10 ideas for resilient businesses to start now

The UK has many treasured outdoor spaces that attract local and international visitors all year round, while many enjoy their gardens at home. However, implementing and maintaining a quality outdoor space can be challenging so professional gardeners can be in high demand.

If you have a passion for gardening or horticulture and are considering starting up your small enterprise, read our guide on how to start a gardening business.

Read our guide on ten reasons to start your own business.

What type of gardening services to offer

There are many different types of gardening businesses to consider starting, depending on your interest, skills, and demand for services that are local to you.

Garden maintenance services entail everything from regular lawn mowing to general garden maintenance.

Garden landscape and design services involve designing and creating attractive and functional outdoor spaces bespoke to your client, including assessing the site, creating landscape plans, selecting plants and materials, and encompassing landscaping such as patios and water features.

Tree surgery is a professional service designed to care for, maintain, and remove trees – and is generally carried out by skilled and qualified arborists.

Tree surgery services may include tree pruning, tree felling, crown thinning, tree planting, tree risk assessments, stump removal, and emergency tree work.

What customers need gardening services?

Another consideration is whether you want to offer domestic, local council, or commercial gardening services – or a mix of all three.

Different customers may require different types of service, equipment, and skills.

• Domestic or residential customers – homeowners with private gardens as part of their property.
• Business or commercial customers – organisations such as companies with work involving landscaping and maintaining outdoor workplace environments.
• Public sector customers – organisations such as local councils that require maintenance via tender for parks, social spaces, and services for council-owned sites such as care homes.

What skills and qualifications do you need?

If you want your business to stand apart from the competition, it may be beneficial to obtain a horticulture certification, as this demonstrates your knowledge of plants, garden design, and various garden maintenance techniques.

You might want to investigate training in gardening services such as garden design and landscaping, maintenance techniques, and different types of foliage.

Business requirements

You will need to be on top of business admin, invoicing, and cash flow, and it can be a good idea to learn more about starting and running a small business, such as using the free Learn with Start Up Loans resources.

As your business involves the public, you’ll need to obtain public liability insurance to protect your business from potential claims if a customer or third party suffers from an accidental injury or any property damage due to your work.

If you plan on employing staff, you’ll need to obtain employers’ liability insurance.

Start-up costs

A significant amount of different costs can be involved with starting a gardening business – from equipment and consumables to storage and overheads.

Types of costs may include:

• costs for gardening equipment and tools can vary depending on the kind of services you intend to offer
• overheads such as secure overnight tool storage
• expenses such as fuel for machinery and transportation
• costs such as van and trailer
• business expenses, such as registering your company and obtaining insurance.

Once you have decided on your gardening business and factored in the money you need to get started, you could look into getting financial support for your venture.

Start-Up-Loans offers a government-back loan of up to £25,000 plus a year of free mentoring to help you launch your gardening business.

Attracting customers and marketing strategies

One of the most effective ways to attract customers is to create a user-friendly website showcasing your gardening services, including pictures of your recent work and testimonials.

You could consider advertising in local newspapers, community magazines, or on local radio stations.

If you’re looking to establish a larger-scale gardening business, then it is a good idea to attend local gardening or business events or join community organisations to network with people in relevant industries that can refer customers to your services.

Public sector organisations may tender gardening service contracts through government procurement platforms like the government’s Contract Finder platform.

Scaling your business

Once your business has a regular customer base, you might want to consider expanding your business.

Some of the ways you can do this are:

1. if there is a high demand for gardening services in your area, you may want to obtain additional skills, such as landscaping or bespoke maintenance services, to appeal to the broader category of clients
2. as your business grows, hiring additional gardeners or support staff may be necessary; but you must take the time to invest in their training and offer supervision.
3. ensure you have online and in-person avenues of communication with clients and try to respond quickly and professionally to inquiries and concerns – this type of professional conduct may help win and retain customers
4. consider offering long-term clients referral discounts and encouraging your customers to leave reviews online
5. consider expanding your business to other locations outside your usual vicinity, for example, driving to another region to work on projects or opening a branch of your business in a different area.