OPERATING GARDENING BUSINESS - WHAT SERVICES COULD YOU OFFER?
Home service industries such as house cleaning, child care and gardening are boom industries in many countries.
More and more, in many households, both husband and wife are working, leaving less time for gardening.With two wages, they are better able to afford to pay someone to do their gardening jobs.
The services you could consider providing include:
*LAWN MOWING
... normally done on a weekly or fortnightly basis in the active growing seasons - less often in winter.
... may include trimming edges on each cut, on every second or third cut, or not at all.
... may be a "quality cut" service, for top quality lawns using top quality cylinder mowers.
... may be a basic cutting service using standard rotary type mower.
... you may or may not be required to remove lawn clippings from the site.
*PRUNING
... this service may be provided as part of a routine maintenance contract which you attend to every week, fortnight or month.
... pruning is also done as a one-off, or once a year job, for example, roses and deciduous fruit trees in winter.
*TREE LOPPING
... removing unwanted branches from trees (they might be dangerous, getting too near a building, or simply not wanted by the customer). Normally a one‑off job.
... you need special equipment and skill to do this safely and properly. You may need a certificate or licence if using chainsaws.
... insurance costs are generally quite high.
*TREE SURGERY
... a highly specialised area of tree work requiring more skill and experience than tree lopping. Strictly for arboriculturists. You may need a certificate or licence if using chainsaws.
*WEEDING
... sometimes a one‑off job, more commonly part of a regular maintenance contract.
... it may involve chemical weed control (spraying) or other methods (e.g. hand weeding). You may need a spraying certificate or licence.
*PEST CONTROL
... normally involves identification and spraying to control pests and diseases. May also involve other control methods. You may need a spraying certificate or licence.
*LAWN RENOVATION
... repairing and improving an existing lawn.
.. involves such things as topdressing, weed control, thatch removal, aerating, feeding, and watering.
*GENERAL GARDEN MAINTENANCE
... usually employed on a weekly or fortnightly basis for a set number of hours to do some or all of the jobs needed to care for the garden (ie. feeding, watering, weeding, lawn mowing, pest control, pruning, etc).
*RUBBISH REMOVAL
... often included in a gardening job, often expected!
... many gardeners do not offer this service, others do.
... you should clearly indicate to customers whether you do or do not remove rubbish.
*GARDEN RENOVATION
... normally a one‑off job involving weeding, pruning, spraying, replacing dead plants, additional planting, lawn renovation and perhaps some minor landscaping.
*LANDSCAPING
... usually a more major task than other garden services.
... involves such things as earthworks, rock work, drainage, lawn construction, paving, installation of watering systems, planting, etc.
*LANDSCAPE DESIGN
... offering design advice or a full landscape plan. Often, but not always, attached to a nursery or landscaping business.
*IRRIGATION DESIGN & INSTALLATION
... designing and installing irrigation systems
... service used by home owners, factories, companies, estate developers, councils.
... the move to water efficiency has seen an increase in irrigation system sales and installation over the previous few years.
*INTERIOR PLANT SERVICE
... installing, maintaining plants in offices, buildings and display areas.
... may involve routine maintenance once a week in most situations.
CONSIDER ALL OF THE ABOVE OPTIONS AND DECIDE WHICH SERVICES YOU WILL OFFER AND WHICH YOU WILL NOT OFFER.
It is strongly recommended that when dealing with the public or plants, that training in that particular field is recommended. Some fields listed above will require registration in appropriate associations. It would be in your interest to achieve acceptance into these associations as they can promote business.
OTHER OPTIONS
The options presented previously are traditional opportunities which comprise the vast bulk of opportunities in garden and landscape businesses. Those areas are less risky than new, niche, or trendy areas. They probably offer a greater opportunity for a secure income for most people. However, there are other options, and if you are able to be innovative you may do well to develop a different type of service in a new or niche area. Here are a few ideas:
NICHE MARKETS
The world is a diverse place and there are always small groups of people who will respond to unique services and products which are not catered for. To be successful, you need to develop something different at both the right time and in the right place; and establish your business before any serious competition develops.
Examples might be such things as:
Garden Consultancy
This business will require previous qualification and experience. The tasks involved may cover pest and disease identification and control, garden design advice, fruit and vegetable advice, feng shui, etc. It may be possible to charge more, because as a consultancy, it would be a professional service. You can provide written reports and advice. This business may link up with other businesses to do landscape construction or other tasks if the consultancy business is not set up for it.
Courtyard Designing
This business would deal specifically with small lot property owners (town houses, courtyards, etc). A high degree of quality would be expected with an eye for detail and perfection. It would be best directed at inner city dwellers.
