A good lawn is very often the central feature of a modern garden, whether in town or the countryside. It therefore needs much more care and very often extra expert care than many of the other plants in the garden. The properly maintained lawn is no longer just an area of grass but the backdrop or canvas for the rest of the garden. If the lawn looks good, so will the rest of the garden. Although this manual has been written with the professional gardener or aspiring lawn care specialist in mind, many of the aspects of lawn care within the volume are no more than practical advice which will be of interest and use to both the professional and amateur. This manual is business-oriented and in fact starts with generic questions about starting up a business plan and focuses down to launching a properly constituted lawn care business. It also outlines all the pitfalls of not only being in business for yourself but the implications of employing people, as well as all the anticipated issues which can result from contracting. It is constructed in such a way that whether you are thinking of starting a lawn care business or whether you are already involved, there will be something of use to you. Everything is included from how to go about your accounting to making your business legal...with even a section on the correct tools to acquire. It is written by an experienced gardener who has created a successful lawn care business and who is now passing on his experience by highlighting both the positive and negative aspects of not only working within the horticultural industry but how to go about building a business from scratch. The manual is written in a very readable and sympathetic way rather than in a technical and prescriptive style, so that it provides both an informal and informative reference source for all professional and semi-professional gardeners, without ignoring the amateur!
About the Author: I am already a very experienced and respected gardener and did in fact begin my horticultural career in lawn care. I began my business as a sole trader and now employs 12 people purely a result of my business accelerating at such a phenomenal rate. I have grown my business from scratch in six years. My training is by no means agricultural or horticultural. On the contrary I was packed off to university to study for a Business Studies degree and it wasn't until I'd worked for a well known bank for three years that I realised that the corporate lifestyle was not for me. Meanwhile I had bought my own house and had developed a very keen interest in general gardening and by the time I decided to start my own business, not only had I purchased much of my equipment but had also completed all my marketing. It wasn't until that point that I decided to resign my bank position and move into Lawn Care Management. By the time I had sunk my spade into someone else's garden for the very first time, I already had approximately $30,000 in various lawn care contracts signed up. Although to some degree, I do regret that my degree was not in a horticultural related subject, my business studies knowledge as well as my finance background has been extremely useful to me driving my business forward in a realistic and positive way. I am currently exploring the possibilities of putting together a package which I will be franchising via the Internet.