5 Days in and already feel like I've FAILED

[lewj24]

Quick back story. I'm 21, in college, will graduate in 1.5 years. I read TMF , was enlightened. Got fired from part time Walmart gig last month.

Since then I have been trying to think of all of these amazing ideas I could try these new fastlane principles on. I have thought of plenty of wild ideas that I cannot accomplish anytime soon. I was reading a lot about execution and decided to finally do something to make money.

I'll just mow some lawns! easy right??

I can borrow my girlfriend's parents' mower and weed eater and basically have no risk as long as I mow their lawn for free. I decided just to do it.

5 days ago I whipped up a name and logo. I was dicking around with Gimp (photoshop for poor people) and trying to learn how to do that. Total Cost: free (might not be legally free, but I dont have money)

4 days ago I used that logo and name and then a free brochure website to create a little ad. I printed out on card-stock paper at home (felt it would seem more professional). I fit 3 ads on one 8.5" by 11" page (landscape) and printed about 90 pages worth. 20 pages were useless because ink ran out so it became discolored and I wasn't watching the printer to stop it. So i ended up with about 210 ads. Total Cost: $100 for ink, paper, and a paper cutter tool (I feel like I messed up here. Seems very expensive..)

3 days ago I put 180 of those ads in mailboxes around neighboring subdivisions. One higher class and one middle to lower class. I know this is illegal but felt it would seem more professional than taping it to their front door. Total Cost: Free besides gas

2 days ago I started looking for website domains and getting on Angies list and Yelp. Total Cost: $70 for domain buy service from GoDaddy.

1 day ago I have bought 3 books on lawncare and have been researching it like crazy online trying to learn and think about ways to differentiate myself from the crowd.

Today I am starting to look for jobs because I need money and this is harder than I expected.

I feel like shit. Out of the 180 ads I have recieved 0 calls. I cannot believe I didn't even get one call. I knew business would be hard but damn.. worst part is how do I know what I did wrong? Unless I get a call I basically just lost $100 and am basically broke. They say learn from your failures but I don't know what to take away from this.

Total -$180 (with estimated gas)

I am not giving up but am at a stall with basically no funds and no income stream.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Quick back story. I'm 21, in college, will graduate in 1.5 years. I read TMF , was enlightened. Got fired from part time Walmart gig last month.

Since then I have been trying to think of all of these amazing ideas I could try these new fastlane principles on. I have thought of plenty of wild ideas that I cannot accomplish anytime soon. I was reading a lot about execution and decided to finally do something to make money.

I'll just mow some lawns! easy right??

I can borrow my girlfriend's parents' mower and weed eater and basically have no risk as long as I mow their lawn for free. I decided just to do it.

5 days ago I whipped up a name and logo. I was dicking around with Gimp (photoshop for poor people) and trying to learn how to do that. Total Cost: free (might not be legally free, but I dont have money)

4 days ago I used that logo and name and then a free brochure website to create a little ad. I printed out on card-stock paper at home (felt it would seem more professional). I fit 3 ads on one 8.5" by 11" page (landscape) and printed about 90 pages worth. 20 pages were useless because ink ran out so it became discolored and I wasn't watching the printer to stop it. So i ended up with about 210 ads. Total Cost: $100 for ink, paper, and a paper cutter tool (I feel like I messed up here. Seems very expensive..)

3 days ago I put 180 of those ads in mailboxes around neighboring subdivisions. One higher class and one middle to lower class. I know this is illegal but felt it would seem more professional than taping it to their front door. Total Cost: Free besides gas

2 days ago I started looking for website domains and getting on Angies list and Yelp. Total Cost: $70 for domain buy service from GoDaddy.

1 day ago I have bought 3 books on lawncare and have been researching it like crazy online trying to learn and think about ways to differentiate myself from the crowd.

Today I am starting to look for jobs because I need money and this is harder than I expected.

I feel like shit. Out of the 180 ads I have recieved 0 calls. I cannot believe I didn't even get one call. I knew business would be hard but damn.. worst part is how do I know what I did wrong? Unless I get a call I basically just lost $100 and am basically broke. They say learn from your failures but I don't know what to take away from this.

Total -$180 (with estimated gas)

I am not giving up but am at a stall with basically no funds and no income stream.

