Starting a home gardening business
todd_2006
17 years ago
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laag
17 years agowatergal
17 years agoRelated Discussions
career choice: start own business or employment?
Comments (4)Thats a tough one. When my children were younger I chose plan B. I now am the owner of a very strong business with more than enough income that I can take winter "off". But right now, in the beginning of spring I am working 12 hour day, 7 days a week. Here's a few thoughts I have coming from that perspective: -there is the possibility of finding a lower paying job, closer to home which would give you time to grow your business. -Last year, Matt Nathanson, singer, spoke at our high school's graduation. He gave some of the best life advice I have ever heard. EVERY DAY I think of his advice "get comfortable being uncomfortable". To be successful you have to push the envelope all the time. I linked his speech below...well worth a watch. -if you decide to do Plan B- the key to being successful is keeping all expenses very low. Don't run out and buy trucks, rent an office or any of that off the bat; I have seen sooo many landscape companies come and go because of that. On the other hand, its important to spend money on product that you know you can sell. Planters, shrubs, trees and the bigger the better because there is more money in it. -I don't use CAD anymore. It was an expense I couldn't justify considering that hand drawn is usually just as good. Actually better if you are designing perennial gardens. I also don't advertise, its never been a necessary expense. I treat my customers well enough that they are excited to share my name. -My initial business plan was not only to provide flexible employment for myself so I could prioritize my family, but to provide flexible employment to other moms. Right now I have a mom working for me who can only work random hours, but if she can get herself to and from our job site, why would I tell her she has to work the same hours as everyone else? Its important to be outside the box and creative about making a business work. I have a local friend who is in virtually the same business, and for him, his crew needs to be ready to go at 7am until 4pm everyday. If they are late he is furious. I personally don't understand that. I am very flexible and my crew always appreciates that and respects me. -I don't think about my business in a competitive way. "All boats rise" is my motto. Meaning that the more good landscaping there is out there, the more people want their landscaping to look that good and the more business there is for everyone. Very very few home owners get competitive bids on work. This year I had one, yes one, competitive bid situation. Ironically my price came in at HALF what the other landscaper bid. I think that tells you a lot about how pricing works in this business. -For a while, I was very successful providing "elite" services. I was considered the landscaper that all the wives in the richer part of town wanted to have do their gardens. It didn't matter that my prices were higher than other garden designers, actually it helped. I say for a while, because that effect has diminished in this recession. But it is an interesting thing to consider. Think Martha Stewart doing your gardens... -I don't think a website is necessary but an internet presence is important so customers can google you. Websites can get really really expensive especially if you are working all the time to stay on top of the search engines. I use Facebook as my website. It comes up if people search my name and you have a built in audience. Last year I got two jobs, one the biggest job we had all summer, off of Facebook. Post some pretty pictures of your work a couple of times a week and you reach however many friends you can find on there. A website just sits there but FB is interactive. I LOVE my job but I especially love the business part of it. I love to challenge the way people think about running a business and proving them wrong in their traditional thinking. I think liking the business part of it is important; its not just planting flowers. Okay, I know that was just a random bunch of thoughts, but i hope it helps. Good luck and i think you should be comfortable being uncomfortable and choose plan B. Here is a link that might be useful: Matt nathanson, hes on FB too....See MoreVeggie Garden Home Business
Comments (20)I just recently purchased a home with lots of backyard space Simply put, I want to start my own vegetable garden business from my backyard, but I am a novice i would seriously hold off on trying to start a business out of gardening right now. continue your current job and aquire the skilles you currently lack over a couple years before you attempt to live off what you can grow. plus, it takes a couple months before you can sell ANYTHING, and those are also the months when you have the biggest expenditures for equipment and supplies, so with a new house i would try to get all that out of the way and get htings settled before i quit my day job. it is something about getting a lot of land makes us all see this. when we bought our house i swore i was going to grow a huge garden and sell veggies for extra money. that was almost 4 years ago and i have yet to sell anything. i usually keep most of what i grow and give the rest away as i don't have enough extra to make it worth selling!...See MoreFREE to good gardener home: seed starting mini green house
Comments (1)colleen, i don't know if you rcvd the email i sent but i never heard from you.would you plse email me at cottonarboretum@comcast.net thanks, mindy...See Morebusy, busy week for ccmaster gardeners
Comments (2)Gee, I wish you could too. I'd love a chance to meet you.....maybe some other time. Hope others get a chance to come. Several of these places are really nice. And it's a first for the Rusk area....See Moregardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
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