The Top 10 Business Coaches and Mastermind Groups to Help You Grow Your Landscaping & Gardening Business

If you own a landscaping company or similar outdoor company that offers yard work services like maintenance and gardening, you are working in a unique service industry. The world of landscaping is highly competitive, and it seems to be a constant battle between the little man and companies that offer a larger-scale operation. Fortunately, no matter how many chains appear, some customers will always prefer to work with the smaller business. 

One way that you can secure your place in the industry of landscaping and gardening is by embracing coaching and the other resources that are available to you. You’ve probably heard of business coaches before, but you might not be sure what you stand to gain from working with them. Sure, corporations and offices can benefit from some coaching, but can someone really coach you on improving your landscaping company?

You bet they can, and they will if you let them. 

Some coaches are dedicated to the landscaping industry. Others are general business coaches that focus on things like marketing, thought leadership, and utilizing online resources to improve branding and reputation. You’ll find an array of options out there and it will be up to you to decide which ones best suit your needs. 

Before we help you by looking at the top 10 business coaches to help you with your landscaping or gardening business, let’s talk about the things to consider when you’re considering a coach or mastermind group. 

Does my landscaping business need a coach?

There are coaches for just about every type of person and business out there today, including some that specialize in nothing more than the way that they apply their practices to the business world in general, allowing them to help any service business because they focus on thought leadership and marketing, for example, as opposed to industry-specific concerns. There are also landscaping-specific coaches that can help you learn about the industry and provide firsthand experience on how to thrive. 

If you’re wondering whether or not you could benefit from a business coach, the answer is clearly yes. However, if you still aren’t sure why, here are some big points to keep in mind. 

• Objective honesty. When you hire a business coach, you’re getting an outside opinion from someone who has no reason to lie or mislead you. They will give you an objective look at your business, your problems, and how you can make improvements. The objectivity is required in order to keep your business on track, and you might be too close to see some things for yourself. This is where having a coach or consultant come in can be very helpful. 

• Structure and systematic improvements. If your business isn’t properly setup or structured, it could be impacting your operations. It takes time to get a business up and running smoothly, and often some businesses get in a hurry and skip valuable steps that could improve their growth. That’s where the business coach will come in and identify how to restructure things and create a system that works for your gardening or landscaping business. 

• Strategy, planning, and more. Industry pros will be able to help you create a solid strategy to outshine the competition time and time again. You can’t succeed without a solid plan that includes action steps, goals, and strong objectives to get the things that you want. In fact, so many people get overwhelmed here that this is where their business fails. With a business coach, you’ll be able to step back, take a look at the business, and then create a better plan moving forward.

• Mentoring and support. When you hire a business coach, you will have firsthand connections with someone who will always be there to offer advice and insight when you need it. Coaches can work with you and your landscaping business with several different areas of professional and personal development. Plus, when you have a dedicated business coach, they will offer a specialty focus in areas like marketing, human resources, and more. 

• Accountability. Who’s holding you accountable? It can be difficult to do yourself and especially when you’re not even sure what you’re doing as a business owner. With a coach or mentor, you can have someone ready to call you on your business moves and make sure that you’re on the right track. No longer do you have to worry about whether you’re hitting the mark because you will have a coach by your side to ensure that you do. 

The top 10 coaches and mastermind groups for landscapers and gardening businesses

1. Jason Cupp

Although he started out and spent most of his career building his own landscaping business, Jason Cupp has now switched gears and decided to give back to the industry that he loves so much. More than 20 years of experience allow him to consult and coach others on how to develop strong relationships, create ongoing contract opportunities, and identify unique ways to generate revenue. Despite his success, he’s very down-to-earth and can help the average landscaping company or solo gardener grow their operations and create the success they have always wanted, with hundreds of successful consulting cases under his belt to date. 

2. The Garden Continuum

Through their TGC Academy, the Garden Continuum offers coaching and speaking opportunities for gardening and landscaping businesses that are looking to grow their business. They offer a host of resources on the website, including a video library and a list of local events, as well as the opportunity to contact them regarding one-on-one speaking and training engagements. The company has decades of experience in the landscaping and gardening world and focuses on things like cultivating relationships, holding people accountable, and more. 

3. Jeffrey Scott

A seasoned expert in the landscaping industry, Jeffrey Scott has all of the tools and experience that you need to help grow your gardening or landscaping company like never before. He can help with things like revenue, client retention, ongoing growth, and so much more. He will free up your time, help you scale and create an exit strategy if that’s something that’s of interest to you. Whatever you need, he can help, and he can even help you come up with those goals if you’re unsure of even where you should begin. 

