FREE Professional Advice

[Nilsson Associates]

Welcome to the Lawn Care & Landscape Business Training Center



http://nilssonbooks.com/_borders/Phil-Nilsson-Picture.jpg
Phil Nilsson

"Best Selling Author"

If You're like most of our visitors ...

You're here because:
You want professional help to solve business problems.
You want the finest information available to build your business.
You want to buy the right equipment, and avoid making costly mistakes.
You want to get ahead fast, start making money NOW, not 10 years from now.

We're here because:
Since 1975, Nilsson Associates, Green Industry Consultants and nationally known "Best Selling Authors" have been The Nation's Leaders in commercial lawn and landscape business training. We can help you start or improve your business. We have the information you need to operate your commercial lawn care service or landscape business and make it a success. If you want to make money in the commercial landscaping business, you've come to the right place. You'll have access to professional level advice, and proven business solutions that you can put to work immediately to improve your lawn care or landscape operation. While you're here check out our FREE Job Price List Guides. (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)

Nilsson Associates is the name you know and trust. Over 25,000 commercial landscapers coast to coast have used our profit building resources (http://nilssonbooks.com/books.htm) to create wealth, and build financial independence. For over two decades we've been helping landscapers succeed. During that process we earned the credentials (http://nilssonbooks.com/about_the_author.htm) and endorsements (http://www.hispaniclawnforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1124) and developed the resources (http://nilssonbooks.com/) and know-how to help you make money. We offer business training books, tapes, videos, free job price guides, (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm) consulting services, software, and Nilsson's "best sellers" the job estimating package (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm) and Complete Operations Management System. (http://nilssonbooks.com/coms_package.htm)

Where did the others go wrong ? ...
Learning from the mistakes of others is wise. It can make all the difference in the Landscape Industry where over 70% fail and another 20% could be making more money! A Dun & Bradstreet survey showed 90 percent of all small business failures can be traced back to poor management, lack of planning or under capitalization. Since 1975 Nilsson Associates has helped landscapers make money. We'll show you where the others went wrong, and guide you past the obstacles they failed to overcome. The end result means higher than average earnings for you, and a business that's easier to run. You'll have the best training materials and FREE advice from Nilsson Associates, industry experts who are committed to your success.

Business solution links:
Advertising (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm) -
Bidding Jobs (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm) - (http://www.asharpdesign.com/nilsson/discounts_and_deals.htm)
Business Growth (http://nilssonbooks.com/mangement.htm) -
Business Plan (http://nilssonbooks.com/mangement.htm#Business Planning Workbook) -
Commercial (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm#Selling To Commercial Customers) -
Company Policy (http://nilssonbooks.com/mangement.htm#Writing Your Company Policy Manual) -
Contract Cost (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm) -
Customers (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm#Selling To Commercial Customers) -
Employees (http://nilssonbooks.com/employee.htm) -
Estimating (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm) -
Job Cost (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Labor Time Data Handbook) -
Job Specs (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Writing The Maintenance Speci-fications) -
Labor Time Data (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Labor Time Data Handbook) -
Maintenance (http://nilssonbooks.com/operations.htm#Grounds Maintenance Manual) -
Management (http://nilssonbooks.com/mangement.htm) -
Mowing Profits (http://nilssonbooks.com/operations.htm#Maximizing Profits In Mowing) -
Pricing (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Pricing Your Services) - Sales (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm) -
Sales Letters (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm#How To Write Effective Sales Letters) -
Sales Skills (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm) -
Snow Removal (http://nilssonbooks.com/operations.htm#The Snow Removal Business) -
Subcontracting (http://nilssonbooks.com/employee.htm#Subcontracting the Work) -
Training Video (http://nilssonbooks.com/video_tapes.htm) -
Website Services (http://nilssonbooks.com/other_services.htm#Web Design) -
Winter Income (http://nilssonbooks.com/operations.htm)



Other resources ...


