Guides
The monthly numbers a lawn care business owner should watch
Lawn care KPIs worth a monthly hour: eight measures with exact definitions, the arithmetic behind each, and the decision each one is supposed to trigger.
What to take away
- Eight measures are enough. Each one has a decision attached, or it is not tracked.
- Define the boundaries of every measure in writing, or month-to-month comparisons are noise.
- Compare against the same month last season, never against last month, because the season moves everything.
- Two of the eight are leading measures and the rest are lagging. Know which is which.
- A measure with no decision attached should be dropped at the next review.
Dashboards in this trade tend to fill with numbers that nobody acts on. What follows is a short list, each with a definition precise enough to compute the same way twice, and each tied to a specific decision. The records that produce them are described in the software and measurement guide.
One: stops per crew day
Definition: completed stops divided by crew days worked. A property attempted and abandoned is an exception, not a stop.
Stops Per Crew Day
- completed stops ÷ crew days worked
- abandoned property = exception, not a stop
- falling figure = longer properties or more drive time
Decision it triggers: route resequencing, or a conversation about whether a day is overloaded. A falling figure with the same route means either properties are taking longer or drive time has grown.
Two: drive time per stop
Definition: total route driving minutes divided by completed stops, where the drive belongs to the stop it arrives at.
Drive Time Per Stop
- total route driving minutes ÷ completed stops
- drive belongs to the stop it arrives at
- leading indicator of margin erosion
Decision it triggers: whether to move, reprice, or release outlying customers. This is the leading indicator of margin erosion in a route business, and it moves before the money does.
Three: on-site time against the property group
Definition: for each property, average on-site time this month against the average for its quoting group.
On-Site Time vs Property Group
Property
- Average on-site time
- this month
- Action if above
- re-quote
- Cause
- planting matures
Quoting group
- Average on-site time
- group average
- Action if above
- regroup if several move
- Cause
- properties get harder
Decision it triggers: a re-quote for any property consistently above its group, or a regrouping if several properties move together. Properties get harder as planting matures, and this is how you see it.
Four: revisit and rework rate
Definition: return visits caused by work not completed to the sold condition, divided by total visits.
Revisit and Rework Rate
- return visits ÷ total visits
- return visits caused by work not to sold condition
- rework consumes variable cost twice for one payment
Decision it triggers: targeted training, a route change, or a scope change. Rework consumes variable cost twice for one payment, so a small percentage is expensive.
Five: downtime, measured in stops lost
Definition: for each machine failure, the stops not completed as a result. Not hours out of service.
Decision it triggers: spare parts, a service relationship, or replacement. Measuring in hours consistently understates what a failure costs, which is why owners under-invest in redundancy. The reasoning is in the equipment and setup guide.
Six: on-time day completion
Definition: the share of route days finished inside the planned end time.
Decision it triggers: buffer sizing. This is the other leading measure, and a persistent problem on one weekday points at that day's sequence rather than at the crew.
Seven: retention across the season boundary
Definition: customers who continue into the next season divided by customers eligible to continue. Measured once a year, at the same point every year.
Decision it triggers: a look at where the losses are concentrated. Losses clustered in one area are a route or a crew signal. Losses spread evenly are usually price or a general service issue.
Eight: contribution per crew hour
Definition: revenue minus direct variable cost for the month, divided by crew hours worked.
Decision it triggers: pricing review and service mix. This is the measure that ties every other one together, and it is the one to look at last, because the first seven explain its movement.
The monthly hour
| Step | Time | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Pull the eight figures | Most of the hour if data is manual | One row on a sheet, one row per month |
| Compare with the same month last season | A few minutes | A direction, not a level |
| Pick the two that moved most | A few minutes | The only two you will act on |
| Write one decision for each | The rest | A dated note with a name against it |
The discipline is in the last row. A month reviewed without a written decision is a month of data collection.
Measures to leave out
- Revenue alone. It moves with the season and tells you nothing about how the route is running.
- Customer count. A count says nothing about geography, and geography is where the margin lives.
- Average job value. It hides the difference between a stop inside the cluster and one at the end of a spur.
- Anything with no decision attached. That is the whole test.
If a measure has survived three reviews without triggering a decision, remove it.
Where the numbers come from, and keeping them safe
The eight measures divide records you already capture: visit times, mileage, exceptions, machine faults, and money. Those records include customer addresses and access notes, a real responsibility.
The NIST small business quick-start guides set out basic practices for a small operation without technical staff. The CISA guidance for small and medium businesses covers the same ground from the threat side.
The financial records that underlie measure eight are separate again, and keeping records that clearly show income and expenses, supported by documents for purchases, sales, payroll, and assets, is described in the IRS records guidance.
What the measures cannot tell you
They describe the route you have, but not whether a different territory would be better. That question belongs to the expansion and market guide.
They also leave out whether a specific person is the problem, which usually requires watching a day, not reading a number; the selection and supervision side is in the article on hiring reliable crew.
Common questions
Why compare against the same month last season?
Because everything in this trade moves with growth rate and weather. A June-to-May comparison measures the season, not the business.
Is eight too few?
Eight acted on beats twenty watched. Add a ninth only when you can name the decision it will trigger.
What if I do not have last season's data?
Start now and compare within the season as best you can, noting that early comparisons are weak. The second year is when this becomes powerful.
Who should review these?
The owner, monthly, in a fixed slot. Delegating the review before the decisions are established usually produces a report nobody reads.
