Spend time preparing for the upcoming season and avoid the headaches and trouble in-season.
As a landscaper, you really need to look at your efforts through the eyes of a small business owner. Taking advantage of pre-season buying programs keeps items on the shelf for quick repairs and manages consumables. A little bit of attention spent is the difference between turning a profit on the year, growing your business, and standing out among competition.
Here is an example of the immediate financial impact of not having backup parts:
- Cost of new part and overnight shipping.
- Lost time spent diagnosing and physically repairing the issue.
- Lost revenue due to lost time. Your landscape crew is not cutting and earning; they are waiting.
True Cost of Downtime
- Customers who pay for a professional expect great work, no excuses. Landscaper says: “I broke a belt, I’ll return in 2 days.” Customer hears: “Call someone else who can get the job done right.”
- $6000 buys a nice enclosed trailer and huge billboard… that nobody sees when it is parked at the shop waiting for a repair.
- Failing to prepare says a lot about your business. Not having pride in your work is reflected through your employees and ultimately customers. If you don’t take your work, seriously neither will your customers. Eventually the phone stops ringing and you will never know how many sales you are missing. A reputation is the hardest thing to repair.
Take some time…
Look at what you spend on consumable items. Trimmer line, two-cycle fuel, air filters, oil filters, and blades are replaced based on hourly use so you can estimate your seasonal parts budget. If you only order as parts break, calculate your shipping cost and lost income during the down time. You will find that it costs more to order only when you need parts vs having the consumable parts on hand.
Once you know what you spend each season, take 20% of what you spend to place a bulk order next spring. Companies like ours, ProParts Direct, have the best buying programs in January and February to help jump start the season. You can also save by combining several smaller orders into one large order. Shipping charges on individual packages adds up quickly.
Knowing what you need makes it possible to take advantage of pre-season sales and bulk discounts. It’s the little steps that will help increase your bottom line and help your company grow.
For Parts visit our website www.propartsdirect.net
After an extended spring season that featured long periods of rainy weather, the summer is continuing the “all or nothing” trend. It’s been hot and dry in the northeast and green lawns are starting to turn brown under the stress. Here are a few suggestions on how to help keep your lawn looking its best.
Irrigation – Getting water on your lawn nourishes and cools the grass. It’s the first line of defense against hot, dry spells. The best time to water is early in the morning from 3-8am. This allows the soil to soak up water needed and excess water will evaporate when the sun comes up. When a saturated lawn remains in contact with excess water, it creates a breeding ground for disease. This is why watering in the evening can do more harm than good! Finally, watering during the hottest part of the day is bad news…water is evaporating and your lawn won’t appreciate the tease!
PRO TIP: Avoid watering by hand. Use sprinklers to evenly water and connect timers for consistency. There are even smart-phone apps that can operate irrigation controls! Generally speaking, most lawns want between 1”-2” of water per week. This can vary based on soil and grass types, location, and time of growing season.
Let it Grow…Let it Grow! Set your mower deck at 3” or greater. Taller grass can absorb water better and creates its own shade too. Cutting too short not only stresses the plant, it prevents it from growing deep roots that could further protect from dry conditions.
PRO TIP: Get a mulching blade and don’t bag the clippings. A mulching blade cuts the grass a few times before dropping it back into the lawn. The dry, starved lawn will appreciate the mulched clippings for food and shade.
Keep Fertilizer in the Bag. Unless you have an irrigation plan in place, don’t fertilize the lawn when the hot, dry conditions take hold. Fertilizers provide nutrients for growth, but, without water you’re asking the lawn to do the impossible. Plus, fertilizers need to be watered in to be effective. If the product sits on the lawn for days only to be washed away in a thunderstorm/downpour, you might consider yourself lucky. The alternative would be fertilizer washed into lower areas in super concentrated for that kills the grass in a hurry.
PRO TIP: Use the money you saved on fertilizer and take your spouse to dinner. A night out beats watching grass grow any day of the week…
With lawn care, you can’t beat the heat - Mother Nature always has the upper hand. If drought and heat threaten your lawn each year, you might consider a new yard design. Trees can be added to create shade, planting a drought tolerant type of grass, and even reducing the lawn size are all long term solutions to consider.
Now that its “Officially” Fall – I wanted to share this article. If you are shutting down a machine (or starting one) for the season, chances are, you will need parts. Before you shop at propartsdirect.net, run out to your machine and grab the exact model and serial number.
Knowing where to find the model and serial number on your lawn equipment is important for a variety of reasons. When addressing issues with your machine, the first question is always a model/serial request. Warranty work, insurance claims, and replacement parts all start – and stop with this information.
1 – The engine that powers your machine has a separate serial and model than the actual unit. For example; Your Ariens snowblower has a model number (eg 920014) and unique serial number found on a sticker below the handle bars. The engine sitting on top of the unit has its own model and serial number. Unless you have issues with the engine, you will always shop for parts with the unit information.
2- When buying new equipment, make sure to record the model, serial, date of purchase. There is nothing more frustrating than traveling to your lawn and garden shop only to discover that you can’t be helped without this information. Its also not a bad idea to keep track of common replacement parts, like blades, skids, or oil. (HINT: use your phone to snap a photo and email to yourself.) This allows you to quickly search the internet for a specific item and get the best price.
3- Learn where the ID plate is on your machine. Most newer equipment has a large, easy to read sticker along the side, under the seat, or attached to the side of the machine. Commercial grade equipment will have an engraved plate attached. There are apps and great web resources available to track this information but there are no shortcuts when it comes to knowing your equipment.
We receive questions about lawnmower parts constantly. Landscapers and homeowners use our website to look-up parts diagrams and repair equipment. Our experienced lawnmower specialists receive texts, emails, and calls from customers in the field who need help. It's a great feeling to know our customers turn to us when they need the right answer.
Not every call or email leads to a sale and that's okay. In fact, that's great! Selling deck belts, mower blades, or snow blower parts isn't a complicated task. Gaining and retaining the trust of a great customer base is hard work and a job we take seriously.
With that said, it's important to recognize that when we suggest a part or advocate for a particular brand, it's a well thought out decision.
Oregon has been a leader in outdoor products like mower blades, chains, and forestry accessories. Oregon manufactures aftermarket parts that meet and often exceed the standards of OEM brands. Quality products and quality customer service are the cornerstone of ProParts Direct's operation. The product offering from Oregon is rock solid with quality control we trust will keep our customers equipment running.
Over the years, we have witnessed brands and manufacturers fail to innovate or adapt to the concerns of their customers. Oregon continues to step up their game offering parts that we trust and recommend to our customers. As the Product Manager for ProPartsDirect, I personally handle hundreds of parts each week. Oregon aftermarket parts have the feel of quality and top-notch performance. I take pride in offering our customers great parts. Oregon is a brand we trust and a brand you can trust too.
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