So you are trimming along with your weed eater, trying to get the lawn to look just right. Lah-dee-dah-dee-dah-dee-dah-dee *SQUISH*.

Gross. That is a situation you never want to get into. Don't worry. Although I can't guaruntee it will never happen, these tips and advice will put you on the track of not stepping in man's best friend's leftovers.

1) Ask your customer for help

If your client has a dog that goes bang-chapow in their backyard, it couldn't hurt to ask them if they wouldn't mind picking up the poop before you plan to come perform a job. If your customer complies with this request, then you should be fine, and can mow away with little fear.

2) Offer picking up as a paid service before you mow

This could definitely be an opportunity for you to make some extra cash along with your mowing, and gets the dog poop out of the way. We are all in it for the money, and if there is a chance to earn a bit of extra green, I would take the opportunity.

3)Pay attention

If neither of the above avenues work, or even if the owners say they will pick up after their dog, you should still pay close attention to what you are doing, if your goal is to have clean shoes. My experience is that if you just push the mower over the sham-whow, then it either leaves it lay (meaning just watch out where you put your feet after the mower has passed over the doo-doo); or chops it up and sprays it-- hey, works for me. If you are, say, raking... bring an extra pair of work gloves... ugh that's disgusting. Just... push the jay-shozie along with your rake with the leaves.

4)Just pick it up on your own time

Really, it depends on how much you care. Personally, I would use some kind of combination of the first three ideas. However, if you really hate dog poop that much... pick it up yourself.

Well, that basically covers the problem of dog poop. Have fun taking care of those dog-owning clients' lawns!

Labels: Fall, services, Spring/Summer

Well, the fall season is here! If you haven't already started advertising the leaf removal part of your service, now is definitely a great time! Some tips for leaf removal:

1. I HIGHLY suggest you DO NOT use one of those dinky electric leaf blowers. They can't blow larger piles of leaves. If you use them to supplement rakes, then fine. But seriously, rakes work a WHOLE TON better. 'Nuff said.


2. I don't own one of those large gas-powered backpack leaf blowers which work really well and I see all the pros use. Wish I did. However, if you DO own one of them, you can probably have the baseline of your prices be leaf blowing, but you will charge more to rake the leaves. You know, planet-friendly sort of thing. However, I doubt many teen lawn services are in possesion of one of these very useful commodities: if you do, then kudos to you.

3. When charging customers, do not say any prices to start with. To begin, offer a free estimate. Then, check out their yard. Remember take into account things like if they want leaves raked off of bushes and the volume of leaves that potentially fill up. Also, remember that bagging can take a while. Then, figure out how long it will take you to do it. Then multiply how much you want to make an hour by the number of hours you figure you will spend raking the lawn each time. Once you have figured this out and rationalized whether or not the customer will go for the price (remember: too high, you might lose a customer; too low, you aren't making minimum wage), you can give your customer the free estimate, which must be a multiple of 5.

4. Having a couple of rakes for different kinds of jobs can be helpful. For example, a big one with wide plastic prongs can be good for raking the wider expanse of the yard (fig. 1). A smaller one with thing metal needles can be good for getting corners and stuff (fig. 2).

Well, here are some of my tips for the fall season. If you have any you would like to share, please express them in the comments!

Labels: Fall, services