They’re out there on every client’s property, and there’s a chance you don’t know about them. Failing to recognize hidden property hazards not only increases the chances of a slip-and-fall incident, but they contribute to avoidable property damage. They might even mar your bottom line.

Here are five common hidden property hazards to familiarize yourself with before your next preseason site inspections. Once these trouble spots become apparent, then you and your crews will more easily recognize them and take the appropriate actions to either avoid or rectify these issues before any damage is done.

Pavement conditions.

More and more snow professionals are taking advantage of the latest advancements in plow technology, which, by design, are bigger and heavier than the traditional straight-blade plows. Designed to provide a cleaner surface, these tools tend to bite the pavement better than their predecessors. As a result, these plows can potentially tear up pavement imperfections and make existing surface damage worse.

In addition, these surface imperfections are prime spots for refreeze conditions. Ice builds up in these pits, dips and cracks and contributes to potential slip-and-fall hazards for pedestrians traversing the parking lot from their cars to the adjacent building. In addition, larger and/or deeper damaged areas can fill with snow, which disguises a potential tripping hazard to unknowing pedestrians.

When inspecting the property, look for signs that the pavement has heaved. And if you can identify broken grout joints, then that’s a sign the pavement has already heaved during your market’s freeze-thaw cycle. Common areas to find these imperfections are at high-traffic areas, stop signs, near site intersections and around loading docks. It’s imperative to thoroughly identify and mark these problem areas on the site’s storm management plan.

In addition, site inspections should take place all winter long. Since we’re ISO 9001/SN 9001 certified, we not only conduct preseason and postseason inspections, but we also do post-event inspections on all of our properties. This exercise identifies any new problems areas site crews need to be aware of before the next snow and ice event.

Lastly, we’re all aware snow contractors typically get blamed for any site damage that takes place during the winter. That’s why it’s very important to thoroughly document site conditions both before, during and after the season. Again, this is important from both a safety and a financial perspective to make sure we don’t have to carry the financial burden of correcting damage we didn’t create.

Curbs, Catch Basins and Sewers.

When it comes to curbs, all I can say is document, document, document.

Curbs are probably the No. 1 thing we repair on an annual basis. Obviously, if we damage a curb during snow ops, then we’ll fix it. However, curb damage happens all year long and the snow contractor is often the fall guy. That’s why you must video document and photograph the curb conditions at client sites where you anticipate a lot of damage could take place. It’s a preventative measure to identify for the client property damage you’re not responsible for.

For example, a retail center has a lot of semi-truck traffic coming on and off the property throughout the course of a business day. And curbs tend to get damaged when semis – or even cars, for that matter – cut corners too closely. Therefore, it’s important to be vigilant. Go through and document curb conditions, so you don’t get blamed for the damage and stuck with the financial burden of repairing them at season’s end.

It’s important to mark catch basins and sewers on your site map not only for plowing purposes, but also for drainage. For example, if you stage snow on a property, it’s important to have an awareness for where the catch basins and sewers are located to understand how the property is designed to drain. So, for thaw-refreeze cycles you’ll want to know which direction water will flow and where, potentially, it will reform into ice.

And as with other property features, it’s important to note any existing strike marks or damage to these areas because these are easy targets. In fact, it’s not unheard of for a plow operator to unknowingly take off a manhole cover. Imagine the damage that could do to a car driving into it, or God forbid, a pedestrian.

Roofs and architectural details.

Many storefronts and modern facilities have intricate, architectural details and overhangs that can cause havoc with your site management plan. Snow tends to build up at these areas, and they become major areas for refreeze problems on the pavement and walkways below.

In addition, pay very close attention to these details if they are south facing or are surrounded by reflective glass. Both tend to melt snow and ice during the day, and therefore are the first areas that will refreeze at night.

Clearly mark these areas on your site maps, so you, your crews and your clients are well aware of the potential hazard to pedestrians.

