Like many professions, architectural landscapers have the chance to earn more money as they progress in their careers and skills.
As an architectural landscaper, you have to ensure that in the process of calculating your fees for a project, you have to include your time spent, work quality, and the cost of equipment needed for the completion of the project. This will enable you to earn the right amount that will help you earn your profits while maintaining your capital to grow your business.
An architectural landscaper makes on average between $44,000 to $115,500 annually, with the average earnings at $79,750 per annum. As you get more experienced, you increase your tendency to earn higher.
Factors That Affect Your Earnings as an Architectural Landscaper
Expertise
As an architectural landscaper, your expertise will foster your growth because most people might choose to employ architectural landscapers with proven expertise.
However, there are many ways to improve your expertise as an architectural landscaper. Here are some of them:
Education
To build your expertise as an architectural landscaper, you can enroll in a formal education that involves getting a bachelor’s degree or furthering your education through a master’s or doctoral degree. You can also enroll in a specialized vocational and professional training program or formal skill building.
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Apprenticeship
This is a form of practical education where you are paid as an architectural landscaper to improve your skills and build your knowledge for a successful career in architectural landscaping.
Networking
Networking as an architectural landscaper will open you up to meeting professionals who could help you improve your career through mentorships or share opportunities that could help you build your expertise and portfolio.
Practice
As an architectural landscaper, practice will help you improve your expertise and also help you get accustomed to new trends that will help you meet your client’s needs.
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Requesting for Feedback
The primary purpose of building your expertise is to meet your client’s expectations. This means that your client’s feedback can be a pointer to the areas you need to improve.
Location
As an architectural landscaper, you need to understand that some geographical locations will naturally support the creation and maintenance of landscapes more than others. As a result, people will need your expertise most in these landscape-favoring regions, and you will maximize your earnings.
This is not to say that you will not earn high if you are an architectural landscaper in a location that does not encourage landscaping. It just means that you might have more competition to deal with. However, you can maximize your profits by your professionalism and rendering quality services.
Weather
The weather conditions in your location can determine how much you earn as an architectural landscaper. For instance, you might find that most architectural landscaping projects might occur during warm seasons than they might during cold seasons. However, there might still be some non-practical architectural landscaping activities that you can do in unfavorable weather in preparation for when the weather is favorable enough for hands-on work. Some of these activities are:
- Landscape design creation
- Budgeting
- Hiring professionals ahead of time
- Gathering equipment.
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Availability of types of equipment
The available equipment can help you increase your earnings as an architectural landscaper because some equipment creates a better and more professional design and outcome than others. For example, if you make an analog landscape design, you are less likely to win a contract over another architectural landscaper who creates a landscape design using AUTOCAD.
This is because digital landscaping architectural equipment will create a more professional and precise landscape design highlighting aesthetics to appeal to the client.
As an architectural landscaper, you are advised to invest in your work equipment, as it can be a vital tool to your career success.
Communication
As an architectural landscaper, your communication skills will go a long way in helping you increase your earnings. Why? This is because, with excellent communication skills, your clients can tell you what they want and trust that you understand them. In addition, you can pitch ideas to your clients that reflect what they want and carry them along every step of the project. Excellent communication skills can come with incentives like referrals, continuous patronage, and bonuses, leading to increased earnings for you.
Customer Service
In the broad scope of customer service, there are several aspects that you should not ignore as an architectural landscaper because they could translate into more earnings for you. This is because people like to be treated with respect and professionalism. Some of these aspects are:
- Addressing customer complaints politely.
- Answering questions from potential and existing clients.
- Follow-up and maintenance of completed projects.
- Upgrading customer experience.
- Providing accurate, complete, and valid information about your architectural landscaping services.
Ensuring that all these aspects of your customer service are of an excellent standard will help retain customers willing to pay you for your services at your chosen rates.
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Is It Worth Being an Architectural Landscaper?
You might wonder if the time, resources, and energy you put into learning the entirety of architectural landscaping are worth it. The answer to this question is a resounding yes!
As stated in this article, as an architectural landscaper, you can experience a quick promotion in your career if you have excellent expertise and professionalism, leading to a corresponding increase in your earnings. In addition, however, there are several non-monetary benefits you can gain. Some of the benefits are:
You can be your boss
As an architectural landscaper, you can control your business, time, and resources completely. In addition, if you can schedule your time correctly, you can avert the pressure that comes with the job and only take on jobs that your schedule and expertise permit. Some other advantages that come with being your boss are:
- Work-life balance
- You can create your company structure
- You can learn from your mistakes without strict and sometimes unfair judgment and punishments
Your creativity is unhindered
Being an architectural landscaper already requires you to be creative. Whether you are on a paid employment contract or you are a self-employed architectural landscaper, your creativity is what will bring your projects to life.
As an architectural landscaper, a phrase you will never hear is “I think you are being too creative.” In addition, because creating aesthetically beautiful landscapes tops the list of your job role, you need to be as creative as possible.
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You work with Nature
You might ask yourself how this is an advantage. Well, you know how you create these aesthetic designs to ease people off stress, induce calmness, or create happiness through nature. Some benefits can be transferred to you while being creative with nature. Hence, even with the demands and the stress you might face while being an architectural landscaper, you get to experience the results of your work firsthand!
You’re a part of something big
Many years ago, you may not have seen this as an advantage of being an architectural landscaper. However, with the vast movement of sustainability and life conservation, you get to play a vital contributor to the positive effects of these movements.
As an architectural landscaper, you get to create these beautiful designs that allow for life conservation but also help to preserve and beautify our environment. Kudos!
You have a predictable year plan
Not every season is a busy season for an architectural landscaper. This is because some weather conditions will decrease requests for any landscaping activity. However, this can help you plan your year according to the seasons in your country. For instance, before the summer, you can begin to advertise or bid for projects that ought to start in time for summer. Here are some other productive activities you can engage in during non-busy work seasons:
- Spend time with family and friends to help you ease off stress
- Travel.
- Build your portfolio
- Learn a new skill (related or not related to architectural landscaping)
- Restructure your company
- Network
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Frequently Asked Questions
How does an architectural landscaper get paid?
As an architectural landscaper, you can get paid monthly, annually, hourly, or per project. Whichever way, you have to ensure that you agree with your client or employer on the best payment plans that ensure that you are financially comfortable enough to afford essential goods and services when you need them.
Can an architectural landscaper retire?
Like every other career, you can retire from being an architectural landscaper. However, if you choose, you can remain in the business by consulting for other architectural landscaping companies or running your own company by hiring other architectural landscapers. On the other hand, you can choose to burn your bridges with your architectural landscaping career and either change your career path or take a rest from working in general.
Whichever way you choose, trust that if you have invested your time, energy, and resources into having a successful career in an architectural landscape and you have decided to resign, it will be worth it.
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.