If you love taking care of plants and gardening, lawn care and landscaping services are perfect businesses for you.

There is a growing demand for lawn care and landscaping services. Homes, even businesses, have constant need for replanting, preparing and beautifying their lawns and grounds – and maintaining a perfect lawn is not an easy job. Many people simply do not have the time, the inclination or knowledge to take care of their lawns that they turn to professional lawn care specialists to help them. People who want a well-maintained lawn also seek out landscaping services in order to acquire a picture-perfect lawn.

The lawn care and landscaping business can also be started even with a low financial investment, and the rewards can be good. According to a 2005 State of the Industry Report of Lawn and Landscape Magazine, the median revenue of landscape contractors (50% of contractors gross sales are lower while 50% are higher) is about $150,00, though the average revenue of landscape contractors the magazine surveyed is $796,750.

For small and home-based entrepreneurs, the lawn care business allows you to start slow and even do the business on a part time basis. You can start the business with one employee in addition to yourself. When the business starts to show profit, you can add a second crew, additional equipment and a new vehicle the following year. Extra hands can also be availed with contractual workers working either on per hour or daily basis.

Another plus factor is the flexibility it offers -- after all, for the most part; you will dictate the schedule of the lawn care for your clients. You can work as much or as little as you want. And when you get a customer, you can service that customer even for life!

You can start a lawn care and landscaping business yourself, or you can choose to buy into an established franchise (if available in your area). Some franchises available include TruGreen, NaturaLawn of America, Weed Man, Lawn Doctor, US Lawns, among other franchises. By starting as a franchisee, you get the benefit of brand recognition and awareness, marketing power of the franchise and support available. However, you are more likely to shell out a higher amount of startup investment plus you will be limited by company guidelines.