Landscaping services?

[vicki]

Hi All,
Was wondering if any of you do landscaping installation services, selling the plants and shrubs you produce? I met one woman who did nothing but consultation. What are your ideas pros and cons.

Something along the lines of 'package deals'.

As always thanks!

[shepp]

for one i dont have time .
and i dont have enuf of the well rounded specimens ,shrubs and trees for supplying such a undertaking. or the capital to have them on order.
sure i could go to lowes /preferably elsewhere to get them .
i could only supply half maybe of what someone may want.
its not a bad idea.
2 nurseries one to the east and one to the west of me do that very same thing all over ohio .one to the west grows 90% of his stock and the one to the east grows nothing at all . everything is shipped in . and we have talked and may well be a customer of mine real soon.
too much for me to do i have 2 jobs now.the nursery and my day job .
shepp zone 5/6

[Gene]

Sheps right it's hard to find the time if you have a second job.If you plan on running it yourself you could always do landscaping on Mondays or after you close the Nursery for the day.I know a nursery that sells the shrubs and trees that they buy wholesale and also will plant them for you for 5 dollars a tree or so much overall. You would be surprise how many older couples would pay you to plant there shrubs . Things like its to hard on them they can't squat or bend over, they always plant them to deep and they die. Before long they would want you to mow there yard and trimm there hedges do you have a teenage son.

[Tom]

Vicki,
As with any business venture, you need to count the costs, and potential return on investment, through a business plan.
As an example I don?t know how good you are at landscape design but that will be a major task in some installation situations. If you are really good at design, then the possibility exists for you to sub-contract installations, and work out wholesale purchase agreements with other nurseries and growers for those plants you cannot provide. That?s done every day.

With your existing plant stock you could offer a special delivery and installation charge at the customers specified placement. Keep in mind, that most of your sales will take place in a brief season, and any personal involvement will take you from your sales location. Inexperienced customers often specify a place that your experience will tell you is bad for the plant and reduces it?s chances for survival, and then comes the issue of guarantee?s.

I am not in either one of the businesses you are striving for, but if I were going into business, I think I would focus most of my attention on developing the one before considering expansion.