How to Start a Landscaping Business

9 min read

As homeowners begin to make their way outdoors to enjoy the change in climate, many will notice that it’s time to get their lawns cleaner and greener. If you have a passion for the outdoors, love working on your own schedule, and being your own boss, it’s no surprise why you would want to start a landscaping business.

Landscaping is a $105 Billion industry that grows more and more every year. There’s no question why starting a landscaping business would intrigue those who understand its profitability and convenience as a business. However, many people get stuck on how to start a landscaping business.

For that reason, we’ve devised a simple step-by-step procedure that both experienced and inexperienced landscapers may follow for great results.

Let’s get started!

Create Your Brand

Get excited!

Step one should get you ready to make your dreams come to fruition. While the other steps are invigorating as well, creating your brand makes your goals feel tangible.

After all, you’re starting a landscaping business! When creating your brand, keep in mind that your name and logo will be the first things that they see and remember. So make sure your colors, aesthetic, and overall branding not only speaks to you but embodies your vision!

Brand name

First you’ll want to settle on a name. Your company’s name should incorporate keywords of the trade as well as encompass what you stand for. Your business name is the cornerstone of your brand, so make sure that it’s original, distinct, and communicates your values. Given the competitive nature of the landscaping industry, you’ll want your name to be memorable.

So, get to brainstorming!

Brand aesthetic

Next you’ll want to choose the aesthetic of your brand. Choose colors that speak to the industry, mesh well together, and captivate homeowners. Colors like red and green, yellow and green, purple and green, etc. all capture the visuals of a beautiful lawn. Do you see a pattern here? Green! Be sure that even if you can’t bring green to the forefront of your colors/aesthetic, you add some in as highlights or trims. Whatever the case, you’ll want your colors to pop!

Brand logo

Your logo is what will make your brand memorable. Have you ever seen a logo that you’ve never forgotten? Think Louis Vuitton, Air Jordan, Tesla, etc. There is a reason that these logos stand out. The creativity along with the simplicity of these logos make them memorable and future-proof.

Now that you have your aesthetic, colors, and name picked out, get creative with your logo. This is one of the most important parts of the process, so be sure to spend as much time as you need creating the best logo!

Purchase Your Equipment

Great!

Now that you have your brand ready to go, it’s time to look into purchasing equipment. Luckily, you have the option of renting or buying your landscaping equipment. Be sure to run the numbers and figure out which method is best for you.

A great way to do this is by calculating the cost of acquisition along with the potential clientele. Granted, this can be a difficult process prior to marketing and checking analytics/metrics, but calculating costs is an ongoing process that should be done regularly throughout the life of your business.

When you’re first starting out, a great way to calculate costs is by determining the types of services you’d like to offer in your landscaping business. Landscaping includes a wide assortment of services from landscape design to mowing lawns to planting foliage. Be sure that you know what services you’d like to offer, and purchase your equipment based on that.

Create your services list based on what you/your employees feel comfortable doing, and based on what is in highest demand in your region.

Choose Your Rates

Prior to generating your price sheet, you should keep in mind that different regions have varying standards. So, make a list of your top five competitors and contact them for quotes on your lawn before building a competitive pricing model. Costs also change constantly based on the square footage of the lawn and how many hours you will need to complete the project.

The average rate for landscapers is typically $4 – $6 per square foot for basic services, or $6 – $10 for intermediate landscaping services. Your pricing strategy should always maintain three pillars: time, size, and labor. These pillars will help dictate what your rates should be. When asking yourself: “how much does it cost to start a landscaping business”, always remember that you’ll need to calculate the price of equipment as well as your rates.

Register Your Business

When starting a landscaping business, you must register your business and apply for a business license. This process often varies based on what country, state, or province you’re in. Essentially, registering your business means separating yourself from the business and protecting your assets. This will make the business its own entity, with you as the owner. In terms of business licenses, the process is usually as simple as applying for a license to legally run a business in the region you are in.

Market Your Business

Before starting or even brainstorming your marketing campaign, you’ll need to have a good idea of who your potential customers are. Typically, your target audience is homeowners within a 25-mile radius of where you live. Homeowners are easy to spot, so start with a particular area that you’d like to focus on. Once you have a good idea of the area, its residents, and the demographic, then you can begin your marketing campaign.

As we all know, there are thousands of ways to market a business. However, you’ll need to choose the most effective method based on your target audience. For instance, most homeowners are older in age than teenagers, who typically spend all day on social media. Homeowners and parents, on the other hand, spend more time checking their emails, mailbox, front door, and bulletins at markets than social media.

Consider the fact that you’re a local business, providing services for the locals. Building and maintaining relationships with these homeowners are important, so try to get some face-to-face time with them. This can mean canvassing, handing out flyers, setting up a stand at a local market, etc.

The options are limitless. Just remember that this is a face-to-face business built on trust, so you’ll want to establish that trust early. Whatever the case, be sure that your business is seen as a local, professional, and trustworthy entity.

Are You Starting a Landscaping Business?

Well, now you have all the steps! Now you just need to take them!

When you start a landscaping business, or any business, you’re doing so because you had the vision to be successful and provide a needed service on your terms. So, as you go about completing these steps, remember why you started in the first place. If you need some help along the way, be it marketing, creating a website, tracking analytics, etc., check out Ecwid today!

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Apr 12, 2022

About the author

Max has been working in the ecommerce industry for the last six years helping brands to establish and level-up content marketing and SEO. Despite that, he has experience with entrepreneurship. He is a fiction writer in his free time.