In the age of on-demand services, Fayetteville entrepreneurs have developed what they call the "Uber of lawn care."
Lawnly is an online service that connects lawn-care providers with customers. It serves as a virtual job board and handles the scheduling and payments.
Arkansans Andrew Motter and Will Brown spent two months developing Lawnly while still working part time. Motter had worked at another startup before Lawnly and wanted to test the Uber model.
"Uber for 'X' business models are popular right now," Motter said. "And this app is actually pretty analogous to Uber."
Lawnly, which started up in 2015, now has 230 customers, 40 providers and operates in Arkansas, Florida, Texas, Utah and Arizona.
Since he began using Lawnly, Miles Levinson of Pro Greens Lawn and Landscape in Little Rock said he has made $100 to $300 more each week.
When a new job is requested in his area, Levinson gets a text from Lawnly. He then logs on to the website to get details about where the job is, how much it pays and what work the customer is requesting. Then he may accept or pass up the job.
After the job is completed, he sends a picture of the lawn to Lawnly, and Lawnly deposits the payment directly into his account. Lawnly gets a percentage of the payment.
"There's no invoicing, no hassle with all that," Levinson said. "That's what is so great about the service."
Mark Brandon, who was one of Lawnly's first customers, said the benefits are similar for consumers.
"It's not just that I don't have time to do my lawn myself, it's that finding someone to do it reliably is also a pain in the rear," Brandon said. "On Craigslist you may find someone who doesn't show up on time or does a bad job. With Lawnly everyone is screened by the service."
Brandon said the biggest benefit is the scheduling and payment system.
"My previous lawn-care guys would need me to pay them in cash that I'd leave under the doormat and we would go back and forth texting trying to figure out a time they could come over," he said. "With this Lawnly has my card information and the payment is handled."
Lawnly works on a subscription basis, where users can sign up for a one-time service or schedule appointments weekly or monthly.
Motter said Lawnly mainly partners with locally owned lawn-care services.
"I'm not threatened by it," said Levinson. "I'm helping [Lawnly] grow and when they grow it helps me grow."
Brandon, who founded his company, Qbox, said he feels good about helping a fellow entrepreneur when using Lawnly.
Motter recently moved to Park City, Utah, and said he misses the startup community in Arkansas.
"There's just a lot going on in the state of Arkansas, believe it or not," Motter said. "I probably know everyone involved in entrepreneurship in the state. We can call each other and know the other person will pick up the phone. It's tough starting a company, and people going through the same struggles understand it better than anyone else."
When asked about his plans for the future, Motter said he hopes to "expand nationwide as fast as humanly possible."
SundayMonday Business on 08/01/2016