Uber-like platform for lawn care launched in Steubenville

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MOWING MADE EASY — In a photo provided by GreenPal Co-Founder Gene Caballero, a lawn care professional mowed a lawn during a job arranged on GreenPal, which launched operation in Steubenville Wednesday.

STEUBENVILLE — City residents looking for a trusted landscaping professional can now utilize an online platform that simplifies the search and payment process, following its launch in Steubenville Wednesday, a company official said.

GreenPal is a free app and website for conveniently connecting homeowners in need with local, pre-vetted lawn care professionals to handle “basically anything outside of the home,” from lawn mowing and fence installation to snow shoveling in the winter, said co-founder Gene Caballero.

Based in Nashville and operating in 48 states and 250 markets, GreenPal allows registered homeowners to list their property and when they’d like it serviced. Local professionals assess the job using Google Street View, aerial images and other provided details before bidding on the job against other pros. Homeowners select the price they want for the job, also viewing the pro’s ratings and reviews cataloged on GreenPal.

Once a job is complete, the pro will send a time-stamped photo of the work as a digital receipt. The homeowner pays once he or she has seen the work and is satisfied, and the app can be used to pay and arrange future appointments.

Wednesday marked the latest market launch for GreenPal, which has more than 50,000 pros and one million homeowners registered and using, Caballero said.

“(GreenPal’s) mission has always been the same: To be the easiest way to find, schedule and pay your lawn guy,” Caballero said, adding he hopes the platform can be people’s go-to for their lawn care needs.

To begin operating in a market, GreenPal looks at where its data shows where individuals — both pros and homeowners — are signing up on the platform. At a certain, organically grown threshold, GreenPal steps in to ensure the area is being serviced enough and provides area-specific marketing to encourage more registrations.

Steubenville had seen enough organic onboarding to warrant an official market launch, Caballero said, noting that GreenPal has launched a city-specific page: yourgreenpal.com/local/lawn-care-steubenville-oh. Around 25 Steubenville-servicing pros are registered on the site and ready to work.

Caballero said GreenPal will continue to expand its markets, monitoring other areas to see if they gain traction and placing them on the list for an official launch.

Caballero himself has a long history in the landscaping business, beginning as a youth and continuing with it through college. His first job out of school was in sales on the West Coast, where he observed individuals using emerging technology like Uber, Lyft and Airbnb to connect with others for transportation or residential services at the push of a button.

“I kind of had a hunch that, … if someone would be willing to have a stranger come pick them up and take them somewhere or even allow a stranger to live in their guest bedroom for a weekend for extra money, then I would assume they’d hire a landscaping company the same way,” Caballero said. “It’s so much easier just to let somebody outside of your house and let them mow your lawn. It’s not as intimate as the other (services).”

Caballero began pursuing the idea for GreenPal around 2012, and by 2015, transactions began rolling out in its first location, Nashville. GreenPal has since expanded to markets in Chicago, Charleston, Houston, Los Angeles, San Jose, Orlando, Fresno, Miami, Sacramento, Louisville, Columbus, Toledo, Indianapolis, Tampa, St. Louis, San Diego, Pittsburgh, Denver, Baltimore, Detroit, and Norfolk and more.

What sets GreenPal apart from other platforms that connect people with landscaping pros is GreenPal’s hands-off approach to pricing, Caballero said. The bidding structure allows pros to be competitive and use their local expertise to inform how they handle business.

To register and promote their businesses, pros must be 18 years old or older and have a valid driver’s license, Social Security number and bank account at a financial institution. Proper licensure and insurance to operate are not required to register, although GreenPal hopes pros would have these acquired, Caballero said, adding that homeowners can request to see pros’ documentation individually.

When pros sign up, they can enter their business address and set a distance range for where they want to view job submissions from.

For homeowners, obtaining quotes is free. Landscaping pros pay GreenPal a 5 percent marketing fee for every job they complete.

Caballero said homeowners stand to gain from the bidding process, with prices playing a “huge factor” in who they choose, along with reviews and ratings. Additionally, more than 30 percent of GreenPal costumers are older than 60, a demographic Caballero said has been growing since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“(GreenPal) truly is a contactless business. … We’re very fortunate and glad that we’re able to keep both parties safe and keep it contactless and as easy as possible to use.”

Also standing to benefit from GreenPal are the pros, Caballero said, noting that the platform handles many aspects like scheduling and payment processing for them, making running their businesses more streamlined.

“A lot of these guys don’t have a web presence or have no way to promote their businesses, and that’s kind of how we designed GreenPal is to help grow these businesses and make them easier to run.”