Do you know how to start a lawn care business?
Well, it is always an eye-soothing sight to look at lush green lawns. And what is even more beautiful is the smell of freshly cut grass!
Did you know that the US landscaping industry is worth $105.1 billion? With such a bright, green, and healthy future, why wouldn’t anyone be interested in starting a lawn care business?
Well, establishing a lawn care start-up is not as challenging as maintaining it is. It takes a disciplined self-starter to run a start-up successfully.
High school kids take up grass mowing and lawn cleaning jobs during their holidays. They surf YouTube videos or consult their parents to learn how to start a lawn mowing agency. Here, in this guide, we have explained every detail about this business.
Well, before we dive deeper into the procedure of starting a lawn care business, let’s first find out the reasons that can drive you towards establishing such a business.
Why Start a Lawn Care Business?
The first question is whether starting such a business is worth it?
A lawn care business has a lot to offer than it replicates. It is not only limited to garden maintenance but also extends to landscape lighting, irrigation techniques, dethatching, soil testing, etc. Since everything has switched to online means, people use mobile apps to book a lawn service and get the job done.
Owning a lawn mowing firm has enormous profit margins in the future. In fact, in the first year itself, some people have earned significant profits. We must note what lawn care expert Jason Creel says, “Your first year may be your most difficult, but don’t get discouraged.”
Procedure – How to Start a Lawn Care Business?
If we have information step-by-step, it becomes easy to perform the task. Isn’t it?
Let’s learn the steps further.
Also, don’t miss out on the fantastic bonus tips to learn and run how to start a lawn mowing business with a kickstart.
Step 1 – Formulating an Initial Plan
While planning to start a landscaping business, the formulation of all ideas should be in a proper format. A business plan includes many elements, viz. – company description, market analysis, marketing techniques, financial data, key strategies, etc. Vision and mission are also parts of a business plan.
Jotting down all the thoughts in hard or soft copy can help in organizing the thoughts. Structured writing helps in clearing the haywire in mind. A clear plan is also essential for ruling out irrelevant ideas. Also, you can discover new ideas while screening the plan.
Step 2 – Evaluate the Geographic Location & Market Competition
Market surveys and research are of great help in assessing the existing competition. Being a new entrant in the industry, one must not risk being under-prepared. Proper analysis and screening of the market will provide you the knowledge of the industry trends in the lawn care industry.
Surveys also aid in finding the target market. Knowing what customers need and what they are ready to afford – these two insights into the customer segment can become the strength of your lawn care business.
Step 3 – Registering your Business with Legal Authorities (Permits, Licenses & Insurance)
However the same both licensing and registering the business sound, but both are different from each other. While a license allows you to open and operate the business, registering it with authority implies submitting new information about the company.
You can continue running your sole proprietorship business without registration but licensing the company is compulsory for tax purposes.
The nature, products, and services of your business should be completely legal. Moreover, the registration of the business is equally important. The type can be a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, or even corporate.
It would be best if you also preferred to get your business licensed. In case of any disputes in the future, at least you can sue the client and file the complaint with your company name, keeping everything strictly professional.
Step 4 – Branding (Name, Logo & Color)
While passing by, people should identify the business trailer as the lawn care or mower. If not, something is wrong with your branding for sure. A unique identity of a business makes it stand out from others. It can be a hero tagline, brand name, logo, a unique policy, etc.
Brand creation is no less than art. Logo design, concept, name of the business, etc., are the unique elements that highlight a business. Managing a brand also includes creating a digital presence of the company. The Internet is one marketplace that everyone has access to; hence you must make good use of it.
Later in this article, we will explain more about creating an app or building software for your landscaping business.
Step 5 – Creating a Budget
That amount of money you saved to establish your business – NOW is the best time to utilize those funds. The budget can be divided into major expenses and incomes. This includes fixed costs like purchasing or leasing machinery, equipment, etc. Furthermore, variable costs include employee salaries, maintenance costs, etc. The budget also involves calculating the revenue being earned or expected to be earned.
