BUSINESS

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Essentail Books Landscape Design

6 Essential Books That Every Landscape Designer Should Own: A Complete Guide

When someone is first interested in landscape architecture, it is easy to get lost in the wealth of books, videos, and software available throughout the industry. In this article, I will review 6 books that continue to help me as a landscape designer.

Zoo Scene

Three Unique & Rewarding Areas For Landscape Architecture Graduates

This article will review three unique and rewarding areas in Landscape architecture that are often overlooked. For students that are searching for their place within our industry, or simply find the standard public/private design work a bit dull, these options may be suitable for further exploration.

Salary Guide For Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers

In this article, I breakdown how much landscape designers and landscape architects within the profession, specifically looking at the annual salary over the past few years. The data and information provided are specific to the United States.

Start A Landscape Design Business

How To Start A Landscape Design Business: A Six Part Series

In this series of articles, I review some of the fundamental components of building a landscape design business for yourself. Whether you are thinking about becoming a landscape designer or just learning about the green-industry, this six part series should help you on your journey to success.

In this article, I will go over the purpose of this business series and what you can expect to learn from using this guide. If you are just starting your journey to building your own landscape design business, start here. READ MORE…

In this article we are going to begin laying the foundation of a stable and successful professional landscape design business by creating an overall focus and mission for your company, reviewing some common mistakes when first starting out, and detailing the necessary legal structures for new landscape companies. READ MORE…

In this article, we will cover one of the most important parts of starting a new business – analyzing the industry for trends, understanding your potential client base, and how to best position your landscape design company to meet consumer needs. READ MORE…

In this article, we will cover an essential component of building a successful landscape design business – conducting an effective and thorough analysis of your competitors. I truly believe competitor analysis to be more important than both industry and consumer analysis, which is why I am dedicating an entire article on the topic. READ MORE…

In the previous articles, we’ve looked at planning a landscape design business from a research perspective – gaining knowledge and finding your competitive edge. Now, you will need to take action. This article will provide a step by step guide to registering your business, checking licensing requirements, and calculating startup costs for your new landscape design business. READ MORE…

In this article, I will provide an approach to financial planning and marketing specific to the landscape design field that can assist your new company acquiring, booking, and maintaining a reliable customer list for future design and installation projects. READ MORE…

In this article, I will put the finishing touches on this business series and provide you some concluding words of advice I have found to be helpful in my own career – not only as a landscape designer, but also as a professor, father, and husband. READ MORE…

Office Meeting

How To Get Noticed By Employers in Landscape Architecture & Design

In this article, I will give you advice on how to make sure your portfolio and professional resume get noticed by design firms. Additionally, I will cover some actionable steps to ensure you succeed in the role once you’ve landed that first job. I have also enlisted the help of some seasoned professionals and asked them to provide their advice to students or emerging designers on these topics.

Office Work

4 Mistakes New Landscape Business Owners Make & How to Avoid Them

In this article, I will review 4 common mistakes new landscape business owners make and how to avoid them. Over the past decade, through running my own design company (along with teaching, mentoring, and coordinating with other landscape professionals) I have seen what works and what doesn’t. Use these line-items to help calibrate your own business for the best possible future success.

Website Creation

How To Create A Stunning Website For Your Landscape Design Business

In this article, I will provide a step-by-step guide on how to create a stunning website for your landscape design business from scratch. Even if you've never created one before, these steps should provide you everything you need to know to get started putting your business website together.

Competitor Analysis

How To Develop A Design Questionnaire For Your Landscape Business

In this article, I will review the key elements for creating a design questionnaire for your landscape business. One of the biggest mistakes most new landscape design companies make when starting is failing to develop a simple and effective questionnaire for new clients. When developing an initial client base for your business, it is useful to have a standardized form to provide to homeowners.

Client Referral

How To Get More Landscape Design Referrals: 6 Quick Tips

No matter which profession you are in, requesting a referral is not the easiest thing to do. In this article, I will review 6 tips that I have found helpful when thinking about client referrals.

Studio Desk

How To Become A Professional Landscape Designer: A Complete Guide

In this article, I will review how to become a professional landscape designer. This is a comprehensive guide of not only the educational and training components, but also the occupational outlook.

Front Yard

Should I Warranty Plant Material? A Look At Three Strategies

In this article, I will review three common strategies for handling plant warranties in a contract and provide examples that can be used for your next project.