Choosing the right business to start can feel like a daunting task, especially when you’re considering two appealing options—asphalt maintenance and lawn maintenance. Both businesses offer great potential, but which one is the best fit for your personality and long-term goals?
Let's compare the two, and help you decide which business might be right for you.
Asphalt Maintenance Business
Pros:
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Low Entry Barriers: Starting an asphalt maintenance business doesn’t require extensive, expensive training. You don’t need to attend years of school or invest in costly certification programs. There are short online courses available to help you get started with sealcoating, crack filling, and pothole patching.
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Affordable Equipment: Unlike other industries, you don’t need to invest in expensive machinery right away. You can start with a basic squeegee and a drum of asphalt sealer. As your business grows, you can invest in more advanced equipment, like sealcoating sprayers and crack filling tools.
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Outdoor Work: Asphalt maintenance is perfect for people who enjoy working outdoors. Whether you’re sealing driveways or repairing potholes, you’ll get plenty of fresh air and sunshine. This is ideal if you’re tired of being indoors and prefer working with your hands.
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High Profit Margins: Asphalt maintenance services, like crack filling, sealcoating, and line striping, offer high profit margins. For example, sealcoating can earn you between $0.50 to $1.64 per square foot, while pothole patching can generate $25 per square foot.
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Flexibility: Running an asphalt maintenance business offers great flexibility. You can choose your work hours and scale your business as you wish. You can also target both residential and commercial clients based on your preferences.
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Scalability: Asphalt maintenance is in high demand year-round, so you can easily scale your business. The market for asphalt services is constantly growing, and you can expand your offerings to include additional services like line striping and parking lot sealing.
Cons:
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Seasonal Nature: Asphalt maintenance is generally a seasonal business, with the busiest months being summer and spring. However, you can still find opportunities during the off-season, such as pothole patching in the winter or offering additional property maintenance services.
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Employee Turnover: The seasonal nature of the business often leads to high employee turnover, as workers typically seek temporary employment. To combat this, you can offer winter services or cross-train employees to handle other tasks.
Lawn Maintenance Business
Pros:
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Low Startup Costs: Starting a lawn maintenance business requires only basic equipment, such as a lawn mower, trimmer, and blower. You can purchase these tools for a few hundred dollars, making it a cost-effective option for aspiring entrepreneurs.
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Flexibility: Similar to asphalt maintenance, lawn care allows you to set your own hours and take on as many or as few clients as you wish. You can also work on your terms, providing services when it’s most convenient for you.
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Recurring Revenue: Lawn care is a recurring service, meaning your customers will need regular maintenance, leading to steady, predictable income. This can help you build long-term relationships with clients and ensure consistent revenue.
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Easy to Expand: Lawn care businesses can easily diversify. You can offer additional services such as tree trimming, pest control, landscaping, or even asphalt maintenance, allowing you to increase your customer base and income.
Cons:
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Seasonal Work: Lawn maintenance is seasonal, with demand slowing down during colder months or in dry conditions. This makes it difficult to generate consistent income year-round.
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High Competition: The lawn care industry is saturated, making it difficult to stand out. Price wars can also lead to lower profit margins, and you may have to spend more on marketing to attract customers.
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Labor Challenges: Finding reliable, long-term employees can be difficult, as lawn care is physically demanding work. The high turnover rate can be frustrating for business owners trying to maintain quality service.
Combining Asphalt and Lawn Maintenance
Why choose one when you can combine both? By offering both asphalt maintenance and lawn care services, you can expand your customer base and increase your revenue potential.
Compatible Services: Both asphalt and lawn care services are in demand year-round, making it easier to secure jobs in both areas. Clients who need asphalt repairs might also need lawn care, allowing you to offer bundled services.
Optimized Equipment Use: Many of the tools used for both industries overlap. For example, a truck or trailer can be used for both lawn maintenance and asphalt work, reducing overhead costs and optimizing your equipment investment.
Cross-Marketing Opportunities: Offering both services means you can market asphalt maintenance to your lawn care clients and vice versa, increasing client retention and referrals. This cross-promotion can lead to a stronger, more diversified business.
Cost Savings: By combining both services, you can save on marketing and operational expenses. Bulk purchasing of materials and equipment can lead to discounts, further improving your profitability.
Increased Flexibility: Combining these two businesses allows you to maintain a flexible schedule while increasing your service offerings. You can also diversify your revenue streams, ensuring your business remains profitable year-round.
Conclusion:
Both asphalt maintenance and lawn maintenance offer promising business opportunities, and when combined, they can provide a competitive edge in the property maintenance industry. Whether you choose to focus on asphalt services, lawn care, or both, these businesses offer great potential for growth, especially with the right branding, marketing, and business strategies in place.