Business Proposal
Joe Leveke
Greener Alternatives
The service that I am providing is eco-friendly landscape service and
construction. More and more people today want to preserve our natural resources,
organic fruits, vegetables and dairy products are one example of eco-friendly products
that have been growing in popularity in the past few years. By trying to keep harsh
chemicals out of lawns, we set out to accomplish the same goal. Not only will natural
fertilizers and pest controls be used, but equipment used in maintenance will also be
“green”. Instead of diesel or gasoline mowers, much cleaner burning propane will be
used to fuel mowers. Instead of gasoline string trimmers and leaf blowers, battery
operated ones will be used instead. An eco-friendly lawn starts with good construction,
permeable pavers, drainage tile, and recycled materials are some examples of ecofriendly landscape construction practices.
The primary market for our service is people that are looking to reduce their
home’s impact on the environment with lawn maintenance. If people want to pay a little
more to be eco-friendly with fertilizer applications and mowing they will chose us, I think
it might be difficult to convince the average person to go “green” with their lawn. The
secondary market for our service is homeowners looking to do either some new
landscape construction or improve their existing landscape. This will appeal to a wider
variety of homeowners because generally when constructing a landscape, an ecofriendly landscape is lower maintenance, and in the long run costs less money to keep
up. The benefits of building a low maintenance landscape sells itself while paying more
for eco-friendly maintenance service is not monetarily beneficial for the homeowner.
Both the construction and maintenance would be marked more towards single family
dwellings, most businesses that are either looking to have the cheapest service or the
best looking service, would most likely not be interested in an eco-friendly landscape.
The extent of the market for eco-friendly landscape related services and
materials could be determined by looking at eco-friendly landscape companies in other
cities, and how much the organic food market has increased in the Des Moines area. If
both trends are increasing, it would appear that there is a significant market for ecofriendly landscape services in the Des Moines area. If people are willing to pay more for
organic foods, they will be willing to pay more for organic nursery stock and eco-friendly
landscape services.
The landscape market in Des Moines is different the market found in other larger
cities. In larger cities such as Chicago, most landscape companies are commercial
maintenance based. Most of the housing is apartment and condo style, unlike Des
Moines which is single family dwelling based. The type of landscape businesses
typically found in Chicago maintains smaller plots of land, and their focus is on standard
turfgrass maintenance and annual flower bed enhancements. While in Des Moines
there are larger plots of land that are individually owned, lending landscape business
that construct retaining walls, patios, water features and other construction based
landscape enhancements. In Des Moines there are also landscape companies that
specialize in commercial and residential turfgrass maintenance. This coupled with the
increase of organic sales in super markets, gives Des Moines good market potential for
eco landscape service in the area.
As stated previously, with constructing an eco-friendly landscape they save
money in the long run by having lower maintenance costs. While from the lawn mowing
and fertilization services, customers would gain the piece of mind that they are trying
whatever they can to preserve our planet.
The service will be delivered just like any other landscape company does it.
Small crews will travel to their homes or businesses and will mow, fertilize and weed
their landscapes; larger construction crews will travel to their homes of businesses and
construct their landscapes.
My competitors are every other landscape service out there. Some companies
may have a cheaper service, or because they use harsh chemicals and non recycled
products their services may look better then ours. Our two selling points to compete with
them are being environmentally friendly and less maintenance time. Most people don’t
want to go outside to pull or spray weeds or edge beds; our construction services cut
down on the time clients will spend doing these things, or cut down on the time and
therefore money a service would take to maintain the landscape. As of now in Des
Moines there is not a mowing company that provides eco-friendly service (or at least
I’ve never heard of them), there is a company that does natural fertilizer applications,
but they are rather small. Our company is the only one stop shop to decrease a
landscape’s impact on the planet.
Obviously with the state of the economy in our country starting any small
business might not be the ideal time. However with economic stimulus package debates
in congress, the economy is expected to make a bounce back. Homeowners will be
looking to invest in their homes to increase value, landscaping can fill that need. By
starting a business now, we will be ready to get into market right away, rather than
reacting to the change in the economy.
My name is Joe Leveke, I am a senior in Horticulture at Iowa State and have
many years of experience in the area of landscaping and the environment. In high
school I took an internship with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources at Field
Office Five. We monitored many different environmental concerns in central Iowa such
as monitoring wells, waste confinements, and other water quality related research. I
started my career in landscaping working a local nursery, a landscape construction
company and mowing services. I believe that all of these experiences add to my ability
to successfully create an eco-friendly landscape business.
I am looking for people to assist me in creating and carrying out my eco-friendly
landscape business. A turfgrass specialist would be beneficial to properly understand all
of the requirements for a healthy lawn. A person who has experience in plant
propagation would aide in starting the organic nursery. If possible, a student in the
ecology department would be beneficial to understand our environmental impacts. Any
student trained in other aspects of plant related agriculture will also be considered.