Situation

Chris has been working with the owner of a Sussex based gardening and cleaning business since early 2025. When they first met and talked about the business, their situation was difficult – low and static sales, little or no profit and little or no money for the owner despite their efforts and energy. The owner told Chris that he was feeling flat and frustrated.

Solution

By talking through the issues and challenges with the owner, they set objectives and targets with a plan to change the business. The gardening work was very seasonal, with low demand in the winter months – spring and the better weather could not come early enough for the owner! Alongside the gardening business, the owner has a cleaning business which is not affected by seasonal changes. Therefore, it was decided that the cleaning business had to be developed to fill the gaps of the winter months. Furthermore, the cleaning business was showing the potential to be more profitable than the gardening business.

In the early stages of working together, there was very little marketing for both businesses. Whist wanting to develop the cleaning business, the owner also wanted to promote the gardening business, especially with a view to the busier summer months. To improve the marketing, the websites of both businesses were reviewed and re-designed and a graphic designer engaged to design leaflets which were printed and delivered door to door – what were the results? The results and increase in enquiries and sales were measurable and very encouraging for the owner – success! 

To build on the success, the business owner took matters forward with more marketing activity. After discussions between them, they identified the opportunities for his business to work with estate agents. Building on some established contacts and relationships with estate agents, the owner went further – a database was created and a sales campaign started. Again, the outcome and results were more enquiries and sales – all good news.  Sales were up 35-40% since we began working together.

Impact

During our conversations about business planning and development, the owner has always talked about his target of monthly sales of £10,000. With a plan and step by step progress, that target was reached in the summer. The owner is delighted – now it’s time to go again and work towards his next target.  This will be top of the agenda for our next meeting!