As Harvard Business Review states, about 22.4 million users annually start using on-demand services, and they spend over USD 57.6 billion on these services. It means the on-demand economy grows and prospers. New apps are created, new niches are revealed.
In regions like North America, lawn mowing apps occupy the market, and they become a good startup idea if you want to create something new. We will show you how to start a lawn mowing business and what your app should contain.
In this article, we want to present a concept of a lawn mowing app that can be your potential product. Cadabra Studio’s design team created it, using catchy icons and navigating illustrations to show how your future lawn mowing app may look. Read on to see more examples below.
What Is An On-Demand Lawn Mowing App?
We think the purpose of lawn mowing apps is quite clear. Many people have their lawns in front of their dwellings or the backyard. And they need to take care of them, mow in summer, and do snow shoveling in winter. However, it takes a lot of time, owners can be very busy, and the neglected lawns will look poor and make the area look abandoned.
Modern technologies allow managing entire buildings and factories, so the issue of a well-kept lawn shouldn’t be a problem. And anyone thinking about how to start a mowing business can use process automation to improve customer service. The main question is how to combine simple daily activities with the benefits of advanced technology.
That is where on-demand lawn mowing apps come to the rescue. Lawn owners or moving business owners download it, find a lawnmower who can go and tidy up the lawn. No wonder that lawn care apps are also called “Uber for lawn mowing.” Lawn care apps can also provide additional services, but it depends on the app.
This article may be interesting for you: Uber-like App Development (Taxi app)
Why Does It Become Trendy?
As noted above, yard work is not the favorite thing people strive to do after a tiring week. Previously, it was much more challenging to find a lawnmower. Newspapers ads — that is everything lawn owners could rely on. But times are changing, and digital technologies run the show. And on-demand mowing app development was just a matter of time.
Where there’s demand, there’s supply, you know. Today people are ready to pay for making their lawns clean and good-looking. Other people are willing to mow lawns and get money for it. Lawn care apps help connect both parties. So starting a lawn mowing business is far from being a bad idea.
How Does An App For Lawn Care Business Work?
If you plan to create an app for a lawn care business, you need to know the functionality principle and understand how it works. Usually, lawn mowing apps perform three simple steps as follows:
Post lawn information. Lawn owners need to post the info about their lawn, indicate the address and photo. It will take a few minutes, and then they can proceed to the next step.
List and find a lawnmower. There is a list of lawnmowers, and users can check their ratings, read reviews about them, and even check their equipment. Also, some apps allow users to compare prices to find the best quote.
Schedule and pay. Once you chose a lawnmower, you schedule a mowing time, make a booking, and then pay. Funds will be reserved, and service providers will get them only when the work is completed.
It is also worth paying attention to the target audience’s needs. This directly affects the software logic. Lawn care business apps created specifically for work with large customers (office buildings, sports complexes, etc.) require more advanced and expanded functionality, special industrial scale equipment and multiple-steps control. At the same time, software for household use has somewhat simpler functionality and a less loaded service-payment system.
Benefits Of Lawn Mowing Apps
Although you already know that apps for the lawn care business are beneficial for both parties, we would like to list the primary advantages substantively.
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Easy scheduling. Users can schedule time for lawn care using their mobile devices. Moreover, the time can be changed or canceled if necessary, with a few clicks.
Status tracking. Most lawn care apps make it possible to monitor work progress and even track it in real-time mode.
Convenient communication. Users may chat with service providers via an integrated chat system or use a phone to call them directly.
Processes automation. Once users fill out the required forms, they can schedule and book lawn care faster with a few clicks. Also, it is possible to create a template and make automated bookings monthly/yearly. No human errors or time slips: everything is simple and fast.
- Lower business expenses. As you can see, automation of business processes is a must in today’s competitive world. A quality app allows you to significantly reduce costs for personnel, planning, quality control, etc. This software also makes concluding a lawn care “agreement” extremely fast, significantly reducing time spent.
Contribution to customer satisfaction and fruitful cooperation. Customers can write down all crucial information concerning lawn care and related processes, so service providers can check it and keep up with it. The better the work is done, the more chances the customer will contact the same specialist again.
So, the lawn mowing app is a convenient tool for improving business processes, reducing costs, automating interaction with clients and customer support. In fact, such software allows you to free yourself from running routine tasks and concentrate on more important things.
Top Examples Of On-Demand Lawn Mowing Apps
What is unique about existing lawn care apps? Lawnmower on-demand application development implies that you need to use competitors’ apps and delve deeper into their functionality.
Lawn Buddy
Lawn Buddy app is targeted at lawn care professionals teams where a team manager can communicate with customers and manage their team of lawnmowers and relevant specialists. When the job is completed, the manager sends an invoice to customers. Lawn Buddy has route optimization for getting the fastest way to do the job, crew tracking feature, and even marketing tools to attract more customers.
Plowz&Mowz
The app was created in the USA in 2013. It works all over the US and Canada regions, and it allows users to find lawn and landscaping services nearby. The app provides a wide range of services like snow plowing, gardening, lawn mowing, mulch delivery, trimming, fertilization, etc. A rich user interface and thought-out UX made the Plowz&Wowz app one of the most popular ones.
