It's easier than you think and you'll be making great money from the very start! Doing plant and flower bed maintenance for people is a wide open field because they don't want to do it. Start making good money today!
For twenty years I worked for someone else. I spent years of my life wondering what I could do on my own and make a living at it. Every day after a stressful day at the office, would find me wandering around in my yard messing around with the plants. It was my hour of rebuilding my peace of mind, after a long day of office politics. The plants didn't talk back or complain. They just stood there perched in grand silence, calming me.
I never started out to be a gardener. It just kind of happened over a period of time. Each day I seemed to learn a little more by simply observing the vegetation in my yard. It became my little sanctuary where I could be in total control, and I took full advantage of it. The yard became my valium to cope with a job I really didn't like.
The company I worked for started to have financial problems and I was caught in the layoff crunch. For the first time since I was fifteen I didn't have a job to go to in the morning and it was depressing. Still, I kept wracking my brain at what I could do on my own. What sort of business could I open and be good at?
Little did I know that my husband in a passing comment would hold the key. He told me I should do something I like, like something to do with plants. Suddenly, a light went off in my head and I started thinking in that direction.
It occurred to me that though there were lawn services all over, most didn't do any of the maintenance to the flower beds. If they did, they really didn't want to do it. They made their money by mowing and getting out as quick as they got in. Maintenance takes time, and time to a lawn service is money……a loss of money.
I talked to a man I knew who owned a lawn service and he verified what I thought was true. He had several clients who were looking for someone to weed their flower beds and trim their bushes. He didn't want to do it, because it wouldn't be profitable and he didn't have time. I was given those telephone numbers and the rest was history.
My overhead was low to nothing, because I owned most of the tools I needed to do the job. The supplies needed are quite basic and most people have them in their garage.
- Shovel
- Rake
- Hedge Clippers
- Loppers
- Garbage Bags
- Hard Rake
Sure, you can add all the other tools you want, but you can function off the basics I've listed above. Depending on the job, I've added such things as tarps, weed killer and other items, but I could generally function with a rake, clippers and a pair of loppers.
Getting jobs are easier than you think. There are not many gardeners out there. Most people don't want to do it themselves and quite a few lawn services do less than favorable jobs, because they really don't want to do it. This is a wide open self employment field, as far as I'm concerned.
Contact lawn services and give them your contact information/business card. Let them know you are interested in doing trimming or weeding jobs. Tell your friends to tell their friends. You'll be surprised at how many people are out there looking for someone just like you. They have no desire to do the work in their yards. Sending out fliers or listing your services in a local paper is also a good way of getting business.
I live in Central Florida and have operated my gardening business for the past fifteen years. The average wage for doing gardening work in my area is anywhere between $15 - 25 per hour. $15 would be on the very low end with the average probably being more like $20. Making $100 for four hours work isn't too shabby and isn't beyond the norm. The amount you will make depends solely on how much you want to work. My attitude has always been, if you don't want to pay me what I want, do it yourself! Trust me; you'll get what you want.
With this job, you are able to do it part-time and still make a huge profit. Sure, you're going to need to be self motivated and not be shy of a little hard work, but the money is there to be made. Once you establish yourself by completing a job successfully, word of mouth will give you more jobs than you can handle. This is the best and cheapest advertising you can get. If you do a job well and make the person happy, they're going to tell someone else. You will also probably get a monthly maintenance contract, which means steady income!
It's always best to work a job first to get an idea of how long it will take you, before giving a flat price. Looking at a job and thinking it will be easy, has made the most experienced gardener lose money. Experience will train you in how difficult a certain task might be, allowing you to give an accurate bid. It's always best to bid in a little more time than you think will be necessary to complete the job. This way you'll be sure to come out on the top end or at least break even.
If you're up for a little hard work outside, but ready to make some quick, good cash, try a career in gardening. Finding the jobs are easier than you think and the money is really good! Once you get a planting job and make profits off the plants as well as the labor, you'll be wondering why you hadn't tried this before.
Gardening is an open employment field that anyone willing to work and be disciplined can do. It's possible to make a good living doing this job. It's also not a business that will take years to build up to a profitable state. Since there are little to no expenses in running it, most of the money made will be profit.
If you like messing around with plants and don't mind being outside and getting a little dirty, try gardening. It's an easy business to get into and you will start making good money from the start. The best thing is you can set your own hours! No longer do you have to be a slave to someone else.
