add to the list?

[CLS Lawns]

Reading your posts :p


cls

[CLS Lawns]

Lack of vision, Listening to the naysayers, no business plan/goals, no drive, thinking they have all the answers, poor work, poor customers relations, bad public image, bad habits - drugs/alcohol, a highly stressed home life, a wife, a husband, tripping over dollars to pick up pennies, allowing the customer to run all over you, not being in control...

cls

[NEPSJay]

having the mentality of "my customer is my boss" or "i work for the client" or "the customer is always right" i think has to be near the top of the list. letting the customer run the show...
another good one is doing small things for FREE, ex. cutting a tree limb or bringing in the trash cans....
another .........not sticking to your policies, ex... letting people slide on payments WITHOUT latefees and or finance charges....
another..... high overhead in a very competitive market.

Maybe im wrong with these..... what do you think?

[Bobbygedd]

having the mentality of "my customer is my boss" or "i work for the client" or "the customer is always right" i think has to be near the top of the list. letting the customer run the show...
another good one is doing small things for FREE, ex. cutting a tree limb or bringing in the trash cans....
another .........not sticking to your policies, ex... letting people slide on payments WITHOUT latefees and or finance charges....
another..... high overhead in a very competitive market.

Maybe im wrong with these..... what do you think?

you're right on all. must be nice to gross $1000 a day...and only net $150.

[GrassMaster]

Reasons in this order...

1. The owner does not know their cost of doing business...
(No clue as to what it cost per hour to operate their business)
I would say most business owners out there do not even know what their employees total cost per hour is?

2. The owner has no idea how to bid a job accurately & definitely no idea how to bid a job to make a profit... Because they doesn't know the answer #1 above!

In all honesty if the owner doesn't know the answer to #1 above, they'll never know the answer to #2 either?

This should cover around 90% Plus of the failure rate if not more!

PS: The customer is hardly ever right about anything, but without the customer there's no business?

[NEPSJay]

another......invoicing after EVERY service.

[Dr.Bizzaro]

Blue Collar wages...just don't cut it.

people find much better ways of recycling dollars without having to destroy their bodies in the process.

[CLS Lawns]

people find much better ways of recycling dollars without having to destroy their bodies in the process.

Like sitting behind a desk? Being a pencil pusher? Getting fat while doing it?


cls

[GrassMaster]

I've tried it all & My preferred way is...

Like sitting behind a desk? Being a pencil pusher? Getting fat while doing it?
cls

Sitting behind a desk! Playing on the computer! Getting Fat & Losing Hair too! I dislike getting in a Strain of anykind!

[CLS Lawns]

Sitting behind a desk! Playing on the computer! Getting Fat & Losing Hair too! I dislike getting in a Strain of anykind!

The hair thing is happening to me too.

Anyways, I feel if you love what you do then it doesn't matter what you do. It's the stress in what you do that will take you to the grave faster than anything.


cls

[Dr.Bizzaro]

or a HAM SANDWICH....

did you know in California the main cause of traffic deaths is due to eating while driving? YEP! Even more people get aced by ham sandwiches over drunk driving.....

[MOWANDGO]

Yeah same here, the hair thing...well no actually, I think there are a lot of yahoo's out there who throw mowers in the back of their pickup slap signs on the side and then make up there business as they go. They have no real concept of the cost of doing business, nor do they have a concept of how to separate their business from other businesses that are similar.