8 Changes for a Richer 2018 | Lawn Care & Landscaping

Published on January 9, 2018

2019 is your year.

It's time to take your lawn and landscaping company to the next level.

Make these 8 changes right now, and in 2019...

  • Your profits will soar
  • Your stress will shrink and melt away
  • You will finally be proud of your business

No more excuses. No more waiting around. Find out how you can start making 2019 great right now:

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This audit will help you find your pricing averages. 
Identify which jobs are profitable – and which ones aren’t. 
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Change #1 - Stop Bleeding Your Profits

Don’t wait for Spring to start your Spring Cleaning.

Set “Cost Goals” on Supplies and Repairs
Sometimes, mechanics want everything to be “perfect.” Truth is, you don’t need a mower to run at 110% to get the job done. Set a monthly goal for your supplies and repairs. Be reasonable. Be smart. What do you actually need? Don’t overspend.

Get Rid of Unnecessary Leases
Been leasing your lawn mowing equipment? What about your newest truck? Leases can eat into your profits… and they’ll never give back. This year, figure out how you can pay off your equipment. As a bonus, you’ll have one less stress to worry about.

Fire the Employees Who Aren’t Pulling Their Weight

Best to nip this one in the bud right at the start of 2019. It’s never easy to fire an employee, but if someone is dragging down your team, they’re dragging down your whole company. Get it over with, and part ways before the season picks up.

Change #2 - Start Hiring NOW

“But there’s no work yet!”

That’s the point.

Start on your hiring process TODAY and you get to laugh at all the other guys when they start whining about how “there’s no good employees anymore.” Because you already hired them.

This is how I see most lawn businesses operate:

  1. Sell a ton of work.
  2. Hire after you get a ton of work.

Makes sense… until you have too many jobs, and the new employees either quit, or move too slow. Then, you have to tell your clients “sorry, we’re understaffed and can’t do the service we said we would.”

That is bad for business.

Start now. Figure out:

For more on this, check out our complete guide to hiring for your landscaping or lawn care company.

Change #3 - Train Your Team... Today

There are two groups you can start training right away:

Train Your Field Staff
Get your field crews to achieve a higher level of quality.

Help them brush off their winter rustiness now, and you’ll have very satisfied clients as soon as the grass starts to grow.

This will lead into a bunch of new referrals right off the bat - which will make a huge difference this year.

Is Your Office Aware of the #1 Failure?

Get your office staff ready to answer phones.

Prepare them with a list of “must ask” questions and “must know” answers. Remember - not answering phones is the number one reason most lawn businesses fail.

Multiply Your Team with Software
What if you could clone Members of your team…

...and not have to pay them…

...even though they multiply your work output by 2, 3, and even 10 times?

That’s what the best Lawn Business Software will do for your business. Make sure you get the right software now, and start training your team how to make the most of it.

It’s going to make a huge difference in the middle of your season. This is the difference between the “always small” lawn companies, and the people who eventually “go big.”


Want to triple your productivity? Want to see your profits skyrocket in 2019? Check out Service Autopilot. Free Demos now available!


Change #4 - Plan Your Next 365 Days of Marketing

Some quick updates on marketing your lawn care business in 2019:

  1. Digital is more important than ever.
  2. The “Old Ways” of Print Marketing still work
  3. But digital is quickly becoming the fastest way to scale your business

Brush up on your marketing skills. Get online. Make your website look amazing for 2019.

Start using Google Adwords, Facebook. Build out smarter email follow-up campaigns (this is really easy with Service Autopilot’s latest update: Automations).

To become a true master of explosive growth, check out this Ultimate Guide to Marketing Your Lawn Care Business.

It might sound like a lot, but spending just one day planning out your next year in marketing will catapult you ahead of the competition.... And help you double your growth, easily.

Done for you Estimate Template with built-in Pricing Calculator

Get Your FREE Lawn Care Estimate Template Today

Change #5 - Update Your Prices

2019 might be the first year in a long time anyone has seen a tax cut.

It should even affect lawn companies like yours.

But until then… costs are always going up:

  • Gas
  • Wages
  • Insurance

Right now is a good time to let your low-paying clients know that you have to raise your prices.

Here’s a quick article on how to raise your lawn prices… without losing any valuable clients. It boils down to this:

  1. Figure out who is paying you the least
  2. Send them a letter (you can steal this price increase letter here)
  3. Work up the list from there, until you are certain everyone of your clients is paying you enough.

Change #6 - Watch (and Read) and Learn

It’s cold outside.

There’s no kind of sunlight, except that grey foggy blur.

This is the perfect time to hone your skills as an entrepreneur.

Here’s a quick list of resources where you can watch videos, read books, and blogs to sharpen your business senses:

  1. The Best Lawn Care Youtube Channels
  2. The Service Autopilot Blog
  3. The Profit Roadmap Podcast
  4. Read a book or two from this list
  5. 11 Lawn Care Marketing Tips from Jonathan

Nobody is saying you have to get through all of these. Just find one source of knowledge that you really enjoy.

You’ll get ahead of your competition right now, while they’re all at home on the couch watching game day replays.

Change #7 - Set Smarter Goals

Right now, I’m talking to a few lawn care owners. I asked them what their goals were, and this is what I heard:

  • “I’m going to double my business this year.”
  • “Triple profits. That’s my goal.”

Sounds great, but…

How will you do it?

Instead of thinking about what you want out of 2019…

Decide on what you’re going to get from each month of the year.

Set a specific, realistic goal for yourself in January. And another in February, etc. Write these goals down now.

When you break up your year like this, you can focus on knocking out your “growth obstacles” and snowballing your business into an unstoppable machine.

Focus on SMART Goals, and 2019 is going to rock.

Change #8 - No, Seriously. Software Will Change Your Life

Software is the difference.

Difference between what?

It’s the difference between the “man in a van without a plan” and actually growing your small business.

The right software will even allow you to quickly rise above “small business” and eventually shoot you past that mythical million-dollar mark.

There is no better time to start using the right software for your lawn care business than-

Right. Now.

The sooner you master your software, the sooner you can eliminate hours of wasted time, cut down on resources, and even save yourself from having to hire extra people.

This is true even if you use software other than Service Autopilot.

2019 is Not Waiting on You

Your competitors are still deep in hibernation.

Start now...

...and by Spring, you’ll be ready to have your richest year ever.

Happy growing!


Related: 5 Painful Signs it's Time to Hire New Lawn Care Employees


Updated Jan 9, 2018 7:00 AM

Lisa Marino

Lisa Marino is the Sr. Marketing Director for Service Autopilot. She uses her 17+ years in direct marketing, sales, and product development to push entrepreneurs beyond their limits. She's passionate about helping others grow their businesses through time-tested marketing techniques. When not writing, you can find her belting out a mean Stevie Nicks at a local karaoke night.
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