How can landscape business owners protect themselves from long winters when their business isn’t needed? The systems these businesses already have in place can be used in creative ways to bring in revenue during the winter months.
One of the best ways for landscape businesses to thrive in the winter is to offer winter services. Here are some ideas of new services to add to your list.
Holiday decorating
Putting up and taking down holiday decorations are popular winter landscaping services for a reason. There’s high demand for gorgeous light displays, but few people feel comfortable getting up on ladders to decorate their own homes. Relive them of this effort and danger by offering this seasonal service.
In some communities, there’s a market for glamorous displays that include music and tell a story. This could be an interesting thing to invest in and a way to make a name for yourself in your area. On the other hand, you can decorate using just the customers’ own lights and designs to keep initial costs low.
If you get into holiday decorating, you’ll need to operate quickly and efficiently to fit all the jobs into a tight time frame. Route optimization can be a lifesaver here. Instead of wasting time managing routes, you can plan out all of your jobs at a glance. Plus, you can schedule new jobs near ones that you already have on the calendar and avoid paying workers for inflated travel time.
Snow removal
In areas that receive snow, offering snow removal can be a great way to keep money coming in during the winter. Your snow removal services could be plowing or simply clearing driveways and sidewalks. There are many different factors to consider when making this decision, such as annual snowfall in your area and additional equipment costs.
After a big snow, everyone wants help at once, so you need to move your team as quickly as possible. Route optimization software can also be a big help here. When you use ServiceWorks, you can even employ GPS tracking to know where your workers are in real-time. This can be really useful when a customer calls the main office wanting to know when their driveway will be cleared.
If you live in an area that gets cold but doesn’t experience much snow, think about offering…
Winter mulching
Your existing landscaping clients have invested in keeping their yards looking great during the warm months. However, they may not be aware of how cold weather can reverse some of that work. Short-term warm temperatures can confuse plants and cause them to go out of dormancy too soon, but mulch works to combat this. Therefore, winter mulching can be a particularly good service for people who live in areas where the temperatures fluctuate dramatically.
After completing a warm-weather landscaping job, offer the customer a deal on winter mulching. This way, you give these homeowners peace of mind and you bolster your winter revenue.
Besides offering new services, there are other ways that you can keep your landscape business thriving in the winter. Take advantage of the quieter months to work on your business’s marketing and processes.
Double down on marketing
Having a great marketing plan can lead to big growth in your business. During the winter, research different landscape business marketing strategies such as search engine optimization, Google Ads, and email marketing. Start this process in November or early December so that you have a whole new marketing plan ready for the new year.
Increase your training efforts
There’s always more for you and your employees to learn when it comes to running a landscaping business. As the business owner, maybe you want to spend some time learning about new software and features that can help your business prosper. A platform like ServiceWorks, which offers instant booking, analytics, and a customer portal, can make a huge difference in the way that you run your business.
Your landscaping employees benefit from training as well. New tools and techniques can save your company time, but only if your employees are trained to use them. You should also look through your customer reviews and see if there’s any particular area for improvement.
Examine your internal processes
Internal processes like sales processes contribute to the overall efficiency of your business. When things are slow, look to see what you can improve. Some things to consider include:
- The time spent on each customer from initial lead to sale
- The time spent on each step of the sales process
- The places where you’re losing the most clients
- The places where you feel are frustrating or inefficient
This kind of internal analysis is crucial if you want your business to grow.
Analyze your competition
Finally, you can learn a lot by studying what your competition is doing. Find your biggest competitors in the area and look through their services and prices. Determine what makes your landscaping business stand out from the rest. You should know your company’s unique selling point so that you can highlight it in marketing materials.
Analyzing competing landscaping companies can also reveal gaps in the market or ways that your company could do things differently.
If you’re creative and open to new ideas, you should have no problem bringing in revenue for your landscape business in the winter. ServiceWorks can make things even easier for you. Try ServiceWorks for free for 14 days, no credit card needed.
