2019 ASHS Annual Conference

The strong economy has fueled construction projects which correlate strongly with new landscape installation. The landscape business has low barriers to entry and is therefore highly attractive to entrepreneurs. Small businesses (4 or less employees) are essential to the economy and given the high failure rate of start-ups, training and certification is essential to improving the chance of success for these entities. Based on queries registered with UGA Extension and the UGA Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in 2016 and 2017, a high number of individuals who have never run a landscape business, or have run one on a part-time basis are interested in entering the landscape business full-time. One of the most challenging areas of business is accurate cost estimating and bidding on landscape projects. Owners (especially new ones) bid either too low and lose money, or they bid too high and lose jobs to competitors. Many landscapers take a guess at pricing using multipliers or standard mark-ups on the cost of materials without fully understanding their expenses and profits; not only is this an unreliable business practice, but it is not sustainable in the long term. A team of collaborators from academic departments, UGA’s public outreach units, Cooperative Extension counties, was able to train 46 landscape business operators on the basics of starting a small business. The training included both financial and marketing aspects (e.g. P&L, income statements, sources of funding, quickbooks, marketing on the web and social media), as well as hands-on practical exercises, on site take-off, interpreting landscape plans. Participants were trained in estimating costs of equipment, labor, materials, and overhead for profitable job bidding by using two software packages developed by UGA and specifically designed for cost-estimating landscape installation and landscape maintenance. The trainings generated 276 contacthours. Thirty five percent of the attendees also signed up for an advanced certification program to become Georgia Certified Landscape Professionals.