Wasnak - How to open & operate a financially successful landscaping, nursery, or lawn service business : with companion CD-ROM

How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Landscaping, Nursery, or Lawn Service Business

How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Landscaping, Nursery, or Lawn Service Business: With Companion CD-ROM

Copyright 2010 Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be sent to Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc., 1210 SW 23rd Place, Ocala, Florida 34471.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

How to open & operate a financially successful landscaping, nursery, or lawn service business : with companion CD-ROM.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60138-228-3 (alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-60138-228-6 (alk. paper)

1. Landscaping industry--Management. 2. Landscape nurseries--Management. 3. Lawn care industry--Management. 4. Small business--Management. I. Title: How to open and operate a financially successful landscaping, nursery, or lawn service business.

SB472.5.M68 2009

712.068--dc22

2008030019

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Web site may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Web sites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.

A few years back we lost our beloved pet dog Bear, who was not only our best and dearest friend but also the Vice President of Sunshine here at Atlantic Publishing. He did not receive a salary but worked tirelessly 24 hours a day to please his parents.

Bear was a rescue dog who turned around and showered myself, my wife, Sherri, his grandparents Jean, Bob, and Nancy, and every person and animal he met (well, maybe not rabbits) with friendship and love. He made a lot of people smile every day.

We wanted you to know a portion of the profits of this book will be donated in Bears memory to local animal shelters, parks, conservation organizations, and other individuals and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance.

Douglas and Sherri Brown

PS: We have since adopted two more rescue dogs: first Scout, and the following year, Ginger. They were both mixed golden retrievers who needed a home.

Want to help animals and the world? Here are a dozen easy suggestions you and your family can implement today:

• Adopt and rescue a pet from a local shelter.
• Support local and no-kill animal shelters.
• Plant a tree to honor someone you love.
• Be a developer put up some birdhouses.
• Buy live, potted Christmas trees and replant them.
• Make sure you spend time with your animals each day.
• Save natural resources by recycling and buying recycled products.
• Drink tap water, or filter your own water at home.
• Whenever possible, limit your use of or do not use pesticides.
• If you eat seafood, make sustainable choices.
• Support your local farmers market.
• Get outside. Visit a park, volunteer, walk your dog, or ride your bike.

Five years ago, Atlantic Publishing signed the Green Press Initiative. These guidelines promote environmentally friendly practices, such as using recycled stock and vegetable-based inks, avoiding waste, choosing energy-efficient resources, and promoting a no-pulping policy. We now use 100-percent recycled stock on all our books. The results: in one year, switching to post-consumer recycled stock saved 24 mature trees, 5,000 gallons of water, the equivalent of the total energy used for one home in a year, and the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from one car driven for a year.

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Contents

Introduction

T his book does not sell dreams rather, it shows you, step by step, how to make your personal dream of working for yourself in the outdoors come true. Enterprising owners of outdoor service businesses can make as much as $60 to $80 per hour or more, for up to ten months of the year in the northern climates of the United States or for all 12 months if you are willing to plow snow. That is decent money.

As a business owner, you are in control of your destiny. However, ownership does not make the work easier it may even seem harder sometimes. But if you like the feeling responsibility, you will never be afraid of layoffs again because, as the boss, you are in charge. When you come up with a new idea you can experiment, watch what happens, and learn from the results. You do not have to get permission.

The business can grow with you, at your own pace. Age is not a drawback from high school students to grandparents, anyone who can push a lawnmower (or hire someone else to push one) can enter the outdoor service business. The cost of entry is remarkably low. Some lawn care specialists started businesses with little more than a single lawnmower.

Of course, easy, low-cost entry means lots of competition. You will have to hone your competitive skills. According to US Census Bureau statistics, in 2006 over 89,000 landscaping firms operated in the US with nearly 567,000 paid employees. Of this group, 65,435 of these firms had fewer than four employees; yet combined, they generated over $3 billion in annual payroll. But there is a growing demand for outdoor services as the nation becomes more environmentally conscious and recognizes that lawns, flowers, and trees are more than beautiful they cleanse the very air we breathe. As our population ages, more lawn care work is hired out. A National Gardening Association survey reported that between 2001 and 2006, US households increased their expenditure on lawn and landscape services from $24.5 billion to $44.7 billion. That is nearly double!