When you don’t have a large outdoor area to maintain, sometimes it can be difficult to tell whether or not you need commercial landscape maintenance. Maybe you can get by doing the job yourself, or maybe you can hire a small residential-oriented business. But, what if you hire the wrong contractor? Well, that could potentially spell disaster for you and your company. It’s best to just make the right decision upfront, so you can avoid embarrassment and unexpected expenses later.
Here are five surefire signs that you need commercial landscape maintenance:
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- Your business location has more than a half-acre of land to maintain. Residential contractors specialize in home lawn care (i.e., small yards and creating “curb appeal”), so it’s best to hire a contractor with commercial experience to maintain your lawn and garden at your business location.
- You notice the place is getting overgrown. Maybe you thought you could handle the mowing and weeding yourself, but a week has gone by and the weeds have only gotten taller. It’s unsightly and it sends the wrong message to your customers and clientele. An unkempt business is a sure sign of financial failure. Do you really want people avoiding your business because you forgot to break out the mower this week?
- You want to keep costs down. If you’re in a commercial area, you would have to pay a residential landscaping contractor a premium because you’d be asking her to go out of her way. She’ll need to spend more time traveling, which means she’s spending more time away from paying jobs. On the other hand, if you hire a local commercial landscape maintenance contractor, there’s a good chance he already has jobs in the area, which means that he can offer you a great price.
- You have customers visiting your location frequently. When you have customers coming and going, it’s important for the place to look nice, but it’s also important that your landscaper practices adequate safety measures. It’s also crucial that the business is insured. Imagine this: Instead of hiring a commercial landscape maintenance company, you hire someone who is inexperienced and uninsured. His misuse of equipment around customers gets someone hurt. What happens next? If your landscaper was insured, his insurance would handle any medical bills. If he’s not insured, that’s all in your hands.
- Customers have commented on the “wild” look of your garden. You may have thought everything was hunky-dory, but when customers are telling you something isn’t right, it’s time to start making some changes. If you’re not going for the wild and untamed look of a natural garden, it should look perfectly pruned at all times. Regardless of who was doing the maintenance up until this point, you need to hire a professional with commercial landscaping experience.
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Sometimes, new businesses (and in some cases, landlords) will put off the task of finding someone to handle their commercial landscape maintenance to save money, but they soon learn that a poorly maintained lawn can end up costing more in the long run. Spend a few minutes to evaluate your situation and decide whether you need an experienced professional to help maintain your outdoor space. Knowing you’ve made the right decision will give you peace of mind, which is often more valuable than money.
