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For the researching visitor there's a wealth of landscaping ideas, garden design ideas, lawn advice tips and advice about garden maintenance.
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Being mindful that however long you plan on a task being completed, that it will usually take longer because you run out of deck screws, a drill driver runs out of charge, you need more aggregates than you thought, the weather affects ability to treat fences and decks, deliveries promised become a day later than originally planned and so on. You can usually control things better with maintenance but there are usually more issues outwith your own control when landscaping.
I think, based on working with and without staff, you need to focus a small business on what you do well.
A small maintenance business should, indeed has to, be booked up 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, minimum, in order to make any sort of living. I don't know how you fit landscaping in around that, without risking letting clients down.
If you try to mix the two, then all the expensive Stihl strimmers and hedgecutters are sitting idle, whilst you lay a patio. The mixer is gathering dust while you cut lawns. Small means simple, so limit the work you take on, the gear you carry, and let someone else take on the work you can't.
Its good to have a marketing mix , but as all above say it is more difficult.
I do a variety from lawns/hedges/trees/turfing -lawncare (last 2-3 years) fencing (wooden only now),
decking (prefered to patios) shed bases if required and time allows ( i have 3 to do asap)! and im mowing 5 days out of a fortnight regularly.
my hardscaping kit is sitting around many many months of the year / usually at the back corner of my garage, but is used & cheaper than hiring.
I also do mini-digging (non technical) and it is used just enough (5-7jobs with hire/loan) this year thankfully as not much last 6 months previous.
ive sold a 'tipper trailer as not enough use at all' and to much risk of theft.
I would strongly agree to keep items to a minimum. i have just started to use skips and most materials are delivered if bulk as its as cheap as fuel and saves time.
I live in an area where diversity is key to income so needs must.
i do specialise mainly in the green stuff and soft landscaping inc planting / gravel.
but i hate refusing work :
Tonight i had my 1st quote call for artificial turf after dissing it on an hour journey back from garden-surgery job we have cleared of trees/ cut hedges/lowered. !
i dont think i will be doing it & know the client as ive had 2 calls from them that no work materialised. i will price materials ,but feel it may well be to much for them anyhow.
Kit can go rusty, needs insurance ,maintenance, servicing and storing in the dry or could be stolen etc etc. i know from 10 years experience. so do the work you enjoy often with minimal overheads.
fraz said:
This has been us for 38 years Neil! We started as 80/20 landscape/maintenance, but over time the landscape side started to 'breed' maintenance work! Commercial landscaping lead to follow-on commercial maintenance. Private garden projects lead to private garden maintenance. The maintenance then lead back to more Landscaping work!! It was a bit of a runaway train!
In the end we gained a bit of control, employed full-time staff (they had been self employed), got a balance of 5 in the summer and 4 in the winter. It was and still is great fun, although like these last few months VERY hectic.
Well after all this time, we have moved entirely to maintenance(an age related decision!) this year. There has been a lot on here recently about retiring at 50, 55 etc, well I'll be honest and say, I think this is just wishful thinking and a more practical route is to aim your business to provide a comfortable living for you into your later working years - which is where we are now. I would recommend a split business, gradually moving over to mainly maintenance - it worked for us.
Fraz your suggestion really got me thinking but some of my projects take more than a week and not sure clients would appreciate me disappearing for a week.
Neil I did originally book projects into winter but I've had some great inquiries since March and it's tricky to say no to big value projects and wouldn't want to loose the revenue.
Gardens4you, I hear what you're saying about overheads with hardscaping, not to mention storing kit or the degree of organisation required (sourcing materials, endless trips to builders merchants) and I've had 2 tipper trailers stolen.
Colin this is exactly where I am. Decided after 9 years to move to maintenance rather than landscaping but somehow I haven't quite made the complete break from landscaping and I'm at the tipping point of being in control of everything. I love it, I've so many great maintenance clients yet building gardens is so rewarding and on top of all that the cash flow with a dual business is exceptional but life outside of work has ceased to exist. It's unsustainable.
Interestingly I was at a seminar once where mark Gregory was speaking and he was asked where he sees his business in 5 years time. He said he'd aim to switch it to a more maintenance orientated business as all he has with a landscaping business is a handful of Chelsea golds!
Whether this post dies now I not I don't know but I greatly appreciate your input.
Cheers neil
We operated with 1-2 (that's 4-5 guys working together on large jobs or splitting up on smaller projects) landscaping crews and 1-4 maintenance crews. At one point we had 6 vans/trucks on the road with a spare van for contingency).
We tried to keep the two operations separate and if the hard landscaping side needed planting and/or turfing, for example, they booked time with the maintenance manager. There were times where we had to cross-over because of demand (or lack of it).
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