Sales Boosters (http://nilssonbooks.com/sales_booster_package.htm)
Job Estimating Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm)
FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)
New Business Startup Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/just_getting_started.htm)
Complete Operations Management System (http://nilssonbooks.com/coms_package.htm)

When it comes to pricing lawn and landscape jobs nobody has more industry pricing information than Nilsson Associates. Nilsson's Job Price Guides covers lawn care job bidding & estimating landscaping job bids for commercial & residential customers. Get more customers. Price estimates & bids, grounds services, landscaping pricing estimates , estimating & bid the price seasonal work, year around commercial estimate contracts, best price per square foot, best grounds maintenance & landscaping job to bid & pricing, price of lawn care, lawn mowing price, aeration pricing, lawns, commercial landscape job bid estimates, maintenance estimating & pricing, mulching prices, pricing chemicals, weeding & aerating pricing, fertilizer prices, prices for organic fertilizer, pricing weeds in beds, pricing pruning & trimming trees & shrubs, pricing commercial & residential snow plowing, hardscape pricing, pricing hydroseeding, irrigation service estimates for commercial & residential, pricing seeding lawns, pricing lawn sod, prices for slit seeding lawns, pricing edging lawn beds, spring cleanup prices, pricing fall cleanups, hourly price of pressure washing walks & patios, pricing trees, stump grinding prices, price for gutter cleaning, lawn dethatching price, price for shoveling snow, pricing salting, price sanding.
For more information about Pricing Click Here for FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)


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Phil Nilsson
Nilsson Associates - Since 1975
Green Industry Consultants
Call Toll Free 1-866-280-2252



Lawn Care & Landscape Business - Books - Videos - Tapes - Software (http://www.nilssonbooks.com/)



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Copyright 2005


(http://www.nilssonbooks.com/)

[lbtcadmin]

Starting a Lawn Care Service Business & Landscape Business


Road to Success


Business happens in three steps ...

Getting the work ...
Begins with developing an entire "philosophy" as to how you'll get your phone to ring ... over and over, year after year. Advertising, marketing and promotion all fall into this category. You'll need to master each one of them or hire experts because like anything else, customer accounts have a limited life cycle. Add, replace, add, expand. Once you've done that, the next crucial step is to become an absolute without a doubt expert at job estimating and bidding. Your success or failure starts with the job you;'re bidding on. It's the starting point to your costs, and your profits. With each bid you should know what to expect, and how winning any particular bid will impact your business. We're not talking a hit or miss approach. Bidding input and outcomes are predictors of where your business is going. Careless bidding almost always leads to marginal results. Marginal results leads to below average growth and profits. You need to focus on advertising, bidding, cost, pricing, and work measurement becausae they all fall into "getting the work". Education and information is key to success at just about anything. Getting the opportunity to bid is part of it, bidding intelligently the other part.


Doing the work ...
Comes a little more naturally, but understand that you yourself can't make a great deal of money by working for it. At least not in a busines that sells time, and most service business sell labor hours. If you want to grow a busienss, you need to separate yourself from the work! Growth comes when the owner works at getting the work and management, not actually doing the work. Doing the work means that you value an hour's worth of your own time at no more than you pay your employees. Ten bucks an hour or so? In other words, if you never stop doing the actual work in yoiur sevrice business you'll never have the time to really grow your business which means to sell other peoples time.

The more time you sell in a service type business, the greater the sales ... hopefully the higher the profits. But aside from that aspect, doing the work is not as simple as it sounds. We're not looking to just do the work ... we're looking to do it smart, at the least cost, with highest productivity. Effective management considers best crew size, equipment and what it produces and costs, employee recruitment, crew leader training, quality control ... and to complete the work within budgeted times. That's a mouthful. But that's part of the equation to getting results. It takes a w**** lot of trying. You'll find yourself "thinking your brains off". But in a nice, slow, well thought out way. The fast road to growth? That as soon as you decide to delegate to others the "simple stuff", the faster you'll have time to not only learn how to manage but to use it to further your business. It makes all the difference and why some companies do let's say a few hundred thousand in sales while others do millions. I'm not advocating doing big sales numbers but without big sales numbers it's tough to make big money even if profits go lower as sales go higher and higher! Over time, you promote yourself in your own business by becoming its manager ... not its worker.


Managing outcomes ...
Is what managers do. They learn how to sell, prepare, and present contracts, and work proposals, and how to best do the work staying within cost guidelines (so there's a profit) then at the end, they measure results to see if they reached particular goals. Managers Oversee everything. It's the most important thing an owner can do because we know that when owners turn their backs on their business ... things start to go wrong, profits drop, and employees begin to get careless.