Space constraints.

When developing your storm management plan, it’s important to know where you’ll stage and store snow, as well if it’ll be removed from the site. It’s not uncommon to have challenging space-constrained properties where you’ll have to employ specialized equipment to relocate the snow while you’re plowing.

Therefore, it’s important to know in advance where you’ll be putting it because it will decrease the amount of time to clear the site completely. Don’t forget to consider these factors when building out your proposals.

Traffic patterns.

A lot of being successful in snow and ice management has to do with timing, so understand both the vehicle and pedestrian traffic patterns unique to each property.

For example, some properties condense employee parking areas. Once people start parking in spaces, it’s nearly impossible to get the pavement cleaned safely. So, timing is vital to get the product down and services done before anyone arrives for the work day or their shift.

In addition, be aware of the site’s hours of operation. Over the course of an evening you can plow against normal traffic patterns and place and stage snow in certain areas. You lose that flexibility during the site’s hours of operation – typically the daytime hours – when your only option is to abide by the traffic patterns. This only elongates the amount of time you have to clean that pavement and make it safe.

When building your site’s contingency plan, it’s equally important to know when customers are open, where and how people typically park and the delivery schedules to the property. For example, if you have a Starbucks on a retail property, then it typically opens at 5:30 a.m. while the rest of the stores don’t open until 10 a.m. It’s those kinds of details that must be taken into account when you do your site planning.

Jerry Schill is the president of Schill Grounds Management in North Ridgeville, Ohio. He is a frequent Snow Magazine contributor and a 2011 Leadership Award recipient.

The November elections were just like everything else in 2020. Pundits/pollsters/media had a lot wrong, results were contested and the nation remains hotly divided. The one area of agreement for most Americans is that 2020 couldn’t end soon enough, so we now turn the page toward 2021.

On Nov. 3, Americans submitted ballots in person or by mail in historic numbers. It took several days (in some cases weeks) for elections to be called, but the most important election was called by all major media outlets on Nov. 7 in favor of President-Elect Joe Biden by an electoral margin of 306 to 232, which is the exact same margin that President Trump beat Hillary Clinton in 2016. The similarities and closeness of both races (in the electoral college, not the popular vote) are remarkable. Whether this electoral map holds true in 2024 will remain to be seen, but it is important to note that the nation remains hyper polarized and nearly deadlocked in multiple key electoral states.

During the next four years, will the partisan divides deepen or will compromise prevail? We hope the latter but want to turn toward what the Biden Administration means for the landscape industry.

H-2B

Opportunities

• Biden hails from the state of Delaware which is a state with strong seasonal labor demands in landscaping, tourism, hospitality and seafood. The two senators from Delaware ,Coons and Carper, have been staunch supporters of H-2B reform and will hopefully continue to garner influence with the President on the need for H-2B reform.
• Biden has openly stated on his transition website “Biden will work with Congress to reform the current system of work visas.”
• Biden is committed to pushing immigration reform through Congress.
• Biden has nominated Alejandro Mayorkas to head the Department of Homeland Security. Previously, Mayorkas headed USCIS during the Obama administration and he has a track record of understanding the importance of the H-2B program.

Challenges

• Biden has strong connections with labor unions who fundamentally oppose guest worker programs. Unions will have significant influence in this administration.
• Labor unions are likely to hold key position at the Department of Labor and there are concerns over how strongly they will support and validate the labor certification process.

Between H-2B and environmental issues, the Biden Administration presents opportunities and challenges for landscapers.

Lawn care/Environmental Issues

Opportunities

• Work with EPA personnel to further defend the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
• Biden’s EPA will be more credible at the state and local level rather than Trump’s EPA, which was maligned as bad for the environment.
• Climate change will take center stage and the landscape industry can use this as an opportunity to demonstrate how we are part of the solution.

