Start & Run a Landscaping Business

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Joel LaRusic. Start & Run a Landscaping Business

START & RUN A LANDSCAPING BUSINESS

Preface

Introduction

1. Why The Landscaping Business?

2. How This Book Will Help You

3. A Note On Experience

Part 1. STARTING YOUR BUSINESS

1. Sizing Up The Business: What You Need To Know Before You Begin

1. Is This Business For You?

2. Your Personal Improvement Plan

3. Resources For Further Help

2. Making Your Business Legal

1. Choosing A Business Name

2. Choosing A Business Structure

2.1 Sole proprietorship

2.2 Partnership

2.3 Incorporation

3. Licenses And Permits

4. Bylaws And Zoning

5. Insurance

6. Using Professional Advisors

3. Money Matters

1. Financing Options

1.1 The bank of Mom and Pop

1.2 Personal loans

1.3 Business loans

1.4 Help from the government

2. Your Business Plan

2.1 Executive summary

2.2 Company overview

2.3 Start-up summary

2.4 Management summary

2.5 Products and services

2.6 Your market

2.7 Your financial plan

2.7a The pro forma profit and loss statement

2.7b The balance sheet

2.7c Cash flow projections

4. Choosing The Right Equipment For The Job

1. Your Vehicle

2. Trailer Options

2.1 Fully enclosed trailer

2.2 Open trailer

3. Choosing The Right Lawn Mower

3.1 Push mowers

3.2 Commercial walk-behind mowers and riders

3.3 Reel mowers

4. Power Equipment. 4.1 Line Edgers

4.2 Blade Edgers

4.3 Blowers

4.4 Hedge Trimmers

4.5 Power Rakes

4.6 Overseeders

4.7 Aerators

4.8 Other Power Equipment

5. Hand Tools. 5.1 Fertilizer Spreaders

5.2 Hand Pruning Equipment

5.3 Rakes

5.4 Other Hand Tools

6. Ladders

7. Snowblowers

8. Equipment Maintenance

Part 2. RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS

5. Setting Up Shop: Your Home Office

1. The Home Office: Rewards And Challenges

1.1 Cultivating self-discipline

1.2 Handling distractions

2. Where To Put Your Office

3. The Most Essential Item: Your Business Computer

3.1 How your computer can promote business success

3.2 Buying a computer

3.3 Software

4. Other Office Essentials. 4.1 Telephone

4.2 Fax

4.3 Daily planner

4.4 Some necessities and niceties

5. Setting Up A Shop

6. Setting Up Your Truck And Trailer

6. Marketing Your Business

1. Developing Your Marketing Plan

2. Your Core Statement

3. Specific Marketing Strategies

3.1 Branding

3.2 Networking

3.3 Buddy businesses

3.4 Buying customers

3.5 Using business cards

3.6 Word of mouth

3.7 Referral bonus

3.8 Flyers

3.9 Door hangers

3.10 Newspaper classifieds

3.11 Display ads

3.12 Yellow Pages

3.13 Direct mail

3.14 Outdoor signs

3.15 Telemarketing

3.16 Local newspaper article

3.17 Cause-related marketing

3.18 Volunteer opportunities

3.19 Newsletters

4. Your Marketing Calendar

7. The Importance Of Record Keeping

1. Three Principles Of Record Keeping

2. Bookkeeping Basics

2.1 Cash versus accrual accounting

2.2 Single-entry versus double-entry bookkeeping

2.3 Debits versus credits

3. Using Business Forms

3.1 Chart of accounts

3.2 Invoices

3.3 The profit and loss statement

3.4 The balance sheet

4. Computerized Bookkeeping

4.1 Using the software

4.2 The manila envelope system

5. Using A Cash System

5.1 Invoice books

5.2 Manila envelopes

5.3 The 28-column ledger

5.4 The 4-column ledger

5.5 How to use the system

8. Building Your Team: Hiring And Training Staff

1. Using Subcontractors

2. The Joy Of Employees

3. Where to find good staff

4. Interviewing Tips

4.1 The phone interview

4.2 The face-to-face interview

5. Training Matters

6. Managing Your Team

7. Dealing With Problems

8. The Paperwork

9. The Workflow From First Contact To Quote

1. First Contact: The Phone Call

2. The Follow-Up Checklist

3. The On-Site Visit

4. Pricing

4.1 Your hourly rate: Promise results, not time

4.2 Pricing methods

4.2a Use the comparative method

4.2b Use the formula method

4.2c Use the textbook method

5. Using A Lawn And Garden Maintenance Quotation Worksheet

6. The Quotation Sheet

7. Presenting Your Quotation

