{"id":4104,"date":"2016-06-22T09:46:19","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T07:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.invoiceberry.com\/?p=4104"},"modified":"2016-10-03T21:55:59","modified_gmt":"2016-10-03T19:55:59","slug":"guide-starting-gardening-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/guide-starting-gardening-business\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Start and Grow Your Gardening Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

The blazing sun.<\/p>\n

A clear blue sky stretched across the horizon.<\/p>\n

A cool breeze and the faint sound of bees buzzing around the colorful\u00a0flowers: petunias, billowing hydrangeas, geraniums and lavender.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a gardener, or you have a wonderfully green thumb, this scene most likely describes your perfect day out in the garden, right where you know you belong.<\/p>\n

Gardening is a growing fascination for many people, both young and old. The business is growing at a healthy pace, from \u20ac39.7 billion in 2014 to \u20ac40.5 billion in 2015<\/a> in the UK and from $246.6 to almost $256 billion<\/a> in the US for the same period.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

In fact, the healthy consumption market in general is on the uptake<\/a> and resilient even in tough times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It makes perfect sense then that if you love to be outdoors and have a penchant for gardening perfection, you\u2019d try to make a business out of your hobby.<\/p>\n

Small businesses in the UK open at a rate of 400 per day<\/a> and in the US it\u2019s closer to\u00a018,100<\/a>. Seems like everyone\u2019s doing it, so why can\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

Good idea. But that naturally leads to a very important question:<\/p>\n

How do I start my own gardening business?<\/em><\/p>\n

And even more importantly:<\/p>\n

Once I start it, how do I survive?<\/em><\/p>\n

Today we\u2019re going to be looking at those all-important questions in terms of the pluses and minuses associated with the gardening business, the knowledge required, finding and keeping customers, your business specifics, and the equipment needed.<\/p>\n

The Good and the Bad<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Everything in the universe has its good and bad, and the gardening business is no different.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/h3>\n

The biggest positive<\/em> is that you\u2019ll be doing something that you love<\/strong>: dirt underneath your fingernails, young green shoots, stepping in or around some dog\u2019s poop. In one word, happiness.<\/p>\n

Besides that, you\u2019ll have pretty regular work<\/strong>. Your income will be relatively similar month after month, as most of your customers will be retirement age with fixed incomes and a love for routines and dried plums.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll probably also have a pretty good relationship with your customers<\/strong>\u2014you\u2019ll see them often enough, and if they care enough about their garden to have it properly maintained, they probably love each flower and stalk of grass like it was their own\u00a0child.<\/p>\n

And they\u2019ll appreciate you for your hard work.<\/p>\n

As far as money, the potential is huge<\/strong>. As with all freelancers, it\u2019s possible to increase or limit your income based on how you feel at any point\u2014hopefully in a stable way\u2014because of the flexibility of the work.<\/p>\n

Also, you\u2019re getting great exercise<\/a><\/strong> while you\u2019re at it\u2014after all, it\u2019s not just watering and adding fertilizer. Being a gardener includes lots of physical exercise, even abiding your boss to Mordor<\/a> on a jewelry-disposal mission.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/h3>\n

But, there are some downsides.<\/em><\/p>\n

Depending on your location, you\u2019re going to have some lull periods during the winter<\/strong> and loss of work during bad weather.<\/p>\n

In addition, the equipment can be quite expensive<\/strong>, although you\u2019ll probably want to start with used rather than new\u2014anything ranging from garden scissors to gas-powered lawnmowers.<\/p>\n

The other thing is that, well, the physical and health benefits of the job are great, but there\u2019ll be days when your back or your knees just don\u2019t want to take it anymore. It\u2019s quite labor-intensive<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Speaking of which, you may also be asked to do some pretty dangerous stuff<\/a><\/strong>, such as pruning a tree that\u2019s 25 meters tall and sits between two angry-looking electric wires.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re in such places as Australia, you could get bitten by a spider, or a snake, or a toad, or a shark<\/a>, or\u2014well, if you\u2019re in Australia, you could pretty much get bitten by anything.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t leave your home, Australia.<\/p>\n