***PRO TIP***
Since everything has switched online, this is the best stage to create an app for your lawn care services. By the time you launch your business, the app would be ready to launch too. This will help you grab customers online and offline, from both sources.To create a lawn care business app, consult the experts at aPurple.
Step 6 – Invest in the Right Equipment
Lawn maintenance and mowing require good quality equipment and tools for quality work results. With this intention, the listing of all tools shall help the purchasing in the future.
- Blowers
- Brush Cutters
- Hand Tools
- Mowers
- Trailers
- Trimmers & much more.
Step 7 – Establish your Services & Pricing
A lawn care business generally offers mowing, grass shaping, fertilizer and pesticide spraying, shrub pruning, dry leaves collection, root stimulants, soil quality enhancement, etc.
This step also includes fixing the prices for the services. The area mowed or cleaned (per square foot) and the time consumed by the experts to finish the assigned job become the basis for deciding the cost.
Step 8 – Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations
Technically, marketing should start right from the beginning. What you need to learn is how to market your lawn service business. Informing the public about your business services can help you in building a solid customer base. Also, flyers and posters can help in grabbing the attention of pedestrians. You can paint the trailer with the logo and contact number of your business.
***BONUS TIP***
After a few months of establishing your business, you can run digital paid ads in your nearby locality.
Step 9 – Client Feedback & Testimonials
It is essential to take feedback from the clients. Their maximum satisfaction is what your business is looking forward to. You can record a video of their experience after hiring your services. These testimonials will increase the reliability of your services and will help you gain other customers’ trust quickly.
What are the Pros & Cons of Starting a Landscaping Business?
After knowing the steps of how to start your own lawn mowing business, you must be curious to know the good and bad sides of it. Every business person gets risks and rewards from the business. There are times with high potential for success, and at times there can be a period of downfall. Things are also stable with no profit, no loss because the market is very dynamic.
Check out the advantages and disadvantages of a landscaping industry venture in detail.
Pros of Owning a Lawn Service Agency
Flexibility and advantages are everything we look for while planning a business. A lawn care has so much to offer and fits so many needs. Read further to know the advantages of starting lawn care services in 2021 and 2022.
Perpetuity
Certain services are required frequently – this means that lawn care is needed repeatedly. A customer would like to book a lawn cleaning and brushing service once every fifteen days at least. This way, it becomes a regular source of income for a lawn care entrepreneur.
Low Cost
This business does not require a lot of investment as all the equipment has to be purchased only once. The life of these machines is long enough.
Additionally, there is one more cost – transportation. This service requires the service provider to visit the site; hence a trailer that makes such road trips comfortable is a must-do investment. Maintenance of the vehicle is also one cost that you would have to pay for, along with gas.
Scalability
You are at an advantage if you start this lawn mowing agency as there is a broad scope of growth. Start small to complete your big dreams! You can always start small and then expand the services into more categories.
Like, you can begin with mowing lawns, and then you can gradually add on spraying pesticides, leaf blowing and collection, bush pruning, gardening, weeding, tree trimming, landscaping, etc. Of course, the more services, the more opportunities to earn revenue.
Add Seasonal Jobs
A lawn care business is evergreen. But, in regions where the snowfall is heavy, you might face fewer inquiries or service bookings pouring in. In such a scenario, you can provide snow removal services.
Snow piles up in front of the houses and resultantly spoils the lawns and sensitive bushes. Similarly, during the fall, you can offer to collect the dry leaves and clear the backyards for your clients.
Low Training or No Training Cost
The best part about hiring employees here is that you don’t need to train them for mowing the lawn. There is no rocket science in this task; hence they can learn this while on the job (On-the-job training). The only tricky part is handling the machine, and they can get a hold on it after a couple of uses.
