Thinking of starting your lawn care business? Here are three things to remember –
- Are these business ideas feasible for you?
- What are the chances of making a profit in this business?
- It’s a seasonal business, meaning the income is also seasonal. Is that alright with you? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?
Usually, there should be more pros than cons when starting your lawn care business. Some locations in the USA have more need for lawn care businesses than others. Yes, it’s true that you can start with a minimal budget, but just having a lawn mower doesn’t give you a quick start. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you start your lawn care business.
Ideate: Lawn Care Business Planning
Here are the steps for starting your lawn care business –
Why? Lawn Care Market Assessment
Why are you starting a lawn care business in the first place? What are the demands of your service in your locality? Is there any competition? What’s the market like? These are some quintessential questions you should ask yourself before you start your lawn care business.
You have to start with a holistic overview of the lawn care industry in your state. It’s also important to identify and come up with services you can offer. To do that, start by checking the services your instant market competitors are offering. Usually, clients look for lawn mowing services. But it doesn’t help to keep your services one-dimensional.
Proper market evaluation will help you strengthen the fundamental idea of your business. It should help you understand whether your primary services should be weeding, gardening, or trimming. Some lawn care businesses, such as Greener Lawn Maintenance in the U.S., Provide eco-friendly services. Choose the focus of your business based on your area of expertise, market demands, and trends.
2. What? Services You Are Providing
A proper evaluation of the lawn care market in the USA should help you understand what services to provide. You’ll be able to fill in the gap further after identifying your target demographic. Here are some common services you can offer in the lawn care business –
- Mowing
- Edging
- Weeding
- Planting and caring for flower beds
- Sports lawn care
- Leaf & Debris removal
Once you know which services to provide, you can expect your profit margin, list down the equipment you need, and draft an initial startup cost for the lawn care business. You can start as a one-man service provider, and as your business starts to gain traction, you can subtract or add new services accordingly.
3. Who? Target Customer Research
Your business is all about your customers. It’s their need you are catering your services to. So, it’s important to know who they are. Are your services primarily focused on residential clients? Or are you also planning to serve commercial clients? Can it be both? Again, your market research and the services you want to offer can help you identify who your target customers are. You won’t need more expensive and bigger equipment if you are serving residential customers. But if you are serving the commercial part of the lawn care market, then your startup cost might go high due to the need for high-end lawn mowing equipment.
4. Where? Choose a Location for Your Lawn Care Business
If you are starting, you can operate your lawn care business from home. Your own house is sufficient to keep your business equipment. But, as you expand and start employing more people, your lawn mowing business will require a commercial place. Ensure that your business location is easily accessible through public transport. A location close to the center of a city is always better. In addition, ensure that the place is well-ventilated and ready to use without involving additional renovation and readjustments.
5. Be Part of a Franchise/ Or Do Your Own Thing?
One way to start your lawn care business is from scratch. It involves drafting your business plan, incorporating your business, taking care of your marketing, sales, bookkeeping, and so on. But being part of a franchise makes it a lot easier. Also, you can leverage the brand name to gain your customers. Many lawn care business franchisors like Spring-Green Lawn Care, Weed Man, and U.S. Lawns are selling franchises. It’s a good idea to start as a lawn care franchisee.
6. Write Your Business Plan
If you want to start your lawn care business from scratch, follow the steps below to write your lawn care business plan.
- Executive summary: Including your business vision and mission statement in this part of your lawn care business. Outline the services you will provide as a business.
- Business overview: this portion should include the mission of your business and the problem you are solving as a lawn care business.
- Product & Services: Put down the details of the different lawn care business services you are providing in this section.
- Market Analysis: This section of your lawn care business plan should include your target market, demographics, size, potential customers, etc.
- Competitive Analysis: Draft your instant market competitors and highlight competitor strengths and weaknesses in this section.
- Sales & Marketing: Outline your marketing and sales strategies to grow your business and drive sales.
- Management Team: Name the key individuals responsible for the business operation and the roles involved in management.
