How to start a lawn care business - Part 2, Lawn Care Business Plan II

Marketing Strategy

As of now, the lawn care business plan is slowly taking shape and all areas pertaining to setting up the business should have been covered. From here on the business plan will be focused on revenue generation.

Armed with knowledge gleaned from the market research about the targeted market and the competitors, a winning marketing strategy could be formulated. In the course of identifying the target market, the USP ( unique selling proposition ) or competitive advantage that the new lawn care business has over the competition had already been identified. Following through from there the strategy is to exploit that to your advantage. It could be a particular service that has not been offered by the competitors, using environmentally friendly fertilizers or even price advantage. However, competing on price is seldom a good strategy as the other competitors can just as easily slash their prices and it will only drive down the profit margin for everyone in the long run.

With the above in mind, it's time to include in the lawn care business plan, the methods by which

the targeted market can be reached effectively. Choices range from advertising in gardening magazines, local newspapers, distributing fliers in mailboxes or even door-to-door promotion. One could perhaps offer an obligation free trial service to potential clients in exchange for their recommendations to 2 neighbors.

At this juncture, the lawn care prices for the various services or packages of services to be provided would have been calculated. Things to consider will be the competitors' pricing and the cost of running the business. It goes without saying that the lawn care prices must be at a level that is profitable enough to give the owner an income after deducting all costs. Following from that, monthly client acquisition targets can be established. These targets must include an element of growth that is in line with meeting the targeted goals mentioned in the earlier post.

Daily Operations

Though mundane, daily operational issues has its place in the lawn care business plan as well. Typical issues like :

1) liaising between clients and service crews

2) invoicing

3) payment collection

4) manpower allocation

5) equipment allocation

6) handling customer queries

7) equipment maintenance, etc.

Needs to be dealt with systematically.

Business Expansion

No lawn care business plan is complete without planning for the future growth or direction of the business. The time horizon for the plan would typically be for the next 1, 3 or 5 years from day 1 when the business is established. Expansion could come in various forms as in within the existing market, from one market segment, location or product line to another.

For example:

a) Within the same market.

As the business grows, the company could enjoy economies of scale, more bargaining power with suppliers or perhaps established a good brand name in the industry. This in turn could lead to cost reduction or acquisition of more resources which allows it to be more aggressive in expanding its market share within the same market at the expense of the competitors.

An idea that can be explored to entice new customers to sign on the dotted line is to offer discounts to adjoining properties or neighbors when they use your services collectively. Better yet, recruit an existing customer in the neighborhood to be your “salesperson”. The cost of providing lawn care to 5 clients located in 5 locations is much more than 5 in 1 location. Imagine the time and gas wasted in traveling from one location to another. Loading and unloading of the equipment, etc.

b) Expansion from one market segment to another.

Instead of just doing residential properties which require lesser resources to taking on commercial properties that requires more resources.

c) Expansion from one location to another.

Providing the same services but in another town/city.

d) Expansion from one product line to another

Perhaps from doing just lawn care to include tree pruning or landscaping design.

With that, the lawn care business plan is complete. Continue to measure the performance of the business against the business plan and tweak it as often as required.

Other Tips

There is a lot of information available on the Internet and many ideas can be found that might prove beneficial in expanding the business. Or just go out and talk to people like your clients or suppliers on the latest trends in the market. You will be surprised what useful information can be had by just talking to people.

There are also a few books which I've found to be very informative. The first one titled

"Turn High Grass into Cold Cash - How to Start the Ultimate Lawn Business" is an extremely concise step-by-step guide in helping anyone with a burning desire to start a lawn care business.

It covers topics from "how to choose a name for the business" to "how to land

those residential and corporate accounts". It even has truckloads of templates ranging from lawn care contracts to fliers. The author has been in the lawn care business for more than 18+ years so is very knowledgeable on the subject.

The second book is "How to Double Your Lawn Business in the next 30 Days" is more for existing lawn care business owners whose existing clientele are mostly residential properties and would like to expand their

businesses into commercial properties instead.

"Lawn Tricks" is on improving lawn care techniques. It dishes out shortcuts that halves the work on lawn care, water saving tips that reduces watering by 60%, etc. Quite an eye-opener for both professionals and hands-on home owners.

The last book is slightly off topic as it's on "How to Build Your Own Lawn Sprinkler System" it's a step-by-step guide for novices on installing their own sprinkler system in 6 days or less. Suitable for lawn care business owners who would like to expand into this lucrative niche charging $3,000-$5,000 or more enterprising home owners who finds satisfaction in building their own stuff and in the process save 50-60% on the usual cost.

Hope the information was useful. Good luck in the business!