As a Landscaper, business can be both rewarding and challenging. You take pride in creating beautiful outdoor spaces for your clients, but sometimes it can feel like it’s a challenge to make good money from it.
The good news is that there are some simple strategies you can implement right away to boost your bottom line without having to take on more work!
In this month’s article, we identify 3 areas where you can instantly boost profit in your Landscape Business without increasing your workload.
1 – Charge For What You Already Do
Consultation Fees
How many times have you been out to see a potential client, spent hours on site with them going through ideas only to find out it was a waste of your time? Sometimes the thought of charging a fee for an onsite consultation doesn’t seem right at first. That is until you analyze the alternative. When you charge a small fee for your time you are saying to your prospective clients that your time is a worthy investment. You are putting yourself ahead of a lot of the other operators out there from the very start. It doesn’t make sense to say you’re an expert if you don’t put a value on your own time.
If you are adding value to your potential client when you see them and offer some level of expertise or advice then you should be charging for that time.
Do the sums; if you add up the number of free consultations you did last year and times that by a couple of hundred dollars, that’s how much money you walked away from. By charging for consultations you can instantly boost profit in your Landscape business.
The added benefit of charging for consultations is that it acts as a filtering process for clients too. It’s often the ones that are so keen to have you come out straight away but aren’t ready to start. Or the ones that don’t really want to spend the money required on what they want that end up saying no to a consultation fee anyway. These are the exact clients you don’t want to be wasting your time with
2 – Additional Income for New Services
Professional 2D Plans
Another common situation for a small Design and Construct Landscape business, arises when you’re presented with a relatively straight forward project. Even though it may be simple, you generally still need to draw up a basic plan for your team to build from. This may just be done on graph paper or possibly just a scaled hand drawing based off a site plan. But you still have to spend time thinking and coming up with the idea then drawing it out so it makes sense to someone else. This is too often done at no cost to the client.
Wouldn’t it be better if you could actually charge for that design? The usual response is, yes but I can’t charge for a scrappy drawing. By getting someone else to draft your simple sketch into a professional looking CAD plan you now have something to present to your client that’s worthy of your design fee. Even if it was only a nominal fee, all of a sudden you are starting to make some money from your skills and your time. Another instant boost to profits in your Landscape business.
Sometimes you might feel out of your depth at being able to produce a suitable plan, so you call in a Designer to do the design for you, only to then miss out on building the project later. If you were able to keep that project from start to finish, you’d be better off.
3 – Increase Your Conversions
Get Clients Over The Line With Quality Presentations
To win a job, the client has to have confidence in you and your ability. One way you can help increase that level of confidence is by providing a professional looking Landscape Concept Plan. A professional presentation can give your clients confidence in knowing exactly what they are getting. It helps them with their decision making process and they are often willing to pay extra for that certainty. If it’s a detailed project and you can offer 3D renders on top of that then you are even a step further ahead. Clients are often more inclined to go with a designer that can provide that level of certainty.
By outsourcing that service rather than completing the CAD work (or even 3D) yourself, this value is something you can build into your design business without having to grow into a larger company with higher overheads. Allowing you to boost profit in your landscape business instantly.
Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been in the business for years, these tips can help you make more money and work smarter, not harder.
About Pitch Box
Pitch Box is a low cost, fast solution that delivers quality 2D Plans and 3D Visuals of your designs when you need it.
Providing professional 2D CAD Plans and realistic 3D Images, and Fly-Throughs, to residential Landscape Designers so you can provide that high end service or improve capacity without the need to hire in-house staff. Ultimately allowing you to be more productive and more profitable.
The company prides itself on exceptional customer service, with a dedicated customer support team based in Brisbane, Australia. Delivering high quality products with a guaranteed project completion turnaround time of only 5 – 10 business days. Unlike many external service providers, Pitch Box’s pricing is transparent and competitive. Our customers know exactly what they are getting, each and every time they place an order. Discover more about how Pitch Box can support your business and place your order by visiting our website today!
