Start Your Own Garden Business

When I first started my kitchen garden business 10 years ago, I noticed an issue when I was scrolling through a list of professions for state insurance. And again when I was tagging my business page on Facebook.

Gardening was never an option. Here I was trying to bring about a kitchen garden revival, but gardening wasn’t even seen as a viable profession. I may be biased, but I truly believe that being your own boss and working as a gardener is the best possible career. So I'm on a mission to help more people enter this industry.

I know exactly what it takes to launch and grow a successful garden business. I've already helped over 1,300 gardeners start their own garden businesses in the last five years, and my dream is to help at least 1,000 more over the next three years. I'd love to help you get started!

I've broken down how to start your garden business into five doable steps.

But First, Do We Really Need More Garden Businesses?

There are already so many garden businesses that focus on services (like mowing) or products (like fertilizer, plants, etc). The current garden industry is very much what we call a red ocean market. That term comes from the book Blue Ocean Strategy by Renée Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim.

Basically, if you were at the beach, would you jump into the water if you noticed the waves were turning red? No, of course not! A red ocean means blood, and blood means there are sharks in the water. A red ocean market is one full of sharks, or already-existing predatory businesses that will gobble you up if you try to enter.

So what kind of garden business can you start if there's so much shark-infested water?

Well, it turns out there's a shark-free zone between products and services. This zone is garden education, and providing education, aka consulting, is a blue ocean market. That means when you jump in the water, there are no sharks. There aren’t even killer whales.

Why is that?

Because local knowledge is so important when it comes to teaching others how to garden. The gardening industry is unique in the way it’s entirely dependent on location. You have a special ability to educate the people who live in your area because you're an expert on gardening in your area.

So the best type of garden business to start is, therefore, a garden consulting business. I started a kitchen garden business where I taught my clients how to set up and grow an edible garden in raised beds, but you can also consult on things like native plants, food forests, and more—whatever your garden specialty is!

The great news is that garden consulting is what we call a lean startup. You really don't need much money and you don't need any physical space or equipment to get started.

So with that in mind, let's look at how you might go about starting a garden consulting business.

Select a Product to Sell

The products you might sell as a consultant are geared toward garden education. You can start a garden business with just one product. That's what I did. You'll deliver that product to the client and add more value by making improvements to that product over time. The more you stick with your product, the better it’s going to get. 

Here's an overview of the different products you can sell.

A GARDEN COACHING SESSION

A coaching session is the simplest thing you can offer. Your client would be someone who already has a garden set up and planted. They hire you to come in and assess what’s happening in their garden. All you have to do is figure out what’s wrong with their setup and help them fix it by teaching them about the garden systems that always work for you. By the end of one hour together, the client should have an action plan for how they will find success in the future.

This is a needed service because so many people set up their garden the wrong way, only to quickly find themselves disappointed with the results. I’m sure you know at least one person who’s started a garden that failed, right? Basically, if someone has set up a garden, they can benefit from a coaching session. 

A PERSONAL GARDEN CONSULTATION

This product involves meeting with clients who do not have gardens set up yet. During a garden consultation, you would assess their space and point out potential locations for a garden based on sunlight and other factors.

You also give them an overview of your garden system, mainly the type of setup you use to ensure success. You don’t want to overload them with too much detail (a consultation, like a coaching session, should only be about an hour long). You’re just outlining what works for you.

One of the beautiful things about consulting is that you’ll spend at least half of the time listening to the client. You’ll ask them a lot of questions so that you can get to know them and figure out their priorities and what they hope to get out of their garden experience. Once you have a strong sense of their available space and priorities, you tailor a garden plan to meet their needs. 

GARDEN COACHING & CONSULTING PACKAGE

The third product that you can sell is basically a combination of the first two. I stumbled upon this product by accident shortly after starting my business. I met with a client named Julie, who paid me for a consultation. I told her everything she should do to get her garden set up, and then she asked me to come back to help coach her through the different growing seasons. I was shocked that someone would pay me to meet up with them not once but several times. 

Because the garden is so dynamic, clients need help transitioning from season to season. Many of us know exactly when to plant, tend, and harvest the different plants growing in our gardens because we’ve been doing this so long. We take it for granted that these things are intuitive, when they’re not. Clients need to be taught what to do every month. Otherwise, they’re like, “I planted this four weeks ago. Now what?”

Consulting and coaching naturally go hand in hand and, combined, are a wonderful way to serve your clients. The follow-up coaching sessions ensure your clients keep all the gardening momentum from the consultation going.

