I think we're on to something here

Gas-powered lawn mowers, are they worth it?

For years, homeowners and professionals alike have found gas-powered lawn mowers and trimmers to be the most effective method of maintaining a healthy lawn. Unfortunately, the convenience provided by this equipment comes at a cost. Most lawn care equipment is loud, polluting and contributes to poor air-quality, high smog levels, and ozone depletion. Not to mention being woken up by a neighbor mowing their lawn at the crack of dawn is the worst way to start your day.  

• According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a new gas-powered lawn mower produces as much pollution as 11 cars for every hour of use
• 
  Every year, millions of gallons of gasoline are spilled while filling up lawn mowers and trimmers
• According to the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse (NPC), a typical gas-powered mower can produce the 85 to 90 decibels of noise, audible from a quarter mile away.
• The sound level produced can cause hearing damage after only 15 minutes of use

What can you do to help?

Elevation Yard Care is the only company of its kind in Broomfield. We are committed to offering customers a GREEN alternative for their lawn mowing services. Here at Elevation, we exclusively use reel-powered lawn mowers. These aren't the heavy, clunky reel-mowers of the past; a resurgence in environmental consciousness has brought these mowers back to market with improved technology for easier and more efficient lawn mowing. In addition, the rapid increase in battery technology over the last few years allows us to use quiet, non-polluting, battery powered trimmers while still providing the same level of effectiveness as a traditional gas powered trimmer.

• Reel-powered mowers are quieter, lighter and less damaging to your lawn
  
• The cutting action of reel-powered mowers shears the blades of grass instead of the tearing action of traditional mowers, resulting in a healthier happier lawn
• Our battery powered trimmers eliminate the obnoxious noise level typically associated with gas-powered trimmers
• All of our equipment is pollution-free
• We only use high-grade natural fertilizers for your lawn

Elevation Yard Care isn’t just a lawn mowing company, we are a team of individuals committed to providing the highest quality of service to our customers while maintaining and promoting our commitment to creating a greener earth.

Fear Kills Success

Telling people you plan on starting a business incites a broad range of reactions ranging from a burst of excitement to downright dismissive, but one thing I hear often is, "I wish I would do something like that." When I first began hearing this it became obvious that these people have probably thought about following through on one of their big ideas but have a hard time taking those first steps involved in committing themselves to a project.

We all know building a business is challenging but overcoming the fear of failure can be the most challenging step of all. After all that's the point where most ideas stay to wither away and die.

A piece of advice I've heard often is "It's time to do something even if its wrong." Never trying anything is guaranteed failure, but every effort put forth has the chance of succeeding.

So What's Happening?

Wednesday, March 20:
Began listening to Dan and Ian from the lifestyle business podcast. Started my journey down the road of income independence. Everyone should give these dudes a listen and absorb the wisdom the is Rip, Pivot, and Jam.

Friday, March 22:
After a frantic couple days churning out an endless stream of flowcharts for my operations class,  I finally had time to sit down and apply some of what I had been hearing from the podcast. Leveraging my existing skills and contacts, I noticed a potential opportunity doing lawn and garden care. That night I sat down with my assistant entrepreneur Scott to start putting the pieces together.

Sat. 23rd - Mon. 25th:
With ADD hyperfocus kicking in and coffee coursing through my veins, I spent these 3 days re-learning Wordpress and developing the website, with Dan and Ian feeding me their ever so satisfying knowledge in the background. The logo was developed during this time as well as registering as an llc.

Wed. 27th:
I used this day to take a shot at deal-making with the owner of a garden center I've worked for over the last few years. She is the now owner of a bunch of beaten up lawn care and landscaping equipment from the previous owner. I've used the equiptment before and it works alright, but more than anything I was wanting to provide some value to her in  hopes of further developing what could be a profitable relationship.

Thurs, March 28th - Sat, March 30th:
Started fussing over SEO and online marketing strategies. Not a good use of time this early in the game.

