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How to Start a Home-Based Landscaping Business - Paperback | Diverse Reads

How to Start a Home-Based Landscaping Business

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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

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

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

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 170
Chapter 7 Bidding 173
The Main Elements of a Bid 173
The Bidding Process, Step-by-Step 177
Submitting the Bid 185
Sample Bidding Forms 187
The Contract 187
Job Costing 194
Sales 101 194
Chapter 8 Finally You Get to Do Some Real Work 197
Designing the Project 197
Project Management 200
Getting Along with Others 218
Getting Paid 221
Following Up on Your Jobs 233
Business Nightmares: Keeping Your Nose Clean 234
Chapter 9 The Long Haul 241
After the Work Is Done 241
Guarantees 243
Liability for Work 246
Long-Term Management 246
Planning for Growth 254
Planning for Retirement 255
In Conclusion 255
Appendix 1 Resources 257
Appendix 2 Using the Internet 269
Appendix 3 Business Plan Worksheet and Other Forms 275
Index 307