Have you ever dreamed of starting your own landscaping business? Have you been hesitant to put your plans into action? This comprehensive guide contains all the necessary tools and strategies you need to successfully launch and grow your business. Using a friendly, entertaining approach, Owen E. Dell shares his experiences and down-to-earth advice on every aspect of setting up and running a thriving home-based landscaping business. He shows you how to purchase the right tools, estimate start-up costs, price services, and stay profitable once in business. From painless recordkeeping to cost-efficient management techniques, Dell’s step-by-step methods are practical, innovative, and easy to understand. Special features and workbook pages include: - Business Plan Worksheet - Material and Labor Records - Cost Worksheets - Tips on social media, SEO, and making the Internet work for you - Profit-and-Loss Worksheet
Product Details
ISBN-13: 9781493011711
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing
Publication Date: 07-02-2015
Pages: 360
Product Dimensions: 7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.90(d)
Series: Home-Based Business
About the Author
Owen E. Dell, RLA, ASLA, an Oregon-registered landscape architect and former licensed landscape contractor, is a forty-three-year veteran of the profession. He is also an internationally known lecturer, a writer for many national garden magazines, and a television personality. His award-winning projects have been featured in Sunset Magazine, Landscape Architecture, the Los Angeles Times, and numerous other books, publications, films, and television series. He lives in Corvallis, Oregon, where he continues to practice landscape architecture, teach, and write. Visit him at www.owendell.com.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
ix
Introduction
xi
Chapter 1
So You Think You Want to Be a Landscaper
1
Measuring the Landscaper's Life
1
What Kinds of Work Are Available and Who Does What?
2
Do You Have What It Takes?
10
Why Do You Want to Run Your Own Business?
12
Making the Transition: Amateur to Professional
12
Part Time or Full Time?
17
Chapter 2
Getting Started
19
Start Up or Buy?
19
Working Out of Your Home
21
Tools and Equipment
22
Other Office Basics
39
The Bank Account
41
Insurance
41
Legal Considerations
45
Business Taxes
48
Defining Your Niche
49
Conclusion
53
Chapter 3
Writing a Business Plan
55
Why Do a Business Plan, Anyway?
56
Preparing the Business Plan, Step-by-Step
57
Some Tips on Raising Money
80
Chapter 4
Learning to Live with Record Keeping
83
Bookkeeping
83
General Business Records
106
Chapter 5
Employees: A Joy and a Nuisance
115
How Many People Will You Need?
115
Job Categories (Field)
118
Finding Good Employees
121
Legal Requirements of Employers
123
Hiring
128
Developing an Employee Manual
135
Training Employees
136
Managing Employees
138
Record Keeping
142
Chapter 6
Getting Work
147
Serving the Client Well
148
Marketing Basics
149
Getting the Work
159
Advertising
163
Alternative Forms of Marketing
169
Keeping Track of Potential Clients: Contact Report