You could meet with clients every week, every two weeks, every month, or just once a quarter—however you want to set up this package.

GARDEN CONSULTATION WITH A DELIVERABLE

This product promises clients an add-on at the end of the consultation. That deliverable could be a garden design, a planting plan, a step-by-step guide, a breakdown of the different growing seasons in your area, etc. 

Offering a deliverable can significantly increase the value you give to your clients. In turn, you can up the price of your consultation. Each consultation might now take you three to five hours total because you’ll need to follow the consultation up by delivering the thing you promised. 

GARDEN CONSULTATION WITH PRODUCTS

For this product, you deliver items to the client that will help them put their garden together. You would do a consultation, send the client a design, and then recommend products for them to use as they install their garden. You might even order and deliver those products for them. 

The great thing about ordering products for your clients is that you can get things at a discount once you’ve started your business. You’ll charge your client the retail price for an item (which is what they’d pay if they went to the store and purchased it for themselves), but you’ll be able to order the product for the wholesale price or a discounted price. Then, you’ll add on a little fee for doing the work for them. 

I used to offer my clients what I called a concierge garden. I would drop off a wood raised bed, the right amount of a local soil blend to fill that bed, and a flat of plants. Thanks to the little markup on each of these items, I watched my business checking account grow and grow. I was so amazed I called my accountant and even checked with the county clerk to make sure what I was doing was legal. I can get paid to shop for plants? (Yes, it’s totally legal.) 

The reason this is actually a wonderful service for your clients is because you’re ensuring that they’ll end up with the right product for their needs. How many products do you think they’ve bought before for their garden that ended up being a total waste of money? There are a million choices out there, and it’s so hard to know which one will actually work the way they need it to. 

So you’re not really being paid to pick stuff up for the client. You’re being paid for your expertise. The client knows you’ve been doing this a lot longer than them and are much more likely to pick the best products. 

This service is really a win-win. You get to make money for your time and expertise, and the client has peace of mind that they’re ending up with the best products possible.

Determine the Price of Your Product

Cost-based pricing utilizes a basic product calculation: how much it costs to create the thing plus how much margin you’d like to bring into the business. The sum is the baseline of what you should charge. 

Basic Product Calculation

To determine how much to charge for a product, you simply add cost plus your desired profit. For example, a raised bed might cost $500. If you want to keep $500, then you’ll charge your client $1,000 for the raised bed.

Services Calculation

When you’re working for yourself and you're the only employee of your business, you are the service, right? You get to decide how much you want to make per hour. Then multiply that hourly rate by how much time it’ll take to complete that service. If you want to make $50 an hour and it’ll take roughly three hours to do a consultation (including travel time), then you should charge $150 for a consultation. That’s your cost. 

Set Up Your Business

I'm going to quickly go over the various legal and financial hoops you'll have to jump through to start a small business. Overall, you'll need to complete the following to be legit:

• Choose your business name
• Select a business structure
• Register your business
• Check local requirements for certifications, licenses, etc.
• Get small business insurance
• Open a business bank account
• Build a website

Choose Your Business Name

Choosing a name can be daunting, so I encourage many of my students to take a simple, straightforward approach by using their own name (e.g., Nicole Burke Garden Consulting or even simply Nicole Burke). Business names can always be changed or modified later.

Alternatively, you can opt for a Doing Business As (DBA) name, which allows you to operate under a different name rather than your own. Create a list of potential names and then check the DBA directory to make sure your name isn't already in use by another business. Search for the availability of the corresponding domain name (preferably a .com domain) by using a domain registration platform like GoDaddy. Lastly, check social media channels to see if the name is already in use as a handle.

Once you've narrowed down your list to names that are available and viable options, seek feedback from your friends and family. Based on their responses, continue refining your list until you are left with one preferred name.

Select a Business Structure

Before you can officially set up a business, you must decide which formation you'd like. I typically recommend garden consultants start out as a sole proprietorship. It's the easiest and least expensive way to set up a business. You and your business are basically one and the same, which means you'll handle business expenses and income on your personal tax return.

Consult with an accountant or business lawyer for advice tailored to your specific situation. Additional resources that are dependent on the state you live in might include a Small Business Development Center and your local Chamber of Commerce.

Like with names, business structures can be changed later if you decided that an LLC or a corporation works better for your situation.

Register Your Business

Once you've settled on a business name and business structure, you're ready to register your business. If you're starting as a sole proprietor, check whether you can register online in your state. I find it better to physically visit your local county clerk or Small Business Bureau to register your business. I was nervous to register my first business, but the process turned out to be simpler than I anticipated, and I left the building with my official business registration.

