The UK is experiencing an overall resurgence in interest in gardens, as domestic garden spending was shown to how increased by 77% in the first quarter of 2021-22 vs the last quarter of 2020-21.
The landscaping industry has benefitted from such growth – but not all landscapers are capitalising on the increased interest in an effective way. If you are comfortable operating at capacity, there are a number of ways in which you can facilitate growth. The following represent just four unique ways you can approach expanding your landscaping business.
There is so much people would like to do with their gardens but just don’t know how to do it, so there is no reason why you can’t expand your business.
Diversify Your Client Base
Firstly, you may want to consider expanding your offerings. You may be providing solely domestic landscaping services, which puts a soft cap on the amount you can earn – and disincentivises further investment in high-quality tools. Partnering with a company that offers landscaping digital marketing to reach a wider customer base can be an effective way to diversity the kind of clients you do work for, this can allow you to target commercially rather than residentially to expand the scope of projects. By planning to take on more commercial clients, you can justify investment in better tools with the generally increased value of commercial work.
Larger projects will require equipment upgrades, in particular the replacement of corded power tools with cordless alternatives. Using a cordless pruning saw to shape hedges on commercial premises will allow you to provide quicker and higher quality service, improve your brand optics, and also expand yet further the kinds of jobs you can pick up.
Remember it is always worth knowing places you can buy things for clients online, such as having a favourite online hammock store, this allows you to mention ideas and create a rapport with clients.
Offer Seminars
Your vocational skills are not merely monetisable through tangible results. You could create an additional income stream for your industry by offering training sessions and seminars – either to established learning centres or on a private basis. Online workshops or practical demonstrations could target homeowners seeking to upskill their own gardening techniques while tutoring aspiring freelancers or landscape architects could form the basis for a professional consultancy offshoot.
Off-Season Services
Landscaping is an undeniably seasonal vocation, with demand increasing greatly as life returns to garden vegetation in the spring and summer months. Landscaping is in particular demand at the start of Spring, as homeowners seek to regain control of gardens gone unruly over the winter period. It is entirely possible for a landscaping business to survive, even thrive, with the vast majority of work coming in with the warmer months – but there is a significant period of downtime in which you could be generating income.
By pivoting your offerings in the off-seasons, you could maintain a steady year-round income stream, and thus boost your profits significantly. Such offerings could be the safe installation of outdoor decorations like fairy lights and canopies, using the tools and equipment you would otherwise use for tree surgery. Alternatively, you could meet seasonal demands, such as offering a snow removal or private gritting service.
Expand Your Operating Area
Lastly, you could consider expanding your operating area. This may seem like the simplest way to increase business coming in, but it also represents a significant investment – more so than is attributed to diversifying your client base. Assigning members of your team to jobs further away can make re-assignment or emergency assistance difficult, and you may need to invest in more staff, vehicles and tools to cater to the area – assuming there is enough demand to justify such expense.
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