3 Ring Circus ...
You're the ring master. Accept the position as that. See that you need to learn how to manage, and not just how to do the work yourself. From my experience with companies at every level, I'd say it's more important to learn to manage and delegate the work, than to learn how to do each job or task in your company yourself. You yourself can't make the "big money" that way. You make money by managing that work using other peoples time, not your own.

Knowing what matters ...
That using your brains and not just your back will help you succeed. Your company like any other can make it to the top of whatever "heap" you're after but to make it big you have to learn how to think big. Managers think about things like branch operations, business expansion, acquisitions, diversifying into new services, finding more profitable ways and means, and looking ahead a few years to understand how the business will continue to grow and prosper. Managers look at the big picture, and so in that respect management doesn't "major in minors". Who cares about the cost of paper clips? We're after focusing on major concerns, and the main driving force to the future. That's what manageent does. It's not a license to lay back and rest on.

Real business managers are unique because they are "positively charged". Taking calculated risks, not dwelling on negatives. Asking "what will make this work?" ... rather than overexamining each and every possible pitfall. Real managers simply "go for it". They know it's more about where they are "going" rather than where they came from, and then having the desire to actually do it.


Other resources ...


Sales Boosters (http://nilssonbooks.com/sales_booster_package.htm)
Job Estimating Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm)FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)New Business Startup Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/just_getting_started.htm)
Complete Operations Management System (http://nilssonbooks.com/coms_package.htm)

When it comes to pricing lawn and landscape jobs nobody has more industry pricing information than Nilsson Associates. Nilsson's Job Price Guides covers lawn care job bidding & estimating landscaping job bids for commercial & residential customers. Get more customers. Price estimates & bids, grounds services, landscaping pricing estimates , estimating & bid the price seasonal work, year around commercial estimate contracts, best price per square foot, best grounds maintenance & landscaping job to bid & pricing, price of lawn care, lawn mowing price, aeration pricing, lawns, commercial landscape job bid estimates, maintenance estimating & pricing, mulching prices, pricing chemicals, weeding & aerating pricing, fertilizer prices, prices for organic fertilizer, pricing weeds in beds, pricing pruning & trimming trees & shrubs, pricing commercial & residential snow plowing, hardscape pricing, pricing hydroseeding, irrigation service estimates for commercial & residential, pricing seeding lawns, pricing lawn sod, prices for slit seeding lawns, pricing edging lawn beds, spring cleanup prices, pricing fall cleanups, hourly price of pressure washing walks & patios, pricing trees, stump grinding prices, price for gutter cleaning, lawn dethatching price, price for shoveling snow, pricing salting, price sanding.
For more information about Pricing Click Here for FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)


http://nilssonbooks.com/guarantee.gif


Copyright Nilsson Associates 2005






For information about a business management system (CLICK HERE) (http://nilssonbooks.com/coms_package.htm)

[lbtcadmin]

Nilsson Associates, Green Industry Consultants

What your colleagues say ...

Press Release (http://www.hispaniclawnforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1124)

"Nilsson Associates provides an important source of information, a highly respected PLCAA Consultant, and Best Selling author with our membership."
Professional Lawn Care Association of America

"Nilsson has some of the best ideas for the green industry ... their books have comprehensive in-depth coverage, knowledgeable step-by-step approach for business improvement"
PRO Magazine

"I bought The Complete Operations Management System. Well worth it! I'm a small company that floats around 200k...my goal was to reach 500k in 5-6 years. Phil.....keep up the good work! I'll be in touch!"
Michael McGilvray

"Our members have found your books extremely helpful. Thanks for your insight and creativity"
Professional Grounds Management Society

"Nilsson helped me bid my jobs lots of times, it's like having your own private tutor, free"
Alex, Charlotte, N.C.

"Job bidding, labor cost, time management ... your books cover it all and have been a big help keeping our work on schedule.
Walt Disney World, Head Groundskeeper

"With C.O.M.S. and Nilsson's expert advice, we went from under $300,000 to over two million in sales, and plan to double that within the next 5 years." "Phil, I'm sticking with your original vision for my business, thank you very much!"
Modern Companies, MA

"Nilsson's books are must reads, and have helped our readers tremendously. Thanks for your continued support."
Jerry Siani, Landscaper Publications

"Your way of explaining the subject shows you know what we need to do to make money in this business, thanks."
H.L., Madison, Wisconsin

"Nilsson's series of books filled a void in our program ... Our students needed more insight into management, costs, profits, and how to successfully operate a business.
University of Tennessee, Horticulture Dept.