LawnGuru
Another app for US-based citizens. LawnGuru makes it possible for users to enter their addresses and use automated measuring tools to get instant pricing. The same as Plowz&Wowz, the range of services of LawnGuru is not limited to lawn mowing only. Users can find all services related to yard improvement.
As we can see, all these products are united by a wide but relatively concise functionality aimed at a specific target audience. Also, every successful app for lawn care business is about communicating effectively with customers and responding quickly to their inquiries. All this together provided by a professional interface design that takes into account the tiniest details and possible user wishes.
How Can You Monetize A Lawn Care App Like Uber?
Gaining a profit is the primary goal of any app development. Lawn mowing apps like Uber let you monetize them in two ways, and you can even choose both of them.
In-app advertisement. This is a widespread monetization practice in the majority of apps. That is why you can start integrating ads into your app. Remember that advertising in your app must be unobtrusive since it will make customers abandon your app and find something better.
Fixed fee. When users pay for hired services, a fixed percentage of the amount will be transferred to you as an app owner. The percentage can be changed if the number of users is growing.
- Hourly-based payments. You can set hourly prices for the services you offer. This payment method may be more convenient for some customers because they know exactly what they are paying for.
Don’t forget that part of your app’s monetization and bottom line of successful lawn care business profitability is the unique proposition to users. The software should provide an unforgettable user experience combined with essential features.
How To Start Up A Lawn Care Business And Must-Have Features To Include
If you want to build an on-demand mowing app wisely and avoid failures, we recommend following a specific algorithm of actions. We have prepared steps for you to consider and a list of features for your lawn care app.
Research Comes First
The process of starting a lawn mowing business is no different from starting any other product: each option requires a deep and comprehensive research of the environment. Your target market is the battleground for customers and their loyalty.
So, know your competitor. And know your user. It is an established truth to remember. You should analyze competitor’s apps and spell everything out to make your app better than they did. Also, you need to focus on apps that people in your region use. If you enter the market with a new proposition, you must understand the target audience’s demand and the value your app brings.
Diversify Categories Of Lawn Care
If you want to stand out among competitors, your app should provide additional services apart from lawn mowing. At least, gardening and snow shoveling as well. The more services your app offers, the more users and services providers it has. And it directly impacts profit and accessibility.
Besides, add a rewards-based payment system with gamification. That is, users may be rewarded for cashless payments, for example. Or the gamified payment process may be an additional source of bonuses and discounts. Don’t be afraid to experiment with your app.
Hire A Customer Care Team
Do you remember that almost all on-demand apps like Uber have customer support features? In case of disputes or controversies between user and service provider, the team helps resolve all problems encountered. That is what your app should have — a support team.
The number of employees will depend on the app size. But you must keep in mind that users don’t like to wait — they want to get the assistance right away. Thus, ensure instant help to your audience in case it needs one.
Let Users Navigate Through Your App Easily
Design is what all users will pay attention to first. High usability of user interface and simple navigation — users want your app to be accessible and transparent. On-demand lawn mowing services are predominantly created using green and white colors (associated with grass), you can do the same. However, designers can add unique UI and special features to make your app stand out.
Also, your lawn business app should provide an exceptional, ultimate user experience. It’s about a convenient, joyful and straightforward journey leading clients to the services they need. That is why UI/UX design is so important: it is the main guide for the customer.
As you can see in the picture of our lawn mowing concept, it doesn’t contain redundant elements. Our designers strove to make the onboarding process more intuitive — a large thematic icon, call to action, and button to start. This is what your app must be — encourage customers to start using your app.
Find A Development Team
You need to hire software developers who will build your app. As a rule, development companies provide all-in-one services — UI/UX design, software development, quality assurance. The Cadabra Studio team often creates products from scratch, and we know how this process works.
Another advantage of cooperation with a development company is that designers and developers communicate tightly, so your product is created in a close-knit team where all processes are well-established.
As for the development platform, we recommend starting with a landing page that will contain basic info about your product and a call-to-action button to download the mobile app. For a start, it can be an iOS app only. When the app gains momentum, you can order the development of the Android version additionally.
App Store Optimization (ASO)
When the app is released, it is not the end. You must optimize your app for the app store to provide it with a higher rank. ASO, or App Store Optimization, is the set of activities that lets you promote your app in Google Play and App Store, depending on the software platform.
ASO includes text and graphic optimization. Text optimization means that you will use relevant keywords so that users can find your app. Graphic optimization implies the use of icons, video, screenshots to capture the attention of users. If you do everything right, your app will beat the competition in search results.
However, for efficient ASO, you must not forget that your app should be unique and it isn’t a clone of existing competitors. And if you use templates and app builders for lawn mowing app development, you won’t get custom functionality and a wide range of features. That is why we recommend you cooperating with software developers like Cadabra Studio to create an exceptional and outstanding product from scratch.
How much will it cost to build your lawn mowing app? Get in touch with Cadabra Studio to get a detailed estimate.
