Setting Up A Gardening business

I agree with all of this but with one caveat.

At this time of year, to many people who are not interested in gardening themselves (your potential customers) believe that the garden ceases to exist for the 6 months from the end of september to the end of march. If you spend a lot of money on marketing to these people at this time of year, a lot of your effort will fall on deaf ears.

If you can pull in some jobs cheaply at this time of year, great, but don't rush to the printers to spend a couple of grand on 'autumn/winter' flyers.

In fact, on the flyers note, don't waste too much money there. I used to work for a firm that did marketing support (all the campaigns and post processing for other companies), and I picked up a thing or two.

Flyers don't work for getting new customers. Its ok if you are Sky or BT and you can afford to spam every house in the UK just to build brand awareness if nothing else, but for the small firm, it doesn't work.

Some marketing 'rules' to be aware of:

* Your most lucrative income source is usually repeat customers rather than new ones. Look after them and keep them.
* On average, if you write to people, addressing them personally by name, 6% of those you wrote to will respond in some way (might just be to look at your website). If you don't have their name, the average response rate drops to just 2%. For a flyer, the response rate is around 0.1% (ie 1 in 1000).
* You can drastically boost those rates by targeting the right people. In the case of a gardener for example, you'd probably be wasting your time going after houses that already have well maintained gardeners. Likewise you might be wasted your time on houses that have neglected jungles, because a neglected jungle could indicate that the garden just isn't important to the owner. Its a bit of a guess at first, but after you start to get some customers, you need to consider carefully what they have in common. Then you'll start to build up a profile of the people that hire you, and you'll be able to look for other people that match that profile.

 

It also help to have contact number and location printed somewhere on the side of the van if you park it just outside where you are working.

If you work there over the space of a few days there will be ample time for passing-byers to form a judgement and note down the contact details if they like your way of working.

 

I personally think that a little ad in a local paper is even better, because it has a safer feel to it.

 

the downside is that you then need to remove all your tools from the van at night .... by having your gardening business detailed on your van is like saying: Come Take Me... Come Take Me

have read lots of negative reports from gardeners who have had their vans and tools stolen when they have had their gardening details/advert displayed on their vans

 

You could have a removable board hooked onto the side of your vehicle. I've seen vehicles with that on, though I must say it didn't inspire me with confidence.

I also would prefer to see a land-line number as well as a mobile, though I'm aware some people no longer have those.

 

We have produced a 10 step guide on starting a gardening business. We have tried to keep it short but it should cover the equipment that you need to set up a gardening business. http://www.crystalwords.com/page14.htm

 

never quote per hour ... quote per job

if you quote per job, and have good equipment (such as a good large mower), you can do the job in half the time, and therefore earn more per hour, and more per week, as you can do more jobs per day

I quote a few clients £15 to mow their small lawns and do the strimming .... they are happy, as the job gets done, and it is in line with what other gardeners have quoted per hour ....

some of these jobs at £15 take me less than 20 minutes with my equipment, and I schedule all the other jobs in the same area on the same day, so I have very little traveltime between jobs .... some are 3-4 homes in the same street

but make it very clear what the quote entails as some people will try and make you do additional jobs that was not mentioned when you quoted .... those extras are charged over and above the normal quote, but make it clear what you are quoting for before you start the extras

 

Several years ago my neighbour who had a large lawn needed help with mowing after an illness, it was to be a temporary arrangement. Then another neighbour asked the gardener if he would do her lawn, then another and so on. Now he comes to 5 houses all close together, only has to park once and no travel time between the jobs.

I understand he does the same in several different neighbourhoods. The reason this worked is that he was seen to be totally reliable. He has one phone number and contacts one of the neighbours if he has to change his plans due to weather and that info gets passed around, if anyone is out they leave payment with one of the other neighbours etc.

Once you are set up I'd definitely recommend that your clients draw in extra customers for you, it will reduce your costs and time. Best of luck!

 

Another problem you might encounter is competition.
I have had 4 flyers from different people and 2 door knockers in the last 2 weeks.

PERSONAL CONTACTS AND WORD OF MOUTH RECOMMENDATIONS ARE THE BEST ADVERTISEMENT

 

Used to be a gardener after I left school for about 2 years. I left it as I was being messed around too much and concluded gardening was a hobby of mine and not a job.

Expect a lot of new customers to mess you around, ask you for a quote for a job, you show up and never hear from them again. Some people will even ask you to come round for a job and not be in either. Leave a "sorry you were out" card with name and number and still not here anything back from them. This was back in 2005-6 too and there are probably even more people reluctant to pay for work to their garden being done now than then. Most of the jobs are usually weeding and lawn mowing and I found when I did them day in day out got quite bored of. This is just me though, I'm fickle.

