A Cut Above

For most landscape professionals, December and January are slow months. If you live in one of those cold weather states, the good news is you have plenty of time before mowing season hits. Use it to plan for growth in 2018.

Advertising and Marketing

You already know to contact clients about renewing their contracts for the next season. When you do so, take the time to request their feedback on services provided. Ask them to leave reviews on your Facebook, Yelp and other social media pages. (Don’t have Yelp or Facebook pages? Take the time to get them set up.) And consider rewarding customers who send referrals your way with a discount on services.

While you’re thinking about deals, are there service add-ons that you can get clients to sign up for, like twice yearly aerating or over seeding? Think of it as the equivalent of “Would you like fries with that?” – not everyone will sign on, but a percentage of your customers might not know that you offer additional services.

No one likes a price increase, and everyone likes a bargain. If you’re raising your rates, consider having a tiered system, where people who renew contracts by a certain date get a smaller increase than if they waited until just before the season starts. That way, you reward your loyal customers.

Staffing

Get your staff lined up well before mowing season. Whether you rehire last season’s operators or need to look for new staff, doing it early will give you a much better idea of how much work you can complete in a given week. If your marketing efforts bring returns, then you’ll have time to line up additional help before mowing season swings into high gear. This will mean less time in the office interviewing when you and your crew could be out earning money.

Maintenance

Take the time to check all your equipment maintenance logs from last year. Were any maintenance tasks missed? You should also create a schedule that will allow you to complete spring maintenance on all your mowers before the start of mowing season. If you need to take mowers in for repairs, winter is an ideal time, as your repair shop may be slow and willing to offer deals.

Equipment Upgrades

While reviewing and completing maintenance, consider whether it’s time to replace any of your mowers and other lawn care equipment. And look over your book of business for the coming year: Does it look like you’ll need additional mowers? You should also consider whether trading in a mower and buying a larger or faster model would allow you to take on more work. You should also consider if mower leasing is a better option for your business than purchasing outright.

Business Plan

It’s also the right time to think about how to expand your business later into the fall (or even into the winter). Leaf and snow removal are good options if you don’t already offer them, but what about tree pruning or outdoor winterizing? Think broadly: There’s no reason you can’t expand to other outdoor chores if there’s a market for it in your area. Consider creating an online survey for your clients, polling them on what additional services they’d be interested in.

Taking the time to plan now, when your business is slowest, will position you for greater success in 2018.  Partner with your local Exmark dealer on any equipment needs, and you’ll deliver an exceptional quality of cut that will keep customers rebooking, year after year.

One of the best ways to grow your lawn maintenance business is to expand your services beyond mowing and maintenance. These days, people want more out of their yards than just basic greenery—they want an outdoor living space, an extension of their homes that they can enjoy all year round.

That’s why so many lawn care professionals are including landscaping and garden design into their list of services. If you’re interested in helping people plan and plant their borders, here are some steps you can take to get started.

Learn Your State’s Regulations

Lawn maintenance and landscaping may be treated differently by your state, so check whether you need additional business licenses or have to be certified. And check with your city, too; they may also have regulations you should be aware of.

Fill in Your Knowledge Gaps

If you know a lot about trees, shrubs and other plants, but don’t have a lot of experience with design, it may be a good idea to get some basic training. Many community colleges offer certificates and associate’s degrees in landscape design, so check the ones in your area. Another place to check for short courses are local botanic gardens; they frequently offer certificates and weekend training workshops on select topics, especially planting. And university extension programs may also be a good source of training.

Connect with Others

Consider joining a professional organization like the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD). Professional groups are great for networking, providing continuing education, and if they offer referrals, can be a source of customers. The APLD also has a certificate program.

You’ll also want to make connections with garden suppliers, nurseries and people who offer special services, like tree removal. Since grading lawns, installing irrigation systems and building features like patios and retaining walls will require different equipment than lawn maintenance, you may need someone to rent machinery from until you can invest in it.