1. Start by not doing illegal things.

2. Also don't share your illegal activities on the forum where others might associate those things with the forum.

3. Get a job, learn how to earn money, read the forums, then try again.

 

[Guest34764]

Did you even once knock on one of their doors and pitched your services?I don't think people really care for cards that much.

When I did hedge trimming (With a manual trimmer) I literally walked around my whole block knocking on people's door and pitching my service.I charged 10$ for a trimming and some accepted and paid me more than just the 10$.You're thinking about this too much.When it comes to something like lawn mowing I think you should be more personal, especially since you can use the "I'm a student paying for college" story.

 

[lewj24]

I agree with the not doing illegal things. I don't agree with the "learn how to make money" thing. I have read countless business books and learned a ton from videos, college, this forum, and other things but haven't gotten anywhere. I have had jobs before. I want to start doing. You guys say learn from doing right? I did not personally knock on any doors. I convinced myself that it would be a better plan to hit more houses with 180 ads at once than to do that. (Honestly, I also haven't ever tried to sell anything so I am a bit scared)

I also forgot to add the 3 books I bought to my total cost.

Total -$205

 

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[Akeem]

Hi,

In my opinion, especially with an idea like mowing lawns, you're going to face obvious difficulty. You might receive a call or two but even still, how much will they pay you? How long will it take to get that 180$ (+gas) back? Why would they choose a college student over a professional?

This forum is great for becoming determined, getting motivation or even stealing ideas but the reality that opening yourself up for great sums of wealth is extremely difficult is still present. I can't comment much on your current path to wealth but I must say, mowing lawns, even for a student, is something that is becoming increasingly difficult. Why would an upper class resident call a college student to do their lawn when they probably have a professional already hired for the job? I think if you sat down and thought about it deep enough, you might begin to decide to take another route.

However, regardless of my reply, don't let me put you off. If you really think mowing lawns is your thing, go out there, take some calculated risks, cry about it and then go back again and repeat it until eventually you nail it and start earning some of that money back.

 

[Fox]

You learned about what how to market yourself from your competitors AFTER you built your website AFTER you handed out fliers?

If I put the action you took in reverse order the plan might actually work...


Pre Steps - Have some savings.

Today I am starting to look for jobs because I need money and this is harder than I expected.

1 day ago Step 1

I have bought 3 books on lawncare and have been researching it like crazy online trying to learn and think about ways to differentiate myself from the crowd.

<Insert copywriting skills and several other Gold threads on this exact subject>


2 days ago Step 2

I started looking for website domains and getting on Angies list and Yelp.

3 day ago I put 180 of those ads in mailboxes around neighboring subdivisions. One higher class and one middle to lower class.

Step 3 I put 180 of those ads at local gardening stores and hardware shops after being friendly with the owners. This shows I do things legally and actually give a shit about people.

 

[Guest34764]

Have you tried flipping things on Craigslist?

 

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[JokerCrazyBeatz]

This whole thread messes with my mind ,

#1 you only gave it 5 days ,

#2 you said you read books about business and lawncare and LEARNED but things arent working (if you LEARN how to do something it works for you)

#3 someone told you to learn how to sale but you said "i dont agree with that" so how are you going to sale if you dont know how to sale?

Maybe im misreading , maybe im just sleepy , or maybe ... just maybe ... you need to put more time into learning a better method and learning how to do it the RIGHT way .

I couldnt tell you which why to go about it but i CAN tell you to take peoples advice

 

[JoeB]

1. Borrow Lawnmower
2. Put in truck
3. Knock on doors

Cost $0

I honestly don't know why you spent money and time on a logo, a paper trimmer, a domain and books on lawncare. It sounds like you were just stalling for time.

 

[SteveO]

I started a landscape installation company many years ago. I knocked on doors and offered free designs to people. This door knocking continued until my days were filled with work.

I gave up on my company when I landed a job at HP. There were times that I wondered how that would have turned out if I had stuck with it.

 

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[Jake]

My Uncle Worked full time and decided he'd like to start grinding stumps on the side. He saw people with a stump in their front yard and knocked on their door to ask if they'd like it removed. This worked well and word spread.