Challenges

• EPA could become less receptive to industry input on benefits when evaluating pesticides.
• Biden may roll back some EPA decisions that may make lawn care practices increasingly burdensome.
• The environmentalist anti-pesticide community that fundamentally opposes some of the practices and tools the lawn care industry uses will have strong influence inside the EPA and the White House.

In addition to our primary issues, we anticipate Biden pushing forward with a bold agenda on COVID-19 relief and economic stimulus; infrastructure; health care; and employment protections.

But President Biden’s ability to pass a bold agenda will hinge on his ability to work with a Congress that, like the country, is divided along partisan lines with razor-thin majorities.

All of this will unfold in the following weeks and months but there will certainly be opportunities and challenges ahead for the landscape industry as we turn the page on 2020 and begin 2021 with the newly inaugurated President Joe Biden and the 117th Congress.

Editor’s note: This article was written by NALP Government Affairs Department on Dec. 4, 2020. You can contact Bray at andrew@landscapeprofessionals.org for the most current information.

In 2007, “everything was collapsing,” says Rudy Larsen, CEO of Lawn Butler in Centerville, Utah, of the economy. But while talking to potential customers, they beefed about getting landscape guys to call them back or deliver bids. They told him, “We can’t get anyone to do what they said they were going to do.”

Larsen thought, “I can do that.”

“There were enough landscape companies out there that were not concerned about taking care of their customers,” he says, jumping ahead to today and his $18-million firm, which has grown an average of 57% every year during the last decade.

Larsen started his business that year with his wife, Jena. Then, Larsen was fresh out of high school and determined to grow his mowing side gig into a legitimate, profitable business.

Larsen maxed out credit cards, purposely broke a bank covenant, barely made payroll and questioned whether he should be in this business. He hired the wrong people, completed jobs that weren’t profitable and stayed up worrying if he would make payroll. In other words, his experience is “like any true entrepreneurial story” in many ways, he says.

But he focused. And, he refocused, recognizing that “the single push on the flywheel” that his favorite author Jim Collins writes about in Good to Great, was adopting a guiding principle – this idea of a family culture. Certainly, labor keeps most owners in the landscape industry up at night. But for Larsen, his concern is about “making sure people are happy.”

“I don’t want people to feel left out or like they are not important,” he says. “If I lose my people, I lose my business.”

Here is how he grew Lawn Butler to be attractive enough to sell and continue to grow.

“We weren’t making any money. We didn’t know our pricing structure, we didn’t know how to bid. But I had a desire to take care of customers, so we were growing.” Rudy Larsen, CEO of Lawn Butler

The first five years.

“We weren’t making any money,” Larsen says. “We didn’t know our pricing structure, we didn’t know how to bid. But I had a desire to take care of customers, so we were growing.”

Larsen can count a good 15 times when Lawn Butler should have gone out of business.

He kept driving.

He kept thinking, too.

“I said to myself, ‘I’m going to make the decision right now to never consider quitting, ever again,'” he says. “That was a moment of ‘passing through,’ and once I passed through, I never went through that again. I was determined to make my business work and to stop worrying about whether I should or shouldn’t.”

This was 2010, and the business was only three years old. The moment changed Larsen’s mindset. With a full-boar attitude, Lawn Butler grew from $30,000 in 2007 to $2.5 million in 2012.

Getting there was a grind. The company began to dig into its bidding process and finetune pricing. In 2009, Larsen’s wife who was working as a dental hygienist and doing the books off-hours – came into the business full-time to focus on production processes. She also began focusing on team-building.

Jena says, “Rudy is good at the big picture and the vision, and I’m good at the details of how to make his vision happen."

Organizing field labor and keeping an eye on expenses positioned Lawn Butler to support its growing customer base. The team had grown to about 20 with five trucks in the fleet by 2011 when Dario Benitez joined the company. He had been working as a junior accountant and ran into his high school friend – Larsen – only to learn his buddy was still in the landscaping business. “I told him I was contemplating a career change and he told me about his business and the opportunity,” Benitez says.