Start Small

Begin with smaller projects, like designing yards and patios and doing the plantings, rather than large, complicated projects like creating water features and terraces with retaining walls. As you grow in confidence, you can tackle new skills. Similarly, begin by offering services to your existing clients, then use those projects as examples of the type of work you can do. And be sure that you don’t focus so much attention on growing your new landscape design business at the expense of your maintenance services.

The math is easy: if you have a riding lawn mower with a wider deck and greater speeds, you’re going to cover a lot more ground than you would with a push mower or smaller model. More coverage means you can mow more lawns in a day. More lawns in a day equals better income for your business.

However, when it comes to long-term financial viability, running a mowing business isn’t that simple. A high-end mower requires a greater up-front investment, but it also has the potential to push your business to the next level.

Mower Productivity Charts

Before you go through the trouble of calculating your own mower speeds and deck widths against the amount of terrain you have to cover, we suggest you take a look at Exmark’s mower productivity chart. This will allow you to gauge the difference between your current mower and other options currently on the market.

For example, just moving from a 42” deck to a 48” deck might not give you a huge change in acres covered, but making that leap – while also choosing the top-speed mower – could result in a significant improvement in productivity. Not only can you cover more area, but you’ll spend much less time doing it. If you have the workload to support increased capacity, then upgrading might make sense.

Match the Equipment to the Terrain

Anyone who’s spent a lot of time mowing knows that a bigger, faster, more powerful mower isn’t always going to be an improvement. You also have to factor in things like operator skills, the terrain you’re working on, and site conditions—not to mention the time needed for loading and unloading the equipment, and travel to job sites.

That’s why any productivity calculation should also take into account the different types of mowers in your fleet. Many business owners find that instead of buying more of the same type of mower, it makes sense to diversify: a walk-behind mower for quick and easy precision, a powerful zero-turn mower for lots of coverage, and a stand-on mower for the hilly terrain.

Creating a tracking system for acres covered and time needed for transit can help you determine if an upgrade or addition to your fleet makes sense. If the bulk of your operator times are being spent on the ground covering large areas, then a faster and wider mower could make a difference to your bottom line. However, if you spend a lot of time driving to small city lawns, you may want to consider a lighter, more portable walk-behind.

Additional Benefits of Enhanced Mowers

When you upgrade to a newer or larger mower, you also have to factor in the other operational costs that contribute to your income. For example, an older model mower may have difficult-to-find parts or need continual maintenance that could end up costing you more in the long run than a newer model.

Other benefits to a new mower (or fleet of mowers) can include:

• Lower repair costs
• Easier maintenance
• Higher resale value
• Greater employee comfort
• Improved client satisfaction

Many of these things are difficult to quantify, but should still be included in your overall look at your productivity.

Knowing When to Upgrade

In an ideal world, larger decks and greater speeds would automatically increase your revenue and make your investment worthwhile. However, it’s important to remember that speed and deck width aren’t everything—especially if you’re still growing your business. All the speed in the world won’t help if you don’t have clients to serve.

As soon as you’re ready to move to the next level, meet with your equipment dealer to determine what’s right for your needs. By choosing a faster, larger model that will grow with you, you could end up seeing your income grow over the life of the mower.

Exmark mower sun-shades block direct sun rays and reduce the impact of direct sunlight.

One of the best ways to increase productivity in your lawn mowing business is to take care of your team and your equipment no matter what the weather.

Lawn maintenance is very much a seasonal business, and you probably count on the summer months as some of your most productive. By protecting your workers (and yourself) from the direct rays of the sun, you can reduce many of the most damaging aspects of direct sunlight.

Seasonal Workers and Sun

Outdoor workers may face an elevated risk of developing skin cancer and related complications. Although using sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher can help reduce skin damage, it isn’t 100 percent effective. Encourage employees to use a combination of sunscreen, sun protective clothing, and hats to help reduce sun exposure.

Heat-Related Illnesses

More concerning for daily productivity are dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. Heat exhaustion can lead to headaches, cramps and vomiting, and heat stroke needs proper medical attention. Both are most common in the summer months, especially for people who are working in direct sunlight during hours when the sun is highest in the sky, and temperatures are likely to be hottest.

