(LifeWire) - Overview of this Business
You'll need a green thumb and entrepreneurial spirit to start your own indoor plant care home-based business. The bulk of the job involves maintaining plants and flowers in homes and offices. Feeding, watering, trimming, transplanting and replacing them are all part of your duties.
Since the overhead for indoor plant care is low, you can give this business time to blossom. An annual income of $15,000 is reasonable for a part-time commitment, while a full-time venture pulls in about $55,000 per year. Income will vary depending upon location and clientele. Targeting businesses, shopping malls, office complexes, hotels and apartments will net more profit than private homes because of the concentration of work.
Basic plant maintenance required for indoor plant care requires no formal training. Many who start out providing indoor plant care services have prior nursery experience or have logged long hours tending to their own indoor foliage. Having or acquiring know-how in seasonal plant care and in disease and pest control for plants is critical to retaining the trust and patronage of clients.
Pros of an Indoor Plant Care Home Based Business
- The start-up capital for an indoor plant care business can be as low as $5,000, according to Businessownersideacafe.com.
- You can do all the bookkeeping at home, and lease out plants from a garden center to keep down costs.
- Securing several large indoor plant accounts will greatly boost business.
- Some clients consider plant care a luxury, so it might be among first to go in budget cuts.
- If you remain a one-person plant care enterprise, you'll be limited in how many clients you can service.
- Pests and diseases are a constant threat to indoor plants.
- A business license and insurance, if necessary in your area
- Brochures, ads in local print and online publication, and vehicle signage. A website to promote your business is also a good idea.
- An arrangement with nurseries and do-it-yourself emporiums to refer you
- Tools of the trade such as snippers, soil probes, watering cans, mister, plant food and pesticides
- A vehicle for transportation
- A computer with business accounting software
Indoor Plant Care Business: Real-Life Example
Nancy Silverman began her Cleveland-area Plantscaping business in 1979, growing it into a $3 million a year operation with her son, Todd, according to Interiorbusinessonline.com.
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More on Starting a Work from Home Business
- Starting a Home Business
- 8 Steps to a Business Identity
- 9 Obstacles to Starting a Home Business - and How to Overcome Them