"I bought COMS a couple days after I joined this site. Buying the deal saved me some bucks. I also have some EXCELLENT cost data references that I am currently using and I am landing more lawn cutting jobs this year because of that data."
Stephen M., Port Hadlock, WA

"Excellent materials, very comprehensive, on target with the problems of running a business, doing much better now."
J. McDermott, Seville, Ohio

" I went into business using C.O.M.S. seven years ago, and followed Nilsson's advice. Today, I have over 500 customers and sales of $1,500,000. I'm happy!"
Casa Bonita

"Thanks for your help. My costs are now in line with my prices and I know how low I can go before I start losing money."
Topper's, North Hollywood, CA

"Nilsson's books breakdown what we need to do to be profitable and successful in this industry. They teach you proven techniques to help enhance your enterprise. The books, are a good investment."
Brian Klimek

"For the first time since I started my business, finally got my numbers together, thanks for spending the extra time with me. My banker was very impressed."
P.L., Seattle, Washington

[lbtcadmin]

(http://www.nilssonbooks.com/)FREE Job Pricing Guidelines

Nilsson's Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm) are in use by lawn and landscape contractors nationwide. See what other landscapers are currently charging from price lists compiled and updated by Nilsson Associates. Avoid Pricing Too High - Avoid Pricing Too Low - Win More Bids. Compare Your Prices With Nilsson's Price Lists Before You Bid - Makes Pricing Lawn & Landscape Jobs Fast, Easy, Accurate, Competitive.

Nilsson's Job Pricing Guides takes the guesswork out of bidding, and helps build confidence in your bids before you present them to your customers. Makes Job Bidding easier, faster. (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm) Figure your price for a job, then compare your price (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm) with the list price before you bid, or use the price given in the price lists to bid on jobs shown below:

Includes Prices For:
Aerating lawns
Aerating Core
Back Pak Spraying lawns,
Bak Pak weeds shrub beds, curbs
Bed Edging - in lawns
Bed Construction
Cement Curbing Installation
Cement Borders Installed
Chemical Applications of lawn care chemicals
Deck Installations
Dethatching of lawns
Drain Gutter Cleaning to remove leaves
Drain Gutters Installed
Drain Gutter Screening
Edging Walks
Edging Beds
Fall Cleanups of lawns and beds
Firewood sales
Firewood Cords
Firewood Bundles
Firewood Delivery
Flower Installations Flats
Flower Pots
Grading & Filling of soil for lawns
Ground Covers - Plants
Ground Covers Mulch
Hardscapes - patios, stairs, walks
Hourly Rates lawn care
Hourly Rates - Landscape
Hourly Rates Landscape design
Hourly Rates Plowing
Hydroseeding of lawns
Hydroseeding Preparation
Hydroseeding Materials
Install Sod
Install Shrubs
Install Trees
Irrigation lawn Installation
Irrigation Service - lawns & beds
Irrigation Winterize
Irrigation Repair Rates
Irrigation Controllers
Landscape Designs - designing computer image landscapes
Landscape Lighting Installations
Landscape Lighting Fixtures
Landscape Floodlights
Landscape Solar Lighting
Landscape Grading
Landscape Installations lawns, shrubs, plants & trees
Lawn Aeration Spike
Lawn Aeration Cores
Lawn Care Service Chemical Applications Fertilizers Weed Controls
Lawn Chemical Applications
Lawns Fertilized
Lawn Mowing Riders
Lawn Mowing Walkbehinds
Lawn Mowing Trim
Lawn Weed Treatments
Lawn Treatment Programs
Lawn Chemical Prices - Acre, Square Foot
Lawn Grub Control Apps
Lawn Insecticide
Lawn Renovations - Slit Seeding, Reseeding, Elimination of Growth
Liquid Applications of Fertilizers, Weed Killers
Loam Installed for lawn building and planting beds
Mowing with walkbehinds
Mowing with ztrs
Mowing with riding mowers
Mowing with trim mowers
Mowing Residential
Mowing Commercial
Mowing Condominium
Mowing Sports Fields
Mowing Cemeteries
Mulch Installs
Mulch pine bark mulch
Mulch pine needles
Mulch Spraying
Organic Lawn Care of lawns
Organic Lawn Programs
Parking Lot Line Marking
Parking Lot Sweeping of sand and debris
Paving Installations and hardscapes
Pavers Stone
Pavers Concrete
Pavement Sweeping
Pavement and litter control
Pavement line marking
Planting Trees & Shrubs in landscapes
Pressure washing of houses, vehicles, walks
Pruning of shrubs,
Pruning trees
Pruning ornamental trees
Putting Greens Installations - artificial turf for golf
Retaining Walls Installed of wood, stone
Retaining Walls Timbers
Roto Tilling turf, soil, lawns
Roto Tilling gardens
Salting Roads
Salting Walks
Sanding Roads
Sanding Walks
Sanding & Salting of parking lots and roads for ice control
Seeding lawns
Seeding wildflowers
Site Work of grading, hauling, rock removal prior to seeding
Slit Seeding of lawns
Slit Seeders
Snow Plowing Prices
Snow Plowing and ice control
Snow Removal
Snow Plowing Driveways
Snow Plowing Hourly Rates
Snow Plowing By The Inch
Snow Plowing By The Storm
Snow Plowing Fixed Seasonal Rates
Snow Shoveling
Snow Blowing Walks & Driveways
Sod Installations on lawns
Sod Rolls Installed
Sodding from Pallets
Spraying Lawns
Spraying Weeds
Spraying Shrubs
Spraying Trees
Spraying Curb Lines
Spring Cleanups of lawns, beds and paved areas
Stone Installations for shrub beds, landscape areas
String Trimming Lawns
String Trimming Edging
String Trimming Obstacles
String Trimming Trees
Stump Grinding after removal and tree takedowns
Tree & Shrub Programs - fertilizing - weed & insect control
Tree Trimming of ornamental trees in landscapes
Trimming Shrubs
Trimming Trees
Trucking & Hauling of landscape materials
Vegetation Management for weed control, growth control
Weeding shrub beds
Weeds in lawns
Weeding Pavement
Weeding Parking Lot Curbs

