Keeping Your Gardening Business Profitable in Autumn and Winter
When you run any kind of business there will always be busier and quieter times in the year. Retail businesses for example will often see tons of sales in the lead up to the festive period, followed by a quieter time when people are tightening their spending and catching up at the start of each year. But when you run a business that’s especially seasonal like gardening and landscaping then you can feel these quieter periods even more. If you don’t go about things the right way you could even find yourself going months without much (if any) work at all. BUt there are things you can do to keep yourself ticking over, and make sure that you’re staying afloat financially and keeping any customers that you do have right through the year. Here are some things to think about.
Plan for quieter times
First of all, no matter what you do with your services and your marketing, it’s important to accept that autumn and winter will always be quieter for a gardening company. Peoples gartdend are growing less quickly so if a lot of what you do is lawn cuttings and lawn care, shrub cutting etc then this is always going to taper off. This means you need to plan your finances so that your busier periods keep you going with money and you’re not overspending when the money is coming in in the spring and summer. It might be worth taking on another job or starting a side hustle to give you that bit of extra income in the months that are quieter, although if you do the things below then it can offset some of the quieter times.
Add more services
As someone who runs a gardening business, more than likely you have lots of transferable skills as you’re fit, able and practical. So expanding and offering more services that you’re able to do can be a good earner. Things like gutter cleaning and window cleaning are options if you’re happy to work at heights, be sure to do research into the right ladders, tools and techniques. You could offer handyman type services, lots of people have broken fences and missing roof tiles when autumn and winter storms hit their house and if you can offer this it can be a good source of work. Jet washing is another option, cleaning up patios and driveways and removing moss from roofs could earn well. You could even do a course and take on some tree surgeon work, invest in an electric pole saw and you’d be able to some good tree cutting that’s beyond the basic shrub cutting you might normally do. There are health and safety and insurance things to consider with adding these sorts of services to your business so make sure you have the right paperwork in place, but they could definitely keep you going in autumn and winter. Snow clearing/ shovelling etc is another obvious choice.
Offer indoor alternatives
If your business has been built around your love of plants and you’re knowledgeable about them, then you could offer your services to indoor plants as well. Some clients might love their houseplants but wont feel confident repotting them dealing with pests or choosing the right soil once the heating dries everything out. Offering small indoor plant care services can create extra work and keep you connected with clients even on days when the weather’s too rough for garden jobs. It might not be a huge part of your income but it could be a bit of extra regular income and also helps you keep connections with your existing clients over the colder months when they’re not having much work done on their garden. Then after Christmas kind of time you’re in a good position to make suggestions to them to start thinking about garden prep work you could be getting on with ready for the spring. It just helps you to maintain that line of contact
Think about your marketing
Marketing is important in any business, but especially if you’re very reliant on seasonal work like in a gardening business. You need to be reaching the right customers and building up a base of loyal customers that are having regular work done to make sure that your income stays where it needs to be. Marketing isn’t cheap but it shouldn’t feel like an afterthought or something you only look at doing when you’re struggling. Good social media is important, and with things like landscaping and gardening businesses word of mouth goes a long way. These two things can go well together as reviews on social media by your customers that are then seen by their family and friends can make your business look more trustworthy and increase the chances of others choosing to work with you. With local businesses like yours too, non digital methods like flyers through people’s doors, posters and attending local events to spread the word can all be really effective.
It’s not easy running a seasonal business like gardening during the non-peak season, but if you go about things the right way you should be able to thrive rather than just stay afloat and hope for the best.
What kinds of changes do you make if you run a seasonal business, during the down season?