Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
GreenPal is ‘Uber of lawn care’
On-demand service launches in Broward
The ride-sharing app Uber has spawned so many imitators, the phrase “Uber of ” has almost become a cliché:
JetSmarter is the “Uber of Private Jets.” SoFi is the “Uber of finance.” The Charmin tissue brand even introduced an on-demand mobile restroom last summer called van-Go, the “Uber of toilets.”
Well here’s one more. Five years ago, three friends from Nashville, Tenn., all working in the labor-intensive lawn service field, hatched an idea for an on-demand lawn-service platform.
“This was about the time that Airbnb, Uber and Lyft were getting attention,” said Gene Caballero. “We thought that if someone would rent their bedroom to a stranger, they’d certainly hire a lawn care service through an app.”
GreenPal, described by Caballero as the “Uber of lawn care,” was born. The company, which
says it will log 70,000 transactions totaling nearly $5 million in 2017, recently expanded to South Florida, its 17th market. Users can sign up by going to GreenPal.com or downloading an iPhone or Android app.
Like the other “Ubers of,” the concept behind GreenPal is simple.
Cabellero says, “You go on the app [or website] and list your lawn. You enter your address and the day you want it mowed.”
After users type their name, address, email address and choose a password, they tell the app when they want their lawn mowed, when it was last mowed, and how much detail they expect [choices are “just knock it down,” “I like the lawn neat,” and “I want it to be perfect”].
A standard job entails “mowing, edging and blowing,” Caballero said.
After a customer clicks the “Get My Lawn Mowed” button, available vendors instantly receive a message with the square footage of the lot, a Google Street View image of the house, and a Google satellite image of the property.
Within minutes, bids start arriving via email or text.
After selecting a vendor, customers are prompted to enter credit card information. After the lawn is mowed, the vendor sends a photo of the completed job, and the app asks customers to rate the service, OK the payment, and decide whether to continue using the vendor.
Customers dissatisfied with the service can solicit bids twice more during the year.
GreenPal currently has a roster of 2,000 vendors and is growing at a rate of 200 percent a year, Caballero said. In Nashville, the company’s original market, the app has 300 vendors and 15,000 customers, he said.
More than 125 vendors are grossing $50,000 or more a year through the platform, he said.
Although GreenPal was created primarily to help lawn care businesses, the platform makes hiring a lawn service easier for customers as well, Caballero said.
Customers in search of a lawn service no longer have to hunt through Craigslist, he said, or approach a service parked in front of their neighbor’s house.
For lawn service providers — most of whom are sole proprietors or have a small number of employees — GreenPal removes the burden and expense of marketing their service and eliminates the hassle of figuring out how they’re going to get paid.
Roger Ibarra, who signed up with GreenPal after the service was launched in Orlando last spring, said he used to promote his business, BBI Lawn Care, through Facebook, Craigslist, and another service that would find him jobs but keep half of the money.
“Since I started with GreenPal, I dumped everyone else,” he said.
GreenPal takes 5 percent and a 3 percent credit card processing fee, which comes out to $3.60 for a typical $45 mow job, he said.
The extra customers and time saved marketing and collecting payments has enabled Iberra to double the number of lawns he can handle in a day, he said.
“I’m used to having to follow up and chase my money,” he said. Each customer wanted a different arrangement. Some would pay by check. Some would pay by cash. Some would hand him their credit card. If a customer isn’t home at mow time, they’d have to work out where to leave the check.
GreenPal eliminates the payment issue, Ibarra said.
GreenPal has generated $20,000 worth of work since March, and he expects to double that next year, enabling him to buy a second truck and trailer and hire a couple of new helpers.
When GreenPal decides to expand to a new market, Caballero says he searches Facebook and other online portals, then reaches out via email, Messenger or phone until he lines up at least 20 vendors in that market.
In South Florida, 22 vendors have signed up in Broward County and 25 in Miami-Dade County. He said he’ll launch the service in Palm Beach County after signing up 20 vendors there.
In Fort Lauderdale, recent GreenPal recruit Nick Duncanson said he’s excited about what GreenPal can offer his business, Ace Lawn Care.
He said Caballero “called me one day and told me about it. He gave me details about what he’s trying to do — help out lawn businesses. GreenPal is what every lawn service advertising company says they can do but never actually does it.”