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The GreenPal Lawn Care Business Growth Show features real lawn care professionals sharing how they build reliable, profitable landscaping businesses in cities across the United States.
Well, I had this other M guy and he
wasn't doing what I wanted him to do.
And I'm like, okay, well, that kind of
lets me understand. And I was like,
well, I like if you're not comfortable,
tell me, but do you mind telling me like
how much you're paying him like monthto
month? And then I go based off of that.
I'm like, oh, like, well, like if I'm
higher, then I kind of explain like,
hey, like I'm higher, but you get all
this. And I'm like, this is what you get
and that's probably why you don't like
this previous guy that you had.
And now I'm here and you're picking me
and now it's time to make a decision.
Welcome to the Lawn Care Business Growth
Show presented by Greenpal. My name is
Jean Cavalero, one of the co-founders.
On the show, we talk to real landscaping
professionals who have built profitable
and reliable businesses. On the show
today, we have Chris Ailla with Ailla's
Lawn Service out of Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma. Chris, welcome to the show.
Tell us a little bit about your
landscaping company in Oklahoma City and
how you got started.
Thank you, Jean, for the presentation.
Um, so basically, um, everything I
started basically starts with my
stepdad. He basically got me started in
the landscaping business and then I mean
I I tried giving him some pointers here
and there on how to expand his business
and he didn't take too calmly about that
and he was just like well if you want to
like give all these pointers like why
don't you do your own thing and I was
like okay well I'm just going to go
ahead and do that from that point on I
mean I was just starting from like zero
going from like having everything and
now just kind of scrummaging around
buying used stuff buying
I the only thing that I bought brand new
was probably my riding tractor and uh
some ramps to load it up on a truck that
I had to buy to do everything. But
basically, I mean, I just started to
what made my business successful, I
would say it was probably going to be
just trying to be personable with a lot
of my customers like seeing like what
was going on in life and if like they
needed any help or just kind of develop
like that family relationship with them.
I would say like most of my customers
are returning customers that I've had
for like since I started on Greenpound.
I would say like maybe 20 or 30 are off
of Greenpeel and the rest of them are on
Green Pal. And I would say I have about
90 to 100 uh reoccurring customers and
every time uh every season on Greenpel I
try uh re I keep my eye out for some of
the customers that come out and I just
like try having a competitive price
in mind just to make sure especially
with like a lot of new new businesses
always coming out. I mean, I I have to
remain with the sturdy price, especially
with like everything being so expensive
nowadays.
I totally understand that. So, is it
just you or do you have any crews or
anything like that right now or is it
just you kind of running the show?
It's just it's just me running the show.
Every now and then my my brother-in-law
comes into town and gives me a hand when
he's here for like a month. But most of
the time it's just me just trying to do
everything, learn as much as I can to
remain relevant with a lot of my
customers cuz sometimes they ask me
like, oh, like if I do like certain type
of work or anything like that. A lot of
things that I do, I I like going to a
lot of chambers of commerce in Oklahoma
City.
Okay. like a Latino Chambers of Commerce
or the Oklahoma City Chambers of
Commerce or like the Asian Chambers of
Commerce and I do a lot of my marketing
there.
Okay, great. That's a good tip that uh
that haven't heard recently is just kind
of reaching out to those those
communities and being in front of them
and making sure that they know who you
are. So, I think you kind of touched on
this a little bit earlier, but like when
you first started your business in in
Oklahoma City, how did that look like? I
know you said you kind of were working
with your with your stepdad and then you
just kind of went on your own and and
started with zero, right?
Yeah. So, I would say like to start in
Oklahoma City, I mean, it's a lot of
word of mouth. I mean, it's it's small
town or city, sorry. And a lot of people
like know each other here. Everybody
knows everybody. And I like a lot of my
customers would come out here whenever
I'd be mowing just trying to get to know
me, like who I am. Like, hey, you're my
guard and I want to know who you are and
let me ask you a couple questions. And I
would just tell them like, hey, like um
this is who I am. And cuz on top of
doing this, I also uh work at a bank. Um
I do merchant services. And then uh I
help my wife run her cleaning business.
I feel like I have a lot of background
in knowing how to talk to the like
customers or like just trying to make
them feel like they're at home. Like
just create that home feeling.
Yeah.
And I just tell them like everything
like nothing's off the table. I mean
just trying to make sure that they trust
me. Like a lot of my customers like like
even they're like oh keys are keys are
in on the side of the house just back.