At Lawn Butler, there is a formal Culture of Family philosophy, and though it wasn’t written down in a core values format at that time, Larsen had been operating that way since the beginning. It was just in a more casual way. “Rudy painted this picture and shared the goals he had for the business, and knowing him, I trusted that. Whenever he says he will do something, he accomplishes it. So, that is why I made the leap,” Benitez recalls.

Benitez came on board as operations manager and soon evolved into an account manager role, focused on sales as Lawn Butler aimed to increase its commercial maintenance business.

Today, Benitez manages a team of 12 account managers and two estimators as vice president of sales. And, Lawn Butler is primarily commercial maintenance, servicing retail sites, HOAs, commercial offices and industrial facilities. In ramp-up mode, Larsen recognized how much capital his business required to keep up with growth.

“Free cash flow is a great way to grow, and a lot of businesses do that,” he says. “There are plenty of articles out there about, ‘Why I never took out a truck loan,’ or ‘Why I have no debt.’ It’s slower and safer to grow with cash. But I can’t go slow. I can’t.”

The second five years.

Larsen wanted to grow fast. “I wanted to build something timely,” he says. He and Jena considered bringing on a minority investor, but losing control of the business was a concern. “A lot of investors have a horizon,” he says. “They want to invest for five years, and after that, they want to sell and get their money back. You might be able to pick your first investor, but you likely will not be able to pick the second one. You may hate their guts, but you’re stuck.”

With private equity or an outside investor, “You share the risk – but you share the returns,” Larsen says.

“We think we can do this on our own,” the Larsens concluded.

Well, that is – they could do it with the bank. Deciding that cash-only was too slow and an outside investor would be too overbearing, the only reasonable third option was debt.

“Debt is an accelerator – for better and for worse,” Larsen says. “We had to get good at managing the business and growing our company because with debt, you’re on the hook. You have to perform and deliver.”

Lawn Butler did just that.

Larsen describes the company’s financial approach as “offensive,” so banks never had to ask him to provide statements or stay compliant. “We approached the banks and negotiated lines of credit – and we approached them with the perspective that we wanted to continue to grow,” Larsen says.

Larsen fine-tuned Lawn Butler’s financial best practices, committing to detailed month-end reporting and meetings with managers to discuss performance. “Our average growth over the last 10 years has been 57%, so we had to produce 57% more working capital every year and service that debt,” he explains, adding that, “if you don’t know where you are financially, how can you make good decisions when it comes to debt?”

There was a point when Lawn Butler broke a debt covenant. “And, we were the first ones to tell the bank we broke it,” Larsen says. The company purchased a bunch of equipment from a different bank than the one that held its existing credit lines. “So, we had two banks,” he continues. “We went to the second bank and said, ‘We are going to break this covenant for about 90 days. Here are our projections. Here is what we are doing. We want you to know we are in total control of the situation and we are making a good decision.’”

“Every one of our processes has been developed because we learned the hard way. We started the business from nothing, and whenever we encountered a roadblock, we solved it by creating a process to bypass that situation.” Jena Larsen, Lawn Butler co-founder

Within 90 days, Lawn Butler went from breaking that covenant to dropping its debt to far below the required 3-to-1 ratio. After taking on the second loan, the company’s debt ratio was 5-to-1, higher than allowed. Post-90 days, its debt ratio was 1.8-to-1. The company had cut its debt to one-third of the total requirement.

Businesses need to think of debt as a responsibility to generate income, he says. “We weren’t just adding debt, we could service it with our customers because we understood that every customer generates X dollars, and every bit of debt is Y,” Larsen says. “(When) we increased our customer base, the X would outweigh the Y and we would be compliant.”

To further manage processes, Lawn Butler adopted Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. “We started tracking everything so we could review production data and performance numbers,” Larsen says.

