Starting your own landscaping businesses can be an exciting venture, especially if you’re passionate about plant life and outdoor work. There are many advantages to running a lawn care or landscaping businesses like working with your hands, being outdoors and being creative. in the Washington, DC Metro and Northern Virginia area there is a high demand for yard and lawn services.
As a landscaper, your duty is to design and maintain lawns and landscapes, use different machinery for that purpose, and even choose what to plant. The job of a landscaper is a perfect combination of physical labor and creativity.
There is, however, another, less interesting side of the lawn and yard business: bookkeeping and marketing. You must also consider accounting, human resources and the vehicles or equipment needed.
That being said, steps that you need to take in order to start a landscaping business include:
Obtaining a certificate in landscaping
In order to be able to maintain a landscape, maintenance professionals have to be be familiar with a variety of plants, flowers, shrubs, trees. They also have to know how to operate a wide variety of landscaping equipment. Many would-be landscapers opt for accredited online landscaping certificate courses. These programs usually last less than a year and they cover all the subjects necessary to gain expertise in this field.
Creating a viable business plan
Every successful business has to start with a viable business plan. If you’re not sure how to create this, you can always ask for help and research some of the existing samples on the web. Every business plan should contain a cover page, an executive summary, company overview, industry and customer analysis, a marketing plan and a financial plan. You can always modify your plan based on what your goals are.
Getting the business permits, licenses, and registering for taxes
The legal part of your business matters since your operation could suffer without the necessary permits. Check with your local county and state authorities for regulations in your industry (most can be found online).
Purchasing a landscaping truck
Choosing the right vehicle for your landscaping business is an important decision. For those that are new to the landscaping business, this is a big investment so it’s crucial that you do your research beforehand. Some of the most important things you should consider are the manufacturer, fuel consumption, payload capacity, and landscape dump body.
Buying the landscaping equipment
Bear in mind that you will have to put some money aside for your landscaping equipment. Depending on the size of your business and your budget, you will determine what kind of equipment you want to purchase. However, resist the urge to buy a lot of things at once because you may need the money for something else. Buy the essentials first and then as your business grows you will be able to buy additional equipment.
Spreading the word
To spread the word around your neighborhood and community you will need to do some marketing. You should think about setting up a website and a social media page. Online presence is a must these days, and it can immensely help spread the word about your business. Facebook and Instagram are all about visuals; in business like landscaping photos tell everything. Take photos of your work and post them on your websites so that your potential clients can see what you can do.
Apart from going digital, you should also purchase some good old business marketing materials. That includes brochures, business cards, fliers, landscape design sheet, etc. Connecting and networking with local businesses is a great way to get customer referrals and make a name for yourself.
For parking and storage of landscaping vehicles and equipment, Gateway Storage has you covered. 24/7 access and month to month rates make parking your owned or leased trucks or vans affordable and secure. Contact us for a storage or parking quote today.