Business funding for Landscaping & home services: loans, lines of credit and equipment financing

54,172 independent landscaping and lawn care, cleaning services are listed on CheckThisBiz, a directory of 7,704,724 independent US businesses, including 4,166 in CA, 4,061 in FL, 3,976 in TX. Chains and franchises are excluded from that count, so these are the owner-operated businesses that actually apply for funding.

What the money usually goes to

Businesses in this industry most often need funding for trucks, trailers, mowers and equipment, seasonal payroll and marketing.

Seasonal businesses often use a line of credit to cover the slow months and equipment financing for trucks and machinery.

Options that fit

Equipment financing

Equipment financing lets the equipment secure the deal, so it can be easier to qualify for than an unsecured loan. Here is how it works and what to prepare.

Business line of credit

A line of credit gives your business a limit to borrow from, repay and borrow again. Here is how it works, what it costs you in practice and how to qualify.

Working capital

Working capital funding covers the money a business needs to run day to day: payroll, inventory, rent and the gap between paying bills and getting paid.

Revenue-based financing

Revenue-based financing sizes funding to how much your business brings in. Here is how it works, how it differs from a merchant cash advance, and who it fits.

Where these businesses are

The states with the most independent businesses of this type, which is a rough guide to where the competition and the customers both are.

State	Independent landscaping and lawn care, cleaning services
CA	4,166
FL	4,061
TX	3,976
PA	2,534
NY	2,492
OH	2,261
IL	2,073
NC	1,976
MI	1,868
MA	1,614

What an underwriter actually looks at

Most articles about getting funded describe the application. This is the other side of the desk: the handful of things a real underwriter checks first, in the order they check them.

Deposits, not revenue. What lands in the business bank account each month, averaged over three to six months. A good month does not matter; consistency does.
Negative days and overdrafts. A file with repeated NSFs is the fastest decline there is, because it says the account cannot absorb a payment.
Existing positions. Daily or weekly debits to other funders show up immediately in the statements. Several at once is called stacking, and it closes most doors.
Time in business and industry. Both change the pricing before anyone looks at credit.
Credit, last. It matters for the cheapest products and matters far less for revenue-based ones.

Which is why the advice below is not filler: it is what moves a file from declined to approved.

Get approved faster

Keep all revenue in one business bank account.
Have three to six months of statements ready.
Know your average monthly revenue and your busiest and slowest months.
Be specific: what will the money buy, and how will it pay for itself?

Questions owners ask

What kinds of funding do Landscaping & home services businesses use?

Common options include equipment financing, business line of credit, working capital, revenue-based financing. The best fit depends on what the money is for, how fast you need it, and your revenue and credit.

How can I improve my chances of approval?

Run all revenue through one business bank account, avoid overdrafts, have three to six months of bank statements ready, and be specific about what the money will do for the business.