And lastly, there are lots of casual workers roaming around<\/strong> like the Walking Dead, and they\u2019re apt to take over your gardening territory with lower rates and probably more flexible schedules.<\/p>\n

If this were the Wild Wild West days, you could probably solve this with an old-fashioned duel at noon in front of the church. But we\u2019re a civilized society now, so you\u2019ll have to adapt to the new market.<\/p>\n

What you need to know<\/strong><\/h2>\n

All that stuff, I\u2019m sure, you know quite well. So what do you need to start your business?<\/p>\n

Well, as with any field you\u2019d ever go into, you\u2019ll need to actually know what you\u2019re talking about<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As far as casual gardeners go, many don\u2019t have professional qualifications at all. Granted, you\u00a0may be brilliant at it, but your customers won\u2019t have any assurances that you\u2019re truly good at it.<\/p>\n

Then again, in gardening it\u2019s quite easy to see whether someone is good at it or not. If there\u2019s a sudden Old-Testament style blight on your customer\u2019s garden, and only his, it\u2019ll look very suspicious.<\/p>\n

Getting training and qualifications in horticulture<\/a> will put you heads above the rest. These will help cover you for all other areas of gardening.<\/p>\n

Getting training and qualifications in horticulture will put you heads above your competition.<\/div>
\n

For example, you know how to grow tomatoes, great, and your roses are doing lovely, but will you be able to repeat that success with other people\u2019s apple trees?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s best to cover yourself with some basic or more advanced knowledge, and there are many\u00a0flexible schedules<\/a>\u00a0and night classes to help busy adults study.<\/p>\n

There are other certifications in pesticides and chain saws that you can get over a longer period of time, and it will increase your knowledge of the subject you love\u2014and most importantly, your reputation and your customer\u2019s loyalty.<\/p>\n

Finding your customers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There\u2019s surprisingly a lot of variety in the type of customers that you can get in the gardening business.<\/p>\n

The predictable group is of course the senior citizens as mentioned above, but there is a growing\u00a0number of younger people who love their gardens but don\u2019t have time for the required upkeep.<\/p>\n

That being said, your customers will largely be from the older generation<\/a>, and as a generally more friendly and talkative group, they\u2019ll be happy to share tips and stories with you\u2014another reason why you should know your stuff.<\/p>\n

Other customers may not be individuals at all, but instead you’ll have contracts with apartment buildings, residential estates or property management companies.<\/p>\n

This can include also communal gardens, public spaces, and commercial grounds.<\/p>\n

\"There<\/p>\n

Because you\u2019ll be working as a smaller or independent contractor, your service fees will be more flexible than the larger maintenance contractors.<\/p>\n

City governments are always eager to assist local contractors, and it may be useful to check government institutions and inquire on their gardening needs.<\/p>\n

When you get started, you\u2019ll decide (either by yourself or based on market conditions) the amount and size of your projects.<\/p>\n

Some gardeners work with only 4-6 customers with large gardens, while others have 50 or more lawn customers, or 25 customers that require everything to be done in their garden, from A to Z. These could be weekly, every ten days, twice a month, or whatever you agree on.<\/p>\n

Generally in the beginning, you\u2019ll be hungry and looking for any kind of work, but as your customer list grows, you\u2019ll have the freedom to focus more on what fits best for your tastes and schedule.<\/p>\n

Your business specifics<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Now, finding customers for your small gardening business may be one thing, but keeping them (happy) is quite another one.<\/p>\n

Besides the good wealth of knowledge you should be equipped with before you go knocking on their doors, there are other important requirements you\u2019ll have to have in order to keep your clients.<\/p>\n

Making a good first impression<\/h3>\n

To begin with, as they say, first impressions last the longest\u2014and a lot longer than most believed<\/a>. Here it\u2019s important to focus on how you present yourself. You can do this by:<\/p>\n