A landscaping business is one of the many business ideas you can look into. Entrepreneurs who enjoy physical labour, nature, or at least not being bound by an office desk, and who have a knack for creative problem-solving, can venture into this industry.
Isn’t landscaping and gardening the same thing? Although some overlap exists between the two, there’s a distinct difference. Where gardening or garden care is more centred around taking care of facilities and conducting maintenance, whereas landscaping emphasises design and construction.
Landscaping sometimes also includes other areas such as patios, decks, gazebos, sculptures, fountains, water features, and trees. The aim is to create an aesthetically pleasing space by using colour, texture, shape and flow.
If you are interested in starting a business in this field, then you need to gain knowledge about:
- Stonework,
- Design principles,
- Draining,
- Irrigation, and
- Horticulture.
However, if you lack knowledge in any of these areas, you can partner with experts who will help make a client’s garden dreams come true.
Start at the Beginning
When you start a business, you need to conduct market research, set up your business and create a business plan. Your business plan will list the budget that you have available for marketing as well as purchasing equipment.
Your market research needs to investigate how much demand there is for your business in a particular area. It must also answer which niche you will find yourself working in. This can be corporate parks, water-wise gardening, themed gardens, and residential. Take care to remember that some urban areas have a higher demand for certain types of landscaping in comparison to others.
Based on this information, decide on a name for your business and register it through the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission. Take the time to ensure you open a business bank account, create social media accounts and reserve a website domain name if you are going to promote your business online.
Usually, when you register your business, you can also obtain all your vital tax certificates, including VAT and PAYE.
Gather the Equipment You Need
Related closely to the business plan and the budget that you need, the equipment that you need for your business will impact how much funding you need to start your business.
One of the most important pieces of equipment is a reliable vehicle such as a bakkie or light motor vehicle that can carry tools and material.
Some other necessities may include:
- Lawnmower, hedge trimmer or brush cutter
- Trailers and wheelbarrows
- Spreaders and sprayers
- Leaf blower
- Shovels, spades, rakes and forks
- Hoses
- Marking and measuring tools
- Shears
- Work gloves
- Safety goggles
Consider Operations for a Landscaping Business
When it comes to operating a landscaping business, you will need to consider labour, pricing and insurance.
The various tasks in landscaping are labour-intensive. You might need more hands! If you are going to employ additional workers, you must look at the skills they must have and the fair wage that you will be paying them. If they are full-time workers, ensure that you have an employment contract in place to protect both you and your employees.
Furthermore, you must ensure that you have insurance to cover your business. Public liability insurance, in particular, protects you in case your activities cause property damage or injury. When you are in the middle of a job, it might look more like a construction site than a garden – of course, there will be many hazards that you can’t control. Therefore, be prepared. You must also look into employer’s liability insurance and professional indemnity insurance.
Lastly, your pricing will be influenced by your running costs, such as labour costs, overheads for an office if you have one, insurance, utilities, and administrative costs, such as Internet to manage your social media accounts, monthly hosting for your domain costs, and marketing expenses. You will also need to include the cost of your own labour per hour spent on a project.
Marketing and Advertising a Landscape Business
There are a lot of interesting strategies to take to market your business and many channels to use, but at the end of the day, good marketing boils down to this: It needs to persuade the client to act in the way that you are suggesting (buying, making a booking, etc), because they are convinced that your product or service is the solution to their problem.
For marketing materials to achieve this, you need to clearly define your target market and the solution that you are offering. Individuals also need to be introduced to your new business and understand how they can make use of your service. For instance, a flyer in their mailbox can tell them to contact you via WhatsApp or download your brochure via your website.
Remember to build a strong portfolio based on every job you complete so you have images or client testimonials that your future clients can look up.
Now that you have a clear picture of what you need to start your landscaping business, you are ready to start bringing in business.