He now has more work than he can handle taking down trees, dozens of vehicles (bucket trucks, dump trucks, etc) and he just bought a giant crane truck.

Point being - He had a clear value proposition. I'm at your house with my stump grinder would you like this ugly thing removed? No website, no email, no flyers.

 

[maxendio]

It seems like you're overthinking this atleast in my opinion.
You decide to make some money on the side with lawn moaning, my first thought would be just knocking at the doors of all my neighbours and ask if they would like to get there lawn moaned.
You first thoughts was, I need a website, I need books to learn to moan lawn better, and I need professional looking flyers.
You need to start small to get big!
It's like wanting to lose weight and then trying to lose 30 pounds at once instead of starting with one, you know?

 

[Lex DeVille]

I don't agree with the "learn how to make money" thing. I have read countless business books and learned a ton from videos, college, this forum, and other things but haven't gotten anywhere. I have had jobs before.

Note how you don't agree and you also "haven't gotten anywhere"...

Perhaps you haven't learned how to make money.

Also, I said how to earn money. Not make it.

 

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[InspireHD]

You learned that flyers in mailboxes didn't work. Now, you have to try something different. Try knocking on doors. If that doesn't work, try something else.

It can be scary at first, but that is the type of problem you have to overcome. When you do it and realize that it's not that big of a deal, then you will move forward.

 

[lewj24]

Okay, you guys are right. I think I just got caught in a game of Wantrepreneur. I wanted to be a big official company and thought websites and flyers were the way to go. I will start knocking on doors asap. Maybe you're right SinisterLex, maybe I don't know how to earn money. I guess I didn't like your comment because it struck me deep. Basically you are saying my years of studying sucked and were unproductive. So I said screw you I don't agree! Well I just need to take more advice and learn to get over myself.

 

[Andy Black]

Lots of good comments and mindset progress already.


Some threads that might help:

• You don't need to be an expert
• You don't need a website
• The biggest reason why websites suck
• Learnings from 700+ PMs with fellow forum members

 

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[ZCP]

So if I put a flyer in YOUR mailbox, you would sprint inside to grab the phone and call me? No. You wouldn't. You would pitch it in the bin. Direct mail response is 1% to 2% at best. You put out 180.

A normal company with a marketing budget would canvas an area with 2000 flyers. Then follow up with phone calls. Then send a guy around to knock on doors. (Rule of 3)

You have no money and need to get started. Knock on doors until you get a yard. Do not go home until you get one yard. If it is getting late in the day and no one has hired you, knock on the door of the guy on the corner and offer to mow his yard for free if you can put a sign up. When you complete the best lawn mowing job of your life on his yard, ask if he knows two people who might could use your services.

Get to work and stop whining. Waste your time arguing with that statement or get out and get a lawn.

 

[SteveO]

Honestly, I also haven't ever tried to sell anything so I am a bit scared

You don't need to approach it as a hard sell. Believing in something makes it easier to talk to people about it. If you believe in your service, then simply let people know and deliver when you have the chance.

It may be important to understand why you were fired from Walmart.

 

[jon.a]

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...e-tell-me-what-i-did-wrong.45322/#post-269651

 

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[RussRussman18]

You aren't going to last very long in fastlane OR slowlane if you persistently do illegal/grey area things... not to pry but is that why you got fired in the first place?

Quality>quantity. Tons of people mow lawns. I know it's just mowing but you should try to master it the best you can before running an advertising campaign. I mean, let's just say ALL 180 hit you up to mow their lawn (would never happen obviously but just think on the principle). Sounds great right? Lets say you can mow 4 lawns a day. that means you've got 45 days of work lined up, and a potential [insert profit here]. if you just do a bad/ok job, once word gets around that you kinda suck, how many of the 180 are just going to get someone else? or even if you DID mow all 180 lawns, how many customers would you RETAIN? sure, you could put the ads in different areas, but there are only so many neighborhoods in your city. And then you would have something worse than low customer retention: a bad reputation

start small and slow... don't bite off more than you can chew

 

[BlakeRVA]

You are in a position right now where you have nothing that differentiates you from ANY person that knocks on someones door to mow their lawn. Why should someone hire you over the neighbor boy down the street? You are in a business that comes down to two things: 1.) Price 2.) Expertise

Trust me, you don't want to establish yourself as the low cost provider, especially if you are the only employee.

