Blog>Trade>Growing your trade business>How to grow a landscaping business
Last updated: 3 January 2025
How to grow a landscaping business
After starting out and carrying out jobs, you'll next want to know how to grow a landscaping business. Well, read on to see our guide, with all the need-to-know insights.
How to grow your landscaping business
Having set up your own landscaping business, you might be wondering how to grow your business? How do you scale it up and take things to the next level?
While this marks an exciting time for your landscaping company, it does present several questions too:
Is your company in a good financial position to scale up?
Will you need to employ others? If so, who, when, and where do you find the right people?
What responsibilities will you take on if you employ others? Perhaps you have questions about payroll, HR, or holiday pay?
Can you afford more work vehicles, tools, equipment, and workwear?
Would you/your team benefit from training to offer new services, or simply to help manage the demands of a bigger enterprise?
No doubt your mind has been whirring with questions like these as you contemplate the future of your business.
In this next section, we'll guide you through how to grow your landscaping business with a structured approach. Helping to identify, set, and achieve realistic targets to scale up in an attainable way.
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What is business growth?
Business growth can occur in different ways, including generating more revenue, developing a larger customer base, and offering more services.
However, growth isn't just about 'increased sales'. It's also about maintaining or improving profitability. This can be done through greater efficiencies and minimising costs, for example.
Before you launch into the 'growth' stage, it's important to think about what growth means for your business:
What does 'growth' look like?
How will you achieve that growth?
How will you gauge success?
What growth targets should you set for your business?
How will you achieve your growth targets?
Once you've narrowed down your growth targets, you can plan how you'll achieve these goals in your business development plan.
We have a FREE business development strategy template and a really useful article to explain what information to include:
How to create a business development strategy - Free template included
What is a business development strategy? The business development process helps to identify, nurture, and acquire new customers and business opportunities to help grow your organisation and ensure its profitability. This may seem quite broad, but this is where your business development strategy
Remember, whatever growth targets you set, they must be S.M.A.R.T
Specific - what does the task involve?
Measurable - how will you quantify success?
Achievable - is this attainable given the resources, knowledge, and time available?
Realistic - is the target realistic to the confines of your job and your existing responsibilities?
Time-bound - when should the target be achieved?
How to tell if you've reached your targets?
The simplest way to know if you've achieved your targets is to measure them.
Draw up a chart that includes your target, your current figure, the figure you're aiming for, and the % increase. Populate the chart at regular frequencies so you can monitor your progress.
Grow your landscaping business with Checkatrade
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How to build a larger customer base
Boosting your client base and generating landscaping leads will significantly help your business to flourish.
So, first things first, let’s delve into ways in which you can retain and attract customers:
Research your clients
You need to make sure that you’re targeting the right audience for your services.
Take some time to research:
Who your ideal customers are
What kinds of jobs they may request
Nailing a specific target audience is key to growing a successful business, and understanding your customer’s needs is vital.
Your business wouldn’t exist without your clients, therefore it’s necessary to keep them happy. A way of doing so is by keeping up with any evolving trends in the landscaping industry.
This will enable you to meet specific customer requests and stand out from the crowd.
Grow your landscaping business with Checkatrade
Find more work in your local area as a member
Implement an efficient marketing strategy
To grow your landscaping business, you should develop a tailored marketing strategy. You’ll be able to reach more customers, enhance brand awareness, and subsequently kickstart growth.
If you already have a website or social media profiles, make sure they're up to date with all the essential information.
For instance, include images of your work, as well as a review section where you can interact with customers.
Your marketing and advertising is there to help you win more jobs. There are countless ways in which you can increase visibility and generate more leads.
How to get landscaping leads
Why you need leads for landscaping When it comes to growing your business, it goes without saying that gaining new leads is important. This is especially true for landscapers. After all, you might find repeat business only comes around once or twice a year. You could be starting a new landscaping
Marketing ideas to help grow your landscaping business
A robust marketing strategy is vital for any growing business. Of course, these are a number of ideas to help you market your landscaping business.
Alongside your professional business website, there are several other things you can try out when it comes to your marketing.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) helps your website show higher in Google searches
PPC (Pay-Per-Click) involves paying for ads to put you at the top of specific online searches relevant to your business
Social media can attract more customers and reach different audiences
Lead generation strategies through channels already receiving interest
Print marketing such as newspaper ads, brochures, leaflets and flyers
Trade directories such as the popular Checkatrade directory have an existing audience
Promoting your landscape business can significantly increase the amount your customers engage with your landscaping business and boost website visits.
Remember, when you reach more people, you increase the chances of winning work and getting more jobs.
Need some more inspiration? Don't worry - we have you covered.
Tips to nail your landscaper marketing
Why is landscaper marketing so important? A robust marketing strategy is vital for any trade business. If you're already working as a landscaper, marketing is the way that you can reach more potential customers. Demand for services like yours is larger than you may think. For example, there were
Save money and time marketing your business
Growing your business through successful marketing will cost you in time and money. Therefore, you must decide on the most effective marketing strategy for your business, considering budget and your available time.
With our digital marketing strategy and online presence, becoming a Checkatrade member makes it easy for customers to find you.
Profile
You get a business profile on the UK's leading trade directory, and a search listing in Google. This is something that can take months, even years, to achieve otherwise.
As a Checkatrade member, you can display customer reviews, testimonials, and examples of your work on your profile page.
