What should I check before buying a topsoil and mulch business?

Some yards resell materials they buy in. Others produce them, blending soil, screening it, grinding bark and wood waste and ageing it into mulch. Producers control their own cost and quality, so ask your advisers what that means for the business. If you are looking at a producer, start with the raw material, since nothing else works without it.

Where the raw material comes from

Ask where the soil, bark and wood waste arrive from, who delivers them and what is agreed. Some suppliers pay to drop material off, some sell it and some give it away informally. Informal arrangements may not survive a change of owner. Ask for any written terms and for the names of the biggest suppliers, and ask what the business would do if one stopped.

Equipment and product quality

Screens, grinders, loaders and mixing equipment do the work, so ask for their age, condition and repair history. Ask how the seller tests and keeps the product consistent. Contractors notice when a batch of soil is stony or a mulch is full of debris. Ask for complaints, returns and credits, and read them for patterns.

Stockpiles and turnover

Mulch and soil are bulky, and some of it ages or washes away in storage. Ask what is in the yard, how long it has been there and how stock is measured. Compare the stockpile with a full year of sales, not a single busy month. BDC explains inventory in plain terms.

Seasonal cash flow

If sales bunch into the growing and building months, costs such as equipment, labour and land may carry on all year. Ask your accountant to read the monthly statements with you and to explain how much working money you would need to carry the quiet months. Our page on what to check before buying a landscape supply yard covers the reseller side.