How to Start a Community Garden

Start a community garden by following these 10 steps:

1. Plan your Community Garden
2. Form your Community Garden into a Legal Entity
3. Register your Community Garden for Taxes
4. Open a Business Bank Account & Credit Card
5. Set up Accounting for your Community Garden
6. Get the Necessary Permits & Licenses for your Community Garden
7. Get Community Garden Insurance
8. Define your Community Garden Brand
9. Create your Community Garden Website
10. Set up your Business Phone System

我们汇集了这个简单的指南开始your community garden. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant.

Exploring your options? Check out othersmall business ideas.

STEP 1: Plan your business

A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:

• What will you name your business?
• What are the startup and ongoing costs?
• Who is your target market?
• How much can you charge customers?

Luckily we have done a lot of this research for you.

What will you name your business?

Choosing the right name is important and challenging. If you don’t already have a name in mind, visit ourHow to Name a Businessguide or get help brainstorming a name with ourCommunity Garden Name Generator

If you operate asole proprietorship, you might want to operate under a business name other than your own name. Visit ourDBAguide to learn more.

Whenregistering a business name, we recommend researching your business name by checking:

• Your state's business records
• Federal and state trademark records
• Social media platforms
• Web domain availability.

It's very important to secure your domain name before someone else does.

What are the costs involved in opening a community garden?

A community garden’s startup costs are between $3,750 to $7,500. Costs include establishing the garden near a source of water, maintaining city fees, insurance and contractor wages. A large community garden can even cost as much as $30,000.

What are the ongoing expenses for a community garden?

Every community garden needs liability insurance, which can cost between $750 and $2,000 per year. Any plots not maintained by members can be maintained at about $50 to $100 per year. Monthly rent can be between $2,000 and $4,000, depending on the lot’s size and location.

Who is the target market?

The best community garden clients are those with a deep understanding of plants, fruits, vegetables, and gardening. While community gardens frequently help customers maintain their growths, improper care can damage the overall garden. Customers should be respectable to the area, have a basic understanding of wildlife, and be trusted with ongoing sanctuary access.

How does a community garden make money?

A community garden thrives on its community members. Typically, they make money through ongoing memberships. These memberships can either be basic or provide ongoing gardening supplies. Additional revenue opportunities exist in gardening shops, seed shops, classes, and similar visitation experiences. Some community gardens have wildlife tours, wherein members can pay a fee to access beehive grounds, bird feeding grounds, and similar areas.

How much can you charge customers?

Community garden customers can be charged between $25 and $50 a year. This price varies depending on their plot size, however. If you want to sell seeds, you can charge between $2 and $15 per packet, depending on the size.

How much profit can a community garden make?

If a community garden is smart about maintaining memberships and selling produce, it can make as much as $50,000 per year in revenue. This number varies from garden to garden, however. If the community garden exists in a highly-populated urban development, rent costs can be higher. Also, expenses vary on a year-to-year basis. Having a sustainable food operation depends on the local economy, as does a lot’s ability to market and retain members.

How can you make your business more profitable?

When possible, give members an incentive to sell their produce. If a community garden can distribute produce for profit, it’ll generate a lot more revenue. Scaling a community garden can be difficult, but food spending power is typically high. Make sure any distributed produce follows a competitive weight selling standard.

STEP 2: Form a legal entity

The most commonbusiness structuretypes are thesole proprietorship,partnership,118bet金博宝 , andcorporation.

Establishing a legal business entity such as anLLCorcorporationprotects you from being held personally liable if your community garden is sued.

You can金宝搏188是什么公司yourself and pay only the minimal stateLLC costsor hire one of the118金宝app for a small, additional fee.

STEP 3: Register for taxes

You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.

In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It's really easy and free!

There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more aboutstate sales taxand franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.

STEP 4: Open a business bank account & credit card

Using dedicated business banking and credit accounts is essential for personal asset protection.

When your personal and business accounts are mixed, your personal assets (your home, car, and other valuables) are at risk in the event your business is sued. In business law, this is referred to aspiercing your corporate veil.

Open a business bank account

Besides being a requirement when applying for business loans, opening a business bank account:

• Separates your personal assets from your company's assets, which is necessary for personal asset protection.
• Makes accounting and tax filing easier.

