Offering organic turf care services can be a profitable addition to a lawn care business. To meet the increased interest in organic services, lawn care operators (LCOs) may want to consider offering a comprehensive organic lawn care program that will satisfy customers’ needs and establish their company as an organic option in their area. Learning the science behind organic methods and techniques is a necessary first step to converting to organic lawn care. It’s also important to understand the fundamentals of estimating and marketing to attract customers and price services for profitability.
To succeed in the organic market, LCOs should first understand the fundamentals of creating profitable estimates. They also should compare organic, transitional (or hybrid) and traditional lawn care program pricing over three years to understand the initial investment it would take to switch a client to an organic program. Lastly, proven sales and marketing techniques for selling organic lawn care services are crucial to promoting the business, attracting customers and advertising the company’s services and products while it establishes itself as a reputable source of organic lawn care expertise.
Follow these steps to profit from organic lawn care services.
Step 1
Create profitable estimates. To create an accurate estimate, include labor costs (in dollars per hour), material costs (plus the markup), equipment/vehicle costs (per day, including replacement costs) and overhead (percent of overhead that needs to be added to each estimate to recover those costs).
Step 2
Create a document comparing organic, transitional/hybrid and traditional lawn care program pricing over three years to help the customer understand the investment. Initial costs will be a significant investment when improving soil health, but by the third year of an organic program, the costs may be similar to those of a traditional program.
Step 3
Develop sales and marketing techniques for selling organic services. Know the advantages and challenges of organics, sales techniques and how to approach clients.
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Illustrations by: David Preiss; Source: Northeast Organic Farming Association
