The Seasonal Nature of the Lawn Care Business

In some parts of the world (and for approximately 65 percent of the U.S.) the lawn care industry is a seasonal business. In the U.S. the lawn care season runs for around ten months a year and shuts down for a two-month off-season over the winter. This off-season can be up to three or four months the further north you go towards the Canadian border due to snow and unsuitable lawn growing conditions.

What does this mean for lawn care business operators? It means that they must work hard throughout the spring, summer and fall and then they must decide what they should do over the quiet winter season.

If you are not working over the off-season then you must budget carefully to ensure that you have enough cash flow to tide you over for two or three months and to help you to get established when the lawn care season resumes.

Taking a vacation is one option but there is still money to be made for those who want it and are prepared to work over the winter.

You should already have a large base of lawn care customers who know you are a good worker so why not look at offering some other services to your customers over this period. The obvious choice here in the northern U.S. is snow plowing. If you can get the right equipment you will be regularly servicing your client’s driveways all winter.

Many lawn care operators do snow plowing over the winter. There is always demand for driveways to be cleared and your existing customers should go with you for this service if you let them know that you will be offering it in advance.

As a lawn care operator you already have a truck and/or a trailer so why not put them to use over the off-season by delivering firewood to your customers who have open fires. If you can find a supplier this can be a very profitable small business.

Setting up Christmas Trees, decorations and lighting on your customer’s properties is another smart service that you can offer.

The opportunities over the winter are endless if you put some thought into it and there are aside from making some immediate profits there are many other advantages that can result from working over this period. You will be maintaining a relationship with your existing lawn care customers to help you to keep their account when the season starts again. And you may even pick up some new customers interested in your off-season services who will end up being new lawn care clients for you in the spring.

One of the best times to market to new prospects is late in the off season, just before the grass is growing again so being in town late in the off season to prepare for new lawn care season is essential.

Like other industries the lawn care business is seasonal in nature. With a little careful planning and creativity successful lawn care operators learn how to work around the off-season and turn it to their advantage.