5 steps to starting your own landscaping business
The pandemic gave us all a chance to collect our thoughts and think about what we really wanted to be doing with our lives. For many, that meant starting a new business and with COVID keeping us all indoors for so many months, perhaps a more green-fingered career might appeal to those with the right skills.
Indeed, as a nation, we adore our gardens, so a garden design and landscaping business is always going to be a lucrative opportunity. As long as you know what you’re doing and start on the right foot, of course. With that in mind, here are the five steps to starting your landscaping business.
1. The knowledge
As well as being good with your hands and in decent shape (it’s a physically demanding job, after all), landscaping is both a practical and design-based skill, so you will need to be knowledgeable in designing outdoor spaces and working to create them. If you have previous experience then you are one step ahead, however, you can learn how to become a landscaper and use your passion for design and gardening to learn the basics. Consider enrolling in a specialist landscaping course or asking a local landscaper if you can shadow them for a while to learn the trade.
2 The clients
Building a client list is perhaps the most difficult part of starting any new business. So do yourself a favour and start by asking family and friends to help them out with their garden design. Any payment at this stage would be for your time. Provide a service for them that you can use for your portfolio of work to gain more clients. It might seem like you’re working for free but look at it as a valuable learning experience.
3. The materials
Landscaping is all about using the right materials to make the most of a given space. So getting the right materials that you will need for each job should be a priority. You will need paving slabs to create paved areas in the garden and a range of soils and timbers for plant beds. Aim to purchase these materials for the best price by going to a supplier of building and landscaping materials rather than a retail outlet.
4. The business
You will need to officially register your business, create your business plan and set out which services you will cover. Getting insurance for your business should also be a priority, as you want to be covered in case something goes wrong (which is more likely to happen while you’re still wet behind the ears.
5. The brand
Once you have these steps in place, you will need to work on marketing your business and creating a recognisable brand to help you gain more customers. Create a website, a brand name and a logo, then set up your social media profiles to showcase the work you’ve already done for your friends and family. Before you know it, you’ll be practically swimming in landscaping clients!
