Presentation to current boss

I need some kind of guideline/ template to help me put together a presentation to my current boss. I work for a landscaping company and we just do traditional yard work such as leaf blowing mowing the lawn etc so my idea is to approach my boss and ask him if he would be amenable to taking on another division at the company. I would be a personal organic gardener for the clients of the company i work for. Note: the company has other divisions such as an installation crew and a full nursery. Anyhow, i could do garden design, install, maintenance, and troubleshooting. My questions for all of you are what kind of template or guideline could i use to make this proposal? What questions should i be asking? Is this a dumbass business idea? I have already thought about this as part of the proposal: answer the question: what will the business do? Design, install, maintenance and troubleshooting but what will i do specifically in these four areas? How will the revenue get split up? If we decide the best option is for me to give them a percentage of the profits just for having access to their clients, what percentage is fair?  Thanks in advance for your help.

The question is not, what will the business do; the question is, how will it make your boss money?  If you can convince him it will make him money, he's likely to support it; otherwise, he's not likely to.  First convince him he'll make money, and THEN hammer out the details.  Start with a verbal pitch, then have a written proposal (short and sweet - less than a page) ready for him to look at if he's amenable.

Personally I would sell it this way:
1) You can charge clients more for specialized, skilled services, which translates into more revenue and profit.
2) It makes his company's offerings more comprehensive; customers interested in one service might later decide to purchase another.
3) Offer to run the new business yourself as much as possible, in exchange for a cut of the profits or a higher wage or however you think it should work.  If you offer him a proposition where he makes money without having to do much more work himself, I expect he'll at least give you a fair hearing.

How do the other divisions of the business work - do they do some sort of profit-sharing or pay a fee to get the client list, or are they just hourly or salaried workers directly employed by your boss?

Can you prove your specialized skills to your boss?  He may have no idea you can do more than blow leaves.

I think its a great idea ;
might it be possible to find out if there is a demand ? Local press is good for this sort of thing if they think possible advertising revenue is in the offing . Once you can show demand your boss might bite
Maybe a a "weak " part of the year? Advantage for your boss would be utilizing equipment /people otherwise not fully utilized .  I would have a chat with him see if he is interested .
Questions like I have this idea that might grow the biz usually would get his attention also hint you might go it alone , if he values you this might make him consider .

David

I think this is a great idea. Your boss may think this is a great idea too, but he will be interested in the numbers and data to support the requirement of profitability. It helps that some infrastructure is already in place like a full nursery, and a installation crew, and adding organics will be fairly easy in those aspects. I recommend scouring the internet for reliable data showing the history and trends of organics and organic gardening and how its popularity & product sales are growing each year. More people each year care about what they eat and how it was grown. I am willing to bet some of these people would love to have an organic garden but simply don't have the time between careers and family to devote to a garden and are willing to pay for a service to have just that. I believe that if you gather the data to support your hypothesis, you can get your boss to agree to let's say a 5 year trial to test the market. I also believe if you complete some courses and achieve such things as a Permaculture Design Certificate and become a Certified Organic Land Care Professional through SOUL (Society for Organic Urban Land Care) this will show to potential clients that this is more than a granola tree hugging service. It may even be possible to persuade him to pay for these courses if you can put together the numbers, have an attractive presentation, and mostly, have the charming knack to persuade (some people have this natural charisma and ability, I don't). Even if you have to pay for the courses, what's even better with these certifications is you can take them with you through the rest of your life, perhaps starting your own business and being the boss after learning the best way to run such a business using his resources and capital. I think asking for a percentage of the profits right off the bat may be asking too much since the market hasn't been proven in his mind. I bet if you offer to do it for your same current pay for let's say the first two years and then have profit sharing negotiated when you've proven its viability, that may be more appealing to him.

evidence for demand https://permies.com/t/64138/FLORIDA-Green-Dreams-Ecological-Landscape
I am sure other stuff could be found in the USA

David

I think it's a great idea.  

But another might be to go it alone, if you have the confidence to do the business, thus generating a higher profit margin for yourself and potentially being able to work with a lot more autonomy.

Here's a good video to watch; in it there is a book you might want to order.      You could really be nailing this, if you plan it right.   Perhaps, if you were to want to do it alone, it might be wise to pinch pennies for a year and start with the nest egg of capital.