You Don’t Get What You Want, You Get What You Tolerate

Let me tell you, I know what it’s like to not have confidence. I know what it's like to not know how to price a lawn. I know what it’s like to be losing my shirt on a lawn because I priced it too low. I know what it’s like to not make price increases because of my fear of customer reactions. I have been there and I have done that! But over the years I have gained so much confidence and I want to help you get to the other side and realize your worth!

Back in the beginning of my business, I wasn't expecting much out of myself, so how could I expect anything out of my life? I was the $20 lawn guy, so how could I expect to make much of a profit? I was getting what I was demanding and at the time, that wasn’t much.

I eventually realized that I was letting my customers take advantage of me. It most certainly wasn’t intentional, but I was letting my relationship and care for them get in the way of profit. What do I mean by that? I was undervaluing myself because I cared what the customer might think if I raised prices. I was thinking that mowing lawns isn’t that hard, so it shouldn’t be priced that high, right? I was thinking that I was doing my buddy a favor, so I should cut him a deal. I needed to realize that it was the care and effort I put forth for my customers that made me so valuable, not the other way around. I was solving a problem for them. My business was creating convenience for them, so I should be appreciated and compensated accordingly. I was being weak, timid, and afraid. It was time for me to demand more for myself and my business. It was time to take charge and demand what I’m worth.

Once I realized I was undercharging, I decided to raise my prices. At the time, any lawn that was $25 per cut became $30 per cut. I will never forget my experience notifying one customer that I had been taking care of for 12 years. For story telling purposes let’s call him Matt. I hadn’t heard back from Matt yet that season, but when I was mowing in his neighborhood, he came up to talk to me. He asked if I could take care of his property that year and I said absolutely, but the price had increased to $30. Matt’s response was that he’d pay $25. For me, this was not a negotiation. I was running a business, so it was my decision to charge appropriately based on the time and expenses that go into a job. I spoke to him professionally, but remained firm that the price would be $30. Ultimately, we ended up parting ways because I was not going to let a customer dictate my prices. I am in the business of making money, not losing it. We managed to end the conversation on a good note, and although I was no longer working for him, the relationship remained intact. It was unfortunate that I ended up losing a customer that I had a long standing relationship with, but I KNOW MY WORTH! There will be times where you are better off walking away or saying no and for me, that was one of those times. I know what my time is worth. I provide customers with quality work and I care about every property. If they aren’t willing to see the value in that, they aren’t the customer for me.

To determine your worth you need to ask yourself two questions:
1.) Am I solving a problem?
2.) How valuable is my time?
Let me tell you one more story. One Thursday morning around 8am I noticed one of my customer’s windows was down on his Jeep. It seemed a bit odd as the house was closed up, and it was supposed to rain later that day. I sent him a quick text just in case he hadn’t been aware. I would have hated to see the interior of his car damaged because of the rain. A few minutes later I received a text back and he was so thankful that I had been thoughtful enough to reach out and double check. That is what we do, we take care of our clients. When we pull up to a property we make sure to take care of it. We do the little things like texting our clients about an open window. We care about our clients and their properties. That is the value they are getting when they hire Brian’s Lawn Maintenance.

I grew up in a culture of “how little can I do for the most amount of reward.” That’s not how I wanted to live my life! I wanted to work as hard as I possibly could to get the most out of life. So you know what I do? I spent hours upon hours reading and learning as much as I could to take my life and business to the next level. Instilling myself with knowledge is what gave me confidence.

I’m not poor and I’m not rich, I’m right in the middle, where so many of us are. We are all trying to navigate the middle to get to the top. Why should we do it alone? This community is here to learn and grow alongside one another.

Stop letting your negative thoughts get the best of you. We all do it, but we have to work through the struggles and the problems to get to the top. Don’t ever let the hard things in life stop you!