Start A Landscape Designing Business - Business Ideas

Updated: September 15th, 2022
Start A Landscape Designing Business

Please note that the data provided in this article are estimates and may vary depending on various factors, and should not be considered as perfect or definitive.

Landscape design, also known as landscape architecture, involves arranging and modifying features in a landscape, urban area, or garden. The scope of work requires planning, designing, and managing open spaces to create an appealing environment.

The demand for landscape design is high among homeowners and commercial space owners. According to statistics, the employment of landscape architects will grow by 6% in the next few years. The need for planning and developing new and existing landscapes for commercial, industrial, and residential construction will drive the growth.

Starting a landscape design business can be profitable if you are an experienced designer with excellent artistic skills. To start a landscape design business, do market research and write a business plan. Invest in quality landscape design tools and equipment and register your business.

Starting a landscape designing business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.

If you're interested in how to sell landscape design services , or selling landscape design services online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.

Key Stats

market size
$9.97B
starting costs
$18K
gross margin
90%
time to build
270 days

Startup Costs

Min Startup Costs Max Startup Costs

Employee & Freelancer Expenses

$151

$252

Website Costs

$223

$7,015

Business Formation Fees

$600

$4,700

Vehicle Expenses

$0

$10,000

Retail Business Expenses

$1,250

$6,650

Advertising & Marketing Costs

$75

$3,986

Software Expenses

$162

$2,720

Office Space Expenses

$0

$100

Specific Industry Expenses

$0

$500

Total Startup Costs

$2,461

$35,923

Successful Businesses

Business URL Rank

GreenPal

yourgreenpal.com

201,673

Design a better business

designabetterbusiness.com

585,114

Tilly Design

tilly-design.com

1,242,671

Pacific Outdoor Living

pacificoutdoorliving.com

1,272,488

Landscape Design Advice

landscape-design-advice.com

2,104,519

Taylormade Landscapes

taylormadelandscapes.com

3,095,066

Scarlett's Landscaping, Inc. • Design & Build Landscaping Contractors

scarlettslandscaping.com

3,416,507

Miami Landscaping Designers

landscapingofmiami.com

4,081,303

Todd Haiman Landscape Design

toddhaimanlandscapedesign.com

4,187,156

Brookscapes

brookscapes.com

5,724,192

CLC Landscape Design

clcdesign.com

7,478,011

Pros & Cons

Pros Description

Little startup costs required

The cost to start a landscape designing business costs significantly less money than most businesses, ranging anywhere from 62 to 35,923.

Rewarding work

Starting a landscape designing business can be really rewarding work. After all, you are solving an immediate issue for your customer and you're working on something you truly care about.

High customer retention rates

Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer.

Pick & choose the clients you work with

Landscape Designing Businesses have the ability to choose the clients they work with. You have the freedom to work with only a few loyal clients or with hundreds of clients!

Control of workload

With starting a landscape designing business, you have the unique ability to choose how little or how much you want to work. You also have the freedom to decide which projects you want to work on, and can turn down the ones that do not interest you.

Gain exposure and experience

This career allows you to gain experience working for multiple different businesses - which will benefit your resume and also keep things interesting for you!

Cons Description

Motivation of employees

If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees.

Longer Sales Process

A landscape designing business can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers.

Work can be inconsistent

As a landscape designing business, the amount of work assigned to you and schedule tends to be more inconsistent, which may make your income less stable. It's important to set boundaries and budget accordingly based on the amount of work you plan to have.

Lack of benefits

With a landscape designing business, you are typically self-employed and responsible for finding your own insurance, which can be quite costly and time-consuming.

Taxes

As a landscape designing business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it.

No safety net

Typically, as a landscape designing business, you do not receive a consistent pay-check and instead earn money based on your transactions each month. During the slow periods, you typically take away less since the job is based on commission. It's important to budget accordingly for the slow times.