Mike Beiter has a green thumb in more ways than one. He enjoys working with flowers and plants — and he has cultivated his passion into some serious cash.
His Yard Dog Landscaping is pretty much a one-person business, except during spring and fall, when things get busy and he brings in one or two people to help. He works an average of three days a week, staying busy the rest of the time with his pottery hobby and a part-time job at a plant nursery.
As a kid, Mike got stuck with lawn-mowing duties, something he loathed on those summer days when his buddies were having fun. Later on, he worked in government for 35 years and became a budget analyst — “no physical labor whatsoever,” Mike says. So his future as a self-starting landscaper hardly seemed foreordained.
Then he bought his first house and began puttering in the yard. He happened to — surprise! — enjoy it. Then he bought a book titled The Weekend Gardener, and his obsession with plants quickly took root.
“It’s like an addiction,” says Mike. “You start to understand things. Then you want to get a little more creative. You start looking for plants you don’t have. If I see one, of course I have to buy it.”
Yard Dog Landscaping began by accident. Each year, Mike would divide the plants from his big garden and give some to friends and co-workers. One of the lucky recipients didn’t know a thing about gardening, and he asked Mike if he’d come over to do the planting — for a fee. Mike liked the sound of it: some extra bucks for doing what he loved. He drove over, did the work, and earned his first pay as a freelance landscaper.
The happy customer told some of friends, they called Mike, Mike worked on their gardens, they told their friends. Before long, Yard Dog Landscaping was growing like a sunflower on a sunny day. It’s in full bloom at the time of this writing.
Mike obviously has a high standard of quality and great word-of-mouth advertising, but there’s more to his success. The landscaping business lets him leverage his creativity, work with his hands, and see tangible results. Mike knows what makes Mike tick. He says that all three of these factors are important to him.
On one job, Mike found a pile of bricks sitting in the yard of an 1850s schoolhouse-turned-home. He used them to create a curving garden border, then he planted 150 bulbs, accenting everything with plants and bushes. “There was nothing there before,” he says. “The homeowner wanted a lot of color, and that’s what they’ll get every spring.”
Another job took Mike to the grounds of an old school building that had been converted into a condo. Trash was collecting on a hilly area next to the parking lot, and the owner asked Mike to “make it look good.” Mike cleaned up the litter and tilled the soil. Then he planted ground cover, ferns, shade plants, pansies, iris, you name it.
He got good pay for the job — and he’s still getting paid in the form of emotional compensation. Mike explains: “I was driving past just this spring, and I was like, ‘Wow, that looks good!’” The littered field now blooms with Mike’s handiwork.
MIKE’S ADVICE:
Work for a fee, not for free. Mike is a good guy with nice friends and family. In the early days of his landscaping business, he was inclined to give away his time — or to charge a fee way below market value. Not so much anymore. “You obviously have a talent that they don’t,” he says. “There’s no reason you shouldn’t be compensated for it.” Remember those words when you’re contracting with someone who’s close to you. Know what your product or service is worth, and make sure you get paid accordingly.
Do your pricing homework. Deciding on a price can be more art than science. “It was a learning curve for me,” Mike says. “I talked to a lot of people about what they thought I should charge.” On the one hand, you might be eager to get those first few sales — so there’s a tendency to go low on price. But if you go too low early on, word might spread to your would-be customers, and that’s what they’ll expect. On the other hand, if you set price too high, you’ll push yourself out of the marketplace from the get-go. Do your research to find the range of sustainable prices. When setting yours, avoid going too low. Keep an eye on customer reaction, and be prepared to make quick adjustments.
Steer clear of problem customers. Is there such a thing? Absolutely. They might have money to put in your pocket, but they’ll soak up your time and patience — and be a net negative on your bottom line. In Mike’s case, one customer couldn’t articulate what she wanted to have done on her yard and garden. She talked and talked, but everything was a generality. Mike plunged in anyway, doing his best to fulfill her hazy vision. She seemed to be fairly satisfied, but then…she wanted something else done, then something different, then something back the way it was. “I never knew what she wanted,” Mike says. “I don’t want to go through that again.” Be on the alert for customers like this, and when you spot one, walk away. Know that their money carries an extreme cost.
As I inch closer to retirement from my paying job, it is great to have advice from those who are “monetizing their bliss.” Thank you. Joanne