surfingthoughts Posted January 21, 2015 Posted January 21, 2015 ( I was unsure where to put this, so sorry if this is not the appropriate place) In a recent podcast 2886 the second caller if my memory serves me correctly was interested in setting up a edible landscape gardening business. Stefan correctly made the case for market research and questioned why current businesses were not doing this already which may make my suggestion irrelevant. If the caller is still interested in doing this or doing it in the future then I have a possible suggestion. Involve children in your marketing efforts, if you can get children interested in planting/growing (healthy) vegetables then I think this would strongly motivate some parents to ask for a quote. This could be done in your backyard have an open day with a bbq targeted at families teach the children how to plant a seed ect get them interested in how the plant will grow, get them interested in the idea of eating something that they have helped plant. Show the parents what your raised beds look like and what you can do for them. I could go on but I think you get the idea. You could even take it a step further and do something at a local school, kids love growing stuff and if you did a raised bed or 2 for the school for free or heavily discounted then you could maybe have your brand on the side of the bed and get a letter to each parent about what your doing ect. I have no idea of the costs so you would have to make sure your marketing is an investment rather than a cost but get creative with it. Anyways I hope this will get read by the caller and if not maybe inspire someone who is thinking of setting up any business to try and think a bit differently in terms of marketing, it's a good way to stand out if you do it correctly. If anyone knows the caller if you could point them in the direction of this thread then that would be great. Have a good day guys .
villagewisdom Posted January 21, 2015 Posted January 21, 2015 This is so funny. I was thinking about this same call this morning. I also had thoughts on alternative business structure and marketing so I'll add them here. Offering consulting services is an excellent way to leverage the current landscaping business structure rather than competing with it. You can ease into it on your own schedule and there is very little overhead. Create a portfolio and attractive presentation package of what you can do. Pictures of your landscaping and perhaps stuff you have done free gratis for friends. Make arrangements with local landscape businesses for referrals in exchange for using their plants. Teach classes in upkeep and maintenance at their location to bring in business for both of you. Offer maintenance and/or troubleshooting services for those who have used your design and implementation service. Build a reputation over time. Put that business plan down on paper. Perhaps by the time the baby is 5 or 6 it will be time to make the big leap and let go of working for someone else. Just my thoughts on it.
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