When you are looking at starting a landscaping business, you want to be sure that you can get off to the best start possible. To make sure this happens, you need an action plan, and you need to know what you will be offering and why. The more information that you can gather at the beginning of your new business adventure – then the easier you should find the whole process.
What Services to Offer and Where
Firstly, you have to put yourself in the position of your target audience or customer. What services are you going to offer and why? Are you going to offer everything from laying pavers right on through to garden clearance and maintenance? Or are you just going to specialize in offering one or two services? When you are starting off, it is important not to overwhelm yourself. Focus on a few areas and then build things up from there. Knowing more about your target audience and the typical customer will help you decide what services you should start offering.
Checking Out the Competition
There will be competition around you, but you must not let this affect you or your vision. Finding out who the competition is, and seeing what they are offering is essential. If you do not know what you are up against, then how can you guarantee you will be offering a fair price or fair service? When it comes to checking out the competition, try and establish where their strengths and weaknesses lie. Then from here, you can establish what your unique selling proposition (USP) or niche will be.
Building a Portfolio
Once you know who your competitors are, and you know what services you want to offer, it’s time to start building your portfolio. A portfolio is going to help you win business and also get repeat business too. You can build a strong portfolio by asking for referrals from previous jobs you have done. Or, by even offering a small discount in return for photos and a testimonial. A portfolio of previous work carried out, together with genuine customer testimonials, will always go down very well.
Producing Awesome Results Every Time
Your business is going to be started (and built) upon the quality of your work and your workmanship. Ensuring that you can produce awesome results on each job and for each customer is essential. To ensure you can do this, you need to be fair and honest, competitive with pricing, and you always need to leave the site cleaner than it was when you arrived. Purchasing the right equipment and tools, from grouting equipment to groundwork tools, will ensure that you can do all of this as efficiently as possible.
Focus on Marketing
In those early days of starting a new landscaping business, you can find that things may be a little quieter than you wanted (or expected). To get out of this situation, you have to ensure that you focus on marketing where you can. From work-of-mouth marketing to social media marketing, it is important to spread the word about your business and what it can provide.