Steps to limit the impact of these heat- and sun-related conditions include encouraging adequate rest and water intake, modifying work schedules, and enhancing workplace conditions. Inform your employees of the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and encourage them to stay hydrated while working.

According to OSHA, working in full sunlight can increase the heat index by 15 degrees Fahrenheit. In the hottest times of the year, or during prolonged heatwaves, it may be impractical to mow only during cooler parts of the day. However, as a business owner, you don’t want your employees suffering from heat-related illnesses on the job with their resulting downtimes, costs and other concerns. Installing sun-shades on riding mowers can provide relief from the worst impacts of the sun, protecting both your employees and your daily productivity.

Exmark mower sun-shades work in conjunction with the existing Roll-Over Protection System (ROPS). Composed of heavy-duty, water-repellant canvas, they create a canopy above the operator. They block direct sun’s direct rays, reducing the impact of direct sunlight like sunburn, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Sun-shades are available for Lazer Z, Radius, Quest and Pioneer models. Use our accessory finder to see if one is available for your mower.

Awareness, education and prevention can go a long way in keeping your employees (and yourself) healthy and your business productive. Start planning now for the long hot days of summer. For more information on sun safety, the Centers for Disease Control and OSHA can be a good place to start.

As the winter weather settles and the lawn care jobs slow down, it’s a good idea to consider what you can do to grow your business for next year. By spending your downtime focusing on growth and upcoming changes, you can hit the ground running as soon as the first thaw hits.

Human Resources

Winter is an ideal time to go over your personnel files to ensure that everything is up-to-date and that you have enough staff to get you through the busy spring season. Because many lawn care professionals aren’t working right now, you have time to organize your log books, assign updated training, and hire new staff.

This practice can streamline your efficiency in several different ways. By moving the interviews, background checks, and other HR issues to winter, you can free yourself—and your team up—to focus on lawn care come spring.

Equipment Maintenance

Many of our lawn care specialist clients use the winter months as a time to maintain and update their equipment. It’s never a good idea to let a lawn mower sit unused for months on end, so make a schedule that allows you to rotate your maintenance needs throughout your whole range of equipment.

Whether you prefer to do this maintenance yourself or if you take your equipment to a technician, now is the ideal time to get on it. In fact, many technicians offer winter savings since this is a slow time for them, as well.

Mower need replacing? We have quite a few new mowers including the new Radius X-Series Zero-Turn Mower.

Upgrading to New Mowers

As you go through your regular maintenance schedule, keep an eye out for mowers that may be in need of updating or replacement. Although Exmark mowers are designed to hold up for thousands of hours of usage, we’re always striving to improve features like comfort, accessibility, speed, and balance.

You should also use this time to appraise your equipment with an eye to what might need replacing and contact your distributor to learn what’s new and upcoming. We have quite a few new mowers that might catch your eye, including the new Radius X-Series Zero-Turn Mower.

Advertising and Marketing

Chances are you’ll be much too busy with incoming clients and outgoing lawn care teams in spring to worry too much about anything else. That’s why winter is a great time to consider your advertising budget and plan for next year.

Take the traditional route and put print or radio advertisements into circulation, or consider your social media strategy for the upcoming year. By making the decisions now, you can reap the benefits of great advertising all year long.

If you live somewhere with snowy winters or weather conditions that make lawn care unnecessary, it’s a good idea to create a year-round plan of action. Do the behind-the-scenes work in winter and spend your summers out in the field. Not only will you run a more efficient business, but you’ll stay busy and active no matter what the season. g or replacement. Although Exmark mowers are designed to hold up for thousands of hours of usage, we’re always striving to improve features like comfort, accessibility, speed, and balance.

You should also use this time to appraise your equipment with an eye to what might need replacing and contact your distributor to learn what’s new and upcoming. We have quite a few new mowers that might catch your eye, including the new Radius X-Series Zero-Turn Mower.