Things I found really helped is having a really catchy business name. Don't call yourself "Jim's Gardening services" etc. You need something that stands out from the rest as that's what people first see when they look in the yellow pages is the name of the company. My gardening business was "Jungle Jane" and people would make jokes about it (which I will admit I did get tired of by the end of it all) but it added that edge over the others which people were drawn to. It doesn't have to have your real name in either, My real name isn't Jane and people found this odd that I would use a different name for my business that wasn't my own. But pop/movie stars do it all the time so why can't I?

Advertising in shop windows is a bit expensive and will produce a couple of calls at best but advertising in your local newspaper/ yellow advertiser works much better I found. I think I only paid £5 for a ad in the yellow advertiser and got 20 calls because of it. Doctors/vet surgeries and dentists are a better bet than shop windows, they are usually free and people stare at them while they wait to be seen, so the ad sinks in much more than in a shop window.

If you have a relative or friend who works at the checkouts of a supermarket give them a few of your business cards to hand out. My mum works at Tescos and she gets chatting to all her customers. A few times gardening would come up and she would give them a business card, usually to old / busy people who couldn't look after their garden. I would give my mum a small percentage for each job I got because of her.

Like others have said word of mouth is the best form of advertisement, but even better if you get really chummy with your current clients. A good example is our local window cleaner who does most of the house down our road. He does our windows because he done the windows at my father in laws house and has known my other half for years. So if you put that type of effort in then people will never forget you, even if you're not the best window cleaner/ gardener in the world.

 

the good money comes from landscaping (hard and soft) .... if you are not capable of doing hard landscaping such as decking, patios, fencing etc, team up with someone who is ... you pass on the hard landscaping work, and he passes you the soft landscaping part

if you take this route, get a decent 3d cad software package that does gardening layouts ... most of the landscapers produce drawings on A3 paper with little circles ... the client has problems visualising the concept of the design

the 3-d shows him a more realistic image of what you have in mind, an uses photos of his home in the dsign, so it looks very realistic .... get an internet dongle, and you can sit next to him/her with the design and change things instantly to their liking

but don't do the design for free .... charge a flat rate fee for this, which can be refunded/deducted if you are awarded the job ....

if not, some folk take your design, then plant the garden to the exact design themselves-or pass your design to another landscaper and try and get a better price (I've had a few of these, but now charge for the initial design)

 

I wouldn't quote per job until you have acquired a bit of experience and know how long something is likely to take you. A lot of gardening is very labour intensive and it might take several hours to hand weed quite a small area of bed. If you get some experience first you will know which jobs are quick and which take a lot of time.

Good equipment is advisable but for hand weeding, which many older clients might want you to do, the most important things are a trowel and elbow grease.

If you think you might specialise in design and makeovers then a website or facebook page is an asset. It is a complete waste of time for garden maintenance specialists whose main clients will be the computer illiterate elderly person.

 

Good advice - all of this. That's the beauty of GC.All of you with sound experience freely give to others.

 

I find it amazing how little imagination most people have in this world.

The only program I use now is google sketch up. Most landscapers and builders are surprised when I hand them designs over like this.






I will admit I'm too stingy to buy the plant plug in's as I can visualise it. My other half however can't. The planting plug ins you have to pay extra for but by far the best free program out there. It takes time to learn but is well worth it.

http://sketchup.google.com/

 

that's very good Jane!

I've seen some amazing designs done on google sketch and they have a very comprehensive database of 3D plants ... by creating designs in this fashion, the client gets a clear picture of what you propose, instead of an a3 paper drawing with little circles

I cheat though, as my package allows me to take a photo of the home/garden ... then insert 3d plants and other features in quick time

it also allows asks you what size pots the plants are in when purchased, then places them in position at the correct size ... you can then ask for a regenerated view in 5 yrs time when the plants are mature, and it automatically adjusts the sizes ... it also has loads of features for doing hard landscaping such as decking, paving, ponds, walls, etc

you can add wind, choose the time of day/night, add lights, add birds/butterflies etc and do walkthrough videos ...

I get an automatic bill of materials, and get a cost for the plants automatically (based on previous prices which I add to the plants I use)

loads more features, and google sketch will follow suit

I have a T-Mobile dongle, so I can do a design, then go to the client's home, and sit next to them and replace any plants that they dislike, and make changes in minutes ....

cutomers are impressed, and I have managed to land most contracts that I have tendered for since using this method ... if you are going into the landscaping business, it will definately be worthwhile looking at some sort of software