7.1 Your InfoPack

7.2 Your introductory letter

8. The Follow-Up

10. The Workflow From Acceptance To Routing

1. Accepting The Job

1.1 New customer kit

1.2 Service contract

2. Upselling

3. Scheduling

3.1 Weekly/biweekly rotation

3.2 Ten-day rotation

3.3 Next-available-day rotation

3.4 Scheduling extras

4. Routing

4.1 The wall-map routing system

4.2 Creating routes

5. Using Job Equipment Checklists

11. The Workflow From Job Completion To Job Costing

1. Invoicing

2. Getting Paid

3. End-Of-Day Procedures

3.1 Recording work

3.2 Dealing with special requests and quotes

3.3 Preparing for the next day

3.4 Making phone calls

4. Month-End Procedures

5. Quality Assurance

6. Job Costing

7. Costing Other Services

8. Annual Procedures

Part 3. THE SERVICES YOU OFFER

12. The Regular Maintenance Visit

1. Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Cutting Lawns

1.1 General tips

1.2 How to water a lawn

1.3 How much should you cut?

1.4 What to do with grass clippings

1.5 Options for cleaning up

2. Edging

2.1 Line edging

2.2 Blade edging

3. Maintaining Beds

3.1 Weeding tips

3.2 Raking tips

3.3 Cultivating tips

3.4 Light pruning tips

3.5 Edging tips

3.6 Plant care

3.7 Other tips

4. The Cleanup: Using Your Blower

4.1 The versatility of a blower

4.2 Restrictions on blowers

5. Leaving The Site

13. Lawn Specialties

1. Power Raking

1.1 Thatch

1.2 Moss

1.3 Power raking tips

2. Core Aeration

3. Top-Dressing And Overseeding

4. Lawn Renovations

5. Lawn Rejuvenations

14. The Art Of Fertilizing

1. Why Fertilize?

2. A Chemistry Lesson

2.1 The importance of nitrogen

2.2 Understanding nitrogen release rates

2.2a Quick-release fertilizers

2.2b Slow-release fertilizers

2.2c Controlled-release fertilizers

2.3 Phosphorus

2.4 Potassium

2.5 Secondary and trace elements

3. Choosing A Fertilizer

3.1 Granular versus liquid

3.2 Complete versus incomplete

3.3 Moss-control fertilizers

3.4 Micronutrient packages

3.5 Weed & feed

3.6 Natural fertilizers

4. How And When To Apply Fertilizer

5. Calibrating Your Spreader

6. Fertilizing Other Plants

7. Some Final Tips

15. Other Services

1. Soil Analysis

2. Soil Toppings. 2.1 Topsoil

2.2 Mulches

2.3 Landscaping rocks

3. Pruning And Trimming

3.1 When to prune

3.2 Pruning techniques and principles

3.3 Practical pruning tips

4. Off-Season Work

4.1 Year-round maintenance

4.2 Snow plowing and clearing

4.3 Taking time off

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Other Titles in the Start & Run Series

Notice to Readers

Self-Counsel Press thanks you for purchasing this ebook

Contents

Отрывок из книги

Because you’ve taken the initiative to pick up this book and start reading, I assume you have thought about a career working in the fresh outdoors. You are interested in a job that brings you close to nature, that is satisfying, that is healthy. You also want a job that pays you well for your hard work. Perhaps you already work in such a rewarding field, but now you want to be your own boss. Or perhaps you would love to run your own business or take advantage of the tax benefits that go along with a home-based business.

A career as a self-employed gardener and/or lawn care expert can give you all of this and more. To achieve that end, this book will help you get started in the fascinating business of landscape maintenance and will help shorten the learning curve ahead of you. You will be able to avoid costly mistakes and you’ll learn tricks of the trade that may take months and years to pick up on your own. If such a book had been available when I started my lawn care business in 1990, it would have saved me countless headaches, not to mention dollars.

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There are a few different options to consider when you make your purchase:

Length: You can choose a cutting blade from 18 to 40 inches long. The longer blades require more skill to use, so if you are just starting out, stick with 30 inches or less.

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