If you consider yourself an expert on lawn care, starting a business only seems natural. However, creating a successful lawn care business involves more than just skill. You’ll have to consider equipment, licenses, and insurance, among other things. While entering the lawn care industry is not as easy as you might think, a bit of careful planning and execution will give you the best chances of success.
Coming up with a lawn care business plan can help you prepare for the future and tap into thousands of potential customers. You’ll learn all about how to write a lawn service business plan and why it matters.
Before jumping into the planning process, here’s a closer look at what you’ll learn in this article.
A comprehensive plan is necessary for all lawn care business owners. Not only does it help you stay organized, but it also allows you to set your goals, maintain focus, and pinpoint areas of improvement.
A good plan outlines how you think about your work’s financial, sales, marketing, and technical aspects and how you can use them to succeed. They are also helpful for getting a better grasp of competitors and identifying unique opportunities to get ahead – remember, work within the landscaping industry is often seasonal, so being on top of your game is crucial.
Many people need their lawns mowed and gardens fertilized, so you can rest assured that starting a lawn care company is profitable! Plus, you’ll get to enjoy these benefits.
Traditional business plans are lengthier, more detailed, and present more concrete, plausible outcomes than the structures you see today. On the other hand, modern plans are more flexible and focus more on creating a vision than making a detailed financial model.
While traditional plans include a detailed executive summary about the business involved, modern start-up plans offer a value proposition instead, outlining how to gain a competitive advantage in your target market. Start-up plans also require developing growth rates and revenue models from the ground up, especially if the business in question lacks historical data.
What type of business model best suits your lawn care company will depend on your goals and the most critical aspects of your potential growth.
Now that you know having a lawn care business plan is necessary, it’s time to take a closer look at the benefits you can gain from having one.
A complete lawn care business plan includes the following sections.
Your cover page should clearly state your company name and include your logo. You should also include your company role, business address, and other contact information.
As the title suggests, executive summaries should summarize your entire plan in a few short paragraphs. In it, you should include your mission and vision, business goals, factors that set you apart, and a brief company history. It is best to write your executive summary last when you have a complete understanding of what the entire document includes.
Your business overview is a look into all the aspects of your lawn care and landscape company. These include:
Provide a list of the services you want to offer according to your existing assets and current budget. Common lawn care services include:
What you can offer will ultimately depend on your existing equipment, your competition, and what your customers need.
Creating a market analysis is similar to crafting a buyer persona. In this section, you’ll want to define your target market, what solutions they need, and how you fit into the equation. When taking a closer look at your target market, list their characteristics such as:
Then, include an analysis of your top competitors. Consider factors like:
This section of your business plan is where everything comes together. Think of it as a road map to success that outlines your:
Operational objectives: Create short and long-term objectives that break down your mission and vision into actionable goals. For instance, if you want to increase brand loyalty, your goals might be to engage clients or improve customer service channels.
This part of your business plan should outline how you intend to market and sell your products and services. Ultimately, it should provide a summary of your:
You can also use this information to ensure you’re not spending more than you can afford. Once you’ve determined your financial goals, you can identify how many potential customers you’ll need to meet them.
Not sure where to start? Try these lawn care marketing ideas.
As your company grows, so will your need for more employees. In most cases, labor costs take anywhere between 30-35% of your revenue. To keep these costs down, you’ll need a strategy for improving productivity, efficiency, and communication.
Before you start hiring more employees, you’ll want to consider:
This stage of your business plan is where investing in lawn care software might come in handy. These programs can automate repetitive administrative tasks and keep everyone on your team accountable. This allows you and your admin team to focus on adding value to the business instead of doing menial, repetitive tasks.
If maintaining regular employees ends up costing your business too much, you might want to enlist contracting services instead. Working with specialists on a contract basis can reduce your overall costs, as you’ll pay for labor only when you need it.
Finally, it’s time to think about how you will bring revenue into your business. Especially if you are applying for a lawn care business grant, you’ll want to make this section as detailed as possible. Your financial plan should outline:
Starting a lawn care and landscape company from the ground up is no easy feat. Having a lawn mowing business plan in place can make the process far more manageable. You can create one by following these steps:
How much you pay for business insurance will depend on the services you offer and the risks involved. For general liability insurance, which covers property damage and employee injuries, you can expect to pay an average of $45 per month. However, you may need to purchase more insurance depending on how you operate your business.
Some policies only cover claims on a per-occurrence limit, restricting coverage to only one incident. If your business is growing, you may have to expand policy limits.
Furthermore, you’ll also have to get commercial auto insurance, which costs lawn care and landscaping companies an average of $150 per month. If you employ company-owned vehicles, this type of insurance is necessary. Otherwise, you can purchase hired and non-owned auto insurance for rented vehicles.
How much your lawn care and landscaping company can earn each year will depend on what type of services you offer and how broad your customer base is. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, average landscapers’ salaries can range between $33,000 – 73,000. However, top performers can expect to earn up to $97,910 a year.
Whether or not starting a lawn care and landscaping company is worth it will rely on the pros outweighing the cons. For instance, if you’re operating out of an area that requires lawn care services year-round, starting a business might seem logical. However, some contractual landscapers choose not to start a business because of the seasonal nature of lawn care and the economic risks involved. However, creating a lawn care and landscaping company also comes with high earning potential. It all depends on how much work you’re willing to put into your business and how prepared you are.
There are many effective channels for generating potential lawn care leads. Some of the best ways to obtain potential clients fast are through:
If this is your first time looking for customers, don’t hesitate to ask your family and friends – they might even promote your business to other people who need your services. We’ve also put together some lawn care ad ideas to help you get started.
Starting a lawn care and landscaping company takes a lot of work. However, crafting a detailed lawn care business plan can help you get ahead of your competitors and stand out as an industry leader. Using these tips, you can worry less about how much starting a business will cost you and focus more on high-earning business tactics that will make your hard work pay off!
Take your lawn care business plan to new heights with Method:Field Services!
Image credit: Alvaro Reyes via Unsplash
Sarah is a Content Writer on Method's Marketing team. Her goal is to share strategies that inspire, strengthen, and help small businesses succeed. When she isn’t researching the latest business topics and trends, you can find her reading in the park or working on her short stories.
