03/23/2026
Shop local, Use local! You see it everywhere and it's hard to understand why in so many cases. Let's dig into the why..
Local businesses typically cost more than the national chains, we all know the ones but we never know the why. Here is some insight from this local company on why it is.
My landscaping company needs to declare so much. We are continually having to buy and sell the equipment we use to get our business through daily tasks. The towns we have our business in charge a property tax for the equipment we use on your property. So our mowers, blowers, shovels, plows, rakes, or anything not registered with wheels that travel on the roads and highways. This includes and isn't limited to the paper we buy, computers we use and pens. We are supposed to declare it all to the town so they can assess the value of our business. This is a separate tax we pay and on top of the price of doing actual business. Larger companies that have excavation equipment, loaders and so on pay the same tax rate as the car in your driveway.
Brand new mowers like we bought (2) last year are 15,500 each. We wanted to get more efficient and that costs us money. Those huge ride on blowers cost 16,000, back back blowers we use yr round are 900, the gas we use in them today is 3.99 gl + another 1.50-3.00 for 2 stroke oil, the gas in the mowers/stand on is 14 gls for each machine in which we use at least 5-7 gallons per machine a day. Our workers make 20+ an hr. This is why we charge what we do, after all of what we just shared we have to make a profit. We do, and in 4 years of owning this company we haven't raised prices. At the same time we won't lower our prices either, like ever. We know our value, we know our quality and we deliver!
Our model last year was about doing more for our customers and chasing less. It worked and the proof is in how we were able to service our accounts.
What hurts us the most? Out of town and uninsured business. Folks that have zero connection to the community and definitely aren't paying taxes or insurance. These are the guys willing to do the job for 30-50% less and you think you are getting a deal. And how couldn't you when the price is the biggest thing that matters to most people. I understand we all have rising costs and bills to pay. I do as well. We set our prices cause we pay unemployment insurance, the workman's comp insurance, business insurance and all the taxes on our trucks/trailers as well. Your local businesses put money back into the community in a variety of different ways. We for example sponsor many sports teams in town, volunteer coach and spend money at local restaurants owned by local folks. That in turn gives the local workers money and keeps commerce alive. When you hire another company from out of town, they only care about whatever money they can get for the time they are on your property. They aren't companies that last for too long. Is this true for all of them, no it's not, but the % shows the proof of that.
Customers who hire based on $ alone are always looking for a new guy. Doesn't matter the season, but we aren't about just one and done or chasing accounts. We want to build relationships with our customers and be a part of saving them time and relieving some stress out of their lives. As we are about to start our 4th season in business we are waiting only for mother nature to show us a better window.
This week we start moving around equipment. We serviced all of our stuff at the end of last season and all we have to do is add on a couple of cool things to make our lives easier.
See you all out there soon enough!
