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I agree with all the above posters...except the pondless. Pondless are great to do, but don't be afraid to do small or even larger ponds! They may take longer, but they can be relatively easy to do (I may be partial as its my passion). Just my 2 cents on that.
2 things you should pay attention too from the above posters. All have great advice. But #1, work for a landscape company first. It's not to say you can't do it or you aren't qualified, but..... You state you are both second year university students...what happens to your business when you go back to school for the third year? Getting a company going, gaining rep., learning the ropes...it all takes time. Gaining repeat customers is excellent..what happens when they want you to come back to do something new, but you got a report to write and some class projects?
#2...advertise! I'm running into this problem myself. I'm not very strong in the whole marketing deal, but learning and trying. I just got flyers delivered to me and plan to go out tomorrow. A little late? yes! Should of done it in May or even sooner, but to hell with it, I'm going out tomorrow and throwing them up to some target neighborhoods. Why? because I had a little run of jobs, but now I only have one job lined up in July and nothing..before and after that. That sucks! I've done the phonebook, a phamplet that's handed out in theaters/plays, and have an advertisement in a monthly mailings/phamplet, not to mention I have signs up on my truck and at the site where I'm working. This is my second year..it can be hard getting your name out there, so you will be facing that. If people haven't heard of you, no jobs!
If you are your friend are really into landscaping...bite the bullet...work for crap money at a landscape company for the summer and LEARN all you can. Consider it an investment. The money might suck, but I can guarantee the knowledge will be priceless (I worked for a landscape company before I got fed up with BS and started my own).
One last thing. This is just my opinion! I've heard mixed results on this, some success, alot of failures. I know you probably like your friend, but be careful when going into a business together. Be sure to jot down some rules or something that you can call each other on. As the person is your friend, it may be easy to let things slide, but it may end up one of you is doing all the work, or perhaps your friend is operating in a way that you disagree with....ALOT of variables on things that can happen. I almost started my business with a friend...he ditched me at the last moment for another job and I'm sorta glad it turned out that way. It was scary as hell to go with my plan of operating my company by myself (a force of one mind you--no employees), but once I learned some things (and still learning), I'm glad I don't have a partner. Alot of people on the forums may disagree with this--I know there is a few who have partners that both visit the forums and sound like they are successful and get along..but just be careful!
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