What’s up, everyone? It’s Chester with Big Lakes Lawncare.

I’m out here today in Macomb, Michigan. Gorgeous winter day out here.

I’m at a site we maintain that’s a hotel. If you’re looking for a lawn or landscape contractor, or snow removal contractor, landscape installation contractor, there’s generally three types of options that you’re gonna be considering.

The first option’s the big guy.

The second option, excuse me, is the little guy.

And then there’s us in the middle.

So, let me describe ’em really quick.

HERE’S THE BIG GUY.

He started the business a while ago, quite a while ago, probably. Busted his butt, took some time to get things built up. He does good work, probably has a minimum on his work. He won’t take small projects anymore. It’s not worth his time, he doesn’t think.

He’s probably removed from the business now, as the owner, a little bit. He’s got lots of employees, lots of overhead, lots of expenses. His prices are probably on the higher end, and he can deliver on his promises. He probably, over time, has lost track of his vision or core values with the company, and now it’s probably sorta just something on the side. You know, they’ve got lots of fat that needs to be trimmed, and they just kind of move along on things, a big lumbering beast.

Probably can’t offer the best service anymore, because they can no longer keep up with the amount of requests they have, and they haven’t staffed appropriately for it, and, you know, it’s company number one. It’s big company.

COMPANY NUMBER TWO IS PROBABLY THE MOST COMMON COMPANY TYPE IN OUR MARKET.

It’s the little guy. See, he’s on his phone. That’s pretty fitting, because the little guy is busy. Man, he’s working 12, 14 hours a day, every day. He’s answering the phone. He’s doing the sales. He’s doing the estimates, He’s trying to collect when he’s done, trying to manage a couple of employees, keep his trucks running, and he’s out in the field doing the work, too. His prices are on the low end, which is nice probably because there’s some risk involved with that.

He probably doesn’t have a workman’s comp insurance. State of New York levied a judgment against a homeowner recently because they didn’t check their contractor to see if the contractor had workers’ comp insurance. Guy gets hurt on the job, and that person is now paying their contractor’s medical bills for the rest of his life. That’s one way to keep your costs low is you don’t carry workers’ comp. I’m not saying all of ’em don’t, but generally they don’t.

There’s also risk involved because if you’ve got two trucks and one one breaks down, you’re not getting your lawn service that day. Or if a guy calls in sick, you’re not getting your stuff serviced that day.

These contractors do good work, but they’re just slammed. They’re too busy, can’t keep up, can’t delegate. They’ve got no team, and they start to get burnt out. They start dropping off, quit answering the phone. Customer service starts to slip. That’s company type number two.

COMPANY TYPE NUMBER THREE IS US, AND IT’S WHERE I THINK IS THE SWEET SPOT.

That’s us. We are in the sweet spot. We are big enough to offer the economies of scale. We just bought a hundred tons of salt in bulk, and we pass that savings on to you, so we’ll be salting this lot here any minute now. Our truck will be showing up. We’re small enough to give good service, and we’re big enough to deliver.

Our management team is closely aligned with our core values, which are people. People are our biggest asset. Customer service, efficiency, continuous improvement, communication, and the sixth and final pillar at our company is do the right thing. It’s our north star. If we’re ever faced with a decision, as a company or as an individual, we just say, do the right thing. It’s pretty simple.

Anyhow, you’ve got options. You’ve got lots of options in Macomb County and Oakland County, too, to select a contractor, and you know, I hope you make the right decision. All of them have their pros, all of them have their cons.

What we’re trying to do at our company is grow, while maintaining the sweet spot, maintaining a proper level of management, the economies of scale that keep our pricing fair and competitive, while safe. We want to be a safe option. W

e want to build a lasting company for years and years to come, not just something that flares up and dies.

Hope you’re having a good day, stay warm.