How To Start A Landscaping Company On A Budget

How To Start A Landscaping Company On A Budget

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Are you looking to start a landscaping company, but you don’t have money to get started? Today, we are going to look at some ways to get started without an upfront investment.

To start a landscaping company on a budget you will need a notepad, a cell phone, a computer, a vehicle, basic landscape equipment and a planner.

Let’s take a moment to evaluate and explore the items on our list.

Notepad

Using your notepad, make a list naming every person you know. Each person knows someone else, that person knows someone else and so on. Write down what supplies and equipment you need to complete the job. Making a note of the equipment you already have makes it easier to understand what you need. 

Cell Phone

How To Start A Landscaping Company On A Budget

Starting at the top of the list of names, start calling each person. Let them know you have a landscaping business and you would love to service their lawn. If they don’t need your services, let them know you would like referrals. Word of mouth is the best advertisement.
With your cell phone, take pictures of landscaping that you have done. Be sure to take before and after pictures. Potential clients like to see the original landscaping compared to the landscaping you just completed. Have a friend take pictures and video of you doing a landscaping job, being sure to get some beginning and end footage. 

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Computer

Using social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, you can advertise your landscaping company at no out-of-pocket expense to you. Create a business page on one or all of these platforms. Be sure to include as much contact information to these pages as they allow. You want potential customers to be able to contact you. Upload the pictures and videos that you took, to your business pages. 

Be sure to invite your friends and family to like your page and share it. Your family and friends are going to be your best, no cost sales reps. 

Next, using a free online template, create and order some business cards. You don’t need a fancy design to start with, just your contact information: name of business, your name, your phone number and your email address. 

Give your business cards out to your friends and family, asking them to share them with their friends and neighbors.

Create Craigslist ads, Facebook ads for your business page and other social media pages, etc.. Those are all no cost ways to get the word out about your company.
You can also design and print fliers with tear off tabs that have your name and number on it and post them in businesses that allow it.

Nextdoor and your local neighborhood app are two more tools you can use to create a business page. Another platform you can use is Google Business. Claim your free Google Business account and set it up with your contact information and pictures. Ask your customers to leave you a review and provide them with a direct link to your Google site.

A creative and fun platform you can use is WordPress. Create a WordPress blog with your name and contact information, as well as post your pictures and videos. Tell you your followers what services you performed and how you performed them.

All of these platforms are great resources for growing your business. They allow current customers to not only leave a review for potential customers, but allows current customers to recommend potential customers by being able to tag your business in a post.

When the money starts coming in, hire a graphic designer to design a professional logo and to build a website for your company.

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Vehicle

You will need a vehicle to drive and transport your equipment to and from a job. Without a vehicle, your landscaping business will not survive. Transportation is a must! You don’t need a car magnet with your business logo on it, that will come in time as your business grows.

Basic Equipment

You will need basic landscaping equipment: work gloves, trimmers, rake, broom, and lawnmower if you don’t have one. You will need gloves to protect your hands while pulling weeds. You will need shrub trimmers to trim shrubs and a rake to clean up leaves, a broom to sweep lawn debris from patios, sidewalks and driveways. As well, you will need a lawnmower to groom your customers’ lawn.

Planner

Last, you will need a planner. The best way to get customers to get started, is to go door-to-door. Tell your neighbors your name and your business name. Let them know you are servicing lawns in your neighborhood and ask them if you can give them a quote and get them scheduled. Let them know how much you charge per hour or per job and if they book today, you will give them a discount.

Using the planner you bought, schedule their service date in it, as well as the quote you gave them. Be sure to write the given quote on a business card for the customers to keep, along with their date of service. Upon scheduling services, charge a non-refundable deposit, half down upfront. That will secure your appointment with that client.

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Other things to consider

How To Start A Landscaping Company On A Budget

Everything that has been discussed so far is not all you need to know. Have you given thought on how much to charge or reinvesting? Let’s take a look at those subjects. Keep reading!

Pricing

Not sure how much to charge? Take your hourly rate from your current or previous job and multiply that number by two. If you don’t have a job or haven’t had one recently, use the standard minimum wage rate of $15 and multiply that by two. Start with your lawn. However long it takes you to do the work you are offering, multiply it by two and multiply that by your hourly rate. So, let’s take the $15 rate. We will multiply that by two equalling $30. Say, the job will take you two and a half hours to complete, you will multiply it by two equalling 5. Last, you will take the 5 and multiply it by the $30 equalling $150. That is a nice sum, so be sure to secure the job by charging a 50% deposit up front. Make sure you have a way to provide a receipt for all funds paid, downpayment and final payment.

Within ninety days, you should be able to start compensating yourself for all of the hard work you have done to grow your business.

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Reinvest

Reinvesting secures the foundation to your success. In the beginning, building your business will be your top priority. With every lawn you complete and receive payment for, invest that payment back into your company. Buy a blower, a weedeater, an edger, etc.. It doesn’t have to be new, it can be used. Here are some places to look to buy quality used equipment: pawn shops, Facebook Marketplace and craigslist.

Takeaways

Let’s recap! You will need a notepad for your lists to get you started, a cell phone to call people you know, a computer to order supplies and more, a vehicle to transport you and your equipment, basic equipment to perform landscaping tasks and a planner to keep your schedule in order. You will need to know pricing: how much to charge your clients, as well as paying yourself. Finally, there is reinvesting. You will need to reinvest your returns to purchase more equipment and grow your business.

Starting and growing a company takes patience and perseverance. It will not happen overnight. Before you know it, you will be slammed with work and little by little, you will have all the supplies you need and within the first ninety days of starting your company.


Last but not least, your drive and your thinking will make a tremendous difference in your company’s success. So, give it your all. Remember, be determined and have a positive expectancy. You got this!

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Frequently Asked Questions

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  1. What if I meet someone who lives in an apartment but I want to ask them about landscaping services.

Even though they live in an apartment, they know people you don’t. Ask if they know anyone who is needing any landscaping done and if they would share your business cards with them.

  1. Does my landscaping business really need a website?
    Not at first, as that is an expense you may not have at the start of your company. But, as you grow, it is recommended you have one.
  2. How many social media platforms should I use for my landscaping business?
    You can’t have too many. The more social media platforms you use will garner your business more attention. No one platform has the same exact audience as the rest of them.

To learn more on how to plan your own landscaping business click here!

Please note that the contents of this blog are for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice. Any action taken based on the information provided in this blog is solely at your own risk. Additionally, all images used in this blog are generated under the CC0 license of Creative Commons, which means they are free to use for any purpose without attribution.