In this day and age getting a new business to succeed can be a trying task. But getting it set up is only half the journey. Once you have it set up, you need to give it a consistent effort to make sure the business thrives. Read on below to learn about five different tools you can utilize to help your business succeed!
The five tips to helping your landscaping business succeed are choosing the right location, utilizing marketing tools, keeping your prices competitive, providing amazing customer service, and changing with the market. Following these tools will help ensure that your business grows in a market where many are shutting down.
Let’s go in-depth into each of these methods, and talk about how you can use each one to your benefit. If you do the needed research and give each tool the attention it needs, you can ensure that your new landscaping business will be a huge success!
Choosing the right location
Picking the correct location can make or break your business. You can’t expect your business to thrive if you set up shop in a town that already has far too many landscaping businesses up and running. Likewise, your business won’t do well if there isn’t already an existing demand for the services you offer in town. So, what can you do to make sure you pick the right place?
Firstly, do your research. If you already have an idea of where you’d like to set up shop, check to see what the current market is like. Are there already quite a few shops set up in town, if so, pay a visit to them to see how business is doing. If business is booming, perhaps there is a need for a new landscaping business in town. But make sure you thoroughly do your research to learn if there is more business that the current shops can’t keep up with, or if existing business is just enough for the shops in town. If you set up a new shop in hopes of getting business, without the need for one, there’s a chance that clients will continue going to the landscaper they’ve already been working with, leaving very few customers who come to you.
On the other hand, if the existing shops are all slow, that is a surefire sign to you that this is not the market you want to be in. If there was business to be had the shops in town would have already gotten it. Save yourself the trouble and find a different location.
If the location you had your heart set on, or the town you currently live in is not a good market to get started in, ask yourself if you’re willing to relocate, or how far you are willing to commute if relocating just isn’t an option. Then do your research on what towns are good for landscaping and work out the logistics of getting your shop set up there. Start by doing research online to see what cities are recommended in your area as top-rated by experts. This will give you a good starting point to move forward.
Utilize Marketing Tools
One of the best ways to help your business succeed is to use marketing to help grow your brand. Whether you use traditional tools such as word of mouth, fliers, networking, or client outreach, or you use more modern methods such as social media, your business likely won’t take off if you don’t use some kind of marketing to get attention.
You could use Facebook, where you can post an ad letting people you know about your new business. Even if no one in your direct circle or friend group is interested, you never know who they might pass the word along to. Business can find you in the most unexpected ways.
Another good option would be Instagram, there’s a hashtag for everything these days. You can tag your company’s name, where you are located, how much you charge, discounts, etc. to ensure that it shows up in as many people’s searches as possible. This gives you a much larger and pretty much global reach, which guarantees you a much higher chance of pulling in new clients.
Maybe social media is not your forte, while I would encourage you to try and learn it or hire someone who can help out with it, you do have other options available to you. You could use word of mouth, networking events, partnering with your suppliers, and even posting up fliers around the neighborhood. Whatever you do, just make sure you are doing something to help build your brand and get the name out there.
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Keeping your Prices Competitive
Always make sure you are pricing your services competitively with your competitors. If you have a service listed at $50 per hour, but all of your competitors are offering the same service for around $40 per hour, it won’t make sense for them to come to you. On the other hand, if your competitors have their services priced at $40, and you can reasonably lower your price to $35, you have the upper hand in winning over the client! Make sure to do your research on the market and its trends, and keep your services priced to win clients!
Changing with the Market
Another important part of keeping your business successful is to keep changing with the ever-changing market. If you find that there is a rise in demand for a certain service, and it’s not one you already offer, make sure your business grows to meet this demand. Whether this means continuing to get more licensing to expand the services you offer or hiring more workers to keep up with the growing demand, make sure you are constantly changing as the need arises.
This may also mean changing by downsizing, maybe you’ve had a quieter than normal summer because people just aren’t spending on landscaping services at the moment. You may not need all the tools or staff you currently have. Take a look at how your sales are doing and make decisions that will help your business in the long run.
Also, always keep your eye on the cost of goods. If the price of supplies suddenly hikes up, you will also need to change your prices to match this change. It’s not reasonable for you to keep prices the same, and pay more out of pocket. In the long run, this won’t help your business, and you run the risk of losing profit.
Always Provide Amazing Customer Service
This may just be the most important tip on this list. Regardless of how many clients you land, they will not come back to you unless you treat them right. This will ultimately impact whether or not your business sinks or swims. If you treat your customers well and make sure that every interaction with them not only meets, but exceeds their expectations, then you can be sure that word will get around about your business, and more and more clients will continue to seek you out and work with you.
How to use these tips
At the end of the day, each business is going to have individual needs. You have to make decisions that will help you. You won’t have to follow every tip in this article to a T, but use them as guidelines that will help you ask and answer questions about your business. Learn what is lacking and what you are doing well on already! Take a look at your company with a critical eye and make the changes needed, to help your business thrive! Good Luck!
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best way to market if I am not tech-savvy?
This a great question, as many people worry about how to market if they aren’t comfortable with social media, and then ignore marketing together! As we talked about above, there are other ways. If you wanted to start with one, I would recommend word of mouth. Simply spread the word to anyone and everyone you come across – this means when you are out shopping, at social events, with friends or family, at work, etc. Simply spread the word about your new business by telling as many people as will listen.
How often do I need to change my prices to stay competitive?
This will largely depend on what your specific market and competition look like. If your neighboring stores are always changing their prices, then you will make sure you change as well to make sure that your prices are not too high compared to theirs. As we talked about above, the price of goods will also play a role in whether you need to change prices. If the cost of bricks suddenly goes from .50 cents a brick to 1.00 a brick, obviously your price for the related service will have to go up to accommodate this change.
To learn more on how you can start your own landscaping business, check out my startup documents here.
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Meet Shawn Chun: Entrepreneur and Landscape Business Fan.
I’m a happy individual who happens to be an entrepreneur. I have owned several types of businesses in my life from a coffee shop to an import and export business to an online review business plus a few more and now I create online resources for those interested in starting new ventures. It’s demanding work but I love it. I do it for those passionate about their business and their goals. That’s why when I meet a landscape business owner at a job site, driving down the road or anywhere else I see myself. I know how hard the struggle is to retain clients, find good employees and keep the business growing all while trying to stay competitive.
That’s why I created Landscaping Business Boss: I want to help landscape business owners like you build a thriving business that brings you endless joy and supports your ideal lifestyle.