Going Green in More Ways than One: Launch An Eco-Landscaping Business
Starting a landscaping business can be quite lucrative – especially if you have a bit of a green thumb. It is easy to find people almost anywhere that don’t like to do yard work themselves or who want to change their yard but don’t have the technical knowledge to do so.
The good news is that you can launch an eco-friendly landscaping business that not only makes you money, but looks out for the environment as well. There doesn’t need to be any compromise between owning a business and staying green, so if you are thinking about launching your own landscaping business, here are a few tips on how you can help make people’s lawns look better while watching out for the environment.
Know Your Customers
Before you start an eco-friendly landscaping business, you need to understand who your customers are and why they should care about your business. While being an eco-friendly business is all well and good, you have to give clients a reason to choose you over any other landscaping businesses that are in your area.
There’s a good chance many of your customers will live in rural or suburban areas simply because there is more land to take care of in these areas than in urban settings. Learn about the local environment — what the watersheds are, any important wetlands or other protected areas — and let you customers know that your business will help protect these things. Many people, whether they know it or not, do care about their immediate environments and will be happy to choose you over your competitors.
When you know your customers, you will also have a better idea as to what rates to charge. Those with more land will probably pay higher rates than those with little patches.
Know What You Need
There are some basic pieces of equipment that you will need no matter how large or small your business is. All landscaping activities will need basic hand tools as well as lawn mowers, trimmers, blowers or anything else that is a necessity.
As an eco-conscious business, however, you need to figure out what the most green equipment types are. There are many different brands of lawn mower that claim to be the best, but you need to do your own research and find out if you should go with gas or electric or riding or push style.
Every decision you make should consider the environmental impact. Which kind of vehicle will you drive? How do you dispose of your wastes? What chemicals will you use? Knowing the answer to each of these questions will help you provide better service and answers to your customers, who will trust you more knowing that you are environmentally conscious.
Find a Budget Balance
Since you are an eco-friendly business, you may end up paying a little bit more for materials and equipment than you would otherwise, so you need to find a balance between your rates and your costs.
Take the time to research your costs closely before setting your rates. A bag of organic fertilizer may cost nearly twice as much as a run-of-the-mill bag, so you need to extrapolate this extra cost into your rates. If you charge the same as someone who is not environmentally conscious, you may find yourself running out of money quickly. Rather, price each cost and raise your rates accordingly. You may find that, on average, organics are 15% more than normal, so this would allow you to just raise your rates by 15% to cover the cost.
And if you are charging more, make sure your customers understand why. Explain to them organic fertilizer is twice the cost of regular fertilizer. If they are truly hoping for a “green” lawn, they will understand the extra charges.
Other Ways to Make Money
There are a few things you can do when you run a landscaping business that will allow you to make extra money.
One of the best ways is to compost at home. After each job, there will be a lot of yard waste. You can bag this up and bring it home where you build a compost heap to break down the material. You can then sell this to others at little or no cost to you.
If you know of someone with a Supercritical fluid extraction machine, you can take yard waste consisting of flowers or other fragrant plant life so they can extract the essential oils, which either you or they could sell at a profit to stores or directly to customers.
You don’t have to compromise when it comes to staying green and launching a successful landscaping company.
Hannah Hopkins has a degree in environmental sciences. She is currently exploring different job opportunities through volunteering around the world and is getting her thoughts down and out into the world with her article writing.
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