Lawn landscape forms are important for business owners just starting out with a landscaping business as well as seasoned veterans who have worked to build a landscaping business for years. It is important to put everything in writing so as not to wind up with legal problems.
Write It Down
Landscaping can be the kind of business which begins as a side job for extra cash but then blossoms into a full-time gig. For this reason, many landscapers find themselves doing business without any documentation to outline what work they do and at what cost. No matter how long a landscaper has been in business, if lawn landscape forms aren't being used, it is time to start. Putting everything into writing protects both the landscape business owner and the customers.
Types of Lawn Landscape Forms
Lawn landscapers may use several types of forms in their work:
- Maintenance Agreement forms are contracts between the landscaper and the customers. They spells out what services are to be performed and on what schedule, and also lists the costs of the lawn landscaping service.
- Service Call Forms are used by many lawn landscape professionals who like to leave forms after a service call, which state what was done on that visit and what action needs to be taken, such as "water promptly after a fertilizer application."
- Quote Formsare a service professional must. When lawn landscape professionals give a potential customer a quote for lawn maintenance, a quote form lists the estimated costs of the service.
Depending on the scope of a lawn landscaper's business, other lawn landscape forms may be needed on a regular basis. The important thing is to use professional forms and to always keep copies of forms given to customers.
Find Lawn Landscape Forms
Landscapers can choose to create their own forms or find pre-made forms from another source.
- Create: When creating a form for a lawn landscape business, the owner must be sure to seek legal advice prior to using the forms. The owner needs to make sure that the document wording is sufficient and the forms act as a legally binding contract.
- Purchase: Plenty of companies sell customized forms for landscaping businesses. Some of these companies sell generic forms while others will fully customize forms to the buyer's specifications. Purchasing forms from one of these companies, however, does not cancel the need for legal review prior to using the forms.
- Download: Many websites catering to landscapers offer free forms for download. A variety of these are customizable, allowing the business owner to switch the wording around to suit the business. Some business owners like to add their logos or letterhead to the forms, and luckily many of the customizable forms available for download allow this.
If a business owner is not entirely sure about what types of forms are needed for the business, a quick review of the daily business activities should reveal what is required. a lawn landscape business may need additional forms such as mileage logs and other employee forms, and these are easily downloadable from free office form websites.
Verbal Agreements
There is an old saying: Verbal agreements are worth the paper they are written on. Business owners should avoid making deals over a handshake without proper documentation. It does not matter if the business owner is landscaping the lawn of a customer who also happens to be a close acquaintance from years past. Friendships can go awry when business and money is involved, and this is all the more reason to make sure proper documentation is always maintained. Think of proper documentation as a form of insurance against misunderstandings.