If you're forming an LLC or S corp, start with your lawyer or accountant and let them be your guide. 

Check Local Requirements

Around the same time as you register your business, check what legal requirements and certifications are necessary to be in business in your city or town. Certification and accreditation requirements differ state to state, even city to city.

This is why it's so important to seek local advice and contact those in your local Small Business Bureau or Chamber of Commerce. They're the ones who will benefit most from your local business if it's successful, so they should have your best interests in mind. The more local you go, the more likely you are to find helpful and attentive advocates and guides to help you start and run a successful business in your area. 

Consulting work rarely requires you to meet a ton of requirements, but some states require you to have a general contractor license if you're going to be contracting out any of the labor involved in installing or maintaining a garden to other businesses. Some states require accreditation or certification for being a landscaper. Obtaining these licenses or certifications is not difficult; it's a matter of sitting through some classes and becoming certified. 

Get Small Business Insurance

Before taking your first client, look into getting small business insurance to cover you in the event of a mistake or oversight. It might take some work to find an insurance company that will cover your business. I recommend starting with your personal insurance provider or local insurance companies.

Set Up a Business Bank Account

Wait until your business is registered and you have the official papers for your newly formed business to set up a bank account. The bank will need your new business ID number before moving forward. Set up a business checking account and at least one savings account.

Once you have your business bank account open, you're ready to earn your first cash as a garden business owner.

Build a Website

My first business website was created on Blogspot circa 2015, and it was pitiful but it worked. Websites are a work in progress. They are 100% editable at any given moment, and very few people will actually be looking at your website in the beginning.

I recommend using a website builder like Squarespace. All you really need is a landing page and a purchase page.

Complete Your First 5 Garden Consultations for Free

Once you're all set up, send a text, email, or call five friends or acquaintances and offer a complimentary garden consultation or coaching session this month. (This is not something you’d offer on social media yet.)

You can tell them, “Hey, I’m starting a garden consulting business, and I’m super excited about it. The consults are eventually going to be $100 or $150, but I’m doing my first five for free. I wanted to see if you’d let me practice with you.” 

Deliver at least five free consultations or coaching sessions to your acquaintances. Ask them for their feedback and adjust and improve based on what they say.

Sure, you won't be earning any money yet, but you'll be learning how this time with your client will work.

Find Your Clients

Once you've gotten your first five consultations under your belt, it's time to move away from family and friends as clients. Your best business will come from people outside your inner circle.

But here's the thing: Most of your future clients don’t even know they want to become a gardener yet. That means you won't find them at garden centers. Instead, they're shopping at Trader Joe's and the farmers’ market. They're working out at the yoga studio or Orange Theory. They're considering installing solar panels on their home. They're volunteering. They're carting their kids around to afterschool activities.

My first set of clients came from fellow preschool moms. They loved the idea of gardening with their children and were concerned about the planet. If I had only looked for these women at the garden center, I wouldn't have found them.

There are tons of places where people who might be interested in starting a garden visit, including schools, boutiques, event spaces, country clubs, fitness centers, supplement stores, juice bars, and farmers' markets. These groups aren't businesses you're competing with. They're businesses you can align yourself with. I call them parallel businesses because they run right alongside ours by serving very similar clientele. You'll meet a few of their customers or community members and bring them into your community too.

When you think about finding your clients as a group of people joined together by a similar interest, it makes it way less intimidating. You don't have to find dozens of people who want to buy from you out of nowhere. Instead, you just have to find the right group.

Once you've found your group, think of how they might cross over with you. When I wanted to sell to fellow preschool moms, for example, I offered to teach a garden class at the local preschool for free, in exchange for being able to give each child a little card about my business to take home with them.

I got one client this way, and then she referred me to all her friends. My business branched out from there.

It's Time to Start Your Garden Business!

You're on the verge of creating a business that can do so much good for you and your family financially. Something that can also do good for your community by creating new gardeners all over your town or city. Something that can even do good for the planet.

I'm so excited to be a part of your journey to starting your own garden business! And guess what? You're now part of this incredible movement we’re creating through Gardenary to make gardening an ordinary part of life for every single person.

That's not going to happen simply through product sales or service appointments. It's going to happen by us taking our own experiences and knowledge in the garden, getting our garden businesses off the ground, and passing on our knowledge to others in our area.

The garden consultant community is wide open. We may not have a category for ourselves in drop-down menus yet, but when all of us are growing our businesses together, we'll tell the world to make a category for us. We'll ensure that gardening is a well-paid and well-respected position within society, as it always should have been.