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Please do not take this as a knock on your business. Why exactly do we need special software tools specifically for landscape business? Are there any specific c

by anu7df 11y ago

Please do not take this as a knock on your business. Why exactly do we need special software tools specifically for landscape business? Are there any specific challenges here that usual small businesses do not encounter (handy men, pet grooming, plumbing etc etc). I fear for the worse when I see companies starting to cater to a very specialized markets. Obviously YC and hence you have answers to all of the above and more. But these are questions I hope at least a few HN readers have.

HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago
There is a very large site that caters to landscape businesses (lawnsite.com). Browse through the forums there and you'll quickly get a feeling for how useful the software tools unique to that industry are. Not in the business, but I used to hang out there when I was looking for software business ideas.
- bgamido 11y ago
  Great point! We frequent lawnsite as well and there is resounding consensus that companies in the space want software 'tailored enough' to their specific needs.
conductr 11y ago
Sure landscapers could piecemeal this together with 4-5 different SaaS products that serve broad purposes. But they haven't. And they probably won't. Something like this helps them introduce technology to their business in an adoptable way.
- bgamido 11y ago
  You hit the nail on the head here. It is difficult enough to get companies in certain industries to use one technology, let alone 4-5 stitched together :)
tyingq 11y ago
Their support site shows a few that seem like they would be great selling points. For example this: http://support.yardbook.com/faq-i-want-to-measure-lot-sizes-using-satelite-images/ http://support.yardbook.com/faq-i-want-to-measure-lot-sizes-... And, of course, even if it were just a re-skinned CRM, having it appear to be niche specific makes it easier to sell. "You understand me and my business..."
bgamido 11y ago
You touch upon a very important point. It's actually a very delicate balance regarding how 'vertical' or 'horizontal' a product should be. We found that previous companies in this space have failed because they were either too much of one or too much of the other. We found that for industries where technology isn't ubiquitously used, the one-stop-shop model is tremendously critical. That being said, and to your point, we have a material portion of our core technology (invoicing, scheduling, billing, etc.) that is 'transposable' to other markets. We are definitely thinking along this line but it is part of the long term vision further down the road.

by anu7df 11y ago

HeyLaughingBoy 11y ago

There is a very large site that caters to landscape businesses (lawnsite.com). Browse through the forums there and you'll quickly get a feeling for how useful the software tools unique to that industry are. Not in the business, but I used to hang out there when I was looking for software business ideas.

bgamido 11y ago
Great point! We frequent lawnsite as well and there is resounding consensus that companies in the space want software 'tailored enough' to their specific needs.

conductr 11y ago

Sure landscapers could piecemeal this together with 4-5 different SaaS products that serve broad purposes. But they haven't. And they probably won't. Something like this helps them introduce technology to their business in an adoptable way.

bgamido 11y ago
You hit the nail on the head here. It is difficult enough to get companies in certain industries to use one technology, let alone 4-5 stitched together :)

tyingq 11y ago

Their support site shows a few that seem like they would be great selling points. For example this: http://support.yardbook.com/faq-i-want-to-measure-lot-sizes-using-satelite-images/ http://support.yardbook.com/faq-i-want-to-measure-lot-sizes-... And, of course, even if it were just a re-skinned CRM, having it appear to be niche specific makes it easier to sell. "You understand me and my business..."

bgamido 11y ago

You touch upon a very important point. It's actually a very delicate balance regarding how 'vertical' or 'horizontal' a product should be. We found that previous companies in this space have failed because they were either too much of one or too much of the other. We found that for industries where technology isn't ubiquitously used, the one-stop-shop model is tremendously critical. That being said, and to your point, we have a material portion of our core technology (invoicing, scheduling, billing, etc.) that is 'transposable' to other markets. We are definitely thinking along this line but it is part of the long term vision further down the road.