Get a business credit card

Getting abusiness credit cardhelps you:

• Separate personal and business expenses by putting your business' expenses all in one place.
• Build your company's credit history, which can be useful to raise money later on.

STEP 5: Set up business accounting

Recording your various expenses and sources of income is critical to understanding the financial performance of your business. Keeping accurate and detailed accounts also greatly simplifies your annual tax filing.

Make LLC accounting easy with ourLLC Expenses Cheat Sheet.

STEP 6: Obtain necessary permits and licenses

Failure to acquire necessary permits and licenses can result in hefty fines, or even cause your business to be shut down.

State & Local Business Licensing Requirements

Certain state permits and licenses may be needed to operate a travel photography business.

Learn more about licensing requirements in your state byvisiting SBA’s reference to state licenses and permits.

In addition, certain local licensing or regulatory requirements may apply.

• Check with your town, city or county clerk’s office

Get assistance from one of the local associations listed inUS Small Business Associations directory of local business resources.

Certificate of Occupancy

A community garden business is generally run out of a vacant plot of land. Businesses operating out of a physical location typically require aCertificate of Occupancy(CO). A CO confirms that all building codes, zoning laws and government regulations have been met.

• If you plan to lease a community garden location:
• It is generally the landlord’s responsibility to obtain a CO.
• Before leasing, confirm that your landlord has or can obtain a valid CO that is applicable to a community garden business.
• After a major renovation, a new CO often needs to be issued. If your place of business will be renovated before opening,it is recommendedto include language in your lease agreement stating that lease payments will not commence until a valid CO is issued.

• If you plan to purchase or build a community garden location:
• You will be responsible for obtaining a valid CO from a local government authority.
• Review all building codes and zoning requirements for your business’ location to ensure your community garden business will be in compliance and able to obtain a CO.

STEP 7: Get business insurance

正如执照和许可,您的业务needs insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully.Business Insuranceprotects your company’s financial wellbeing in the event of a covered loss.

There are several types of insurance policies created for different types of businesses with different risks. If you’re unsure of the types of risks that your business may face,begin withGeneral Liability Insurance. This is the most common coverage that small businesses need, so it’s a great place to start for your business.

Another notable insurance policy that many businesses need isWorkers’ Compensation Insurance. If your business will have employees, it’s a good chance that your state will require you to carry Workers' Compensation Coverage.

Is this Business Right For You?

Any individual who enjoys gardening, running a garden, planting or harvesting crops is perfect for a community garden. Individuals who live in urban areas, too, are a good fit. Because community gardens can exist in urban or rural areas, those who thrive in crowded areas may find a home in a community garden. A successful community garden owner loves exploring the many variations of seeds, plants, and gardening options. Additionally, community garden owners can become part of The American Community Garden Association.

What happens during a typical day at a community garden?

A community garden owner needs to maintain the community garden’s lot. A lot owner must cultivate healthy growing regions, assisting members with their own plant growths, harvests, and creative gardening processes. On a day-to-day basis, garden owners must maintain educational signage across the garden, rotate crops, prepare for seasonal weather, handle vertical planting, handle composting, and save seeds. Other various jobs include handling bees, birds, and other small animals which can pollinate the area. Of course, administrative jobs like management, financial preparation, and marketing also apply.

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful community garden?

Understanding which fruits and vegetables grow together can pay off. The ideal community garden will be arranged and maintained to promote plant synergy. A community garden is an organic establishment, so you’ll need to maintain the premises by taking care of the garden’s individual lots. A successful community garden will also have a lot of growing options, membership options, and seasonal highlights. Too few community gardens offer deals which can capitalize different growing months.

What is the growth potential for a community garden?

If a community garden is one of the area’sonlycommunity gardens, it can expect to grow quite a bit in popularity. Because it’s an experience, rather than a product-selling business, community garden ownership will be restricted in terms of scale. It’s possible to become a preferred provider in an area, but owners shouldn’t expect to expand beyond their area. Community gardens are similar to parks. While communities can plant and take their own vegetables and plants, their growth is contingent on constant visitation.