Life is a garden. What you sow, you reap. As the gardener, you are free to create everything imaginable. This is your space to cultivate your dreams, aspirations, passions, and goals.
The events of 2020 brought about a period of uncertainty for many, with the COVID-19 pandemic becoming a catalyst for change. Despite these, pandemics can advance societies into developing themselves. Pandemics have paved the way for the advancement of medical healthcare systems, according to The New England Journal of Medicine.
While economists agreed that the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic will bring about severe negative impacts on the economy, entrepreneurs can be expected to rise up to the challenge.
Business is an essential part of life as it plays a vital role in creating new values that move the world. With lockdowns and quarantines being in place, people are forced to stay inside their houses in order to prevent the further spread of the virus. When you find yourself staying at home, you want to keep yourself productive. In times like these, it’s best to be resourceful. The coronavirus is changing the way we live, take advantage of what you have and take it as an opportunity to get out of your comfort zone and start a business.
With people staying at home the majority of the time, most of them look to nature to tide away the time. What better way to get your feet wet in the field of entrepreneurship than by starting a business right in your own backyard? Don’t know where to start? Here are some business ideas:
1. Lawn Care Service
Remember the good old days when you mowed your neighbor’s lawn for extra cash during the summer break? There are many advantages of running a home-based lawn care business. You can work at your own hours and enjoy a short commute to ‘work’ if most of your clientele is based just within your community. If you want to pursue this full-time, you will have to brush up on the basics of gardening, trimming, and pruning. You will also have to be physically fit because you will be lifting bulky and heavy equipment while staying under the hot sun.
As a seasonal business, you will have to find how to get through the lean winter months. Most startup lawn care businesses can service 20 to 30 clients a week.
2. Gardening Service
If you have a passion for working with flowers and plants, you can help residential and commercial owners add to the aesthetics of their yard, by beautifying it with flowers, plants, and trees. The profit potential for this type of business is high, and you can specialize in different areas such as organic gardening, natural pesticides, native plants, vegetables, and the like.
3. Snow Plow Service
Another seasonal business opportunity to consider is a professional snow removal service. Much like a lawn care service, your business can be busy on a seasonal basis so it is best to find ways to tide you over during the lean months of the year. Your contracts can range from residential households to major shopping centers.
If you feel that a snow removal service is for you, try to see if your area has a lot of snowfall annually. Remember that you will be investing a lot of capital into the plow and equipment, so you have to live in an area where there is a lot of snow to plow to pay for the equipment.
4. Landscaping Services
Homeowners will most likely have a lot of space but will have no idea how to make the most out of it. Being a landscaper would entail you to provide gardening, design, and architecture. You will most often find yourself partnering with gardeners and other contractors.
A key element in the success of your landscaping business would be to identify your target market. Would you want to focus on purely residential clients or would you want to branch out to business clients, such as those with commercial spaces?
Identifying the demographics in your area is also another factor you have to take into consideration. If you live in an area full of residents who are close to retirement or newly retired. Chances are, most of these people will be spending the bulk of their time at home and will want to have upkeep on their garden.
Knowing these will help in developing your immediate and long-term marketing plans.
The pandemic has become a catalyst for entrepreneurship. Remember that you can always turn a bad situation around and change it for the better. Your next business venture may just be out there, it is up to you to grab it.
