Harlan's Gardens: From passion project to booked-out business
Designing a conversion-first website and custom booking system for a one-person landscaping business launching from zero.
A new landscaping business needed to look credible and start capturing leads immediately with no web presence, no brand, and no budget for paid tools.
Designed a conversion-first site and built a custom booking system using Claude Code, routing submissions directly into Google Sheets so Harlan could manage leads from day one.
10 bookings in the first month, all through the website. Zero prior web presence, zero paid advertising.
More than a website: a lead capture system from scratch
Harlan left a career as an event coordinator to launch a full-time residential landscaping business in Denver. No web presence, no brand, no system for managing work. The goal wasn't to build something pretty, it was to get Harlan's first paying customers.
"I need people to find me, trust me, and book a consultation without me having to chase them down."
My prior work in web design for contractors shaped the diagnosis immediately. Small business websites fail not because they look bad, but because they're built as brochures. I knew what makes homeowners actually hire someone they've never met.
Trust through visibility
A face, a name, and a story matter more than a logo when a stranger is coming to your home.
Proof of work
Photos of real projects reduce perceived risk faster than any copy could.
Frictionless next step
The booking CTA needed to be impossible to miss. Every extra click is a lost lead.
Key decisions in the build
Every choice was made against one constraint: a solo operator launching a business needs to convert visitors, not win design awards.
Wireframe
Finished product
Where design met engineering
The most important problem wasn't visual, it was operational. Paid tools like Calendly add cost and impose their own UX on a fledgling business that needs custom forms. I needed a lightweight, zero-cost system that Harlan could manage without me. So I built one.
I used Claude Code — an AI coding tool I'd been learning — to build a custom booking form that pipes submissions directly into Google Sheets. What would have taken a week of back-and-forth with a developer took two days. I designed it, built it, and shipped it myself.
Fields: consultation type, preferred time, address, phone, optional job notes. Short enough to complete, detailed enough to prepare.
Our custom form
The Google Sheet: simple, but easily customized to accommodate Harlan's needs
One month in
Real bookings. No prior presence. No paid ads.
10 bookings in the first month, all through the website. Zero prior web presence, zero paid advertising. The Google Sheets pipeline worked without issues from day one. A post-launch suggestion from a third party prompted an active iteration: removing the notes field to reduce friction.
"I'm ecstatic about how easy this is. You thought about making my workflow simple before I did."
— Harlan, Harlan's Gardens
The thing I'm most proud of: the Claude Code decision. A developer would have added cost and a handoff. I took it on myself, learned a new tool under real pressure, and shipped on time. That's the version of this project that only happens if you're willing to figure things out as you go.
