All businesses / Commercial grounds maintenance

Fingerprint: capital · hours · speed to income · margin · ceiling. The dashed line is mid-scale.

Start a commercial grounds maintenance: the real numbers

Contracts for estates and businesses. Below is what it actually costs, how long before money arrives, and the part most guides leave out.

Startup capital

€10,000–€40,000

Hours / week

30–50

First income

~8 wks

Net margin

55%

Saturation

medium

Realistic ceiling

€1,300–€4,500+

This ceiling is not a wall

The figure above is what this earns in the shape described — you, running it. Past that it keeps going, but by hiring people or adding units, not by you working more hours. That is a different job from the one you would be starting, and worth knowing before you start it.

What nobody usually tells you

Annual contracts paid monthly turn a seasonal trade into steady income, which domestic gardening never does. The kit is expensive and the work is physical, but the client list is bought and sold like an asset.

The route, in five steps

  1. Chase managing agents and business parks, not gardens
  2. Price the annual contract in twelve equal payments
  3. Buy the ride-on once you have three contracts
  4. Winter work is hedges and clearance — sell it in advance
  5. One good client is worth thirty households

What you'll need to buy

These are the categories every commercial grounds maintenance pays for in the first month. We break down what each one actually costs at this size on the tools page.

ride-on mowervan and trailertoolsinsurancewaste licence

Does it hold up for you?

These numbers are the average case. Whether this business clears your target depends on your capital, your hours and how long you can wait — put them in and see.

Run my numbers → See the tool stack