Sunday, April 1st:

Last year I tried pitching an idea for a new website for the garden center, built by me and for cheap. I wanted nothing more than a quick buck and some experience building Wordpress sites but every time I brought it up to the owner I received the same response, "we don't have the budget for a new website." No. You don't have the budget to keep the maintaining that website you already have that looks like it was pulled straight out of a 1995 html how-to guide.

I went in to the garden center again this Sunday to speak with the owner about building the website again but I took a very different approach. Last year I came to the owner asking to be paid for a service that she didn't request and I wasn't able to establish a significant enough value proposition. This year I offered to build the website for free. Offering such a valuable and time consuming service at a time when I have no income to support me was a challenging pill to swallow, but it serves to advance a larger set of goals. Building the garden center a free website such a his accomplishes several things for me.

1. Sets a concrete goal forcing me further develop my Wordpress skills.
2. Creates value for myself in that I will be the only one who knows how to operate the website.
3. Builds an avenue where I can pursue other projects like developing their mission and vision and developing effective marketing strategies.
4. Allows me to strategically position myself as an essential piece of their process of doing business.
5. Gives me leverage if I can show the website is producing income.

After listening to Dan and Ian on the lifestyle business podcast, they hit a home run when they made the point that an entrepreneur is a giver. He creates ten times the value that he earns on any given day. I tried to sell my website design as a freelancer and it didn't work. Now i'm going to help them grow their business.

elevationyardcare.com
elevationyardcare.com/shellysgardencountry/home

I don't make a very good cog in the machine...

Smart people make shitty worker-bees.

As my Sophomore year of college wraps up most of my friends are searching for summer jobs and internships, either to make some spending money or to gain enough work experience to attract a top level employer one day, or both. For them it makes sense, they are in search of a job that will pay them a comfortable salary and allow them to move up in position as their skills and knowledge progress and they become more and more valuable to the company. They will become so invested in the company that it would never think of terminating such a valuable employee, not after all these years and all they've done for the company. And then they are let go 2 years before retirement.

A one and done career path, to me seems like the riskiest investment anyone can make. We live in an unbelievably complex and dynamic world, developing a highly specific skill sets is a very poor waste of energy when your skill set can easily be replaced by a more efficient person or process. It's important to focus on developing a wide range of skills and different angles of intelligence. Make yourself broad so that you support a wide range of activities and you will become valuable and indispensable.

The Website Isn't The Product

This is the website as of today. The home page is looking better as it evolves but it still needs a personal touch and a polished look before I'll be happy with it. I like the look and direction but I still need a clear audience to target. I need to find a niche. Scott Weiss kicked ass making the logo today, never having tried creating a logo in Photoshop before. 








Since quitting my job and starting this project, I've felt better and thought more positively about the future than I have in a long time. Maybe that's just because it's only been a week since my last day and I haven't been slapped in the face by reality yet. 

One component that still hasn't been worked out is where exactly I can purchase all the necessary equipment to run this business. A garden center that I held a job with for the last two summers canceled their lawn mowing and landscaping services this year and now has mowers, leaf blowers, edgers, trimmers, shovels, pruners, everything I would need to get this business off the ground.

The Website is Functional

After quitting my job last week it seemed obvious to me that continuing to place myself into entry level worker bee positions in industries that I have no interest being in is a terrible investment of my time. I'll never be happy or successful working for someone else, but I might find happiness working to meet my own goals and finding my own success. It's time for me to begin building my business.

After a day or two of soul searching I settled on a home yard care service. I'm an expert in the field already so 'it's an obvious choice for my first business. Checking out the competition online, the local lawn care services put a negligible amount of energy into their website. They likely don't have the knowledge or skill to utilize the web to their advantage, but I do and Elevation Yard Care will be different.

Here is one local competitior
And another

Both sites are grossly over-informational and Brunner divulges too much about their prices but in all reality it probably doesn't matter because these companies aren't trying to send traffic to their website. They don't realize that in the digital age, your website is the face of your business when it has no physical location (or even when it does)

Here is my work in progress

It's got a long way to go but I'm still learning how to use Wordpress and by no means am I expecting a polished product right away but the website is already looking professional-ish and I've got a clear vision for the final product I need to get this business off the ground.