Jena adds, “Every one of our processes has been developed because we learned the hard way. We started the business from nothing, and whenever we encountered a roadblock, we solved it by creating a process to bypass that situation.”

Larsen calls this five-year period of time in the business, “the years when we started making money."

Meanwhile, people were always central to Lawn Butler’s operation – and just as the company evolved its financial and production processes, it also paid close attention to how people were given opportunities to thrive.

As Vice President of Operations Clayton Phillips, who joined the team in 2011, describes: “Because we are like a family, we can be more open and direct with each other. As managers, we focus on a ‘sandwich system,’ which is to compliment something they are doing well, address the issues we need to talk about, and remind them we support them and want to see them succeed.”

Developing Culture of Family is a work in progress. “We always have to adapt and make changes as we grow,” Phillips says.

All about people.

The biggest change Larsen names is Lawn Butler’s intentional focus on people and doing what’s right for the team – even if that means doing things that would make a typical HR manager cringe.

Case in point: Lawn Butler does not have a PTO policy and never has.

“Our policy is, you take the time you need for your family and we expect you to show up and work and create a successful company – to do your part and carry your weight,” Larsen says. “And if you don’t, you won’t work here.”

To determine whether employees are “carrying their weight,” each crew member and manager is assigned a production goal that is measured monthly, quarterly and annually through the ERP system. If a team member is not meeting his or her goal, a manager will hold a meeting to find out what’s going on. “Sometimes, they have a good reason why – and we ask, ‘How can we help?’” Larsen says.

You’ll always have people who abuse freedom. Lawn Butler has a “slow, managed exit process” in those cases, where the company gives a team member who is underperforming a few chances to meet goals. Because production goals are based on specific job production times that have been tested and tweaked, they are realistic.

By managing performance and giving people the time they need when they need it, Larsen says 90% of the time team members make the right decisions on their own. “You empower people when you say, ‘I trust you to make the right decision.’”

Operating in Utah, where winters can demand long hours through the night for snow and ice removal, Larsen also expects that employees will give to the company. “We expect you to work with the company if we need you and it’s snowing at 2 a.m.,” Larsen says. “But when you need that same courtesy when it comes to time off, we will be there for you as well.”

Another key component of Lawn Butler’s Culture of Family philosophy is treating employees the same as customers. Twice a year, the company gives customers gifts like calendars or mugs, pens. “We decided we were going to buy the same things for our employees – our team is just as important as our customers,” Larsen says.

Every year, Lawn Butler hosts a family barbecue, a company swim party and multiple team-building events – axe-throwing, going to the movies, etc. Employees look forward to the annual holiday party. “These little things quantify into something much bigger,” Larsen says. “We hope it shows people we care about them – we genuinely care about them.”

This culture goes a long way toward attracting labor in a tough market. Specifically, Lawn Butler shows invested, hard-working individuals who are H-2B workers or interested in a work visa that the company cares by sponsoring their journey toward citizenship. It costs about $10,000 per permanent resident card. They move to the U.S. with their families and essentially take a loan from Lawn Butler to pay back some of the initial housing and setup expenses over time.

“It’s a long-term investment,” Larsen says of this project and recruiting, in general.

The last three years.

Just as wise debt is a growth accelerator for Lawn Butler, so is smart technology. After starting Smart Rain in 2012, an irrigation platform to help scale the company’s remote irrigation management business, Larsen began exploring other tech options.

Recently, Lawn Butler introduced a custom-built mobile app. It tracks photos and infield work, progress on jobs and prevents “time theft.” Previously, the company relied on paper time sheets that crewmembers filled out. The pay-per-day sheet had a significant human error risk, though. If an employee forgot to fill it out, he or she would not get paid. In addition, there was a risk to the business, too, if a team member wasn’t completely accurate since Lawn Butler is so focused on managing production time.

