So you’re considered starting a lawn or landscaping company? I’ve put together a short article that I hope will help you along your way to success.
Consider having a home based lawn company. If you are a start-up, working out of your home will be much cheaper than buying or renting commercial space. Working from your home will save countless amounts of time and money. You may even focus on homes in your immediate surroundings so as to short your commute. Your home is your domain so include your business within it and managing all aspects of your company will be much simpler.
Create your own work schedule. Don’t be tied down by a 9-5 schedule. Work the hours you want and however many hours a week you want. It’s all up to you at this point. You have the freedom to obtain your own future and not one that other’s plot out for you.
To obtain this freedom, lawn and landscaping companies fall below most other startups in terms of starting costs. If you plan on working alone, all you need is a mower, weed eater, oil, gas, a small set of tools, and plenty of water. It is entirely unnecessary to apply for a business credit card, especially within the early years of your company. If you purchase new equipment to operate once you start your business, look for the best warranties that you can find. This would allow you to work without the worry of having to replace broken equipment. Most new equipment carry short-term warranties, but you can normally purchase extended ones just to be safe. You will be tending to a lot of yards, so that may be a good idea. That small list of equipment should keep you going for close to three years.
Things To Consider
You might be saying, “This sounds amazing. I’m going to start now!” Don’t get ahead of yourself. The world of lawn care and landscaping is not all cut and dry. Yes, the benefits of creating a lawn service and landscaping company greatly outweigh the cons. However, there are a few things that you need to consider.
- Never limit yourself. Always be open to other types of jobs. However, at first you may want to consider sticking to the three basics: mowing the lawn, edging the lawn, and weed eating. If you want to offer additional services as an add-on, consider the trimming of bushes and small trees but also consider the extra time and work that will be needed.
- Typically, a lawn company will have a couple of people at one service appointment. One employee with mow and the other will weed eat and trim. This obviously shortens the amount of time required per yard. Also remember that yards don’t need to be edged every time they are mowed. Keep notes on the yards and the services that were provided. Various software applications make it easy to record notes on the service that you provide per location.
- While you are starting your company and are looking toward the future, consider the dreaded ‘office duties’. I know you want to be out in the field, making your imaginative masterpieces come to fruition, but a successful business is operated from two fronts: the field and the office.
- If you are going solo at the beginning, make a plan now for office time. You will need to operate phones, e-mail, social media, send out bills, and collect income. In this day and age, credit card processing is the most automatic and easily accountable method of payment, at least based on the amount of time required to do your books. There are many types of lawn business software that can help you will all of this. So you may want to take some time and consider getting help with your office duties.
- No matter how good you are at your job, or how good you think a service was performed, there will always be an occasional customer that wasn’t happy with it. Provide quality estimates and include pricing for unforeseen difficulties. If there are no difficulties with the service, reduce the price that you had for the estimate. A happy customer is a happy business. Utilize a good appointment creator and make sure that every appointment is accounted for. If you’re falling behind, let the customer know beforehand that you will be late or try to reschedule.
- Every business requires supplies, whether it’s supplies for the field or a computer and printer for the office. Try to imagine where your business will be in a year or two. Slowly acquire your supplies to meet that destination and you won’t be caught off guard. Don’t go crazy with your purchasing; you may be in debt before enough work is coming in to pay it off.
Taking care of yards, whether by cutting grass, landscaping, planting, or fertilizing, must be something that you enjoy. Or at the very minimum find appealing. You should have adequate knowledge of the seasonal growing schedule for your area, as well as knowledge of the various plant life and the many chemicals that you will possibly use. There are physical requirements for this line of work that many would not be able to satisfy. You will do a lot of walking, pushing, carrying, sweating, digging, and possible climbing. Being a good self-starter is also a must. If you are in control of your hours with no one to supervise you, you must be able to manage your own business.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article. Please feel free to comment and let me know if this has helped your company.
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