So
that's great. So was there one thing or
a couple things that you can kind of
like tell us like that maybe possibly
like pushed your company forward? Was it
like pricing? Was it marketing? Did you
hire someone? Or was it just something
that kind of took a little bit of time
to kind of push your company forward?
Honestly, it's going to be about pricing
and just being personable. I would say
that's a key thing.
And then um also just marketing like
word of mouth. I don't even have signs
or anything. Like no signs, no nothing.
I never had to give out business cards
or anything. I just they talk to
neighbors or they talk to like somebody
that they work for and they're like,
Hey, like I have this landscaping guy
and he's been doing a great job.And
yeah, that's honestly like maybe if I
had a marketing, I'd probably I'd
probably be like up there. And that's
that's something I Oh yeah. But yeah,
with everything going on, I mean, it's
just finding the time for it. But I mean
honestly I would say those are like the
three factors just being pricing first
and just word of mouth marketing.
And so what neighborhoods in Oklahoma
City do you serve? Do you do like Edund,
Norman, Moore, uh Midwest City, Yukon?
Any of those that you travel to or is
just
Yeah, I do all those.
You do all of them?
Yeah. And I I think Dell City as well
and Shaunie every now and then. It's
like whenever a farmer is like, Hey,
I'm tired. I don't want I don't want to
lose my yard. I'm like, Okay, I go out
there.
Gotcha. Gotcha. Are there certain areas
that are better for like steady weekly
lawnmowing customers?
I would say it's all going to be the OKC
metro area. That's going to be the main
area that if you want to have like
reoccurring, I mean, those are going to
be your best bets to excel in bi-weekly,
weekly mowing. And also like I mean
during the cold season, they're the
they're the ones that call you like uh
if they want like their driveway like uh
shoveled from snow or if they have like
trees that they want to like kind of
clean up or if they have like they want
to clean their gutters
or leaf clean up, anything like that,
like they they just call it. They're
like, Hey, I don't got time.
Come and take care of it for me.
Yeah. And so how do you keep your
lawnmowing service reliable during the
uh Oklahoma City or just Oklahoma in
general? Uh the the the weather swings.
I know that uh you guys can get some
violent weather. So how do you kind of
stay ahead of that?
I mean it's it's just grinding it out.
Just doubling it up like maybe the week
after if the weather is nicer. Just
doubling everything up. kind of like
when I get off the bank or before I go
to work at the bank, I knock out a
couple more yards before I go to work or
even after work, I go do that. Or if I'm
like, Oh man, like this week's going to
be a tough week. Just kind of schedule
around it. I know like sometimes like it
could be muddy. And some of those
customers are like, Hey, just put me
out for like the the following like
whenever my next morning is. And I'm
like, Okay, that's kind of
gotcha. But I do let them know like I
do let them know like there's going to
be like a sir charge because of us
pushing out the mowing like to the next
mowing cuz it's going to be longer.
And I mean you have to make them like
understand sometimes cuz they're always
like oh like why am I being charged
more? And I'm like oh well it's because
of the factor of me having to take a
little bit more time to make sure that
your your yard still looks nice with it
being longer. Especially like if there's
ones that don't want bagging. They want
to pay for like pegging the grass or
anything. So, you have to like go over
the grass like maybe a couple times
before it.
Yeah.
So, how do you structure your route
density?
I try keeping like uh certain areas like
during certain weeks like for example
like uh I'm probably going to start up
my season uh probably like mid-March
next this well this month already.
Uh it flew by. But yeah, I usually try
keeping like let's say like if I'm going
to more Norman, that'll be that week.
And if let's say I don't have like a
higher volume density and more Norman, I
also put like maybe let's say Midwest
City that week. So I squeeze those three
in there. And the following week, I
could put like Yukon and then Edmond and
North and South OKC like in that week
and just kind of go that way. And how do
you how do you price your jobs? Is it
square footage? Is it by the minute? How
does that kind of work in on your end?
I have a weird pricing system. Um it's
not comparable to like what a lot of
people basically. I see it as if my
mower could go through the the back
gate.
Mhm.
I keep them at the regular pricing like
which my base price is like maybe 40 45
just depending on how big their backyard
front yard is. Like honestly, I could
just look at the properties and just be
like, Oh, it's gonna take me this
long. Like if I if I see if it's going
to take me like half an hour, I'm like,
Oh, it's gonna be like 40 45 bucks.
And if it's going to take me longer than
that because it's going to take like
more weight and more low. I usually
charge a little bit more than that.
Gotcha.