“When we implemented the mobile tracking app, we figured our guys would hate it, but they came back and said, ‘We like the app better!’” Larsen says. “I asked, ‘Why?’ They said, ‘We don’t have to spend time filling out paper day sheets.’ And, they are getting paid like clockwork because the recording is happening like clockwork.”

As for in-field technology, Lawn Butler invested $100,000 in a pilot robotics program and hired a dedicated employee to manage it. The company has a few commercial-grade mowers that also perform sidewalk clearing in winter. So far, customers are receptive.

“Everything we have figured from a dollar-savings perspective tells us this makes sense, and we are always looking at ways to reduce production times,” Larsen says. “We are looking at how we might be able to replace an individual for a task like mowing and use that person for another aspect of the business that generates more profit.”

All the hard worked paid off for the Larsens and their employees and has set the company up for even more growth. In April of 2020, Lawn Butler was acquired by Outworx Group, a facility services management company that’s part of the New York-based Mill Point Capital portfolio. Larsen will still be involved with Lawn Butler and has no plans of leaving anytime soon.

“I plan to stay engaged in helping them grow my company and their company into a successful industry leader,” he says. “I chose to partner with them because I felt at the time, and still do, that together we are much better than we are apart. We can do more and accomplish more in a shorter time then we could apart.”

Archadeck Outdoor Living

• Franchising since: 1980
• Average Initial Investment and what this covers: $130,000-$150,000 – Start-up capital (Home-based, minimal tools and equipment, software, launch marketing for the first year).
• Royalty fee: 6.5% on a sliding scale
• Franchise fee: $49,500
• Total investment: $130,000-$150,000
• Number of North American Locations: 66
• States/provinces with at least 1 franchise: 30
• Services offered: Residential custom design and build for outdoor living spaces including decks, sunrooms, screened porches, hardscapes, outdoor kitchens and pergolas
• Closures in the last three fiscal years: 5
• Hours of Training: 116 hours of classroom and 10 hours of field training
• Website: Archadeckfranchise.com and Archadeck.com

U.S. Lawns

• Franchising since: 1986
• Average Initial Investment and what this covers: Between $45,800 and $141,300 depending on type of franchise (standard vs. conversion) and desired operational model. Covers the first three months of operation and includes the franchise fee; initial marketing plan; training costs; deposits and payments for facility, truck, trailer and equipment and additional operating capital.
• Royalty Fee: Begins at 6% of gross monthly sales and declines to 5% and then 4% as certain revenue thresholds are achieved.
• Franchise Fee: Initial franchise fee is $34,0000 – discounts are available for existing landscape business operators looking to convert their business.
• Total Investment: Same as average initial investment listed above
• Number of North American Locations: 250
• Services offered: Core services includes maintenance, tree trimming; fertilization, lawn care and shrub and tree insect and disease control, lawn and ornamental consultation; irrigation services; installation of landscape materials; arborist services; and snow management and other snow-related services
• Closures in the last three fiscal years: 41
• Hours of Training: 47
• Website: uslawnsfranchise.com

Clintar

• Franchising since: 1982
• Average Initial Investment and what this covers: $400,000 - $600,000 covers set-up, real estate planning, training and operations and marketing.
• Royalty Fee: 8%
• Franchise Fee: $40,000
• Total Investment: $440,000 – $640,000
• Number of North American Locations: 26
• States/Provinces with at least 1 franchise: 6
• Services offered: Snow and ice control, landscape management, landscape enhancements, parking lot maintenance, other services such as window cleaning, noxious weed and invasive species control
• Closures in the last three fiscal years: 0
• Hours of Training: Seasonal
• Website: Clintar.com

