How Rick got his Saturday back — and doubled revenue in 5 months

Rick van der Berg — landscaping business from Apeldoorn

4 employees · 8 years active · landscaping and garden maintenance for private and commercial clients

Starting situation: €62,000/month revenue · full schedule but too little margin · Rick acting as salesperson, executor and planner all at once

I was too busy for my own business

Rick started his business in 2016 with a desire to work outdoors with his hands. After 8 years, he had a good business — loyal clients, four employees, consistent work.

But he also had his phone in his hand every Saturday morning.

Not for emergencies. Just... for everything.

New enquiries coming in through his website. People calling because they had not heard back. Emails he had forgotten the night before. Quote requests he still needed to work out the following week. A WhatsApp from a client about a loose paving stone.

I thought I was successful, Rick says. But I was basically just a busy employee in my own business. The only one who did not go home on Friday afternoon.

The problem was not too little work. It was the wrong work.

Rick was not short on enquiries. He had too many enquiries — and no system to follow them up properly.

His website had been up for 6 years. Contact form, project photos, a phone number. Leads came in, Rick responded when he had time. Sometimes the same day, sometimes three days later. That delay cost him more than he realised.

Someone fills in a contact form for a new back garden. Budget: somewhere between €15,000 and €25,000. Rick does not see it until the next morning. Sends an email. Hears nothing. Calls two days later. Turns out the client has already spoken to a competitor nearby.

Then you think: it just was not a good lead. But actually it was an excellent lead — it just went cold.

This pattern repeated itself over and over. Not because Rick was careless, but because he was simultaneously on site, sorting materials, managing an employee. You cannot be everywhere at once.

What we did first: nothing

When Rick came to us, the first instinct was: get ads running. That is not what we do.

First, we looked at his current situation. Which type of project generates the most margin? Private landscaping projects between €8,000 and €20,000. What kind of clients does he actually want? Owner-occupied homes outside the city, people with a garden of 100m2 or more who want something genuinely beautiful — not a quick fix.

Then we looked at his offer. Rick was doing everything: small maintenance jobs for €150, large landscaping projects for €18,000, mowing a lawn patch for an apartment complex. All mixed together.

First measure: Rick stops taking on new maintenance contracts under €500 per month from new clients. Landscaping only, or maintenance as an extension of a landscaping project.

This felt risky. But am I not just leaving money on the table? No — you are leaving pressure on the table. The margin on those small maintenance jobs was embarrassingly low once you factor in drive time, admin, and back-and-forth calls.

Building the system

Once the foundation was solid — clear offer, defined audience — we built the system.

Someone sees an ad on Facebook or Instagram. A targeted campaign: owner-occupiers within a 35-kilometre radius of Apeldoorn. The ad shows a before-and-after of a back garden — not a stock photo, but a real project Rick completed.

They click. They land on a dedicated page. Not a homepage with ten different buttons, but one page with one goal: fill in the enquiry form. Name, address, type of garden, what they want, when they want to start, budget indication.

Within 3 minutes they receive a WhatsApp. Not from Rick. From the system. But it sounds like Rick — because it is written that way. Hey name, I received your enquiry about your garden in city. Let me check my availability. Can I stop by next week for a free garden scan?

If they say yes — and most people do, because they are still warm from the ad — the system automatically books a time slot in the calendar. Confirmation email follows. WhatsApp reminder the next day.

Rick only finds out he has an appointment when he sees the notification on his phone.

What Rick does in that first visit

This is the only part Rick does himself — and that is intentional.

The garden scan. Rick drives over, walks through the garden, asks questions. Not about price. Not about when he can start. First: what do you want to achieve with this? What do you see here in 2 years?

He calls this the dream-garden question. It sounds almost too simple. But most landscapers skip this step and dive straight into technical possibilities. Rick makes people feel genuinely heard about what they want, not what they think they want.

Then he makes a sketch on the spot. Not digitally — just on paper. Outlines: what are we doing in the front garden, what in the back, what materials fit here. With a rough investment indication.

Then you see people start calculating, Rick says. They are no longer asking whether they are going to do it. They are asking when you can start.

This is the difference between a quote meeting and a diagnosis. In a quote meeting, you are a supplier. You submit something, they compare, they decide. In a diagnosis, you are the expert. People follow your recommendation because you are the professional.

The numbers after 5 months

At the start: revenue €62,000/month · average project value €6,200 · 12-18 leads/month via website and word of mouth · conversion enquiry to project 35% · Rick available for sales around 3 hours per week.

After 5 months: revenue €118,000/month · average project value €14,800 · 38-55 leads/month via ads · conversion enquiry to garden scan 68% · conversion scan to project 71% · Rick available for sales 8-10 hours per week.

The biggest change is not the revenue. That is obviously great — going from €62K to €118K in 5 months is not nothing. But what Rick mentions most when he talks about it is this:

I now know every Monday how much work is coming in. Before, I just hoped the phone would ring.

Predictability is an underrated feeling when you run a business.

Three things you can do tomorrow

You do not need a complete system to start. These are the three things Rick changed first.

1. Respond within 5 minutes to every new enquiry. This sounds obvious. Most landscapers do not do it. They respond when they have time — and that is too late. The client has already Googled three other names. Set your phone to alert you for every new form submission. Call immediately. Cannot call? Send a WhatsApp. One message. Personal.

2. Ask one question before you mention price. On first contact: What is most important to you when it comes to your new garden? Let people talk. Most landscapers start talking about what they can deliver too quickly. The client wants to feel heard first. If you are the only landscaper who asks what they actually want, you are already in a different position.

3. Cut your smallest jobs. Look at the last 20 jobs you have taken on. Which three took the most time for the least margin? It is almost always the small jobs. Stop taking those on from new clients. Refer them elsewhere. Watch what happens to your bandwidth and your energy.

You do not need to build the whole system at once. Start with one thing. Rick started the same way — phone in hand and a habit of responding too late.