Know More: How to Build a Successful Uber for Lawn Care App?
Cons of Running a Lawn Mowing Agency
Overcoming the disadvantages and challenges of starting your own landscaping firm might not be easy, but it is not impossible.
Competition
An oversaturated market in a particular area can decrease the number of clients. Lawn care is an ordinary business, and also customers prefer to book the lawn services from the same mower as they know the customizations and have gained trust in them.
Non-essential Expense
In times of global pandemic or financial crisis, people often cut down on unnecessary expenses due to any other reason. Not that taking care of the grass is not essential, but this expense can wait when the time is not right. Resultantly, gardening service providers can suffer.
Quality of Labor
The physical and mental state of the person who is performing the job plays an important role here. If your employee does not work with complete efficiency, clients will not be happy. Clients will catch hold of you as you are answerable to them.
Tips to Run a Lawn Business Guide [Secret Must-Know Hacks]
Have you always wanted to catch hold of some lawn mowing business tricks & secrets to run your business? Read on to get tips about the most trending on-demand start-up ideas.
You needn’t surf 10 sites anymore!
Find a cumulative list of tips below:
Sense the Competition
Studying the market should be a regular practice before, during, and after launching the lawn care business. The industry leaders are the ones who provide the best services for the lowest prices possible. Taking over the competitors should always be the goal.
Insurance
Just like we insure our lives, we must insure our business against natural calamities, unnatural disasters, etc., as per the terms and conditions of the insurance company.
Certifications or Training
We all know an MBA degree holder has more value and preference in the corporate market. Similarly, people will believe in trying out the services from someone who holds a training certification from a professional institute. Try to take hands-on training internships and display the same on your website’s or app’s ‘About Us’ page.
Business License
The last thing you want is your business name getting copied or misused by third parties in the market. You must contact the attorney and know how to start a lawn care business legally. The same person has to take care of all legal formalities.
The business should own copyright and trademark rights to prevent any issues from taking place in the future.
Loss Leader
This tip is the best of all. You can provide the first service FOC, i.e., free of cost. This will make you popular in the neighborhood, and if you give the best quality landscaping and mowing services, they will pay the service charges happily.
What is an Estimated Start-Up Cost for Lawn Care Business?
We have big dreams and to fulfill them is a priority. Therefore, we aim to earn as much as we can. We try to make the most out of each source of income. Throw one penny to get two back. But, this is possible only when the money you invest smartly.
Although there is always some percentage of risk in every investment, if you study the market perfectly, you can prevent more than half the risks.
Read to Understand:
Successful investment is the one wherein the risk is managed and not avoided.
When starting a lawn service start-up from scratch, you will need between $12,000 and $80,000. This entirely depends on the number of services you provide, which decides the equipment required for the same. Furthermore, this includes the registration and licensing cost as well. If you choose to create your business’ presence online (which you should), then the cost to build and maintain the app or website also adds up. We will learn more about the online software later in this blog.
What are the Sources of Raising Funds to Start a Lawn Care Business?
Is this your first start-up, and you don’t know where to raise funds from?
Are you unsure of which source is reliable and which one is not?
Did COVID-19 eat up all the savings that you kept aside for your landscaping start-up?
Or maybe you wanna know how to grow your own lawn mowing business?
While we are on how to start a lawn care business, let me provide a few sources that will help you with the above questions.
Read on about these in detail.
Bank Loans
Private and government banks have different rates of interest for loans. Some banks also offer easy installments to pay off loans in other schemes. It will help if you enquire from various banks before taking the loan from any bank.
Financial Investors
Many people look for non-dormant roles in companies. They lend funds and expect returns at the stipulated period as per the agreement. Their percentage of share also should be decided in the contract to prevent any conflicts in the future.
Grants for Small Businesses
To get off the ground and grow, entrepreneurs can apply for grants with various organizations. The precise language and terminology in the proposal are essential. You will qualify for the grant only when you follow the appropriate procedure. The benefitting local economy and community involvement play a significant role in deciding whether your organization gets to grant.