Cluick here for more info: FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)

About Nilsson Associates
Business consultant, speaker, nationally recognized best selling author, Phil Nilsson's articles are published in Lawn & Landscape, PRO Magazine, The Arborist and Landscaper Publications. Nilsson's books are endorsed by national trade organizations and are in use by thousands of landscapers, parks, municipalities, universities and property managers.
Nilsson owned and operated a successful Landscape Design-Build-Maintain firm for 15 years. Nilsson Associates are Consultants to the membership of the Professional Lawn Care Association of America.

When it comes to pricing lawn and landscape jobs nobody has more landscape industry pricing information than Nilsson Associates, Green Industry Consultants. Nilsson's Job Price Guides covers lawn care bids, job bidding & estimating for tree care, irrigation installation & service, pavement sweeping & maintenance, snow plowing operations, landscaping and hardscaping job bids for both commercial & residential customers as well as real estate management, parks & recreation departments, municipalities, college and univeristy grounds. The prices cover; estimates & bids for grounds services, landscaping pricing estimates , estimating & bid the price seasonal work, year around commercial estimate contracts, price per square foot, best grounds maintenance & landscaping job to bid & pricing, price of lawn care, lawn mowing price, aeration pricing, lawns, commercial landscape job bid estimates, most all outdoor maintenance estimating & pricing, mulching prices, pricing chemicals, weeding & aerating pricing, fertilizer prices, prices for organic fertilizer, pricing weeds in beds, pricing pruning & trimming trees & shrubs, pricing commercial & residential snow plowing, hardscape pricing, pricing hydroseeding, irrigation service estimates for commercial & residential, pricing seeding lawns, pricing lawn sod, prices for slit seeding lawns, pricing edging lawn beds, spring cleanup prices, pricing fall cleanups, hourly price of pressure washing walks & patios, pricing trees, stump grinding prices, price for gutter cleaning, lawn dethatching price, price for shoveling snow, pricing salting, price for sanding.


Other resources:
Sales Boosters (http://nilssonbooks.com/sales_booster_package.htm)
Job Estimating Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm)
FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)
New Business Startup Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/just_getting_started.htm)
Complete Operations management System (http://nilssonbooks.com/coms_package.htm)

Click here for more info: FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)






http://hispaniclawnforum.com/banners/jobestpakbanpn.gif (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm)