How to be a Successful Landscaping-Lawn Maintenance Company

The tips I am about to share will drive success—guaranteed. They are not secrets, but most people act as if they are.

I have been in business a long time. I am a stubborn, old businessman with enough life and business experience to have learned a few simple, yet important, ideas. They are easy to say, but much harder to implement and follow. They take discipline, consistency, stubbornness, and a desire to be successful rather than just chasing dollars.

The 3 Rules of Business I have always followed:

• 1. Offer a GREAT product or service: Be the best at what you do.

• 2. Offer great service for your product: Provide excellent follow-up and customer resolution. Just be good at your service. Offer great service with clear boundaries: Provide excellent follow-up and customer resolution, but value your own time. We offer three revisions - maps included - and three estimate revisions per project. The Rule of the Oak: Technical Failures & Manual Entry Policy

  The ProfitZapp platform is designed for high-resolution automated accuracy, but in the real world, tech can face obstacles (like heavy tree cover or outdated satellite data). To ensure you never lose an estimate, we have established the following rules:

  
  

  • Manual Data Entry: If automated high-resolution imagery is unavailable for a specific property, the user is encouraged to calculate measurements by hand and enter the data manually into the Software. This ensures you can still generate a professional itemized estimate and invoice without delay.

  
  

  • Partial Refund Policy: If a project block is initiated but a high-resolution image cannot be rendered by the AI systems, the user may be eligible for a partial refund of up to $1.00.

  
  

  • Verification & Processing: All partial refund requests must be verified by the Oak to confirm the technical failure. Once verified, the credit will be issued to your account within 1 to 2 business cycles. After that, it’s up to "Oak" (our AI, who I trained - and doesn't retain your personal data nor retrain other AI) to decide if it can be completed or not. Setting these limits upfront prevents scope creep and keeps the project moving. If we can't generate an image, we wont generate an estimate - or the client will have the option to hand measure.

• 3. Offer a great price (and make a profit): Include everything it takes to produce a great product and provide great support. Charge what it costs you plus a profit. Make sure you have everything accounted for, including contingencies. Don’t let hidden costs drive down your customer service or devalue your product. Prepare and always find a better way to do things. We bill as soon as the estimate is generated. Our data isn't a guess; it's professional-grade accuracy with high-res imaging. Charge what it costs you plus a profit, and never let hidden costs devalue your expert product.

When you can provide a great product, along with great service at a great price, you will have a successful business—no matter what field you are in. That is what we have done at Structuralintel.org. That is what I did when I was a landscaper.

That’s my stubborn, grumpy old man advice. Oh, and did I mention? Be transparent!