The summer’s come and gone and you had great business for your landscaping business. But now you’re starting to ask yourself, now what? Do you just pack up shop and close for the winter? Of course not! There are many jobs a landscaper can take on during the fall and winter to earn money. Let’s look at various services you can offer to bring in an income during the colder season.
After summer landscapers can take on jobs such as leaf removal, Christmas light hanging, gutter cleaning, snow removal, and jobs to prepare the yard for next season. They can also work on interior landscaping projects or take the time to study and apply for new permits to expand their services in the following summer season.
Winter is by no means an off-season for landscapers, and there is often a lot that you can take on and do. There is always something that can be done, and new projects are always arising. Let’s take an in-depth look at various jobs landscapers can take on during the winter.
Reaching Out to Existing Clients
The best part about transitioning into fall and winter services, is you don’t have to start fresh when it comes to finding clients. You already did all of the heavy lifting and have the client base that you worked with all summer. Now you simply have to reach out to them to find out if there are any additional services, they require that you can help with.
A good way of doing this is to give your clients a gentle nudge when you wrap on their service during the summer, and hand them your business card should they have any fall or winter jobs that they had planned. Then again close to the end of the summer season, reach out to them to touch base and see if there are any services they need done. If you did a good job on their service during the summer and provided them with amazing customer service, there is no reason why they won’t want to work with you again!
Services to Take on During Winter
Leaf Removal
This is an easy one because you won’t find too many people who love raking their leaves. Once the busy summer season ends, you can find plenty of jobs taking care of leaves for guests. Start with your neighbors and work your way out to surrounding neighborhoods. It doesn’t hurt to post ads around town advertising your fall services either.
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Christmas Light Hanging
This is another great one, because usually by the time the season is here to hang Christmas lights, it is cold outside! While many people still love hanging light themselves just out of Christmas cheer, there are a great many people who would happily pay good money so they can stay out of the chilly weather themselves. Again, use the tips we talked about above to get the word out about your Christmas light-hanging services. People can’t work with you if they don’t know it’s something you offer.
Gutter Cleaning
This is another service that most people don’t tend to enjoy doing. They’d rather pay someone else to take it on out of ease and save time. If one particular service isn’t gaining too much attention, try bundling it together with another service and set a higher price. For example, perhaps offer a bundle where you rake the leaves and clean out the gutters for a client. This will gain more attention as you are now taking care of two services that clients hate working on in one afternoon!
Snow Removal
Shoveling snow is another big one and one people tend to hate doing due to the cold weather! Not only is it often cold and icy, but many customers also probably don’t have the equipment that a professional landscaper would have. It’s easier for them to reach out and have someone else do it, rather than them breaking their back in the frigid temps!
Getting the Lawn Ready for Next Summer
Making sure the lawn is ready for next summer is an important part of lawn care and you can milk many services out of this. You could offer a service to make sure plants are properly cared for so they will live through the winter. This may include wrapping shrubs, removing dead plants, properly covering flowers, and taking care of trees.
Don’t underestimate the importance of taking precautions to get the landscape ready for next year. If you don’t properly care for flowers, bulbs, or young trees, they may not make it through the winter. Another service you could offer is fertilizing the yard in the fall. Just like the importance of caring for plants, if you don’t fertilize your lawn in preparation for next summer, it may not be as lush and green once the snow melts away next year.
As we talked about above, the best part is, that you won’t have to do more work to find new clients for these services. You can simply keep in touch with your existing clients and continue working with them. This is not to say that you shouldn’t reach out to new clients at all, you can certainly do so to grow your business and your clientele. The process will just be a lot easier since you already have existing clients whom you worked with in the summer.
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Planning for Next Summer
You can always take some time during the winter to plan for your next summer season. A huge part of this may mean taking the time to apply for new permits so you can continue to expand the services you offer. It might not always make sense to do this during your summer season since that tends to be the busiest time of year for many landscapers.
Doing this during your slower season allows you to take the time to study for any permits or licenses that require you to pass a test to acquire them. It also gives you the capital needed to do so coming off of a busy summer season. Taking the time to add on a few additional services each year can broaden the range of services you offer, and over time can help your business stand out over others who never grew.
Interior Landscaping Projects
The great part of being a versatile landscaper is being able to work on indoor projects during the winter. Many homes and commercial spaces have curated spaces inside that also require maintenance. Take the time during the summer to schedule these appointments ahead of the coming winter so you have jobs lined up well before the summer season ends.
You’ll need to make sure however that you have the expertise it takes to work on indoor spaces as often this falls under the scope of an interior designer or architect. If you or someone on your team has these skills, go ahead and add this to your list!
Staying Busy Throughout the Fall and Winter
I hope by now you’re starting to see that staying busy through the fall and winter is not all that different from staying busy during the summer. Although the services you offer will be very different, the number of different services you can offer doesn’t have to go down to just one or two. So, don’t fret just because the summer is over, if you plan out your seasons carefully, you can still earn plenty of money during the fall and winter.
The most important part here is to keep growing your loyal client base so you will always have customers who need your services no matter what time of year it is. Always remember to reach out to clients early and often so you can get plenty of appointments down on the books for fall and winter. Continue offering amazing landscaping services, and always go above and beyond in your customer service! Good luck!
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good time of year to start reaching out to clients for Fall/Winter Services?
As we talked about above, you should initially plant the idea in your customers’ minds when you wrap up the first service during the summer. Then follow up with a call, text, or email during mid-August to remind them of what services you offer for the following seasons, and what needs to be done to prep their lawn for next summer. Sometimes clients need a fire lit under them to get them going, so don’t be afraid to emphasize the necessity of the services you offer!
Should I offer all the services mentioned above?
You can if you’d like, but you need to do whatever makes the most sense for your business. If you have the time and the manpower to take on all of the services, by all means, do so! But if you know that some services would just cost you too much time or money spent on new equipment, then ditch those in favor of the services that will make you the most income and are most convenient for your business.
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.