Must-Have Features For Your Lawn Care App
Lawn mowing services must be created in two versions — for users and mowers. However, their features won’t be too different. We will list all general basic features for the lawnmower on-demand application development you may be interested in.
Lawn info. You need to add more information about your lawn — address, amount of acres, photos, etc. You can see the example created by Cadabra Studio in the picture below. Our designers’ intention was to make a UX as simple as possible to optimize the interaction between the user and the app.
Search. Let users find lawn care service providers nearby. You can also add a mapping feature to locate specialists right on the map in real-time mode. Search is the essential feature any app must include.
Filter. If your app provides a few services, add a filter that will help users sort them by category, price, location, etc. The filter example is in Cadabra Studio’s concept below. Users can select the type of work they need at the moment. With the help of simple but comprehensible illustrations, this process becomes interactive and convenient.
Customer support. Interaction with the customer support team is an integral part of your service. Apart from communication with humans, you can also add an AI-based chatbot to answer frequently asked questions. It will be a more expensive option, but it will reduce the number of recurrent questions.
Push notifications. The app will inform users or service providers about all activities. It prevents both parties from opening the app every minute and checking the feedback/status/update.
Scheduling. Users can schedule lawn care at the time suitable for them. In turn, service providers may accept or reject the appointment. For lawn care services, the correct scheduling without overlaps is critical because it’s an element of customer satisfaction.
Payment. Customers should be able to send payments, while specialists can receive payments when the job is done and the customer confirms it. Payments processing must be performed via reliable payment gateways like Braintree, Stripe, PayPal.
Status update. The update of status notifies users on what stage their order is. A new order, in progress, or completed — it is much more convenient rather than spending time for permanent visual inspection of lawn condition.
Chat. Text or video chat is required for communication between users and lawn care specialists or customer care employees.
Ratings/reviews. Once the job is completed, the user can rate a specialist and leave a review. The rating system helps other users find the best professional. Such a feature will help you get closer to the user, understand his needs, preferences and requirements.
Social login. The app will contain a personal profile for each user and lawn care service provider, so they need to sign up and create their accounts. The authorization process will become faster if social media profiles are used. Let both parties log in using their Facebook/Google/Twitter accounts.
Admin panel. This feature will be helpful for you as an app owner. The admin panel will be available in the web version as a CMS (content management system). Admin functions let you edit the app, change pricing, services, manage all users, etc. Such functionality is indispensable for fast changes management, which is crucial for most lawn care businesses
Note! We have presented our concept design for a few features only, but our goal was to show you the example of your future lawn mowing app. If you need one, we can implement the app according to your needs, and the feature list can be extended.
It’s not enough to own a lawn care business; you’ll have to manage it successfully, which means adapting your services to your customer’s needs and constantly updating your app.
Ideas For Future Or How To Achieve More With Your App
You always need to update your app and provide users with more exciting features. Besides, the app should keep up with modern trends. However, it doesn’t mean that all innovative technologies must be integrated into your app right now. One or two technologies may be enough if they are correctly applied.
Artificial intelligence. AI remains one of the most popular technologies in recent years. And lawn mowing app can use AI for voice recognition, automated photo classification (for example, the system can identify what type of service your lawn needs). Besides, machine learning algorithms can be applied in chatbots to reduce the customer support team’s workload.
Augmented reality. Remember Pokemon Go fever? Many people ran around the city to catch a rare pokemon with their smartphone and app. It is not so popular today, but augmented reality technology still remains. With AR tech, your lawn mowing app can show customers how their lawn will be cleaned, what tools can be used, etc. AR is not used for gaming only anymore.
Scalability. If you ever decide to integrate any tech mentioned above (or any other), your app must be scalable. That is, it must be flexible enough to add new features faster, and developers won’t need to rebuild the whole app.
Web app. You also need to consider web application development — “lawn mowing services” is a popular request in Google search engine. You can build a progressive web app that doesn’t require installation. So users can order mowing services via the web app. Check more info about the benefits of PWA and how it differs from native apps.
The landscaping business is as competitive as any other. And implementing the right technologies gives you very important trumps that dramatically change the game. The assistance of skilled developers will be mandatory if you don’t want to fail. That is why you should contact Cadabra Studio to make your project right. You also can find out about our experience in app development here.
The Cost Of Starting A Lawn Care Business
Even when you know how to start up a lawn mowing business, you might be interested in the final cost of lawn care service development. Its cost will depend on the number of additional features, the user interface’s complexity like animated design, number of platforms, etc.
If you need a rough estimate, you can look at the info below.
The average hourly rate at Cadabra Studio is $35-50 per hour. UI/UX design creation may take 70 hours minimum and 150 hours maximum. Thus, the design cost will be $2.4-3.5K (minimum) and $5.2-7.5K (maximum).
The development process will include the features we listed above, and the total cost of an essential MVP development of the lawn mowing app (including design cost) may be within the $28-35K range.
However, note again that the estimate is rough, and it is impossible to calculate the cost of your app until you provide us with detailed project requirements.
So we need to calculate the cost of your Uber for lawn care app development when we have all your requirements and expectations. Our business development managers will provide you with all the required information on cost, timelines, tech stack and answer all your questions. Contact us at any time!
