While there are some year-round mowing states, most landscape professionals experience downtime while turf and plants go dormant. But that doesn’t mean your business needs to be in hibernation mode.
There are many ways to generate income year-round to stabilize your business revenue so there’s no real off-season. And, you don’t have to push snow to keep a steady income, though snow removal can be a lucrative add-on service for landscape companies operating in many regions, depending on winter conditions.
First, decide how you will staff your business to manage an add-on service, which could mean adding a division like holiday lighting or simply offering a new service like winter weed removal. If you retain current employees in the off-season, will that provide enough labor? Then, consider clients’ needs and ask them what maintenance tasks they’d like to offload. What services like pressure washing or gutter cleaning are other companies providing your customers that you could potentially offer to keep more business?
Ready to ramp up revenues heading into winter? Here are 10 landscaping services to round out your service mix.
1. Leaf Removal
Your mower can multi-task as a leaf collection machine when you add a PowerVac™ Collection System or a Turbine Blower, these implements will benefit your business in two ways. You’ll keep your mower working into the winter, maximizing your return on investment. And you can add income to your revenue by selling this valuable add-on service that customers appreciate. Leaf removal services occur at the time of leaf drop, and again in the early spring to clean up landscape beds and lawns for the growing season. Technically, you could perform spring cleanup in winter if there is no snowfall.
2. Storm Cleanup Services
Heavy rain, hail and high winds can bring down large branches and debris, along with causing property damage. By offering landscape storm cleanup services, you can help clients manage the wake of big storms with your experience and tools you already have.
3. Winter Mulching
We usually think of mulching in spring—before Memorial Day in time for picnics and a summer of outdoor living. But late fall is a great time to apply mulch to insulate plants’ roots and protect them from harsh weather conditions. Not to mention, usually mulch is dispersed and beds thin out after leaf removal. In many regions, you can apply mulch all winter, so why wait for spring? Consider offering a discount to customers who opt for winter mulch rather than waiting until the daffodils pop.
4. Parking Lot Sweeping
Throughout the year, commercial property owners with parking lots require cleanups to remove dirt and debris from paved surfaces, which include walkways and driveways. This simple service can significantly improve curb appeal. Guests might not remark on how clean and clear a parking lot is—but they will remember one that is littered with dust, clippings and trash. Accomplish the task by equipping your mower with a CleanSweep™ Rotary Broom for a profitable add-on service.
5. Gutter Cleaning
This service complements leaf cleanup and can prevent costly structural damage and roof leaks. While you’re offering fall and spring cleanups to clients, suggest gutter cleaning, as well. All you need is a ladder, and since the service can be performed while a crew member is already on-site for leaf removal, the visit becomes doubly profitable while adding income.
6. Pressure Washing
Along with spring and fall landscape cleanups, consider offering pressure washing—another low-capital, add-on service that can be performed concurrently so your visit to a property generates more income. All you need is an affordable pressure washer, which can cost $160 to $350, depending on whether you choose electric (less expensive) or gas. Offer to pressure wash driveways, walkways, decks to prep for staining, patios and hardscape spaces, pergolas, fences, and vinyl-sided homes.
7. Plant Trees and Shrubs
While many of us associate spring with “growth” and tend to focus planting efforts after frost eases up during the second quarter in most states, fall is actually more forgiving. Roots can establish without the threat of a looming summer drought, and irrigation demands are far less. Because trees and shrubs go dormant in winter, you don’t have to worry about them not surviving the cold. You can plant until the ground is frozen, ideally before the first frost. Even if there is snow on the ground, soil temperatures can still be acceptable for planting if you can stick a spade into the soil.
8. Aerate and Overseed
Once again, you can leverage the capabilities of your front-mount mower by adding an AERA-vator™ Coreless Aerator that can reduce the time and labor required for this task by up to 75%, along with maximizing the return on your equipment investment. Aerating in fall or spring loosens compacted soil and allows oxygen, water and nutrients to reach turf roots. You’ll improve the results of a lawn care program, and produce extra income.
9. Holiday Decor
You can go all out and create a holiday decor division by buying into a franchise model, or establishing a service of your own by offering holiday light and decor installation and take-down to existing and prospective clients. Timing is of the essence with this service, and the demand begins after Halloween through the end of November, as most homeowners and commercial property owners want their sites decked out for the holidays before December. Take-downs can occur after the New Year and into late February, depending on the type of decor. Clients who opt for neutral lighting displays might want to keep their properties illuminated through the dark days of winter.
10. Snow Removal
The most obvious winter service is snow removal, though income can be unpredictable depending on the weather, and you have to be willing to work through nights of harsh weather. However, snow and ice management allows you to retain employees year-round, and possibly subcontract with additional labor during large storms. The complexity of adding snow removal depends on the level of service you want to provide. You could invest in Little Bully™ Dozer Blades to push landscape material in the summer and snow in the winter, such as clearing homeowners’ driveways or smaller commercial parking lots and walkways. This strategy is a lower-cost and easier entry into snow removal. Simply offer to clear the driveways of existing mowing accounts. To manage large commercial properties and office parks, you’ll need to ramp up with snow plows for work trucks, salters and additional snow plow insurance.
Get More Business from Your Mower
Put your Grasshopper mower to work year-round as a multi-tasking machine that can support add-on services like snow removal, aeration, leaf collection and parking lot sweeping. You’ll transform a seasonal landscape business into a year-round operation while maximizing your investment.
Interested in more mowing tips from the pros at Grasshopper? Check out our library of how-to videos or sign up for our newsletter. Thinking about a new mower? Our team can help you choose the best model for your needs.
