To me, and this is just a suggestion, but I would sacrifice some margins and pay the lead and crew more. I would say a good lead should make $200-$300/ per day in a good (50+ client situation), and a crew member needs to make $150-$200. These are ballparks but that type of money will keep people around for a long time and motivate them to excel and provide work that's set apart. That would put a lead around 25-30 per her, and a crew member around 17-20. Obviously the lead would need to be someone with experience and who can find more leads and clients to scale. Also, I'm not sure on your setups but consider more hardscapes and flower bed designs, tree planting, with a half or full sized dump trailer mainly for dirt, etc.
There are many variables such as, are you frequently using yard signs, door hangers etc. Have you focused on driving leads to a website for interested clients to fill out work inquiry forms, do you have a good website, etc. Do you have at least 15 5-star reviews on social media platforms, or a high rating? Are you using top-of-the-line commercial grade equipment? Do you drop the lowest paying clients, clients who maybe have issues with paying on time, clients who constantly ask for unwarranted discounts, prioritizing clients who get added to weekly and bi-weekly schedules, etc. Changing work orders on the fly, even periodic price increases, charging more money for things such as overgrowth, etc.
Thanks for the advice—I really appreciate you taking the time!
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TL;DR of my core questions:
Benefits: Any recommendations for Health Care Spending Account or group benefit providers that work for seasonal crews?
Marketing: How do others handle marketing—contractor, agency, or in-house hire?
Growth: Should we transition maintenance staff into project work, or build a separate crew for hardscaping/design?
Scaling: How do you start a new division while still managing day-to-day operations?
Structure: Where do you begin with delegation/accountability charts, and what is the first key hire to enable growth?
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We’re already paying crew leads at or above your suggested rates. We’re also exploring Health Care Spending Accounts, as traditional group benefits don’t seem feasible yet—especially with a seasonal workforce. If anyone has recommendations for providers, I’d love to hear them.
It’s reassuring to know we’re on track with your other suggestions as well.
On the marketing side, it’s becoming too much for me to manage alongside everything else. I have a background in interactive/graphic design, so I’ve handled it in-house, but I don’t enjoy it—especially the SEO side—and time is limited. We’re currently using a Jobber site (previously I built a WordPress site). I’d be interested to hear how others handle marketing—contractors, agencies, in-house hires, etc.
We do have a few inconsistent payers, but they’re smaller maintenance jobs, so it’s manageable. A bigger challenge is that we’ve built a dense base of recurring lawn care clients. We’re not the cheapest, but not the highest-priced either, even after consistent rate increases.
I feel like we’ve maxed out on maintenance and want to shift toward larger projects (hardscaping, design, softscaping). The question is whether to train our current crew for that or build a separate team. If it’s a new crew, I’m unsure how to start while still managing daily operations—quoting, scheduling, materials, etc.
That’s really the bottleneck: we’re stuck managing maintenance, which limits our ability to grow beyond it. I’ve looked into accountability charts (via the Jobber podcast), but I’m not sure where to begin—what to delegate, to whom, and what the first hire should be to create space for growth. Any advise with where to start?