Hydroponic Landscaping
This business could design and install a garden area which is completely hydroponic.
The client will have a relatively hassle free garden, that can look good and provide fruits, herbs and vegetables for his/her table. Routine maintenance, perhaps once a month might be offered as an optional extra service.
Other Themed Landscaping
Japanese, Malaysian, Santa-Fe, Rainforest, Native, etc. are all theme gardens that a business could specialise in designing and constructing.
Topiary or Bonsai Maintenance
This business could provide routine maintenance for bonsai or topiary plants, potting up, feeding, and pruning or training. Such a service would only succeed in places where there are affluent clients with topiary or bonsai collections.
Holiday Garden Care
This business could offer to take care of people's gardens when they go on holidays. People who might not normally employ a gardener could be attracted to such a service. It could take time to develop such a service, and the work might become seasonal (eg. Long hours in summer, and short working weeks in winter).
Water Management
This business might specialise in helping a gardener reduce water needs and better manage water in the garden. The service could involve such things as installing irrigation, mulching a garden, installing deep watering pipes for large trees, changing plant varieties, or redesign of gardens for better water conservation.
Plant Finder Service
This business may source out various nurseries for clients who are after specific plant species (usually the rare and unique). Instead of the client running around, you may be hired to do the searching and collecting the plants. Plants may range from a small 140mm pot to 4 metre trees, individually or in mass numbers - the opportunities as a plant finder could be used by other nurseries, councils, landscape companies and home gardeners.
OTHER SERVICES
There are various other services which are not strictly "gardening", but are often provided as an extra service by a gardener. If appropriate, you might consider offering the following extra services along with the "main" business you develop.
Swimming Pool Maintenance
This can involve vacuuming, testing water, adding chemicals if needed, and cleaning the pool filter.
Building Maintenance
This might involve simple things such as painting, removing/treating rust on metal surfaces, oiling squeaking hinges, repairing any damage to walls or doors etc.
Cleaning Gutters and or windows
Firewood Supply
Gardeners sometimes have the opportunity to remove firewood from one property, store and dry it, and then sell it to another client as firewood.
Note: These are extracts from the book Starting a Garden or Landscape Business by John Mason Thisbook may be purchased from www.acsbookshop.com
Risks & Stresses
There are many common mistakes made by people operating garden service businesses. Some of these are listed below:
* Advertising that you will do anything (when you don't have the skill or the equipment to do many gardening jobs).
* Underquoting when you first start your business.
You are best working on an hourly rate (at least until you become familiar with what you are capable of getting done in a given time).
* Not including overheads in a quote.
It costs you time and money to travel to a job, to supply tools, office costs, equipment maintenance costs, to give a quote in the first place, etc. All of these costs have to be covered.
* Wanting to get a job no matter what the terms are.
There are plenty of people who think gardeners should be cheap labour; there are others who think cheap gardeners are not good gardeners. You should not be afraid to lose a job because you are too expensive. Someone else may just hire you because you're not cheap.
* Liquidity Problems.
Some types of garden service jobs require you to have a certain amount of cash in hand. If you are not paid for a landscape job until weeks or months after doing the work, you need to have sufficient money in hand to carry you for that period. If your work is seasonal, you need to save enough in the good times to keep you going in the bad times.
* Not being clear in what you are going to include in the job. Clients may expect free garden maintenance after a landscape job. Some people expect free removal of rubbish after a pruning job. Some people expect you to come back and spray again for free if your first pest or weed spraying doesn't work. Some people expect the roots removed as well as the top of a tree when you quote on tree removal, or for all of the wood to be cut up into short blocks suitable for fire wood. Clearly state EVERYTHING that is to be included on the job and don't feel pressured to do more than you contracted for.
Legalities
There are different legal requirements which must be met by different businesses in different places. In some places nurseries or landscape contractors must be registered with the government, or perhaps be involved in an industry accreditation scheme. Any business has certain obligations to keep financial records for taxation. Staff must be employed in accordance with other regulations. In some situations, workplaces must be registered or approved by government authorities. Businesses must be structured in a way which complies with legal requirements, and you must understand, decide upon and set up an appropriate structure if you are to minimize legal liability for anything which happens in your business. Most state governments have departments that provide advice to small businesses and what rules, regulations, etc. are relevant to their business. It is important that you find out what these are. Trade or industry organisations (e.g. Landscape Industry Associations) are also valuable sources of information.
Licensing may be required for the tasks you plan to perform. Check with your local government authorities.
Recommended Courses
http://www.hortcourses.com/courses/product_listings.aspx?catid=General+Horticulture
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