But I don't try I try not charging like
double, but I try keeping it towards
like where it's going to make sense for
me. like what I want to work earn an
hour basically to take into account like
gas costs take into account like uh
using materials and then also just how
far away they were especially like if I
have maybe like I know their neighbor's
yard I'm like oh like you're down the
road there's just so many factors it's
it's kind of hard to like determine
like a lot of pricing here in Oklahoma
City cuz I mean a lot of people it's
very competitive it's super competitive
cuz there's people out there that's only
for like $20.
Yeah. They don't typically last very
long though, do they?
Oh, no, they don't. They don't. And you
just have to make it make sense for the
customer. You have to like let them know
like, hey, like this is what I bring to
the table. And I mean I I let them know
like my pricing comes with like mowing,
blowing, edging, we wagging. Like I'm
like what did your person that mowed
before? Or Yeah. I mean, that's
something that I also say like I know
like there's some like if I go to a yard
and I'm like, Oh, like this looks like
it was just cut. Like, Oh, what
happened? And they're just like, Oh,
like uh well, I had this other mill
guy. And he wasn't doing what I wanted
him to do. And I'm like, Okay, well,
that kind of lets me understand. And I
was like, What? I was like, If you're
not comfortable, tell me, but do you
mind telling me like how much you're
paying him like monthtomonth? And then
I go based off of that. I'm like, Oh,
like, well, like if I'm higher, then I
kind of explain like, hey, like I'm
hired, but you get all this. And I'm
like, This is what you get, and that's
probably why you don't like this
previous guy that you had.
Mhm.
And now I'm here, and you're picking me,
and now it's time to make a decision.
Yeah. And so, what do you think uh
separates a profitable landscaping
business from one that struggles?
Profitable, I would say, you get quality
work. I mean, one of the struggling, I
mean, barely making profit. I feel like
their work isn't that much of a quality
outcome for like the customers. Like I
said, like I've I've honestly had
customers where they're like mid-season
switching like landscapers. They're
like, Oh, because they did this and
that.I'm like, Oh, like I can see
why. And I tell them like probably
because of the pricing and they're
trying they're rushing it. Like they're
getting everything done like super fast
and they're just trying to get out of
there before like they lose profit.
especially like if they have like
additional hands or like workers or
employees, then I tell them like, Hey,
like I I take my time and my pricing is
what I'm going to work for you within an
hour or less.
Gotcha. Okay. And when somebody hires a
lawnmowing service in Oklahoma City or
Norman or or or Yukon or Edmund, what's
something that a homeowner should look
out for? What are some of those red
flags that they should look out for?
Like, hey, maybe be a little bit
hesitant before hiring these guys. I
would say if they just have a a mower
and edger or a weed whacker, if they
that's the only thing they have, I would
be careful with that because I mean
they're not they're not going to blow
all the grass. Like if they're bagging
maybe, but even with just being able to
bag the grass, how are they going to
pick up all the the grass with like a
weed whacker?
So having the right equipment is a red
flag
essentially. And then um just I mean
quality of work and especially like what
they use as equipment and how they
handle it.
All right. And uh last question for you
Chris. What's one piece of advice you
would give to someone starting a
landscaping company or a lawnmowing
service in Oklahoma City?
I would say just there's so many things
and I would say just go don't give up. I
mean just hustle. hustle for like what
you're trying to start and what you're
trying to bring to the table for your
customers. Just make sure that you're
building value in that. So, hustle value
in your services. Make sure like all the
value that you're bringing to the table
makes sense to the customer as well
because if they don't see the value,
then that's kind of your business going
to be put at, you know.
Yeah, that's a good point. That's a good
point. And also I would say just uh
building uh relationships with your
customers. You have to have that
relationship with your customers. Build
the trust everything because you have to
be like what's the word for it? I just
had to step my tongue. But yeah, I mean
just relationship with your customers.
Just make sure you're taking care of
them, making sure everything is good,
making sure like every after every cut
like you're talking to them. like this
is a service that you're providing to
them and you have to make sure that
everything you're doing is up to their
like standards
because if you're not if you're not
cutting to their standards then you're
just kind of wasting your time and then
next season you're just going to be out
of a customer and maybe they're just
being nice and like
being I mean understanding and just
letting you know through the season and
yeah.
Yeah. Okay. Well, those are very good
points. So, well, Chris, thank you so
much. I really appreciate you joining
the show. All the landscaping guys out
there uh trying to grow your business,
stay going, stay mowing, and stay
growing. Until next time.