A beautiful garden full of lush greenery and vibrant ornamental plants is always a stunning (and relaxing) sight. It’s no surprise that many Australians enjoy transforming their properties into spectacular natural works of art. But they can’t do it alone.
You need a landscaper – someone skilled at designing captivating floor plans and placing decorative elements in the right places to create a Zen-like atmosphere. And this is where you come into play.
But wait! You can’t just start designing human landscapes without checking these six things you should do before becoming a full-time landscaper.
1. Find out everything about the industry in your area.
Prospective landscapers need to know if the future looks bright. Otherwise, there is no point in entering a market with a downtrend. Fortunately, the outlook for the Australian landscaping industry is bright, with experts predicting a respectable 13.5% growth over the next half decade.
In addition to the industry outlook, you’ll also want to know the following.
- Target Market – Although the national landscaping industry promises robust growth in the coming years, this may not be the case in your region. You may want to seek the opinions of local experts.
- Competition – Find out about existing landscapers, what they do, their prices and services. Identify potential “gaps” where you can excel or discover vulnerabilities that you can exploit.
2. Learn the legal requirements for starting a local landscaping business.
Laws exist to protect people from unscrupulous practices, whether providers or consumers. And this also applies to landscaping companies in Australia, where limitations of liability, consumer guarantees, privacy policies, complaint procedures and online platform terms of use are paramount.
So here’s what you should accomplish before becoming a full-time landscaper.
- Consider the structure of your business – Are you a sole proprietor who handles all aspects of the business, or are you in a partnership with at least one other individual?
And if you want to keep the landscaping business separate from your personal life, a corporate structure might be a good idea. Is it a joint venture, an indigenous company, a cooperative or a trust?
You can ask a professional to differentiate these business structures and choose the most suitable one for your landscaping business.
- Contact the Australian Business Register (ABR) and obtain the necessary business registration forms. Complete the documents and prepare other documentation to apply for and obtain an Australian business number.
- Visit the local trade office and inquire about the requirements for obtaining permits and licenses for landscape gardeners.
3. Look for an insurer to protect your business.
No business is immune to risk, including the landscaping industry. Equipment can malfunction or fail, customers can suffer injuries from improper landscaping operations, and natural or man-made disasters can jeopardize a project.
These issues can increase industry-related risks and significant financial losses, not to mention tarnishing your reputation as a landscaper. While insurers cannot cover the latter, the former is easier to manage with fully comprehensive insurance for landscape gardeners.
4. Brainstorm about branding.
Branding is necessary for the success of any business and allows for the establishment of an identity that customers can easily recognize and identify with. Unfortunately, formulating a company name or brand is not always easy. So how do you decide on a brand for your business?
- Ask family members, relatives, office colleagues (or former colleagues), neighbors, and just about anyone for recommendations on an appropriate brand name for a landscaping business. Include everything. Ultimately, you will still rate each one.
- Evaluate and analyze each brand name suggestion and eliminate “bad sounding” suggestions. Aim for something unique, clear, descriptive and memorable, yet simple enough that customers can easily remember it.
- Choose a brand name that you can incorporate into a company logo and tagline or tagline. Therefore, maximizing the character limits of a badge (or logo) should not be too long. Apply the brand message to other business elements to ensure consistency.
- Have your brand name and other business identification elements ready and register the trademark with ASIC or Australian Securities and Investments Commission. This action ensures that only you have this trademark.
5. Invest in quality landscaping equipment and supplies.
Professional landscapers differ from do-it-yourselfers in their equipment and supplies. Although you can buy used machines, you only want good quality equipment. So what supplies, materials, and equipment should you prepare?
- A lawn mower is a landscaper’s best friend, whether it’s a zero-turn riding mower or a commercial push version. The former can cost at least $3,000, while the latter is cheaper (except for high-end products).
- Trimmers are perfect for shaving plants where lawn mowers cannot. For example, trimming plants under patios, along fences, and around posts and flower beds is easier with string trimmers. Hedge trimmers are now ideal for shaping bushes and hedges.
- Edgers and leaf blowers are also essential tools for the landscape gardener. And this also applies to sprayers, spreaders and hand tools (e.g. shovels, secateurs, scissors and rakes).
- Sturdy lawn bags and plastic buckets are essential for transporting grass clippings and other waste.
Although you don’t need a brand new truck, a trailer would come in handy for transporting those garden supplies, materials, tools, and other resources from the office to the customer.
6. Decide on the price.
Pricing your landscaping services can be tricky. You shouldn’t set the value too high so as not to scare away potential customers. You also don’t want the prices to be too low as some people may consider your services to be substandard.
Here’s a tip. Australians pay $2,000 to $6,000 to have a professional landscaper “fix” their landscape. However, larger projects or new home construction can cost homeowners $4,500 to $50,000 (perhaps more).
You can check competitors’ prices and decide to mark your offers slightly higher or lower than these prices. Ideally, prices should still be within industry standards for your location.
Diploma
Although you also need to plan an effective marketing plan and efficient financial management, these six things discussed are enough to prepare you as a full-time landscaper. Our advice is to stay on top of trends as they can make or break your landscaping business.
Working with industry leaders and building meaningful customer relationships should help you become a successful Australian landscaper. So get ready to wow landscaping customers in your area.
