Carin Carlton ⋅ Mesa, AZ Red Brick Realty ⋅ 12 years experience

Your local Chamber of Commerce is a good resource center and they usually have a great mentoring program. Also try Real Estate offices. Hand out flyers for the agents with maybe a discount to new customers on their first months service. The buyers may want to start service when they are ready to move in. Seller's will want to get their home all spiffed up to sell. Good luck to you!

Ron Yu ⋅ Cupertino, CA Denodo Technologies ⋅ 30 years experience

Hi Eurosia - well great advice on the preceding answers. My first part of my response is really to get clarification from you (feel free to private message me) - are you completely from scratch thinking about this or do you have equipment, etc? Do you need help from ground up, money, marketing, operations, etc?

For now, I'll assume it's a little everything...

First start with WHO - who are you going to target (you mention residential and commercial - probably in the city you live in to start). That's a good first step - know your target. Out of the two, I'd say residential is a lower hanging fruit -- in other words, easier to win your first client and build from there.

Then WHAT - what are you going to offer - cutting grass, hedge trimming, leaf and yard cleanup, tree removal?, weed removal, grass care (fertilizing, aerating, etc), sprinkler and drip maintenance, etc. That will then determine the type of equipment you need to procure to service your customers. Also, do you plan to have helpers or employees and do all/some/none of the actual work? What license(s) & insurance do you need to operate - business, workers comp, etc This all plays into your capital investment and operational cost and margin per job. It also determine what skills you need and how you market your company - if you have employees, then your main focus is finding customers and keeping them busy. If you're doing the work, then you have to organically grow the business while doing all the work. It depends on the amount you want to invest up front and where you invest your time and energy. You can of course start yourself and bring on workers as you grow.

The HOW - is then built off the WHO and WHAT. Based on WHO you target and WHAT you offer, you procure the right equipment. Then you build out your marketing and sales plan. I can help with that as well but can give you more details via private message when you're ready. For example, finding residential can be (as mentioned before) door hangers, offering a promotional discount. Your general strategy here is to build a business so drive customers to repeat the business - offer better pricing for monthly service packages, refer a neighbor or bundle neighbor discounts, etc. Whereas, if you're targeting commercial accounts, then it's about going after property management companies or networking with real estate companies. That is more business development intensive and probably should be left for later down the road. You can always create marketing material for property managers and continue to market - it's a numbers game in the end - the more you distribute the better your odds. Also do some market research - know your competitors. Who are you competing against now, what are they charging and how good is there service? Don't be afraid to just ask potential clients. Also if you have any particular interest or skill that separates you, sell your company that way. Use online sites as mentioned to get clients but also use it as a marketing tool - like Yelp and Facebook.

Lastly, just do the basic things right and you'll beat the competition. What do I mean by that? If you provide an email address and phone number, always respond to all inquiries same day or within 24 hours - no exceptions. Always be polite and helpful to all phone and email inquiries and even complaints. When you show up to provide a quote or do service, look professional - have signage on your truck, design a company "uniform". Make it easy on the customers - easy to pay, show up on time and consistently and do professional work and fix any issues promptly.

That's just a high-level overview not knowing where you need the help/advice so feel free to message me for specific tips and happy to help. Good luck!

Sky storms ⋅ Ocala, FL Windham Regional Career Center ⋅ 52 years experience

Hi Joseph,
Here are some thoughts about a start-up process you might consider so as to avoid having "Payment Pressure" right out of the gate.

1. If you have limited funds, buy a used suitable pickup, a 3/4 ton would be best for towing. Buy one that you can pay cash for.

2. Buy a used, but with road worthy tires & electric, two axel trailer with drop-down ramp for easy loading. Pay cash for it.

3. Shop for a used but reconditioned or really good shape zero-turn mower. Get a name brand such as Kubota, Dixie Chopper Toro etc. Stay away from modern John Deer. It has become junk the past few years. (Lots of plastic and stamped out frames.)

4. Get a name brand weed whacker and blower. Used if you can find them.

5. Shop at Mower repair shops for items 3&4, and ask them at the shop for advise on the best commercial grade machines. Get stuff that really works and will not require you to go back for repairs often. You want to spend your time ON THE JOB not going to the repair shop.

6. Choose a name for your business. Many of the ones I see are an effort to be cute with words. My advise is to stick with something simple such as your name. "JOSEPH'S LAWN CARE. LICENCED AND INSURED. (555)-555-5555" Since it is often looked at as being "temporary" as opposed to appearing truly in business, I would avoid magnetic signs and have your business name painted on your truck.

7. Get your business name on some business cards with all your contact information clearly on it. Make your card SIMPLE and easy to read. (plenty of white space. No fancy designs, just straight forward info of who you are, what you do and how to reach you.)

8. Get a book of 2 part NCR blank billing statements you can use to bill clients with and have your own record of when you billed them. Office Depot or Staples has them cheap.

9. You might consider making up some customer satisfaction cards to hand out so that you can get the kind of feedback you can use to better improve your business. Also on this card, a place for a customer referral. A satisfied customer is your best advertisement. Put these cards in with your billing statements so as to make it easy for customers to slip it in their payment envelope along with their check to you.

10. If you can put this all together without going in dept., you will be way ahead of things. Now you can go out knocking on doors, Leaving cards in doors wherever allowed, putting your cards on public bulletin boards etc and do it all in the neighborhoods where you most want to work. Be sure to drive your truck with your name on it while you do this. When you DO get jobs, the profits will be yours rather than having to pass it along to someone to whom you owe money for something you purchased with payments due.

When the time comes that you can afford to buy more and/or better equipment based on your cash flow FROM THE BUSINESS, you're doing it right. Make the business pay for it's own growth. You stay debt free.

HINT: In order to spend the least time for the most money while on-the-job, you MUST have sharp blades that cut well at the higher speeds that most zero turn mowers can achieve these days. I know of one man that sharpens his blades every day at lunch time AND at night. He screams through a cutting job and yet leaves a beautifully finish cut. Dull blades do not cut grass, they tear it. Leaves a poor looking finish.

Be passionate!! Go get er done!!!

Ernest Charles III ⋅ Cypress, TX Online Business ⋅ 10 years experience

Look into the EBV program they are in 3 cities , Tallahassee, Syracuse, and College station in texas. I went to the one in Florida, great experience and they pay for everything. It's a weeklong of training on how to get a business started and resources that will provide you with the assistance you need.

Gerald Mannikarote ⋅ Houston, TX dMann Training Technologies ⋅ 20 years experience

Hi Eurosia,
Great idea. You've also got great suggestions already.
My main suggestion is to just get started. Once you start, you will find the other pieces.
I hope that helps.
Warm regards,
Jerry

June Webb ⋅ Chevy Chase, MD JWebb Inspire ⋅ 17 years experience

Joseph,

Try setting up your online profile on Thumbtack.com. This is a great first step to developing an online service business. Just remember that a business is different than your actual service. Some people can make the service happen but a business is like a "child" it has its own identity and needs lots of care.

John Green ⋅ Cary, NC Information Technology ⋅ 40 years experience

It most certainly is.

You can post your offering on Nextdoor.com , OfferUp.com or Facebook.