The Right Steps in Starting a Lawn Care Business
Starting a lawn care business has many advantages. First of all, it will allow you to work the hours that you want, as well as have a more flexible schedule. However, if you do not take the right steps when starting your new business, you could find yourself out of business within a year.
Learn the Rules, Name Your Business
The first step is to do the research on what your state and local ordinances and requirements are for starting a lawn care business in your area. Every state or town may have different stipulations that must be followed. Even if you previously had a similar business in another area, do the research to make sure that all rules and regulations are being followed.
Decide on a name for your new business. While cute may seem like the way to go, you must make sure the name you choose for your business is professional and one that will make others want to call you for the services you provide. Many people find if their name is well-known in the community, by using their name in when starting a lawn care business, they are able to secure more business quickly.
Develop A Detailed Business Plan
The next step is to create a business plan. Without a business plan, you may find yourself struggling in the beginning. The fact is, this written plan will allow you to work out all aspects of getting your new business off the ground, including the financial aspects and how you plan to market your business. If you lack experience in writing a plan, the Internet has many free templates available that can be used or you may even find someone to assist you with this task.
Figure Out the Finances
When creating your action plan, you will be able to better determine how much money you will need to get started. Much of the equipment for your business may be able to be purchased second-hand, but even so, it can still be a large expense.
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If you need to get a loan to get your business started, your written business plan will help the bank get a better idea of how solid your idea is and will help to determine how much of a risk your business may be. The main thing to understand is to not borrow more than you can afford to pay back.
Set Up A Work Area
While the majority of your work is going to be done at the homes of your customers, you are going to need a workspace to keep all of your records and make phone calls. Set up a small office in an extra bedroom of your home or even out in the garage. A computer can help you to keep organized records of all of your financial matters, as well as help you to market your business. Once you get everything in your area organized, keep it that way and you will find your business will become more of a success.
Marketing Your New Business
After you have secured your equipment and you are ready to get started, you will want to prepare your marketing strategy. How are you going to get your business noticed and get new clients? To prepare yourself, get your business cards and brochures created and be prepared to start handing them out and posting them in the local stores.
The best place to start advertising is placing an ad in all of the local newspapers. Let everyone know you are now in business and taking new customers. However, do not stop there. Call every one you know, from friends and family to past coworkers and former employers. Post advertisements in grocery stores and buy ad space in local publications.
Use the Web
As stated above, you can even market your business on the computer. Create a website for your business, put a page up on Facebook for your business, or use Twitter to make more contacts. Many of the larger and more successful lawn maintenance businesses often find the computer is what gets them the majority of their clients.
Starting a lawn care business does not have to be difficult. In fact, as long as you follow the steps, you may find it to be a lot easier than what you expected. The key to your own success is going to be offering quality customer service and learning the various marketing techniques you can use to promote your business. Once you become accustomed to working for yourself, you will never want to go back to traditional employment again.
10 Comments
I would like any additional information you may have about starting a lawn Care business.
Regards,
Taylor W
I’m.just trying to learn the ropes of starting up a lawn care bussiness , quick and easy if. Possible
I, would like to start my own lawn business. I need soon help on what are the reqirements. Thanks
Thank you very much for this information. I am really considering this type of business, I own a lot of my own equipment. I’m sure it’s a lot of work but the information you have put forth on this site is a great start.
Thanks for the info. I have all the equipment needed to start a lawn care business I have made cards and put the ad in newspapers.I get jobs from the ad but 99% of the work I’ve been hired for is the kind people need done just once so there isn’t a reason to come back and make more money.how can I get jobs that require me to come back every week like lawn mowing would.
I would like more information on starting a business
Making sure your business name and website are SEO-friendly are important in getting found online.
Need help I am starting my own business.. Looking for tips does and i
What do you mean SEO-friendly? your post dates back to 2013. are you still in the Lawn Business? If so, I would like some pointers if you don’t mind. Thanks.
In large and competitive markets people often gravitate toward brands they know of (e.g. Amazon, eBay, Google, etc.). In smaller markets with less competition you can win by simply promoting your site across a variety of platforms (yellow pages websites, web directories, getting some of your customers to link to your site, etc.)
If your name is really clever and offbeat and you lack the ad budget to make it stick nobody will know what it means. People frequently refer to things by their official names. If your business and website name are generically descriptive of the service you offer and there are not large brand ad budgets dominating your market then you should be able to compete decently well using a domain name like citylandscaping.com or citylawncare.com.
That is part of why the original commentor you are replying to wrote their name as Oaklahoma Landscaping.
Generally if you are in the US the best TLD to use is the .com extension. But sometimes the .com extension can cost a lot of money. Lawncare.com would probably cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, whereas Lawncare.org was a couple thousand dollars. My son-in-law bought it for me as a gift. The .net or .org domain of many registered .com domains is often available for $8 registration fee at domain registrars like GoDaddy. But after you get your website up you still need to promote it in local business directories like Yelp, in local newspapers, in trade publications where people might be interested in your services, and try to have a few of your customers mention you on their websites as well if they have websites.
For small businesses the best customer channel is often word-of-mouth. If you do a good job on somebody’s lawn then others who drive past it will see it. Some will ask who cut it. And those leads convert at a high rate because you already have the recommendation of a customer AND the prospective customer has already seen your work.