Raise your prices for 2001.(Brief Article)

If you're in the lawn fertilization business, it's gut-check time. Screw up your courage and raise your prices this approaching season. If, for competitive reasons, you can't, or if you've already signed up a lot of customers at last season's prices, you may have to revise your 2001 profit forecast . . . downward.

The cost of caring for your customers' lawns and commercial properties is going to rise this year, maybe significantly. The reason is unexpectedly high energy costs.

The most obvious result of this is the higher price we pay for gasoline and diesel fuel, an extra financial burden for any service delivery business such as ours.

But did you …