App called 'Uber for lawn care' launches in Lafayette area
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The app that's being called "Uber for lawn care" launched last Monday in Lafayette, where homeowners can hire vetted landscape professionals to do a range of yard work.
GreenPal is an app and website that launched in 2015 initially out of Nashville, Tenn. Since then, GreenPal's services have grown to be available in over 250 markets, including Chicago, Atlanta, St. Louis, Baltimore, and, most recently, Lafayette.
Although the app has launched officially in Lafayette, citizens of West Lafayette can also utilize its services, as GreenPal as about a 10-15 mile radius around its service areas.
"(GreenPal) is the easiest way for homeowners to find, schedule and pay the lawn guy," Gene Caballero, one of GreenPal's co-founders, said. "It's both (an app and website). Both app's on the IOS store and the Google Play store free. It's also free online."
Services offered through GreenPal include many outdoor-work needs such as lawn mowing, edging, leaf blowing, mulching and other landscaping. Homeowners provide their home address and full name, and landscaping professionals will provide their own quotes for the needed work.
"We provide the landscaping professionals with the Google aerial view, the Google street view, the square footage of the property and also any other details that the homeowner provides," Caballero said. "So (if) the homeowner says 'Hey, it's been over two months,' the vendor knows that (the grass) is gonna be super tall so they bid on that property based on data that we're giving them."
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, GreenPal's customer base has quickly grown to over 1 million users. However, this influx of growth was not foreseen at the beginning of the pandemic.
"We've seen a huge uptick since COVID," Caballero said, "in the over-65 age group...In March of 2020, we thought we were gonna have to shut down. In a lot of states, lawnmowing was not declared essential. So it was just kind of like, well what do we do? But we are very fortunate and we were actually able to grow 30% in 2020...
"The contact-less ability of our platform is kind of what helped spur our growth and kind of keep everybody safe in that timeframe."
Those interested in providing landscaping services through GreenPal can learn more at www.yourgreenpal.com/welcome-vendor. An application and vetting process is required for prospective vendors. Those interested must be a minimum of 18-years-old, own a valid driver's license, bank account and social security number and be willing to submit photos of previous landscaping work and their professional-grade equipment.
GreenPal also recently added snow removal to the list of services. Caballero stated that that will be the extent of his company's additions for now.
"We actually started snow removal last year," Caballero said. "And I think that's the two that we're gonna stick with."
Lafayette citizens can sign up directly for local-Lafayette lawn scare services at www.yourgreenpal.com/local/lawn-care-lafayette-in.
Margaret Christopherson is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email her at mchristopherson@jconline.com and follow her on Twitter @MargaretJC2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: App called 'Uber for lawn care' launches in Lafayette