Here's what I recommend: Go get a job at a reputable landscaping company. Ask questions. Practice the craft. Make some money and SAVE for next summer. Gain experience and expertise to distinguish yourself.

I did this for my current business. I worked for someone else for a year as I learned the trade. I found the most reputable service provider in my city and began working for them. While I was there, I constantly asked questions and monitored what the company did right, and what they could do better. I got good and eventually I became great. I made $10/hour working there, but now, one year later, I charge $80/hour and people gladly pay and say I should charge more! And that's just the start. My income will continue to grow as I begin hiring and training others, increasing scale.

So I want you to ask yourself, are you willing to trade a few months, or even a few years of your life to multiply your income by 5, 10, 20, or 100?

I was. I hope everyone who reads this and wants to start a service-industry business will do the same.

Don't be hard-headed. It's worth it. Go learn the trade from someone else or start a business in a sector that you are already familiar with. Expertise in service businesses ALWAYS trumps price.

 

[1step]

1. Post your flyer I bet we can help with it.
2. $.50 per flyer is very expensive, you can get postcards for .1 or so
3. Been mentioned a lot but I'd knock on doors with long grass. No answer I'd leave a note and say something like I have my lawn mower in my car and can have this done today if you'd like

Why grass cutting? Why not car cleaning/detailing or power washing?

 

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[1step]

I use a lawn care service and have had many people send flyers to my house offering their lawn care services.

I have never had anyone offer me car cleaning/detailing service and since I currently need that and I am a bit bored... I will offer that as a business suggestion to you.

Now, I dont think this is fastlane but I think it could be a good opportunity for you.

Heres how I would build this business...

I would give myself a few hundred dollars to start (+$400) sell some stuff if need be

Then I would think who needs their car cleaned? Being a dog owner I know thats a group that needs it and I would guess parents of young kids is another group.

So how can I reach dog owners or parents?

I would first think where do these people hang out or go? Dog owners? Dog parks, pet store
Parents? School, day care

I would get 1000 post cards printed for about $100 (could probably skimp on quality and get it for $50)
Then I would go to alibaba and find a car air freshener manufacturer to make me custom hanging air fresheners. I could probably get $1000 of these for $100 or so too

Then I would staple or glue the air freshener to the post card and hand them out at dog parks, car pool lines, day cares, pet stores, public pools, etc

The post cards would talk about my service and why I am a great choice. Whos going to get a free air freshener and not use it? The air freshener would offer a reminder about me each time they got in their car with both the smell and also my phone number and note on it about cleaning their car.

If at any time during the week or so that the air freshener still smells good, that person needs their car cleaned, I feel like I have a good chance to get the call. In addition anyone who rides in the car with the dog owner or parent would be exposed to the air freshener and maybe an additional opportunity

So for $200 I had 1000 impressions on people I believe are in my target demo and i still have $200 left to buy cleaning supplies, hire a copywriter to make sure my postcard is killer, get a phone service and whatever else I am forgetting.

So, what % of 1000 would I close?

I dunno, get out there, execute, and you tell me

 

[Sanj Modha]

Masterpieces take time. It took Michaelangelo 14 years to paint the Sistine Chapel.

I failed for years before making any money. Failure is the only way forward.

What did you learn in these 5 days? Look for the lesson.

 

[Andy Black]

@PureA posted the following in another thread. Seems perfect for this thread to.

This is the real prize. The failing, the learning, and the inevitable growth that follows as a business man and person.

If what you are doing isn't working, change your approach, help people, solve their problems, watch what happens...

“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; the brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people.” - Randy Pausch

How you perceive these bricks walls ultimately makes the man.

Dont. Give. Up. Keep going...

p.s.
https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...oes-everyone-want-to-get-there-so-fast.41159/

 

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[lewj24]

I want to thank all of you for posting in this thread. It has turned out way better than I ever imagined it would be. Believe it or not you guys have taught me a ton. I think posting this thread while I was trying to execute really helped me learn.

For those of you that insist on knowing why I was fired from Walmart, and assume I did bad, illegal things, it is because I called off 4 days in the first 6 months of me working there. I thought I had 9 for the year. Turns out I was wrong. Being fired doesn't matter at all. Mark Cuban was fired from "more jobs than most people have had." It's irrelevant.

