How to Start a Landscaping Business in England and Wales

If you love working outdoors, you might be toying with the idea of starting your own landscaping business. As the saying goes, do what you love, and you will never work a day in your life! However, there are specific considerations you will need to account for before starting any business. These include outlining your business’s structure and identifying potential startup costs.  

This article will consider some legal and commercial considerations for starting a landscaping business. But, first, we will look at some general tips you should consider as an aspiring business owner. 

Your Business Plan 

Firstly, there is no legal requirement to have a business plan if you wish to start a landscaping business. Furthermore, depending on your intention, a business plan may not even be strictly necessary from a commercial perspective. For instance, if you intend to landscape around the neighbourhood on the weekends and not full-time, you might be fine doing without. However, a business plan will be highly beneficial if you intend to make this business a full-time enterprise. 

Think of a business plan as a roadmap you should follow for the first few years. Some things you may wish to include in this plan might be:

• your target market; 
• how you will source your initial customers; 
• your marketing strategy (is it even necessary to market your services?);
• your upfront costs (will you use your tools or do you expect your customers to provide certain items themselves?);
• what sorts of projects will you work on (for example, simple petunia potting and lawn care, or complex rock-work and other terraforming projects?); 
• whether you will need a vehicle;
• whether you will need to seek third-party funding from friends, family, or your high-street bank to finance your business; and
• will you work alone, or will you have a partner (or employees)?

Additionally, the financial portion of your business plan is particularly critical to the success of your business. When you manage your finances poorly, you risk your business’s success. Therefore, you should consider factors such as:

• your break-even analysis;
• what your profit-and-loss forecast will look like in the first year;
• your cash-flow forecast; and
• your balance sheet forecast. 

Startup Costs 

Startup costs refer to expenses that are particular to starting a business. It is essential to understand what these costs are so that you will be able to forecast when you will generate enough cash to pay them back. 

You should consider the equipment you will need for a startup landscaping business. For instance, this might include:

• chainsaws; 
• hedge row trimmers; 
• garden tools; and
• fertiliser.

Additionally, it may be beneficial to consider the cost of transit. So, consider whether you will travel on public transport or use a vehicle for transportation, such as a van or truck. 

Furthermore, some other upfront costs that most businesses should consider might include:

• employee wages; 
• office rent and storage fees; 
• marketing costs; 
• legal and advisory fees; and 
• building up a “war chest” of business savings. 

Choosing a Business Structure 

A business structure refers to the legal framework under which your landscaping business will operate. 

The four most common business structures for all businesses in England and Wales are:

• sole-traders;
• unincorporated partnerships;
• limited companies; and
• limited liability partnerships (LLPs). 

Each has its advantages and disadvantages, and not all will be relevant to your business. The structure that applies to you will depend on your particular circumstances and intentions. However, as a business founder, you should familiarise yourself with the implications of trading through an unincorporated business structure instead of an incorporated one. 

The main benefit of an incorporated landscaping company is that you tend to benefit from the legal principle of limited liability, which means that your business’ assets and liabilities are separate from your personal ones. However, the downside to trading through incorporated structures is that they require more administration and management. 

Ultimately, if you run a residential landscaping business alone or with another person, you will unlikely benefit from limited liability. This will mainly be the case if you have a decent insurance policy. However, if your business works with commercial clients and has multiple contracts, employees, or a vast market, you may benefit from incorporating your business. 

Insurance 

Insurance exists to mitigate risk. Moreover, it is there to ensure that in the event something goes wrong, someone other than yourself will cover the financial liability. Typically, this is an insurance provider.

Further, there is no strict requirement for obtaining insurance as a sole-trading landscaper in England and Wales. Therefore, many landscapers and lawn carers operate in England and Wales without insurance, particularly those landscaping residential properties. However, from a commercial point of view, it is a sensible idea to obtain insurance even if something goes wrong. 

To further understand why consider the following case study. 

Case Study 

You are a small business of one with a modest but growing customer base. One of your residential customers recommends your business to a contact of theirs. You provide a quote, and the new customer agrees. 

On your first job with the new client, you are trimming their hedgerows with a chainsaw when you trip and cut deeply into the shrubbery and slice a massive gap into the bushes. As you may know, plants can be quite expensive: the replacement cost is £10,000. 

If you do not have insurance, there is a good chance your new client could pursue you personally to reimburse the cost of replacing the shrubbery. However, if you have adequate insurance, it may cover the cost. 

Key Takeaways

Before starting a landscaping business in England and Wales, you must make some key considerations. For instance, whether you benefit from a business plan will ultimately depend on your intentions. If you intend to work in a commercial capacity, you are more likely to benefit from a business plan. However, if you tend to a couple of residential lots every other week, you stand to benefit less from having a comprehensive plan. Similarly, operating as a sole trader is often sufficient if you are a small enterprise. That said, all landscaping businesses — no matter what size — should have a comprehensive insurance policy. 

If you need help with your startup business, our experienced commercial lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Visit our membership page.

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