6 Tips on How to Start a Successful Gardening Business
Being self-employed may be a gamble but is very rewarding, especially when you are doing something you like. If you are into gardening, you know that it is hard work but it is also very relaxing and a great way of spending time outdoors.
If you chose to make your living by gardening, I congratulate you on it, and I hope to contribute your plan with a couple of directions.
Seek legal assistance
Venturing into a gardening business of your own will be more than decorating a garden. You need to get legal advice on how to register it. What you need to know to begin with is a rough idea on how many people you are going to have involved and how much you are hoping to earn.
Based on this and your location, they will be able to advise you on laws and taxes. The initial type of business you open is meant to accommodate a gradual growth in both manpower and revenue.
Choose the specialty and the clients
Based on what you know about the volume of work you are happy to accept, decide whether you want to provide service to residential clients, commercial clients or both. Also, you need to be aware of your skills as they will determine the range of services you can provide.
Unless you are trained for specialized landscaping, I suggest you start with a simple lawn mowing business. If you are looking for a part time job for yourself, lawn mowing for a couple of companies or residential building lock will be enough.
Learn new skills
Starting with basics will prevent you from taking on too much work. With time, you will grow aware of your clients’ needs and what it is that they are looking for and you cannot do.
If this is your only source of income I suggest you get training to learn new skills. There are a lot of skills which can be learned in a fairly short amount of time, especially if you have a chance to apply them and practice on a daily base.
This will bring both personal and professional satisfaction and you will be able to meet the requirements of the market.
Obtain the right equipment
Again, start with the basic equipment and keep on updating it as you go and as your business spreads. The manual gardening tools are best to be bought new as you need them to be durable.
As suggested by Hoselink experts, hose reels should be retractable as they are easier to pack up. When buying lawn mowers you can consider getting used ones as they can be costly but only if you spend enough time browsing and get a really good piece of equipment, otherwise, if your start up investment allows you, I suggest you get new ones.
Advertise your service
Know how to offer your service. At the very beginning, especially if you are on your own, do not worry too much. As I have mentioned above, you can send an email or try to set up a meeting with a couple of businesses.
You can put up posters in residential areas and wait for the calls. Later on, the word of the mouth will do its job. As your business grows, consider getting an ad in the local newspaper, setting up a social media profile or a website.
Choose the team
Once you decide that you can move from a one-man-band onto something bigger you will need to choose the right people to help you grow. This is the part where you should apply all of your social and professional skills and be a great judge of character.
You need someone who will assist you and not harm you, thus someone who will do the job as well or even better than you would. You can hire people of different specialties and have their knowledge enrich your service as you, yourself, cannot get training and specialize in everything.
Never bite more than you can chew as you will not be able to provide quality service. It may be a little bit hard at first but it gets easier once it starts rolling.
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Category: Business
