Landscape Startup

2 Responses to “Seth, You Crack Me Up”

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   John Seiffer - Business Coach:
   October 21st, 2006 at 7:12 pm

   The big guys will get 100 new clients first. But you will get 100 new client’s worth of profit first, if you keep your costs low. Why? They’ll spend a lot more money doing marketing stuff that doesn’t work before they even figure out it doesn’t work. You’ll cut your losses quicker and do more of what works quicker.

   Also if you stay personally involved, you’ll keep more clients. When you get big enough where you can’t stay as involved with each customer you’ll be at a cross roads. If you don’t want to grow to be like them but you do want to grow you’ll have to change the business model.

   The points you said in comments to the last post will generate loyalty - but only of a certain type of customer who is actually logical about what it takes to keep up a lawn. Some will want you to do magic and want their lawn green no matter what the weather or if they ever water or not. These people are analagoun to the kind of people who buy one diet book after another and never really eat less or exercise more, and wan the book to do all the work. People who have waaaaay too much status invested in their lawn. Don’t sell to those people.

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   Suzanne Ste. Therese:
   November 21st, 2006 at 4:07 pm

   I am definitely a neophyte when it comes to marketing and marketing books. I have been a consultant to a business for about five years that started out as a mowing route (fifteen customers) and now is one of the largest excavation contractors in my state. This guy did very little marketing (except for the occassional ad in a fundraising program requested by a client) - he is naturally ebullient and his work is “above the rest.” I am a landscape designer becoming a landscape architect (studying for the registration exam), and became involved with his work when I was working for a Landscape Architect and managed a high end residential project this contractor was developing (from excavation to masonry to planting.) Every day, his guys made sure every tool was on the truck, every hard surface swept (including driveways and roadways), equipment secured and out of sight, etc. You would be surprised how many other companies I have worked for that have let these details go. He also warranties plants but, really, just replaces them if, for some reason, the plant dies (this could be because of a hard winter and poor plant protection, drainage issues or just poor maintenance after the fact. He just thinks its the right thing to do within the first couple of years…) He pays more for his guys and gets the best operators around because he expects more - they work very hard but, then, his reputation has been his best marketing tool from what I can see. I have seen a lot of poor quality work and dishonesty in this business, unfortunately (this maybe peculiar to the area in which I live - I did not experience this in another state I have lived in), and specifically continued my relationship with this guy because of his reputation. He allows me to do good work and does not nit-pick about plants, planting, testing, etc. He trusts me and is willing to do what works to make a project really great not just o.k. These things may seem obvious but what I have learned is that this attention to detail is not obvious. It is often assumed or just not considered. Your work will speak for itself. Good luck!

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