Kinsman’s Funding
Friends and family not only motivate emotionally but can also provide financial support. Never hesitate to ask for funds from them. Ensure that you decide the interest rate or return percentage with them to maintain personal relations simultaneously.
Personal Savings
It is indeed not a joke to become an entrepreneur. It is always a great idea to save while researching and planning the business launch. In this way, you will not owe anyone anything, which reduces more than half the tension of creditors asking for returns when the time comes.
Read also: Build On-Demand Delivery App With Clone Script Solutions
Top Lawn Care Agencies of 2021 – Full List
Gardening services is that one industry that suffered a little during the global pandemic of COVID-19. The reason behind the same was that people chose to cut down on non-essential expenses as their income was affected.
Yet, the industry bounced back with a bang!
Check this table out for the leading companies that provide lawn care and landscaping services.
Traditional vs. Digital Lawn Business Setup – the Ultimate Battle
Digital dominance has taken over the traditional style of running businesses today. In my opinion, a digitized business makes it an easy, convenient, and fast way to restructure your lawn business.
In the above image, almost all the leaders mentioned have specific software to organize the work.
Following is a detailed description of how digitizing your business can give you a plus over the traditional business setups.
Every entrepreneur must remember that “In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield.”
How can you Digitize your Non-Tech Lawn Business to Succeed More?
There are two primary ways to digitize your business with on-demand apps and reach greater heights.
As follows:
1. Lawn Care Business Mobile App
In the mobile-friendly world today, where children to geriatrics (elderlies), everyone owns a smartphone. We usually look for a specialized mobile app from our service providers.
Such a mobile app will help you track the bookings made by customers and systemize the workflow of your employees. A lawn care app can simplify communication on one portal and enable regular visits and notifications to users.
2. IoT-based Farming Services
The rapidly growing network of connected things is IoT. It has become trendy in this decade. You can hire an agency like aPurple to embed the tools for lawn care service. Your team can further use these embedded devices for smart irrigation systems, automated lawn mowing machines, smart sprinklers, gateway devices for blueprint execution, cloud integration for timed watering of plants, smart sensors to gauge the weather, and required water or soil aeration.
The Bottom Line…
With all the green and rising revenue figures, lawn care services are one excellent start-up idea to go ahead with. We have explained all the crucial information about launching such a start-up.
For further information or to discuss your lawn care business and its digital presence, contact the experienced experts at aPurple. Our team will help you with the application development and IoT embedded devices that will help your lawn care and landscaping business. Become a winner in the race of countless lawn care service providers.
FAQs – How to Start a Lawn Care Business?
Q1. How can I scale the lawn care business after launching my start-up?
A1. Expanding your business means increasing the number of services, employees, and customer base. Also, advertising that you are providing new services at attractive rates compared to the competitors, customers will draw towards your business, and you will be able to scale up your landscaping business.
Q2. What are the risks involved in launching a lawn care business?
A2. There are various challenges involved in launching your own lawn care agency, viz. changing seasons, high competition, and people’s economic condition. When the season changes, either there is snowfall or trees shed dry leaves all over, the business receives lesser inquiries for lawn mowing. There are numerous lawn care and landscaping service providers; hence it is a tough competition, and the founders have to be on their toes to retain clients. Also, global pandemics, like COVID-19, cause financial crises. It’s difficult times like these when people prefer not to spend on unnecessary services.
Q3. Is it necessary to invest a significant sum of money in a small lawn care business?
A3. No, you can establish a start-up with a small sum of money. You can start with a small capital, buy or lease the equipment, a vehicle to go to the client’s address, and of course, a strong will to take your start-up to great heights. Consult the business development team at aPurple for more help in planning finances for your lawn care start-up. Also, the expert team can help you in building an MVP app for your lawn care start-up.
