One of the most difficult steps when starting a new landscape design business is the development of a solid and consistent client base. Some designers might enjoy the process of financial planning or marketing, but for others it is simply a necessary part of establishing a sustainable business model. 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.
Macro & Micro View of Your Business Future (Strategic Planning)
Before you journey into the weeds (pun intended) of marketing, it is extremely helpful to take a step back and evaluate the short term and long term financial goals for your business. Whether your new company is simply a part-time side job that provides additional income or you are looking to become an established leader within your field, it is important to have these goals in mind when focusing on your marketing plan.
To start this process, we must all come to the realization that when any new business starts their client base will most likely be very small and they will need to work on growing it piece by piece. With that being said, many new business owners also have their mind on the long-term possibilities of their company with several crews, television ads, and no need to worry about future client acquisition.
Let me be clear – having both a short-term and long-term focus is important, but it’s the connection between them that makes of breaks businesses.
So how do we go about setting up a reliable model to achieve the results we want? The first step is to develop a chart or spreadsheet of your financial goals for the year along with a potential 5 year plan. List these goals on the spreadsheet from Year 1 to Year 5 and identify the necessary project revenue to obtain them along with the growth you’ll need to stay on track. To accomplish this, you need to evaluate your current project invoices, along with their real profits and expenses
Note: If you haven’t actually booked a job or do not know how to price a design job, you can utilize my example below as a representative sample for a new designer. I will be publishing additional articles in the future to assist new landscape business owners with this piece of the puzzle.
Sample 1 Year Financial Goals Spreadsheet
Notice how you are setting two goals – a conservative and an aggressive goal. Ideally, you want your company to fall somewhere in between that range, which will allow for growth but also remain sustainable. If you would rather not do the calculations yourself, you can simply download the excel spreadsheet of the Sample 1 Year Spreadsheet here.
Many new business owners may develop lofty valuations of their company as in the very beginning it can be easy to reach even aggressive goals for yourself; however, be mindful that “scaling up” and continuing to grow exponentially is not an easy endeavor. So be realistic about your 5 year plans, and work consistently to achieve them.
After developing the 1 Year spreadsheet, you will adapt these numbers into a 5 year financial plan, again with both conservative and aggressive goals. From there, you can use the original spreadsheet to identify your annual project goals.
Non-Competitive Acquisition (Referral or Networking)
One of the key drivers of new businesses is client referrals. The referral is a great way to obtain new business for landscape designers because it requires minimal financial commitment and can open up sustainable networks for consistent clients. I’ve written in the past on how to ensure you are optimizing your referral prospects, you can view that article here.
Networking is another important opportunity for new business owners to establish connections in their region. The process of networking can be either easy or difficult depending upon your personality; however, it does not need to be painful. The idea of “networking” is simple – create a series of business contacts and professionals that can assist you in fulfilling the goals of your company. Now here is the “secret” to networking – don’t think of it as something that needs to be done, just focus on your own goals and interests and it will happen naturally.
I always see students – or even professional colleagues – trying to ensure the “right” people see them or that they are “making the rounds” to get good contacts from everyone at a meeting or event. This is overthinking a very simple concept. You should network with someone only if they have a common interest and you wish to keep in touch for personal/professional reasons. You shouldn’t be worrying about making contacts if your sole reason is to gain clients – there are better strategies to do this.
Two great books that I recommend for individuals that are new to making good business contacts, or simply want to learn better techniques to gain more clients are Never Eat Alone by Keith Farrazzi & Tahl Fraz, and How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Both texts are fabulous references for novice or experienced business owners.
Once you’ve connected with a person, make sure you start developing a list and try to stay in touch with them a few times a year. I have good network connections that I speak to nearly once a month, and others I only reach out to 1-2 times per year. But the purpose of my communication is authentic and based on a mutually friendly relationship – I don’t “reach out” just to make sure we are still “network pals”. Keep it simple and don’t overthink it.
Competitive Acquisition (Cost Bidding & Open Marketing)
After referrals and networking, actively marketing your company is the next strategy that many business owners turn toward. Whether you are paying for advertisements through Facebook, taking out a Billboard ad, or posting lawn signs, each strategy has its pros and cons. If you were to ask one-hundred designers which advertisement method provided the best return-on-investment, you will most likely receive one-hundred different responses. Unfortunately, this is the truth. There are too many regionally-specific variables that influence the success or failure of an ad campaign.
My advice for new business owners is to invest money into a variety of different strategies (truck wrapping, trade periodicals, direct mailings) and track which technique provides the most leads. Then you can adjust your strategy accordingly. Also, you should have seen during your Competitive Analysis phase what types of advertisements work for your competitors.
So with that being said – I do want to detail a few methods of active advertising that many business owners overlook or don’t spend enough time one.
Method 1: Community Projects
Although most people would appreciate the beautiful designs you create for residential property owners, it is likely that many will never see your work unless they specifically search your company. By focusing on creating a few community projects each year, you will not only develop a permanent advertisement for your company that can be visited seasonally, but you can also develop good contacts for future referrals.
I recently completed a project specifically like this in one of my horticulture courses. I reached out to a neighborhood association that had a local park which was poorly maintained and rather old. I offered the services of myself and my students to complete a new design, fix garden beds, and install the project free of charge.
We completed a few small sections (which is all the organization could afford), but the project was profiled in a local paper and our class has an advertisement that stands along a walkway frequently visited by the neighborhood. I’ve received several communications from homeowners in the area from seeing the project.
These projects can also be a great addition to your company website.
Method 2: Guest Speaking
Local libraries, youth groups, or nonprofits are always searching for knowledgeable speakers to give presentations on different topics to their members. These organizations typically have a limited budget, but can have very enthusiastic audience. It doesn’t take much effort to reach out to them, describing yourself and your company, and highlighting some topics that might be of interest to their members.
Once you’ve completed a few of them, you will quickly realize the impact this can have with referrals. Many homeowners are tentative to ask questions in public forums, but after your speech, you will get a deluge of individuals coming up to you to ask for recommendations. Have your business cards ready, and be sure to get their contact information as well for follow up
Method 3: Special Events
Don’t be afraid to put on your own events as well! A very successful garden designer I know developed a weekly “walk and talk” through her own home gardens where she would invite community members and the general public for a 30-45 minute walk where she would discuss unique plants and review important gardening tasks for the season. As the talks grew in popularity, so did her company – showcasing her own knowledge within the field and allowing people to learn from her experience.
The event doesn’t need to be a weekly event, but you should focus on something that will attract an audience. A few examples can be an arbor day tree planting workshop or a workshop on butterfly gardening at your local nature center. Focus on making these events fun and family friendly as well – young couples with children are always looking for good free activities to attend with their kids.
Wrapping Up
The most important part of financial planning and marketing is not necessary what you do, but tracking what you do. The worst thing for your company is to be spending thousands of dollars annually without knowing if a particular strategy is working. A simple request when you first meet a client, such as “how did you hear about us?” will go a long way to helping you make decisions on where to focus your marketing.
So, now that you have the nuts and bolts of planning, registering, and marketing your business, you can head over to the next article, where I will wrap up the planning series and provide some key action items for maintaining your profitable business mindset into the future.
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