How To Start A Landscaping Business

How To Start A Landscaping Business

Truly speaking landscaping is a profession and not a business. What's the difference between a business and a profession?

Well, any kind of business involves at least some kind of investment in terms of money and in the end you have a a return on investment (ROI). The ROI will decode the success or failure of your business. But in landscaping it's not always true.

You can start a landscaping business (profession) without any kind of monetary investment to start with. Let's first have a look at what kind of practices are involved in a landscaping profession.

The landscaping business can be divided into three major parts.

1) Designing landscaping areas for homes/commercial buildings etc..
2) Executing the design on the site.
3) Maintaining the executed landscape on the site for years to come.

Let's have a look at these 3 in brief.

1) Designing landscaping areas for homes/commercial buildings etc..

This involves creativity and a capacity to think out of the box. You must be able to visualize the garden from an altogether different perspective. Here's why. If you design a wonderful garden, your client approves it and it even gets executed on the site. But the plants will grow with their own pace. it is possible that some plants will take their full desired shape 10 tears from now.

So while designing landscaping this is a very vital point that must be considered at the design stage itself. the biggest advantage of being just a landscaping designer is that it requires zero money to get started. You can start this from your home also.

2) Executing the design on the site.

This is where the business part takes over the profession part. If you want to become an expert who executes landscaping designs (your own or someone else's) then you definitely need expert knowledge. This is a lot of responsibility and if done correctly can be much profitable. If you decide to go by this route you will be called a "landscaping contractor".

Also remember that client is investing his own money in this and it's your responsibility to give him the best returns as far as quality is concerned.

3) Maintaining the executed landscape on the site for years to come.

Some people prefer to become just the guy who maintains the garden. Maintaining a garden requires little work but through research of the subject. Most of the jobs are repetitive. The problem comes when something goes wrong in the garden like diseases on plants etc.

Many home owners prefer an "annual maintenance contract" (AMC) for maintenance and as a landscaping contractor it becomes easy for you to signup multiple AMC's at a given time.

So starting a landscaping business should not be a quick decision. Give proper thought to it. If possible first try some online course on landscaping. As a landscaping designer you will have to probably learn a few basics on landscaping. However if you have love for plants then it will be much easier for you and will be very profitable in the long run.

Recommended Reading

How to Start a Home-Based Landscaping Business, 5th (Home-Based Business Series)
by Owen Dell
Amazon Price: $12.89
Customer Review: Perfect for the business end of landscaping or design. Things that they didn't teach you in college. This book is an asset for almost any home based business. Thank you Owen, it's just what I needed.