Weed Man

• Franchising since: In Canada in 1976 and expanded to offer franchising to the United States in 1996.
• Average Initial Investment and what this covers: $69,490 - $86,550. Initial franchise fee, training expenses, travel, real estate improvements, equipment and fixtures, truck and spray package lease, computer hardware and software, insurance, miscellaneous operating costs and additional funds for three months.
• Royalty Fee: $12,558.98 annually for each of the first two production vehicles; $8,791.29 annually for the third production vehicle; and $6,279.49 annually for each subsequent production vehicle used during the year. Each year, these amounts may be adjusted for inflation, according to the Consumer Price index. The Base Year is Nov. 1, 1995. The amounts stated are for 2020.
• Franchise Fee: Single territory (population up to 150,000): $20,000; double territory (population up to 300,000): $33,750
• Total Investment: $69,490 to $86,550
• Number of North American Locations: 306 License Agreements & 683 Territory Counts
• Services offered: Fertilizer, weed control, insect control, mosquito control, aeration, seeding
• Closures in the last 3 fiscal years: 7
• Hours of training: 10-day training - 70 hours
• Website: Weedmanfranchise.com or Weedman.com

The Grounds Guys

• Franchising since: 2010
• Average Initial Investment and what this covers: $81,220 - $200,070. This includes the initial franchise fee, software, vehicle(s), equipment, supplies, inventory, insurance, local marketing and promotions, training, travel, lodging, deposits, permits licenses, real estate. The Grounds Guys estimated initial investment range includes the franchise fee; however, the initial franchise fee may vary depending on the size of the territory purchased.
• Royalty Fee: 5-6%
• Franchise Fee: $35,000 (minimum initial)
• Total investment: Not available
• Number of North American Locations: 213
• Services offered: Residential and commercial services include: lawn and bed maintenance; landscape and hardscape; pest, weed and fertilization, irrigation, outdoor lighting, snow and ice management; gutter cleaning
• Hours of Training: 110 hours over a 12-13 week onboarding process from signing to opening. Ongoing learning opportunities: 48-plus annual training opportunities, all day training events, weekly webinars and more.
• Websites: Franchise.groundsguys.com and Groundsguys.com

Freedom Lawns USA

• Franchising since: 2007
• Average Initial Investment and what this covers: Ranges from $45,000 - $60,000 excluding franchise fee. This includes vehicle, spray unit, computer software program, miscellaneous equipment, training, marketing, customized website, paper supplies, start-up product, insurance licensing.
• Royalty Fee: 6% - Also offers franchise owners an incentive program for reducing their monthly royalty based on annual growth.
• Franchise Fee: $15,000 - $25,000 based on territory
• Total Investment: $60,000 - $70,000
• Number of North American Locations: 11
• States/Provinces with at least 1 franchise: 4
• Services offered: Organic based lawn care, plant health care, natural mosquito control, many other optional lawn care services.
• Closures in the last three fiscal years: 1
• Hours of Training: 2 weeks- 80 hours- training is conducted at the corporate office and on franchise site
• Website: Freedomlawnsusa.com

Spring-Green Lawn Care

• Franchising since: 1977
• Average Initial Investment and what this covers: $87,424 – Franchise fee, down payment on vehicle and equipment, technology and software, opening supplies, initial marketing campaign, initial data fee, three months working capital.
• Royalty Fee: 10-8% (5-3% first season for qualifying green industry business)
• Franchise Fee: $25,000 with qualifying green industry business; ($40,000 without)
• Total Investment: $89,982-$106,262
• Number of North American Locations: 126 independently operated locations, plus 26 company owned locations
• States/Provinces with at least 1 franchise: 26
• Services offered: Lawn fertilization and weed control, lime treatment, lawn disease control, brown patch control, aeration and overseed, core aeration, grassy weed control, ornamental bed weed control, irrigation maintenance, moss control, root feeding, specialty injections, two-step tree program, perimeter pest control, mosquito mitigation, fire ant, control, flea and tick control, crane fly control, grub/subsurface insect control, surface feeding insect control (services may vary by region)
• Closures in the last three fiscal years: 3
• Hours of Training: 40
• Website: Spring-green.com

