While on a long car ride I noticed many dilapidated, overgrown, abandoned small gardens in people's yards. Then, a business idea struck me! I could clean up folks' gardens as a seasonal business. My services would include basic stuff: weeding, tilling, fence repair, shed organization and even possibly planting basic starter plants to get the owners back on track. I think this could be really helpful for busy homeowners and folks who are not able bodied enough to spend hours toiling the earth.

Now I know this is nothing new. But I don't see any gardener businesses serving my area, so I think there's an empty niche to be filled. I'm a young adult with an entrepreneurial spirit and I think this dream could grow to even building and planning gardens and chicken coops. One day I could even apply for a grant and get a small truck for my business.

For now, I'm community college student who dreams big and could use a bit of extra cash. I'm thinking this spring I can start in my neighborhood as an experiment, I'll go door to door asking if anyone needs my services. Now for the issue of what to charge, time and materials seems the most straightforward. I bounced this idea off my dad, and he thought $20 an hour was on the low end. Minimum wage is $15 now here.

Does anyone have experience doing this sort of thing? how much should I charge for the basic services I listed above?

My town has an abundance of yard work entrepreneurs. A sizeable proportion of those are part of the "underground economy". Anyone can also call up various organizations and have temporary labor sent out to them to do whatever. Around here, door-to-door solicitors are not looked on with favor, being widely regarded as pests and scammers. Mailers, doorknob flyers and local online websites (nextdoor.com, craigslist.org, facebook marketplace, etc.) are preferred here to advertise gardening services. I would wager that the great majority of run-down yards/gardens in my neighborhood are that way because the current residents/owners have no interest in such things or cannot perform and/or cannot afford help for the required tasks.

@Audreygb55 Welcome to NGA. I think your idea is great! I wish you the best in developing your business idea.

Welcome to the site!
You won't know until you try, I would say go for it!

kreemoweet said: My town has an abundance of yard work entrepreneurs. A sizeable proportion of those are part of the "underground economy".

Yes.

Could be those yards that you are seeing can't afford the hire.

There's a learning curve.

Not just learning the work... but also figuring out what the client wants when they aren't sure.

Suggest figuring on starting low... You can always ask for more later when you've got people waiting in line for your services.

It's more important to make one person happy than to get a bunch of yards.

Make one person happy, they will tell all their friends...

Make one person unhappy?
A bad reputation will haunt you.

Edit:
Re door to door...
As above... not great.
Try asking at church, other people that you know... like professors and what-not...

Everybody knows somebody else... and some people love to give a hand up.

kreemoweet said:Around here, door-to-door solicitors are not looked on with favor, being widely regarded as pests and scammers. Mailers, doorknob flyers and local online websites (nextdoor.com, craigslist.org, facebook marketplace, etc.) are preferred here to advertise gardening services.

Thank you for this. I realize how this can be seen as counterproductive and annoying no matter how polite I can be. I looked into legal solicitation briefly. Flyers in mailboxes was my first idea. But quickly learned that only usps post is legally allowed in mailboxes. However flyers on doorsteps seems to be legal.

kreemoweet said: I would wager that the great majority of run-down yards/gardens in my neighborhood are that way because the current residents/owners have no interest in such things or cannot perform and/or cannot afford help for the required tasks.

This might be true. I'd like to explore the market and see what homeowners want. I think the interest is there. Especially among new homeowners. Getting in touch with where food comes from is becoming a popular ideal. But of course there's a point where someone just doesn't want a cleanup service. which I get.

Thank you for the advice!👌

One complaint or limitation with common yard cleanup help is a lack of plant knowledge and so they damage things. Maybe knowing proper bulb, annual, perennial, vegetable care is a niche you can fill.
(
(Had a small group at a library event. Some one interested in using only native plants complained they couldn't find help.. but they were such sour people, so bee otchy, that I would never offer to help them. And suspect they'd be cheapskates too.)

A lot of people too busy to keep a neat yard also hire lawn service which could easily add on some cleanup while there.

Consider offering business service? Tidy up the plantings around fast food?

Hi & welcome to the site! If this idea isn't it, keep thinking and trying, and never lose that entrepreneurial spirit! Some random thoughts...

Landscaping assistance is about the very last thing people choose to spend on, so you'll need to target people who could afford everything else, and want a nice looking yard, but just don't want to do the yard work or are too busy or infirm - and don't already have a regular service that does everything including mowing.

I believe this group is out there, I have a friend who has a nice one-person little business this way. I think all of her clients are referrals. It's not something that can scale into being the owner of something with employees because people who know enough to do this don't need you to be their boss. Some people will pay someone to plant cute little fru fru flowers in their flower bed, rake their leaves. But they expect a lot for the $.

Your potential customers might be spread around, &/or unlikely to respond to the solicitations of strangers. I think most people are just annoyed when they find random solicitations on their home or worse, under car windshield wiper. The advice to find people to recommend you is excellent. Double that for me.

I think you'll have fewer people interested in paying by the hour, but if you price per job, people will know what they're getting and how much it will be. They don't care how long you spend doing it, and everybody knows people work more slowly when being paid by the hour. People who are paying by the hour will expect to watch you grinding @ full speed the entire time and won't feel good about watching you stop to catch your breath or drink some water.

I agree with everything said. I'm excited for you and hope it turns out well If not it didn't hurt to try and you gave it your best effort. You can always leave an advertisement paper on the bulletin board at the local grocery store-if they have one. Lots of people do that here and leave little tear off strips with their phone number attached. Spread the word by word of mouth wherever you do business-your hair gal, the dry cleaners, the small shops you patronize. It will happen.

purpleinopp said:It's not something that can scale into being the owner of something with employees because people who know enough to do this don't need you to be their boss.

And the ones that need a boss... can do a lot of damage in a very short time.

I would think there would be a market for helping aging gardeners keep up with their projects; they might be quite fussy about how things are done, though... I know I would be!

Weedwhacker, there is a senior service that some folks do not know about. Lower feels for some.

Audreygb55, welcome. Keep those ideas flowing. Ya might want to take a master gardener class first to broaden your knowledge. This time of year you will see unkept yards and gardens due to the cold and folks don't cleanup until spring when the weather gets nicer. As I have been told by some gardeners they leave it for the birds and critters during the winter months. Some gardeners will tell you that cleaning up isn't a good idea.
I can tell you from my experience when folks see our gardens........we are not the Norm. Then the next thing I hear is whom is your gardener so we can hire them! You will find some folks won't keep up your hard work also. Also check with the State requirements for running a business and their requirements. While going to school this might not be a job as it will require more of your time even with a small handful of clients. Some folks will be demanding of your time.