Starting a lawn care or landscaping business can be a great way to take control of your own finances or just earn some extra cash over the summer.
Whether you’re in it for the long-haul or you just want to try your hand at being an entrepreneur for fun, a lawn care business doesn’t have to be incredibly expensive to get started, it just takes an investment in the right equipment and some sweat to get your lawn care empire off the ground.
Make it Official
License your business through the department of licensing and inspections or a similar organization, suggests smallbusiness.chron.com. Business licenses can range from $80 to $120, according to lawnchat.com.
Obtain liability insurance. It pays for claims of property damage and injuries caused because of your lawnmower business, according to smallbusiness.chron.com.
The Bare Essentials
Gain experience by working for a lawn-care company or practice on your lawn, according to Smallbusiness.chron.com.
Find​ing the right tools come from good recommendations and personal experience. For lawn-care professionals, a standard homeowner lawn mower won’t due. Popular Mechanics recommends the Husqvarna Rider 14 Pro. The Husqvarna lawn mower selection was voted best lawn mower in 2007 by Popular Mechanics, although mowers for homeowners and professionals vary. For example, a Zero-turn mower can handle heavy-duty mowing tasks on large areas quickly, efficiently and easily, according to Husqvarna. A push or front wheel drive mower is better for smaller lawns and rear wheel drive for larger or hilly lawns.
Start Small
Each lawn-care business will need different tools. But, according to lawnchat.com some tools are expected for any startup:
- Truck
- Garden equiment such as rakes, shovels, wheel barrows, etc.
- Mower
- Blower
- Garbage bags
Getting Customers
The most effective part of your marketing campaign is going to be the work you do. You need newspaper ads and flyers, but sometimes great lawns and happy customers create the best word of mouth marketing. Ask new customers if they can recommend your services to friends and neighbors.
Know Your Market, Find Your Niche
You could try and talk to the local high school administrators about trimming the football field or the wealthiest people in town, but chances are they already have somebody to do that.
Learn your town’s demographics through the U.S. Census Bureau. Once you find your target market, advertise specifically geared toward their needs.
Get modern and have a website, a Facebook page and target to your audience.
Know your market and creating a niche. Mashable.com suggests you do this by understanding if your audience is receiving the information you are giving. For example, lengthy Facebook comments will be unread and discourages action. Mashable suggests you keep your fans interacting with your brand through “likes.”
Online ads are becoming more personal through Ad Choices and sites like Amazon that track your searches. Use that to your advantage. Browsers like Google use behavioral advertising. If someone is searching for a lawn-care service in your area, you could pay to for your ad to be one of the things they see in the search results.