Outdoor Lighting Perspectives

• Franchising since: 1998
• Average Initial Investment and what this covers: $150,00 start-up capital (initial inventory, tools, equipment, launch marketing leasing program is available for the vehicle.)
• Royalty fee: 7% sales
• Franchise fee: $49,500
• Total investment: $150,000
• Number of North American locations: 90
• States/provinces with at least 1 franchise: 32
• Services offered: Residential LED low voltage lighting, holiday lighting (for commercial and residential) and commercial and hospitality lighting solutions
• Closures in the last three fiscal years: 19
• Hours of Training: 61 hours of classroom and 36 hours of field training
• Website: Outdoorlightingfranchise.com and Outdoorlights.com

NaturaLawn

• Franchising since: 1989
• Average Initial Investment and what this covers: Visit bit.ly/naturainvest
• Royalty Fee: Service fees start at 9% until you reach $500,000 annual revenue, and once $500,000 is achieved the fee drops to 7%. Service fees are based on deposits, not on sales.
• Franchise Fee: $29,500 (new start up) – for conversions (current lawn care companies) the fee is adjusted based on revenue. It could be as low as $9,500.
• Total Investment: $47,500 to $112,650 – depends on a new start-up vs a conversion.
• Number of North American Locations: 49 physical locations / 93 licenses
• Services offered: Lawn care, flea and tick, mosquito and aeration and seed
• Closures in the last three fiscal years: 0
• Hours of Training: Classroom 120 hours (3 weeks) and on the job 51-90.
• Website: Naturalawnfranchise.com and Naturalawn.com

Conserva Irrigation

• Franchising since: June of 2017
• Average Initial Investment and what this covers: First 90 days - $81,800 - $102,250 covers territory fee, travel for training, tools and equipment, computer hardware and software, inventory, storage, vehicle, vehicle signage, marketing investment and additional funds
• Royalty Fee: Tiered 8%, 7%, 6%, 5%
• Franchise Fee: First territory - $49,500; Second territory - $40,000
• Total Investment: Initial investment (first 90 days) - $81,800 - $102,250; Total Capital (first year) $150,000 - $200,000.
• Number of North American Locations: 105
• Services offered: For residential and commercial properties: Irrigation system installation, irrigation service and repair, irrigation annual/seasonal maintenance packages, annual inspection of backflow devices, government water rebate incentives, upgrading and retrofitting irrigation systems, system inspections and assessments, drainage solutions
• Closures in the last three fiscal years: 4 franchisees, 7 territories.
• Hours of Training: 10 days of training – 80 hours. 5 days in person; 5 days virtual
• Website: Conservairrigation.com

Nutrilawn Ecology Friendly Lawn Care/Mosquito.Buzz

• Franchising since: 1988
• Average Initial Investment and what this covers: N/A
• Royalty fee: 6%
• Franchise fee: $20,000
• Total Investment: $80,000 in working capital which is applied to start-up costs, marketing and equipment
• Number of North American Locations: 30
• Services offered: Lawn fertilization and weed control with additional services including overseeding, lawn renovation, irrigation; insect control – turf insects and mosquito, ticks; perimeter pest control
• Closures in the last three fiscal years: 0
• Hours of Training: 120 hours start up training plus ongoing e-training and support
• Website: Nutrilawn.com and Mosquito.buzz

Mowbot

• Franchising since: 2018
• Average Initial Investment and what this covers: $69,000 includes: franchise fee, opening assistance fee, initial equipment package.
• Royalty Fee: 7%
• Franchise Fee: $39,000
• Total Investment: $61,510 - $129,680
• Number of North American Locations: 17 franchises (total of 47 territories)
• States/Provinces with at least 1 franchise: 11
• Services offered: Robotic mowing services and additional lawn care and seasonal services (varies per location).
• Closures in the last three fiscal years: 0
• Hours of Training: 40
• Website: Mowbot.com and Mowbotfranchise.com