Finding someone to trim your hedges, water your plants, and mow your lawn is easier these days thanks to an application called GreenPal.
The GreenPal app first launched in Nashville, Tennessee, about 10 years ago, and now some Fresno area businesses are using it to attract new clientele.
Ted Furnish, owner of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Lawn Services in Kerman, says he’s been using the app for a couple of years after being approached by GreenPal.
“They were starting to open up the Fresno market and I was one of the first vendors they reached out to,” said Furnish. “They basically explained it to me as Uber for lawn care. It’s been good for us. It’s been good for the company.”
How Does it Work?
Furnish explains that customers looking for help with lawn maintenance and landscaping will usually upload a photo of their lawn with a description of the service they want.
Lawn care companies are quickly invited to bid on the job. And, then it’s up to the customer to choose who to hire based on quotes, prices, and ratings.
GreenPal says that it screens vendors for commercial landscaping equipment and references — and rates them according to customer reviews.
Despite the app’s easy accessibility and usability, Furnish warns against up-and-coming businesses relying solely on the app.
“It’s not well known, so I think that’s a factor … word of mouth and our tie dye trailers seem to spread more about us than that,” said Furnish. “But it is good to pick up stuff here and there as it comes up.”
Furnish and his father started a landscaping business almost 20 years ago. After attending college for wrestling, Furnish came back to the Valley and took over in 2015.
Since then, they have built a long list of loyal customers, and their prices really depend on the area code, says Furnish.
GreenPal takes a cut of about 8% from companies that land jobs through the app.
Here is the link to the Fresno GreenPal website.
How the App Started
After witnessing the success of user-friendly apps, Brian M. Clayton and three partners launched the landscaping application in 2012. Since the GreenPal has serviced more than 1 million homes through more than 30,000 landscaping professionals in 48 U.S. states.
Two years ago, GreenPal added snow removal companies in northern cities such as Boston, Detroit, and Spokane, Washington.
