Type of Products/Services Offered:
Lawn Greetings Rental Service, a fun alternative to
sending flowers, balloons, candy or cookie bouquets.
Start Up Cost: Approximately $2,000
for me, but it can be done for a little less or a
WHOLE lot more depending on how many displays you
want to start out with, if you make your own signs
or buy them pre-made, if you need a delivery
vehicle, etc.
What did the start up costs go for?:
I already had a small truck to make deliveries and a
computer and home office set up, so that saved some
start-up money right there. And I decided to do this
on my own rather than buying into a business
opportunity or franchise -- I've seen those offered
for anywhere from $300 - $12,000.
My start-up costs included purchasing the lawn
ornaments, supplies for modifying them so they would
stab into the ground, materials for building my
4-foot-tall yard cards, changeable plastic letters
and their tracks for the message boards.
I
have utilized as much free publicity as possible and
borrowed tools from my dad to save start-up costs as
well.
I
wasted money on a web hosting company that offered
ugly templates to choose from and do it myself.
Finally, after about a year in business, I hired a
web designer to redesign my site and it's almost
ready to debut. My web designer is awesome and I'm
very excited about the new site.
Earning Potential: I know of one similar business
making $75,000 in profit each year. I haven't reached that
level -- YET. Hate to say "The sky is the limit," but the
income depends on many factors -- how many customers respond
to your ads and book rentals each week, how much you charge
per rental, how hard you work getting marketing your
business, and if you need to educate the community about
your business. The lawn greetings industry is so new that a
lot of business owners are responsible for educating their
communities. People aren't sure what the business is exactly
at first.
Skills Needed: This business doesn't
require one to be artistic, although it comes in handy if
you want to create your own designs. You can buy everything
ready to go. Organizational skills are vital. Computer
skills aren't needed -- you could run this business out of a
notebook if you wanted to, but computers can help you
organize your business. People skills are the most important
thing. When potential customers call or email, a special
event is about to occur in their lives or in the lives of
someone important to them. I've called so many businesses
that acted like my phone call was an inconvenience for them
to deal with. It's important to remember there is a person
on the other end of the phone and treat them the way you
would like to be treated. Another important thing is the
ability to carry awkward and sometimes heavy containers,
bend to set displays up, and someone to stay with your kids
while you make deliveries.
Special Equipment Needed: A truck, van or
SUV to make deliveries. Garage, shed or rented storage space
for inventory. The ability to use power tools or a
willingness to learn is helpful.
Best Customers/Target Market: Customers are
all over the place. We are a fun alternative to sending
flowers, balloons, candy or cookie bouquets. Our target
markets are very similar to the target markets of those
businesses. We rent displays out for all occasions. New
parents and parents of small children are our biggest
market.
Resources & Organizations that have helped:
I've learned a lot from great resources on the web, like
this one, to learn about running a business.
Any Tips?: The first step would, of course,
involve the same steps you would take for starting any new
business -- city and county business licenses, sales tax ID
#, choosing a business name, registering your fictitious
name, business telephone, business insurance, etc. One of
the most important things would then be to see what other
businesses are doing. Use a search engine and spend some
time finding similar businesses across the US to determine
what you do and don't like about what they offer, their
inventory, their style and their policies. You'll find there
are many options. For example, some businesses offer only
large stork signs for newborn announcements, others offering
storks plus other signs, and some offer lawn ornaments. Get
a good brochure made that describes the concept of what you
are doing. And be prepared for some strange looks when you
tell people you have started a lawn greetings business. My
son is in the gifted program and one of his instructors
scratched his head and said, "What? Do you mow 'Hi' in
people's lawns?"
Owner's
Name: Jill Henry