Mike Andes advises that large, one-off landscape contracts (e.g., $100,000 projects) carry high risk because they can leave a business cash-strapped during long sales/backlog periods. He prefers pursuing many small recurring mowing jobs (around $50–$60 each) because the steady, repeatable revenue is easier to grow slowly and is more recession-resistant.
$100,000
$50–$60 per job
Companies that go out of business a lot of times because they lost their shirt on a big deal. Look, I like $100,000 landscape projects too, but honestly, I'm still more motivated to go out and get the fifty sixty dollar mowing jobs because that fifty sixty dollars stays consistent. I can constantly grow the business at a very steady rate if I'm going after these massive jobs. I've seen it where people have a six month backlog and they don't sell anything for four months and they start pulling their hair out. Whereas with recurring jobs, yes, it's smaller. I don't get to grow the business as fast. However, I'm able to slowly build it, and in a recession that recurring revenue is much more sticky.