4. ActionCOACH

The ActionCOACH program was founded by Brad Sugars, one of the pioneers of business coaching. This program is now one of the largest in the country and it offers a ton of helpful resources and advice for landscapers and other small service businesses that need to understand how to embrace growth and profits. There are one-on-one consulting solutions, group training sessions, online courses, and more. They want to put coaches in every business, and they use 14 points of culture to guide their efforts and make sure that everyone gets the best outcome possible.‍

5. Melinda Emerson

Melinda Emerson is also known as the SmallBizLady, so you can trust that she can help your small landscaping or gardening business grow. She has years of experience running her own small businesses and has also spent years coaching others on how to find their success. Emerson knows how to take a no-nonsense approach to marketing and embracing all the little things companies usually overlook in order to create ongoing growth that is effortless. She has worked with brands like American Express and Staples, but today she has turned her efforts to the small business and she works by focusing on marketing execution and engagement strategies that get results. 

6. Matt Ward

Matt Ward is into a lot of forward-thinking technology, like AI, space, and augmented and virtual reality. However, his practical approach to marketing and business growth is what allows him to still be a great resource for businesses in the service world, like landscaping and gardening. Matt Ward is all about identifying ways to be agile and adaptable so that no matter the industry or economic client, you can maintain steady growth and scale your business appropriately. He will teach companies how to “hack the system” to fundraise like a pro, reduce costs, and increase sales in no time. 

7. Andy Turner, Vanguard Business Coaching

Andy Turner is a veteran of the business world and has years of expertise under his belt. He started Vanguard Business Coaching as a way to offer his services to the world around him. He is so confident in his abilities that he claims his consultation of just 45 minutes can help you find as much as $10,000 in new revenues. Through strategic marketing and relationship building, Andy can help your landscaping business find plenty of lost or missing revenue streams. He offers one-on-one sessions and group coaching, as well as plenty of online resources that can help you learn more about your business and the areas where you might need to make a few changes. 

8. Small Business Coach Associates

Small Business Coach Associates offers specialty coaching for the modern small business. Anyone who is just getting started in business can find coaching and training programs here, including those that come with specialty coaches to learn about employee management, cashflow, client relationship building, and so much more. There are several different online resources, including a blog and videos, and you’ll be able to choose from one-on-one and group coaching opportunities for your business. Whether you’re a one-man operation or you have a small landscaping firm already, this group is a great resource. 

9. Tony Bass Consulting

Tony Bass is a multi-million-dollar landscape contractor who has spent decades building his own successful business and is now helping others do the same. He has a three-part success package that includes an e-book full of info, a business plan, and an audio program that you can listen to on your time so that it doesn’t cut into your schedule. You'll also find other educational resources on the website and a link to seminars and webinars, as well as one-on-one coaching opportunities. He understands how to attack this industry by covering finance, operations, and marketing, and letting the rest fall into place. He'll also talk about the value of client relationships and how those can translate to profits. 

10. Frank Bourque

Frank Bourque has won awards for his speaking, writing, consulting, and other services that he has provided to landscape and gardening companies. He has produced some impressive results for companies, including millions of dollars in profits and scaled growth, increased client lists, and more effective employees. He’s also helped train leaders and systematize business processes to ensure that every organization is running as efficiently as possible. Frank focuses on finding your pain points and being brutally honest about what it’s going to take to break through that glass ceiling, which has proven to produce impressive results. There is one-on-one coaching and consulting available, along with online videos, blogs and other resources. 

Master your customer communications by partnering with Smith.ai

If you’re ready to streamline and improve your operations, we’re ready to help. In addition to everything else that you’re improving, why not consider improving your customer communications by enlisting the virtual receptionists from Smith.ai? When you hire us as the face of your brand, we’ll answer all of your live website chats, phone calls, Facebook and SMS messages, and so much more. And we’ll do it all with a professional image so that your clients get the best service every single time. 

We know you’ve got a lot on your plate, but one of the easiest ways to increase your profits is to reduce your expenses. When you rely on the agents at Smith.ai, you’ll cut your customer service operating costs in half, or more, and you’ll free up your own time and your entire team to focus on growing the business. Plus, we’ll even help you create the strategy to handle it all, no matter what you have in mind. 

Learn more by scheduling a consultation to discuss our 24/7 live receptionists and the solutions that they can provide, from intake and scheduling to after-hours phone answering, website chat, and so much more. You can also reach us at hello@smith.ai or (650) 727-6484.