A Beginner’s Guide To Niche Lawn Care and Landscaping Businesses

A Beginner’s Guide To Niche Lawn Care and Landscaping BusinessesLawn care is a competitive industry. Many wonder how they can carve a unique space for themselves. They're searching for a niche in the market.

It can be hard to stand out from the crowd. A niche might help separate you from the competition. In this guide, we'll take a look at niches and speak to some of the following topics:

What is a niche?

Before we dive into the nuts and bolts of landing clients within a niche, let's first answer what a niche is. Merriam-Webster defines it as "a specialized market." Simple enough.

Running a niche business is the opposite of being a generalist. 

It seems counterintuitive, but many companies — including those in the lawn care industry — make their livelihoods from a niche. They specialize. They offer one or a few services and work it as much as they can.

Niche marketing is apparent in other industries. Consider the fitness industry, where gyms specialize in high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or offer yoga specifically for pregnant women. Or take the food industry, where restaurants specifically target vegan clientele or dish out farm-to-table specialties. The appeal of niche marketing is that these businesses provide precisely what their customers want, setting themselves apart from more typical, generalist competitors.

In marketing, finding a niche is crucial to creating a successful business. Differentiation is no longer optional for many; it's imperative. There is no question that finding and mastering a niche can be a marketplace game-changer.

Understanding the Market Landscape

Depending on the market and competition, niches may be available for a lawn care company. This isn't to say that the same lawn care niches apply in every market. 
Understanding the market landscape means:

 Engaging in market research 

While market research is usually a formalized process for evaluating what products and services a homeowner may want from a lawn care company in a given market, it doesn't have to be a long, drawn-out process.

Simply speaking with current clients, running a survey or questionnaire, running a limited offering on a niche idea, and gauging user satisfaction and interest all count as market research. Lawn care professionals seeking a niche aim to understand if their current market needs a niche service. Market research also involves seeing who else is serving the niche (or at least trying to).

 Checking on the competition 

A niche is truly only a niche when there aren't many providers to complete a job that many homeowners may want. If there's too much competition, it may not be worth pursuing.

The last thing any lawn care professional wants is to invest heavily in a niche only to face constant roadblocks, money pits, and strong competition. Doing well in any niche involves knowing your competition's strengths and weaknesses.

 Researching trends 

Use Google Trends. Research reports and articles in your industry, and go on social media to spot trends and behaviors of consumers. For example, many lawn care professionals living in markets have acquired electric lawn equipment to advertise to the eco-friendly niche.

By using online tools and researching their market, a lawn care professional may find a niche that is not currently served well and that many homeowners actively seek help for.

 Identifying Gaps and Opportunities 

It's essential to figure out what parts of the market you have not seen filled yet. Ideas pop up when studying competitors and potential customers. What are other businesses in your region offering? What do potential customers need that is not being met? What are the latest trends in the area: can you offer these services before someone else does?

Being up-to-date with current market trends and consumer demand is equally important to stay ahead of the competition. Trying to anticipate what consumers would prefer is a key strategy for businesses in the home service sector. This effort is typically done by reading industry reports, conducting customer surveys, and tracking social media trends.

Here are two examples of trends in the lawn care industry in some markets:

Green machines: 
Environmental concerns are spurring the demand for organically based and environmentally sustainable lawn care options and electric equipment.

Technological developments: 
Smart irrigation systems and robotic mowers are becoming more and more common.

After familiarizing yourself with the local market and potential opportunities for niche specialization, your next move might be setting yourself apart: identifying market segments where you have a competitive advantage and carefully tracking consumer trends to illuminate a distinct value proposition and consistent service that will differentiate your mowing business.

Lawn Care and Landscaping Niche Ideas

Many lawn care professionals tend to be a jack of all trades. They're the guys and gals that can do most anything — or learn how to do it. They gravitate toward providing generalized services. There's probably a skill or two they have that they can really hone in on. Their competitors may have that skill, too, but claiming a stake and letting homeowners know, "Hey, I'm an expert at this," before others swoop in is a solid way to scale and earn business.

Keep in mind that not every niche applies in every market. Xeriscaping, for example, is more common in arid regions since it turns a lawn into a drought-tolerant oasis filled with rocks, mulch, and native plant species. 
Here are a few more niche lawn care and landscaping ideas:

But why specialize when you can do it all? It seems counterintuitive, but finding a niche can be a great way to scale a business or break into a market that already seems crowded. There's something about drilling down to one thing (maybe a small handful) and knocking it out of the park.

Many times, lawn care professionals add certification to operate within a niche. Do you have the proper accreditation for herbicide application in your market? Show it off. That's finding a niche. Sometimes, success comes in making your lane. Others may offer weed removal, but do they have the chops? Those who have the licensing to apply herbicides might fare quite well in specific markets.

How to Establish a Niche in Lawn Care

Niches are everywhere. You just have to do some digging. After you've gained insight into consumer needs through market research, it's time to define and establish your niche.

Think through the offerings you'd like to make. What's the price? What demographics would want this service? Are you fully equipped, certified (if necessary), and staffed to meet the demand and do it well?

Sometimes, a niche is all about aligning with a particular persona. Take the company UNTUCKit. They started catering to men who wanted to look professional wearing an untucked shirt. Very niche. And it's gone well for them. They've expanded beyond their niche and now provide a more robust brand line.

They found an unmet need and went for it.

Depending on your market, many niches may already be serviced. But niching is all about setting yourself apart. What do you and your businesses do differently? It could be a similar service that is done in a more efficient way than your competitors are doing. Play that up. Explain it well. And make sure your marketing is top-notch.

Marketing Strategies for Your Niche

To make your product visible to your target audience and to gain their trust, you should hone your marketing strategies.There are many ways to market and advertise within a niche. Lawn care professionals can create an online ad campaign through Google Ads or social media and target ads to their niche.

With local SEO strategies, you can optimize their website to include relevant local keywords in their site content. For example, you could find keyword phrases related to your niche and increase the likelihood that anyone searching for your specialized services can find you online.

Beyond that, you can use content marketing to share your expertise by providing helpful articles and video content to bring value and address common lawn care problems. It's also important to create local relationships and partnerships. Attend community events.

This approach is a great way to do market research and hear what people are looking for, and it will also help establish trust, further cementing your presence and authority within a niche.

Measuring Success and Adapting

You won't know if your niche strategy works without measuring your progress and success within a niche. Identify your target KPIs (key performance indicators), including customer acquisition cost, retention, and revenue growth.

Getting reviews and customer feedback to determine service improvement areas is essential. Remember, keep tabs on what is happening in the marketplace, and be ready to change your niche strategy. If your niche expands, focus on a new segment, change your marketing tactics, or hone your value proposition to serve evolving customer demands better.

Quick Summary

Standing out in the lawn care space may require finding and perfecting a niche. Niche, as a term, refers to a specialized market on which a business builds its offerings – turning the generic into the particular.

Narrowing your business to find a niche within the market can help you scale and maximize profit. To do this, you must conduct market research, talk to your potential clients and customers, and run some surveys. Once you find a niche, market to it. Develop KPIs. Measure your success. With the proper focus and adaptability, a niche may work well for those whose markets are ready for your specialized services.