Times like these present challenges for nearly all contractors. Although providing mowing and maintenance services is a better place to be than designing and installing new landscapes, most commercial and homeowner customers are watching where all their dollars are going.
Depending on your market, you’ve likely been asked by customers to find a way to lower their maintenance costs—and that means budget cuts for you, as well. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a customer base relatively immune to business cycles?
That’s exactly what Mark Polzin, owner of Polzin Landscapes in Cambridge, Ontario, thought when he left the printing industry five years ago to start his lawn maintenance business. “My goal was to find something I could do that would be recession-proof, constant and a good environment in which to work,” he says. “I thought about mowing lawns and decided it would be ideal if I could get a foothold into the high-end residential market.”
Five years later, Mark maintains 25 estate properties with one employee and one Walker Mower. When asked how he went from printing to mowing upscale properties, Mark says he did a lot of learning—how to properly mow lawns, deliver a crisp edge and overall manage turf. He spent literally hours on the Internet educating himself on turf basics before walking onto that first estate, and probably spent an equal amount of time driving around Cambridge looking at properties.
“I would drive around the city looking at estates that were perfectly maintained,” Mark explains. “I wanted to make my properties look as nice as these. All I needed then was a break, and maybe a bit of luck, to get my first customer.” The break came through a friend who installed gardens. She referred Mark to a customer, and he did the rest.
Stress-Free Environment
Most lawn maintenance contractors wouldn’t call their work stress-free. This contractor does, though, in large part because he isn’t running around the country from lawn to lawn trying to beat the clock.
“One of the nice things about doing upscale work is that you spend a lot of time on one property, instead of loading and unloading several times in a day,” Mark relates. “That saves time and cuts down on fuel costs.”
That’s not to say that he isn’t conscious of how much time he spends on a property. In fact, when Mark first started mowing his estates, he completed time studies on maintenance procedures and determined the most efficient way to get a job done without sacrificing quality. As he puts it, “I don’t speed through a property, yet I don’t waste a lot of time, either.” He can’t if he expects to mow 25 estates each week.
Mark has a few tips for mowing contractors looking to get into the high-end market. “I like to think I manage a property instead of maintaining it,” he emphasizes. “I prune trees, weed gardens, do a lot of little odd jobs, and actually provide a personalized care. I put down a lot of mulch, which keeps weeds down and gardens looking nice, and use a mulching deck when I can, which is good for the turf. Before I leave a property, I want it to be what I call photo shoot-ready.”
“My Walker Mower has a sharp set of blades for every property,” Mark continues. “Dull blades leave a less attractive cut, and they can actually injure the lawn. We’re always in uniform, drive a clean truck and trailer, and keep equipment looking like new. Even though my mower is three years old, it looks brand new. I wash my truck and remove grass stains from my equipment once a week.”
Mark says his customers are comfortable with his two-man crew and would likely be “turned off ” by a larger crew, one staffed mostly by kids, or one that comes in every week with different crew members.
“You have to truly want to be in this market,” he emphasizes. “You have to love gardening, enjoy learning as much as you can about turf and horticulture, and then be of the mindset to leave every property looking like a golf course.”
First things first, Mark adds. Get that break and then be ready to take advantage of it. Once you get retained by one customer, the referrals will generate plenty of business and opportunity.
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