I chose to mow lawns for 3 reasons: I have done it before for my grandparents and I had a free mower and weed eater to use.

I have decided that this is the end of my mowing grass journey and I will explain why. I went and knocked on the front door of 10 houses. That's right folks. 10. But not just any 10 houses. I loaded up the mower and drove around the neighborhoods and looked for houses that clearly needed a trim. I quickly discovered that these homes were few and far between. This is something I didn't notice when I was passing out flyers. I could have found more if I wanted to but all 10 people told me no instantly. Some were nicer at turning me down than others. One old man said no and shut the door mid way through me talking. I stopped knocking because they didn't even hesitate. Nobody said, "Let me think about it" or "Let me ask my husband." Now obviously there is a need to mow lawns and someone on here will probably tell me I didn't hustle enough or I needed a better sales pitch or I should have smiled more but I think I messed up in the biggest way possible. TIMING. It is the dead middle of summer and everyone already has someone or themselves mowing their grass. Even the tall grassed homes are probably tall because the owners mow it and don't want to and don't want to pay someone. All lawncare companies advertise in the spring. Im almost 100% sure my timing was off. Now come next spring I may try again unless I have found something else to do besides cutting grass but I have learned a valuable lesson here. This lesson would not have been possible without you guys AND myself executing. And hey who knows, maybe I am completely wrong and I am about to get more lessons down below. But my next step is to focus all of my attention on getting a job. And then after that focus on trying something else.

END TOTAL: -$232 (bought a broom to sweep grass off driveway/sidewalks and a gas can and filled it with gas)

 

[Guest34764]

Have you tried trimming hedges?

 

[JoeB]

This lesson would not have been possible without you guys AND myself executing.

F*ck me, you made up an excuse - you didn't learn any lessons.

 

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[GSF]

I have decided that this is the end of my mowing grass journey and I will explain why. I went and knocked on the front door of 10 houses. That's right folks.

10 houses? It takes a while to get your name out there but I think your giving up before you've even started. Whats your area like? middle -upper class? big area? population size?

I did this for about 6 years, was loads of competition, I started with just a car loaded with a mower, hedge trimmer and chainsaw and I could easy do over £300 a day just mowing and cutting trees and hedges by myself with minimal overheads, way better than working a job. I built it up to a few trucks and quit in 2014, but still get calls from old customers, have had 1 call while writing this!

I got my first jobs just through friends and people I knew and word of mouth. Every sunday morning (when people are home) I would go out with quality branded card flyers from vista print and post about 50 flyers door to door in nice areas, often I would get a call while I was still out flyering and provide a quote there and then. I would also advertise in a local community magazine posted to every house in the same area (about 10,000 homes every month) for about £30 a month. Everytime I did a job I would flyer the rest of the street saying "we just worked at your neighbours and wanted to say hi" kinda thing, after a while people began to recognise my local brand. I would be busy year round except for christmas-February.

I found initial impressions counted, so looking smart with green work polo shirt, being polite and punctual mattered. Also showing you were adequately insured. Attention to detail, being social and talking with customers. A lot of the existing competition had poor customer service, were rude and rushed their jobs.

So yeah you've got to put in a bit of effort to get started but word of mouth and repeat business soon kicks in.

 

[Tapp001]

You don't need to approach it as a hard sell. Believing in something makes it easier to talk to people about it. If you believe in your service, then simply let people know and deliver when you have the chance.

It may be important to understand why you were fired from Walmart.

Yah, providing actual value makes sales so much easier. I have had two sales jobs. One, in 2010, selling imaginary conferences to CEOs. The product had no value (as I understood it), I was required to lie, and I sucked at it. I currently have a second job telemarketing house painting. It's a real product, they have have a history of quality, and I am pretty darn good at it. Never thought I could do sales, but I deliberately took this job to learn how and its kinda awesome. I'd make it my full-time job, but my normal one pays better and I'm still not completely sure.

BTW, I was also fired from Wal-Mart, for sitting down instead of leaning down to stock the lower shelves. They were right to fire me, and I support that decision. I'm not a very good employee.