- Operations Plan: write down the day-to-day operation of your lawn care business and include the equipment you will use and the activities of your workforce.
- Financial Plan: include your lawn care business financial plan in the business plan.
- Appendix: add all your additional information, like market research data, legal documents, and supporting documents for your business plan, in the appendix.
Start: Establishing Your Business
Start with the right business name. Here’s why you should choose wisely –
7. Choose Your Business Name
Now, the next step is to identify a suitable name for your lawn care business. Here’s a list of things you should keep in mind when choosing a name for your lawn care business –
- Choose a simple yet unique name that’s easy for your target audience to remember. It should be easy to remember and spell.
- Find a business name that’s related to your industry, target audience, and niche.
- It’s best to keep your business close to relatable words for better search engine optimization.
- If you are providing services to local customers, try to use the name of your location in the business name.
- Enquire at the office of the Secretary of State to know if that name is available or already registered.
8. Buy a Lawn Care Business Domain
You need a website to build an online presence for your business. You can go to platforms like GoDaddy to find a domain name for your business. Use the same name you have registered your business with.
9. Incorporation: Register Your Lawn Care Business
To run your business legally in the USA, you must incorporate under a particular business structure. Aside from legal protection and brand protection, small business owners can define ownership, ensure asset protection, and get tax benefits by incorporating their business.
Sole Proprietorship: Sole proprietorship assigns the owner of the business with its control. The owner enjoys the profit and is responsible for the liabilities.
General Proprietorship: A general proprietorship is an incorporation method involving more than one owner. However, similar to sole proprietorship, general ownership also makes the owner liable to the business and the enjoyer of the profits.
LLC: LLC is an amalgamation of sole proprietorship and corporation-type business structure. The owners are called members of this business structure. They are not personally liable to the debts and profits. These businesses are managed on a pass-through basis.
C Corp: Under the C Corp business structure, business owners earn their income from dividends. They are not directly related to the liabilities of the business.
For small lawn care businesses, an LLC structure is the best. The importance of incorporating and legalizing your business is immense for smooth operations.
10. Get Your EIN
It’s important to get EIN so your lawn care business can pay your taxes. You can apply for your EIN online, via mail, or through fax. Sole Proprietors can also use their Social Security number as EIN.
11. Get Funding: Fund Your Lawn Care Business
In the U.S., lawn care is a low-cost startup business. But if you choose to expand your business or buy a franchise, you’ll need some loan amount. Here are some common options to consider if you need a loan for your lawn care business –
- SBA guaranteed loans
- Government Grants
- Friends & Family
- Crowdfunding, etc.
12. Obtain Licenses
Small lawn-care business owners must acquire different licenses and permits. The state, local, and federal governments of the USA issues. In some USA states, such as Alabama, you must take Horticulture Professional Services certificates.
In Arkansas, you must get a Landscape Contractor License. Similarly, other states like Louisiana, Minnesota, Hawaii, and a few other states make it mandatory to gain certain certificates and licenses that involve owners passing the licensing and certification tests.
13. Business Bank Account
You need a business bank account to keep your lawn care business revenue, profit, and losses separate from your personal ones. A business bank account helps cleanly manage business finances. You’ll need your EIN and the legal documents of your business when creating a bank account. Don’t worry; it’s just like creating an individual’s bank account and shouldn’t be difficult.
14. Get Your Insurance
Keep your business shielded from any unforeseen calamities with lawn care business insurance.
Launch Your Lawn Care Business
The 14 steps mentioned above pretty much sum up all the things you need to know before starting your lawn care business. These are the basic steps that take your business from an idea to a real business ready to serve the clients. However, running your lawn care business isn’t an easy task. But as you expand and recruit more people, you’ll be ready to take the backseat and manage from the top while your employees do the heavy duty. Remember, lawn care is a service provided to your community. Treat your business as you would treat your client’s lawns. Stay positive in the face of challenges to cut through difficulties and succeed.
For More Informative Business Articles Click Below!!
