Marc Worner suggests a quote should always be firm, but there should be a little room to budge it.
Does ‘budget’ mean targeting a certain market?
Does it mean we do a cheap and probably short-lived job?
Does it mean we use the cheapest of materials?
Does it mean that because some customers may have champagne taste and beer money, we offer them the world but deliver below their expectations? Does it mean we set a budget and rigidly stick to it? Does it mean we plan and cost the project every step of the way, and once our quote is accepted we implement a landscape design that complements the home, the owners’ lifestyles, accommodates both budgets and our landscape business strategy?
As landscapers, we can offer to provide clients with competitive, discount landscape plans that suit their budgets. That varies as much as the seasons. On acceptance, we would undertake planting plans and landscape plans for their development application (DA), construction certificate (CC) and/or complying development certificate (CDC) approvals.
Just think about all the intellectual property that goes with those plans and processes. We often undercharge for our abilities just to get the job. Allow for this important step in any project budget.
TIP: Variations will occur during the project, so be very clear about the parameters of the project before you start. Variations can be a nuisance or a blessing depending on your attitude.
Expect the unexpected
Effective budgeting is more than just planning. Generally, homeowners monitor the budget closely regardless of who’s performing the work. Build some flexibility in the projected budget you present to the customer to ensure the project can handle the unexpected. Depending on the size and the complexity of the project, a budget spreadsheet need not be lengthy, but it should be detailed enough to be accurate.
Few people have the financial resources to landscape all their property at once. Consider dividing a project into phases and offer this approach to customers. It works especially well if the works can be scheduled for your shoulder or off-peak season. Both parties can then create a budget spread over time.
Customers may save on loan and/or credit costs and be able to evaluate your progress, better appreciate your worth from using the newly created space, and, in need, adjust plans with you before moving on to the next prioritised phase.
Plant operator
The timing around when products are bought can be just as important as where products are bought.
The savings will impact a bottom line and be reflected in a budget. Timber for outdoor projects is often cheaper to buy during the winter months. When scheduling, you can sometimes save money on trees, shrubs and perennials by buying late in their respective seasons. Newly released plant varieties will be expensive initially because supply is low and demand is high. Quote accordingly. An excellent source of online plant knowledge is touchofclassplants.com.au, which specialises in the production, distribution, management and marketing of quality plants.
Covered
A sustainable landscape business will have professional indemnity insurance, public liability insurance and all other necessary insurances to best suit its activity.
Shop around yearly because quotes vary widely. Consider engaging an insurance broker because it takes the hard mental work out all the long hours trying to determine the best risk-averse deal for your business.
An industry-specific insurance broker Australiawide is Aviso Specialty – who used to be Fitzpatrick & Co. Aviso Specialty can access the right insurers and underwriters to save you time and money. Give them a call on 1300 509 548. An insurance broker once told me of a landscaper who took out insurance cover for all his tools, including his expensive power tools. While on a small job at a customer’s house one day, there was a fire in the landscaper’s garage. Thousands of dollars of power tools were destroyed because they were in his garage safely locked away. ‘No worries,’ he thought. ‘I’m covered for tools – I’ll claim for their loss’.
Wait for it…the insurance company didn’t allow his claim because he didn’t have Contents Insurance. If he’d stored all his tools in the truck, no worries, he could’ve claimed under tools cover. But the tools were in a building at the time.
Bizarre but true. He’s always engaged an insurance broker since that incident.
TIP: Always read the fine print in any insurance contract.
Industry bodies
It pays any progressive business to be a member of their industry bodies to add credence to the business and comfort to customers. For landscapers, the major state associations and their contact details are featured in this magazine in the Association news section.
Resourcefulness and creativity
‘Budget’ landscaping could also mean working with like-minded people who provide quality-assured products at market price, or perhaps less-than-market price if bought in bulk. We need to be confident our budget is on track.
For same-day delivery in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Ipswich, try westernlandscape. com.au. From one scoop to a truckload, WLS guarantees low prices on landscaping supplies and delivery seven days a week.
Soilworx (soilworx.com.au) has a fleet of over 30 trucks, delivering six days a week to Melbourne Metro, Greater Melbourne, Geelong and surrounding areas, all with live delivery tracking – no need to get anxious not knowing where your load is and pace up and down while your concrete is going off.
Colour coded
Great gardens may not demand a big budget, but they do require some resourcefulness and creativity. Landscapers are always constructing in the landscape. Maybe the next ‘budget’ quote to potential customers could include lots of painting.
Painting?
Yes. Especially in a small garden, painting several items the same intense colour creates continuity and punch. Painting doors, fences, pots, garden furniture and even dead tree trunks can help bring it alive.
Concrete paint is the saviour of many a boring concrete slab. Paint, for example, a concrete slab in a grey and green checkerboard pattern, or give a driveway a warm glow by painting it a deep umber.
Even in deepest winter, the garden will be colourful and interesting. Colours that do well in gardens include magenta, teal, deep purple, spring or lime greens, deep sunny yellow and brick reds.
Nearly any quality oil-based or latexbased paint will do, whether it’s in a bucket or a spray can.
TIP: Choose an exterior-grade paint, and if you’re painting metal, choose one that’s rust-resistant. There is also a special paint for clay pots.
Pot shot
Potted plants solve so many design problems and help keep a budget low. They dress up a plain entry. They add colour and greenery to barren concrete corners and back doors. They pretty up verandahs and patios. Focus on purchasing pots that go with one another – those made of a similar material or some other unifying theme. Think about spraying them all the same colour to help tie the garden together.
More good news: pots are cheap. Your collection of pots will be even more striking if you scatter in among them little accents, such as small sculptures or even something as simple as an eye-catching stone.
Hang a mirror. It adds glitz and light to a space and can reflect views. Just be sure to hang it in a somewhat protected spot, such as under an eave.
Hinge old doors together to make an outdoor screen, great for hiding garbage bins or a compost heap.
So the next time someone says, “I’m on a budget,” ask that person what they mean by the word ‘budget’.