Leads
You can also manage customer enquiries on the go, directly from the Checkatrade app, keeping everything in one handy place.
We’ll also help you with free marketing materials and don't forget, our members get exclusive discounts on business essentials. This includes workwear, tools, equipment, insurance, van leasing, fuel, and more.
Is a Checkatrade membership worth it?
One way to figure out whether the cost of something is worth it is to look at ROI (Return on Investment). In its most basic sense, this is how much something costs compared with the income it generates. Working out the ROI of a Checkatrade membership is definitely a must-do for any trade business
How can I build a positive reputation?
Purchase high-quality equipment
Having the correct equipment is key to maximising efficiency when working in the landscaping industry.
Making sure you have the best equipment, from an efficiency and safety standpoint, is vital. Hence why you should have a good knowledge of what landscapers wear to work on any given day.
It means you’ll be able to work smarter and ensure your jobs are completed to the highest standard.
Choose branded workwear
Branded landscaping workwear can help you enhance your professional image. It’s also a great marketing tool to help you attract new customers, as whilst working, you’ll be easily identifiable.
As well as embroidered workwear, you’ll want to make sure you’re wearing the correct clothing to keep you comfortable and safe. If you’re adequately dressed, you’ll be able to complete your job safely, and to the best of your ability.
A tip for boosting your business is therefore to:
Ensure your workwear adheres to safety standards
Displays your logo
Thankfully, Checkatrade members can save on the cost of their branded workwear, thanks to our partnerships. Just log in to our member's area to see our current offers and discounts.
Want to grow your landscaping business in 2025?
Find jobs in your area and save on essentials
Nurture customer relationships
As mentioned, establishing trust with customers is key when you’re looking to grow your landscaping business.
Offering a high-quality service isn’t just reliant on the physical results you provide. It also entails forging strong, positive customer relationships.
You can build relationships with customers by:
Spending time talking to them to make sure you thoroughly understand their requests
Pivoting your services to meet their needs
Being available and responsive if they have any queries
Communicate regularly, clearly, and honestly
You should prioritise customer satisfaction if you want to create a flourishing landscaping business.
How to improve customer satisfaction
They say ‘a happy customer tells a friend; an unhappy customer tells the world’. Getting customer satisfaction wrong is one of the fastest ways to lose business. But they also say that an unhappy customer whom you have made happy again is likely to share this positive experience with lots of people
Continually develop new skills
Learning shouldn’t stop just because you’ve already established your business. There’s always room for improvement, so why not challenge yourself to learn something new?
Learning new skills means you’ll be able to expand your offerings to new customers, and subsequently grow your landscaping business.
If you do carry out any special requests, you’ll need to factor in the additional costs. For specialised skills, make sure you’re pricing your landscaping jobs appropriately.
Always price your services fairly, but make sure to stay competitive.
Expanding your service area
Another strategy to grow a landscaping business is to expand your service area.
If you’re hoping to achieve long-term growth, expanding into different areas to attract new customers is a great idea.
You’ll need to research areas to expand into and make sure they are locations with lots of gardens where you could win work.
Grow your landscaping business with Checkatrade
Find more work in your local area as a member
Other key considerations for business growth
As your landscaping business grows, there are several other factors to consider:
Funding - will you need to source additional funding to facilitate your growth plans?
Business structure - is it still appropriate to operate as a sole trader as your business expands? It might be time to speak with your accountant about becoming a limited company
Company finances - an accountant can help you to stay tax efficient and compliant, and even help to source additional funding as you grow
Business processes - review your processes to make sure they're scalable. Consider what technology can help to make your business more efficient
You could also develop off-season services to stand out from the crowd.
There’s plenty of work for gardeners and landscapers in winter. So, why not try your hand at other skills too, such as tree maintenance, concrete paving, and turfing?
Checkatrade is here to help you grow
Getting listed in a trade directory, such as with Checkatrade, is fundamental to help grow your landscaping business. Getting the trusted tick can help you to boost your business credibility and also rank higher in online searches.
With over 475,000 searches for landscaping work on our website last year*, why would you want to miss out on that volume of customer interest?
Checkatrade members get exclusive savings and various benefits. So, why not get in touch with us to learn about the process and start growing your business now?
By joining, you’ll be able to establish yourself as a reputable local tradesperson in your area.
What do you need to become Checkatrade approved?
Becoming a Checkatrade member comes with a whole host of benefits, but the biggest has to be gaining our seal of approval. Homeowners tend to expect a commitment to quality when it comes to the Checkatrade tick, which can help you to win more business. Here are the checks you'll need to pass to join our directory.
Landscaping business FAQs
How long will it take me to grow my business?
The length of time it will take you to grow your landscaping business is dependent on a number of factors.
Hard work and dedication will be required, and the effort you put in will reflect in your results.
How much could a landscaping business earn?
You might be wondering how much does a landscape gardener earn in the UK. Well, your earnings will vary depending on your skill level. It will also depend on whereabouts you are on your business growth journey.
Should I hire new employees?
If you have the capacity, hiring additional employees might be a fantastic step towards boosting your business. Once your marketing strategy starts working, you may need to hire to balance the increased workload.
Building an experienced, trustworthy team can help significantly improve your business. So, why not hire an apprentice to train, or an experienced landscaper to assist you?
Want to grow your landscaping business in 2025?
Find jobs in your area and save on essentials
* Internal search data from users of the Checkatrade.com website in 2024
