eCommerce is Doing Business Online
Let’s start with some basics about eCommerce. eCommerce is doing business online. This includes buying and selling goods and services using the internet but also involves the transfer of money and data to complete those transactions. However, eCommerce really touches many aspects of our businesses and our lives. Believe it or not, you probably already are doing some landscaping business online.
Different things can be purchased online, such as goods, services, (electronic) data, subscriptions, memberships, and licenses. Even the shipping of products by a third party (drop-shipping) has become an eCommerce transaction. Many new companies and services have come into existence because of this new way of doing business.
Then there are different names for transactions between different parties. For example, when you buy clothing or a book on Amazon, or groceries online, you participate in business-to-client or B2C. When you buy landscape supplies via our customer portal, it is called business-to-business or B2B eCommerce.
How to do Landscaping Business Online
Now you may think: “I plant trees, install irrigation or lighting, and mow grass, and I don’t do any of that online. Is it even possible to do landscaping business online?” The answer is: Yes. Although much of your work is still done in person*, the internet has become one of the best ways to grow your business.
As we’ve discussed in our previous two posts ‘Landscaper Near Me‘ and ‘Be Found: Check Your Business Online‘, many people will search the internet for anything they need, from toothpaste to mortgage rates. If you have a presence online, people will find you and your phone will ring.
There are several eCommerce activities you can implement to help your business gain more clients, find better workers, improve time management, streamline financial transactions, train and educate yourself and your workers. Ultimately, all of these activities will result in more revenue and a higher profit margin.
* We promised to stick to the basics, however, this article discusses using the Internet of Things (IoT) to reduce the number of on-site visits for landscaping maintenance. Interesting, right?
eCommerce Activities
Here we present a list of many eCommerce activities. Remember, you don’t have to do all of these or do them all at once; that becomes too overwhelming and likely you will not be successful. So for this year, pick maybe two or three things where you can improve your business. And then, make a plan to get these upgrades into place. You may want to talk to a business or eCommerce consultant to find out which of these are the best fit for your business (hint: you can get free business consulting via a Small Business Development Center near you).
- Website: You can start with a simple website that shows your services, some pictures, and your contact information. You want to make sure your website can be seen on a phone or tablet, which is called ‘responsive’. The most important reasons to have a website are to make sure that Google can find it, and that your information is correct. There are website companies that provide everything (website name, servers, website template and design) but will not cost you a lot of time or money, such as Wix (pretty and simple), SquareSpace (connects with a payment account or point of sale) or ConstantContact (connects with newsletters).
- Online Listings: these are like online yellow pages. If you do not want a website, then at least get your business listed with a few listings: Google My Business, Yellow Pages, Yelp, Yext, your Chamber of Commerce, Angie’s List, or Manta. The most important listing is with Google My Business (that also serves Google Maps) – read our **** article to get instructions on how to set up.
- Facebook: are you a FaceBook Fiend? Then use that to your advantage. You can set up a Page for your business, or join local groups and share a simple post that explains the services you offer, the area you service and how best to reach you. If you are passionate about water features or holiday lighting, you can share about that. People love to see images or little videos as well.
- LinkedIn: provides the best platform for leadership and professional networking. This is where you can find your next Marketing, IT Consultant or Accountant.
Purchasing Products and Materials Online
You can save yourself time and often a percentage point by purchasing your products online. When you purchase wholesale online, you can often apply for an account with credit that can save you both money and time.
Wolf Creek Company has a B2B eCommerce website. Our Customer Portal includes customer account management, where you can track your purchase history, repeat previous purchases, pay your bill online, and even set up your crew leader to be able to purchase on your account. If you haven’t already, check it out HERE.
Hiring Online
You can use the internet to find and check out workers. You can post openings on your own website as well as other websites: Craigslist, LinkedIn, Indeed, Glassdoor, Monster, and even landscape specific iHireLandscaping.com. Specialized job boards also exist for H2B visa certified businesses.
You can use online background-check services to check your potential new hires’ history. An advantage of Social Media is that you can also use it to find out more about your workers. LinkedIn is for professionals, but Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are good places to check if someone is reputable enough to work with you.
Online Time and Crew Management
When your business grows, and you have multiple crews to manage, time and crew management can become very tedious and cumbersome. Crew Management services are beneficial to help track your crew’s time working, on the road or waiting for supplies. For example, check out Hindsite Software for many useful applications.
Online Inventory Management
You install irrigation, drainage, lighting and you don’t want to run out of supplies. There are online systems that make inventory management easier. Wolf Creek offers a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) system that helps you automate your inventory management and works seamlessly with Wolf Creek as well.
Online Payments, Transactions, and Finance
Payments for services are very often done over the internet. Just consider how many bills are automatically withdrawn from your account with ACH (Automatic Clearing House) or how many bills you pay on a secure website with one of your providers.
Of course, you may continue to take cash or checks from your customers, but to make your service even better you want to be able to take their credit card – or down the road maybe even bitcoin payment. You may also be considering setting up subscriptions, where your customers pay you a monthly fee over the internet for your landscape maintenance services.
For a percentage, you can connect your business account with services such as Square or Quickbooks and use a credit card reader so that the payment will easily show up in the online account.
The credit card reader can be a lower cost swipe reader plugged into your phone or a fancier wireless Tap Reader (as shown). Square currently offers the best payment solutions (and remember, you can even build a website with them). If you are doing many transactions, you may want to upgrade to a more robust card reader such as those you find in stores.
Online Landscaping Trade Software
There are many specialized software services available, such as irrigation software, lawn care software, estimating software, there is even a snow removal software on the market. When you become specialized in one of these areas, it is worth checking these types of services. You can find many great examples at Hindsite Software.
Online Training and Education
For both new hires, as well as continuing education, online landscape training is an absolutely essential item. There are YouTube videos created by many amateurs as well as companies. However, for a good set of online training videos (with CEU), check out our WCC University Online Training Portal.
The Bottom Line: Higher Profit Margin
We listed many ways you can do landscaping business online, but remember you don’t have to implement them all at the same time. However, if you are looking to increase your bottom line, using online services can help you increase your margin in client development, customer service, marketing, training, inventory, and financial management. Some of these services will reduce the amount of time you need to wait for products, find workers, send invoices, or manage inventory.
What are your pain points? And where can you do landscape business online to improve your bottom line? Please share your ideas with us, or ask us questions in the comments.
