Starting a local service business such as a lawn care business can be exciting and thrilling but also daunting.
There are a lot of moving parts such as registering your business, obtaining the lawn care business license, managing your money, getting the initial few customers, and so on.
Before understanding how to start a lawn care business, let’s understand why to start one:
- Stability and consistency: Lawn care customers are consistent and ongoing, provided you offer them a good experience and great customer service.
- Up-sell opportunities: You can start with one service like mowing or gardening and then up-sell other related services like tree trims and weeding.
- Cross-sell opportunities: You can start by offering one service like mowing lawns and then build out to other services like weed and bug treatments which might not be directly related but could help in increasing income.
- High-income potential: By doing it the right way, a lawn care business has great potential to grow into a big company.
Now let’s look at how to start a lawn care business:
1. Name Your Lawn Care Business
Like any other business, your lawn care business would require an interesting name to start with.
Every business name should be distinct and easy to remember, appealing, and impressive, but besides that, you can consider the following points when picking a name for your lawn care business:
- Include the term, ‘lawn care’ in your business name
- It should ideally be under 18 characters in length
- Try to keep your business name and domain name the same
- There should be an availability of social media accounts for your lawn care business
2. Registration Of Your Business
An important step of how to start a lawn care business would require registration and you can register it as a limited liability company (LLC).
The benefits of registering it as an LLC are:
- The tax filing process is quite simple
- Since an LLC is its own legal entity, the liability of the owner is limited and hence the owner’s personal assets are protected.
- In many states, LLC is considered to be a disregarded entity for tax purposes, where the LLC’s profits and losses have to flow through to the owners’ personal tax returns.
3. Licensing And Certification Of Your Business
Lawn care licensing requirements are different in different states and vary depending on the type of lawn care services and the scope of your work.
Different departments issue the license in different states such as:
- Department of Consumer Affair
- Contractors State License Board
- Department of Agriculture (DOA)
4. Build Your Lawn Care Business Website
One of the first steps to start a lawn care business online requires a website like any other online business. Don’t spend a huge sum of money on it but try to build an appealing online store for it where you highlight and sell all your services.
Here’s everything you’ll need to set up a stellar online store for your lawn care business.
- A great domain name such as www.[your brand name].store
- Hosting and SSL certificate
- A company logo
- Your services listed down clearly
- Business email address such as yourname@yourlawncarebusiness.store which adds more credibility over a general email id
- Business phone number, which can be your personal phone number but it’s advisable to have a dedicated one for your business
- Business address if you have an office. If you want to start your lawn care business from your home, you can give your home address as your business address.
5. Highlight Your Service Area
To start a lawn care business, you must identify the services that you’ll offer and list them on your website. Here are a few examples:
- Mowing
- Edging
- Fertilizing
- Irrigation
- Trimming
- Disease treatment
- Planting
- Landscaping
- Cleanup
Whether you decide to offer one or many of the services mentioned above, consider the following points:
Expertise – Offer the service that you have expertise in and can provide with quality. If you are an expert in trimming and mowing, but do not have much experience with other specialized services such as irrigation and fertilizing, don’t include them in your service portfolio.
Number of services – Since you are in the how to start a lawn care business phase right now, you wouldn’t have a huge team to help you with it. So, it is better to offer a limited number of services than to stretch yourself too thin while compromising on the service quality.
Location – Account for the location you are setting up your business in. For instance, in Florida, you’ll need to cut lawns throughout the year. However, in other states, you business might be slow for a few months.
6. Find Your USP
An important aspect of the situation, how to start a lawn care business is to find your USP.
To stand out from the crowd you will need to find your Unique Selling Proposition as a business andtell people why they should choose you over your competitors.
Here a few questions you can ask yourself to find out yours:
Q: How are you different from your competitors?
A: Unlike any other company, you offer a free inspection. The customer can decide if they want to opt for your service depending on the audit report.
Q: Do you offer any unique service that no one else does?
A: You offer organic or natural lawn care service, and no one else is offering it in your locality/state.
Q: How do you solve the lawn care problems of your clients better than your competition?
A: You provide a 30-day free visit in case a customer is not satisfied with your service.
7. Set SMART Goals
SMART goal setting helps in bringing structure and trackability into your goals and objectives and ensures that you have a well-defined road map to get there and measure your progress along the way. SMART stands for:
S: Specific
M: Measurable
A: Achievable
R: Relevant
T: Time-bound
For example, for your lawn care business, a SMART goal could be increasing sales by X number in a particular month. Or getting 100 registrations for your holiday offer.
8. Promote Your Lawn Care Business
The final step of how to start a lawn care business is promoting it to your audience. Here are a few ways to do it:
Your personal network – friends and family
An easy way to find your initial few customers is by spreading the word through your family and friends.
Google Local Service Ads
Google’s Local Service Ads can help you connect with the people looking for lawn care services in your service area.
Google My Business Listing
Google My Business is a great tool to manage the online presence of your lawn care business across Google, including Maps and Search.
A Google My Business listing allows you to provide information such as:
- Business name
- Business hours
- Contact information
- Business phone number
- Business address
You can also interact with your customers by reading and responding to their reviews. You can add your business pictures and posts and use the direct messaging feature to stand out from your competitors.
50 Business Name Ideas For Your Lawn Care Business
| gardencare.store | heavenlycare.store |
| beauteouslawn.store | crown-imperiallawn.store |
| beautygarden.store | rockerygarden.store |
| balsamcare.store | stunningcare.store |
| beautifylawn.store | cherublawn.store |
| faircare.store | topiarycare.store |
| gorgeouslawn.store | gardenerlawn.store |
| lovelygarden.store | gardeninggarden.store |
| embellishcare.store | rosariumcare.store |
| thegardenofEdenlawn.store | gloriouslawn.store |
| crimecare.store | herbarycare.store |
| hourilawn.store | artlawn.store |
| verduregarden.store | sheengarden.store |
| pridecare.store | garthcare.store |
| sceniclawn.store | breathtakinglawn.store |
| calligraphycare.store | Edencare.store |
| ravishinglawn.store | maturedlawn.store |
| gardeniagarden.store | bellegarden.store |
| exquisitecare.store | orchardcare.store |
| paradiselawn.store | perilawn.store |
| landscapecare.store | parterrecare.store |
| arraylawn.store | horticulturelawn.store |
| gazebogarden.store | sublimegarden.store |
| bonnycare.store | magnificentcare.store |
| nymphlawn.store | tropicallawn.store |
Conclusion
Without a solid foundation and knowledge of basics, it might get difficult for you to understand how to start a lawn care business.
However, to help you with it, we have created this guide with all the necessary steps required in detail.
No business is easy to start, and even this one might seem overwhelming in the beginning. However, if you work hard, follow all the steps properly, and stick to the plan, you will not only crack how to start a lawn care business but even grow it into a successful business.
