So This is a concept that has in some form or another been floating around in my head for the past few years that I've kinda sorta finally pulled the trigger on (I'll explain that at the end of this post). So the idea is this (on the marketing side of things), a tweak on the lawn care service model. A lawn is the default of any British or North American single family home. Lots of people don't want lawns. Lots of these people want condos and apartments even less so have lawns. You can tell who they are becuase they have no landscaping, no patio furniture, never host backyard BBQs and the only time you'll ever see them spending time in their lawns is to mow and THAT assumes they don't pay a lawn care service to do it for them. I'll approach these sorts of people and ask for the use the use of their backyards (for the money making side of the business) I'll present myself as a lawn care option, restricting my business to the backyard and mowing the front to maintain curb appeal and rembersing them for any impact my operations have on their utility bill. This will allow me to expand my operations byond my own home without having to actually buy or rent (I don't count the reimbursements as rent, I'd have to pay the bills regardless) any land. My customers in turn get their lawn related chores done for free. As for the money making side, I'll be conducting high density farming. For those unfamiliar, that means planting crops that meet certain criteria (seed to harvest in under 3 months, high yield, high price and high demand) in a small area (typically 1/4 acre or less). The fast growth combined with a staggered planting schedule (this is where the other yards come in) allows for monthly or even weekly harvests, the high demand ensures most if not all of the harvest is sold before it goes bad and the high yields combined with high prices means the limited amount of cultivated land can still translate into (the low) thousands of dollars per month. Currently I'm limited to hand tools and the impact of payroll means hiering help isn't an option so while I've got the ball rolling, I'm only going to be able to work out of my own yard. That means irregular harvests as I can't stagger plant multiple crops. This is becuase I'll have to give over my yard to just 2-3 crops to produce a harvest worth selling so without other places to cultivate, I won't have anything ready to go while I wait for the next round of crops to come in. That said, If I come home from a farmers market with a few grand I'll be able to both buy some equipment and prove the concept to investors which will finance the full development of my business' infrastructure.
One big thing would be the issue of privacy. And all the potential frictions and conflicts that could result from you messing in someone's yard. Theoretically it makes economic sense, but in economics and business operations there is something called the tragedy of commons. That basically means that it's difficult if the person using the property doesn't own the property. Some people are not very responsible with using property and can cause problems, costly to the owner in time or money. At least if you own your own property and don't treat it properly you are sabotaging your own investment. On your side, you might have the homeowner or members of their family picking vegetables you don't want them to pick. And when someone owns a yard, right up against where they live, it's not a pleasant feeling to see edible things growing and know you're not allowed to eat it. (That's maybe a little like being on a diet and someone placing a bowl of cookies right in front of you, even though you know you're not allowed to eat it)
I wouldn't be going inside, I'd call ahead and they can always put up curtins on the widows for when I'm working. I'm assuming homeowners (without a HOA), not renters in this calculus. I'm also thinking 3, 4 places not counting my own, not some huge operation. I wouldn't be opposed to sharing a portion of the crop, it'd be a great way of unloading inventory that failed to sell. Besides, I'd only be growing 1 or 2 crops per yard, not some glorified vegetable garden so there wouldn't be much reason to steal. There would also be a contract involved (so I can never be accused of trespassing) that can provide me with legal recourse if they mess anything up intentionally.
