Working With Plants Earned $1148 in One Day
Working With Plants Earned $1148 in One Day. Because new homes lack shrubs and grass, landscaping is almost a requirement. I sent out a test mailing to 350 homeowners in a neighborhood where I knew people could afford landscaping services but weren't super wealthy. Taxus Hicksi made $1,148.00 on a one-day job after he paid for the plants and his help. A customer hired him to re-landscape an older home, and I made another $600.00.
Remember how I spent $175.00 to mail 350 letters? Net profit from that was approximately $2,973.00!!!
This article is an example of a simple yet effective marketing strategy. Pay close attention to how I went out and found new business during a slow time of year, and not only did I make $1,148.00, but my friend Franky also made $1,060.00.
Because I chose to avoid the rat race of landscaping new homes, I pursued a market that was more impulsive in nature. Because new homes lack shrubs and grass, landscaping is almost a requirement. Furthermore, many housing developments require people to have their landscaping completed within a certain number of months of moving into their new homes. As a result, when the house is finished, people are eager to have it landscaped.
Because I wasn't in that market, and because most impulsive gardening decisions are made in the spring, my business typically slowed during the extremely hot summer months. So one summer, I decided to do some test marketing to see if I could find some work during the summer.
I decided to send out a test mailing to 350 homeowners in a neighborhood where I knew people could afford landscaping services but weren't super wealthy. I mailed a letter to these 350 homes, essentially telling them that I could assist them with any landscaping project they needed done, and that because my business was slow during the summer, I could offer them a very reasonable price.
Three of the 350 people who received the letter contacted me. I immediately sold two jobs, and the third was still up for grabs. I made about $350 on one of the first two jobs and about $700 on the other. That is your net profit. That's all I got to keep. Because the mailing cost less than $175, my immediate profit was $875. Not bad considering this was only a part-time venture for me. But don't overlook the third caller. I'd never met this person before.
He called because he owned a 60-unit apartment complex in the Cleveland area and needed some trees or shrubs planted around the parking lot. Taxus Hicksi, an evergreen that is easily trimmed and maintained to a specific size, was recommended by the architect with whom he had been working. However, every landscaper he spoke with in Cleveland wanted $44.00 to install these plants. Although a reasonable price, it came to $4,664.00 because he needed 106 plants.
He contacted me in the hopes of finding a less expensive plant to use. After visiting the job site, I realized that Taxus Hicksi was the best choice for this situation, so I told him I would look into getting a better price on the plants. I mentioned that the wholesale price was $22.00 per plant in a wholesale catalog, but that I might be able to find another source.
I remembered that my friend Franky used to grow this particular plant, so I gave him a call. He had 106 plants available and was eager to move some of them, so he quoted me $10.00 each, balled in burlap. I called my customer and informed him that I had discovered good plants at a lower price and that I could deliver and plant them for $22.00 per plant, which was exactly half of what others had quoted him. He was overjoyed, and I completed the task. In fact, he requested that I install some additional plants while I was there.
I hired three guys to help me finish the job in one day. I actually made $1,148.00 on that one-day job after I paid for the plants and my help. My customer was so pleased with the work we did that he asked me to return the following week and complete an additional $700.00 in work. I earned an additional $350.00. He hired me again the following spring to re-landscape an older home he had purchased, and I made another $600.00.
Remember how I spent $175.00 to mail those 350 letters? The net profit from that mailing was approximately $2,973.00!!! And my friend Franky paid me $1,060.00 for the plants he sold me. Were the 350 people I chose special? No, they didn't. Every town in America has at least 350 people like them, if not thousands.
This is just one of many different ways to make money with plants; I can show you many more. For over 25 years, I've been making money with plants.
