How much does it cost to start a landscaping business?
About $53,900 all in for a small one, opened by one founder in an American city: $17,000 to open the doors and $36,900 to keep going for the 9 months it typically takes to pay its way. Below, every item at low, typical and high with where it comes from — and your own quote, for your country, your town, how you start and the money you have.
To open: $17,000
Commercial zero-turn mower: $9,500 ($6,000–$14,000). HomeGuide: commercial riding zero-turns $8,000-$15,000; 2025 dealer listings: Grasshopper 127V $8,460, Bobcat ZT5000 52in $10,479, Stihl RZ760 $13,749; low = a used unit
Push mower, trimmer, edger and blower: $2,500 ($1,500–$4,000). Our estimate: commercial 21in push mower $1,000-$1,800, string trimmer $350-$500, stick edger ~$400, backpack blower $400-$700 (Stihl/Echo commercial list prices)
Landscape trailer: $2,500 ($1,000–$6,000). Aspire/LegalClarity landscaping guides: open flatbed trailers from about $1,000, enclosed $3,000-$10,000
General liability insurance, first year: $530 ($400–$800). Insureon landscaping cost page: median $45/month ($530/yr) for general liability; 68% pay $400-$800/yr
Business licence and pesticide applicator licence: $200 ($50–$500). Our estimate: state pesticide applicator licences commonly $50-$200 plus exam; Aspire puts insurance, licensing and permits together at $300-$3,500
Website, yard signs and door hangers: $1,000 ($500–$5,000). Aspire 'Landscaping business startup costs' (Aug 2025): DIY marketing $500-$1,000, outsourced $1,000-$5,000
Forming the company: $800 ($150–$2,500). An LLC's state filing is $50–$500 (state fee schedules), plus an EIN (free) and a registered agent; the World Bank measured the procedures at about 1% of income per capita, about $850 (Doing Business 2020); a lawyer's formation package $500–$2,000.
To keep going until it pays its way: $36,900
Running costs while sales build: $4,870 ($1,440–$18,800). Fuel for truck and mowers, Commercial auto insurance, Scheduling and invoicing software, Blades, oil, servicing and repairs, Local advertising, Phone, until it breaks even; sales are taken to grow evenly to cover them, so about half is needed. Break-even: Startup Owl lawn-care guide: solo operators typically break even in 6-12 months; lawn-care business tool: 6-18 months, 6-8 in dense neighbourhoods; Aspire: seasonal firms break even late summer
Your own living costs until it can pay you: $32,000 ($21,400–$64,100). A one-person household spends about $3,560 a month in America (BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey 2021–22); nothing is paid to you until the business breaks even.
All in: $53,900
About $53,900 all in ($32,400–$116,000): $17,000 to open and $36,900 to keep going for the 9 months it typically takes to pay its way.
With $10,000 of your own you are $43,900 short: borrowed as an SBA microloan at 11% over 5 years, about $955 a month.
The trade's published range, before the months it takes to pay its way: $5,000–$50,000. Jobber landscaping startup guide: $10k-$50k (current file); LegalClarity/Serif 2025: most small landscaping businesses start with $10,000-$25,000, a basic lawn-care round around $5,000
How much does it cost to start a landscaping business?
About $53,900 all in ($32,400–$116,000) for a small one, from home, in an American city. To open: Commercial zero-turn mower $9,500; Push mower, trimmer, edger and blower $2,500; Landscape trailer $2,500; General liability insurance, first year $530; Business licence and pesticide applicator licence $200; Website, yard signs and door hangers $1,000; Forming the company $800 — $17,000. To keep going for the 9 months it typically takes to break even: running costs while sales build $4,870; your own living costs until it can pay you $32,000 — $36,900. The trade's published startup range is $5,000–$50,000 (Jobber landscaping startup guide: $10k-$50k (current file); LegalClarity/Serif 2025: most small landscaping businesses start with $10,000-$25,000, a basic lawn-care round around $5,000), which leaves the months before it pays its way out.
What does SparkTower's simulator pay to open it?
The simulator pays the one-off opening costs before the first customer — the running costs and the founder's living it plays month by month: Mowers, trimmers, trailer $20,000; Insurance $2,000; Licence and forming the company $1,000; Opening marketing $2,000. A small landscaping round: $10k–$50k (Jobber landscaping startup guide); commercial mowers $3k–$12k each, a trailer $2k–$5k; the truck the owner's own.
How much of that do you keep?
$20,000 of it — the kit, fit-out or stock it bought — is still yours afterwards, something a buyer would pay for and a lender would lend against; the other $5,000 is spent.
What if my own money doesn't cover it?
With $10,000 of your own you would be about $43,900 short. Borrowed as an SBA microloan at 11% over 5 years, that is about $955 a month. Most founders borrow the rest. A small-business term loan runs about 11% a year over 5 years (SBA 7(a) loans are the prime rate plus 3 to 6.5 points), repaid every month from the start — before the business has found its customers. In SparkTower's landscaping business simulator the founder starts with $30,000 of their own money; the launch costs come out of it and leave $5,000 to trade on, with nothing borrowed.
Can you start a landscaping business with no money?
Not in full: lenders want the owner to put in about 20% (the SBA's own floor for a start-up is 10%), and lend against the kit, fit-out and stock a launch buys, not its marketing or a software build. What a founder with nothing does is open smaller — a used mower and trimmer on the owner's own truck — on about $5,000 of essentials (used mower, trimmer and blower $3,500; insurance $1,200; licence and forming the company $300), borrowed as a microloan (the SBA's are up to $50,000, at 8–13%) or, for a few thousand dollars, on a card at about 22%. The rest is bought once the business can afford it. A lawn-care round starts on $3k–$5k of used equipment (Jobber landscaping guide; residential mowers $300–$3,000).
Will it earn the money back?
That depends on what you charge, how many customers you win and what your rivals do. The free landscaping business simulator pays these costs before it opens, borrows what the founder's cash doesn't cover, and plays the business forward against real rivals, so you can see whether it earns them back before you spend them.
What it costs to start others like it
- Cost to start a small-town business — $126,000 all in
- Cost to start a café — $155,000 all in
- Cost to start a restaurant — $223,000 all in
- Cost to start a salon or barber — $128,000 all in
- Cost to start a gym or studio — $208,000 all in
- Cost to start a food truck — $116,000 all in
- Cost to start a bakery — $145,000 all in
- Cost to start a retail shop — $160,000 all in
- Cost to start a cleaning service — $27,100 all in
- Cost to start an auto repair garage — $156,000 all in
- Cost to start a daycare or nursery — $117,000 all in
- Cost to start a plumbing or electrical trade — $55,400 all in
- Cost to start a construction company — $80,700 all in
- Cost to start a trucking company — $113,000 all in
- Cost to start a solar installer — $99,000 all in
- Cost to start a property developer — $937,000 all in