Being a landscape/snow business owner is hard. There are a million things vying for your attention, and
it’s usually the most urgent that gets it. Meanwhile, your business keeps going – but is it growing? Has it
increased in value over the last year? The truth is that most landscape business owners have no idea
what their business is worth or how it’s actually doing. They’re usually fantastic technicians, happy to be
working IN the business, but rarely ON the business. But knowing the value of your business, and
understanding the steps needed to take to increase its value are critical for the growth and health of the business. It will increase profitability now and also make your business more attractive to potential buyers – whether you’re looking at selling now or in the future.

Let’s take a look at six pillars of business and identify some best practices and tools you can implement
fairly easily to increase efficiency, productivity...

Our next-door neighbour builds the most amazing ice rink in his backyard every year. It’s complete with curved corners, painted 2’ boards all the way around, lights, and netting to catch stray pucks. The only thing that’s missing is a scoreboard and lines in the ice, though I expect those are coming. It’s a work of art. But this year, it’s been more like a wading pool than an ice rink. It’s been so sad.

The weather this year has been unlike anything I can remember in all my years in landscaping. As I write this, it’s February 7 and 9°C in Toronto. There are no snow piles and no frost in the ground. Many of our clients are concerned about what this means for their business, both this year and in the future if this weather trend continues. While a light winter may have its pros and cons, one thing is certain – we need to adapt and make changes in our practices and snow contracts to survive in the face of low snow seasons.

Let’s...

If you’ve been in business for five years or more then it’s time to analyze the health of your landscape company. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) analyze specific systems, job functions, and the financial state of your company. You then take the results from your KPI and find new ways to be more efficient, bring new clients through your door, and improve employee performance, to name a few.

What are Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)?

KPIs are measurements. They’re a performance indicator to test on all of your company’s systems. For example, you can perform a KPI in your operations department, or you can do a KPI on your profits and losses.

In a nutshell, KPIs evaluate the success of your green or white company or a particular system within your lawn and landscape organization.

A KPI’s results tell part of your company’s story, such as

• Your success at reaching specific targets within your company
•  What’s working and what needs...

Want to start your season off right? Plan a spring kick-off meeting. A seasonal kick-off meeting is a way to get everyone on the same page, remind them of policies and procedures, review your company values and priorities, celebrate achievements and get excited for the year ahead. It's a great team-building opportunity that will bring everyone together and create a positive company culture. 

Below are some great ideas from an article for Lawn & Landscape by Steve Cesare (original article can be found here).

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A business owner from Massachusetts called me the other day to talk about the annual transition from the snow season to the landscape season, and what he should do to get all the employees on the same page to ensure prompt, aligned and optimal field execution. With 85-90 employees to consider, it is important for the business owner to design a well-crafted, organized “Landscape Kickoff Day” that is informative,...

(Original article by John Janes can be found here.)

You can find the original article by Lauren Spiers HERE.  

Properly scheduling and routing crews can often be a complicated, mind-bending exercise.

Ensuring that every crewmember receives his or her required hours per week, creating efficient routes for crews to follow, contending with weather issues or crewmembers who need to take a sick day – it all spells R-O-L-A-I-D-S for operations managers and company presidents trying to make everything fit together.

Creating efficient and effective routes and schedules really is like putting a puzzle together, and finding those helpful edge and corner pieces first can make the process easier. Here are a few tips contractors offered to help ensure the rest of the pieces all fit nicely.

• Work one step at a time. “The more [crews] you have, the more difficult it is to route and schedule, but if you just break everything up into little pieces and try not to schedule everybody at once, it’s much easier,”...

In our last blog, we talked about improving your snow business (or any contracting business, for that matter), and focused on 3 areas: leadership, customers and staff. Today, we'll cover the final three areas: finances, operations and safety. 

4. FINANCES

• Create and review your budget: Your budget keeps you on track and lets you know how you’re doing. Create a budget and then review it monthly against actuals to measure how well you’re doing and address any issues before they become problems.
• Check your margins: Is each job profitable? Are you charging enough to cover your costs and make a profit? Job costing will provide great insight into where you may need to make changes.
• Everyone gets a number: How do you measure a win? Give everyone a clear and measurable goal that helps you determine how well the business and the employee are doing.  

FINANCE KPI’s/REPORTS

• Profit - gross/net by division
• Cash flow
• Expenses (labour, materials,...

Are you frustrated by how long it takes crews to get out of the yard in the morning? If yes, you’re not alone.

Every spring I hear owners talk about how long it takes to get everyone out of the yard each day. There is a certain frustration that goes along with getting crews out in the morning that landscape business owner, Tim Groenewold, has worked to remove from his business.

Below are Tim’s 9 tips for getting your crews out quickly. An added bonus to these tips is that they will also be helpful in doing your part with social distancing while maintaining business as usual as much as you can.

1. Give crews their own space - this way they aren’t tripping over each other while they are getting ready to head out in the morning.
2. Give crews their own tools - this stops the “that’s my mower!” type of conversations. 
3. Hire a mechanic - it’s their responsibility to keep the crews running. It saves money, because it’s more expensive to send...

If you joined us at our GROW event in Stoney Creek in August, you saw the Metal Pless Live Edge blade in action on the Merlo machine. With that in mind, we are thrilled to hand over the blog to Metal Pless this week as they share more about their company with you. 

Metal Pless of Plessisville, Quebec is a frontrunner in the snowplow manufacturing sector. Clients rely on the company’s products to clear public roadways, commercial and industrial properties, as well as airports during and after a snowfall. It is a task done under intense time pressure and scrutiny; city streets and parking lots must be plowed quickly to maintain access in adverse weather conditions.

The company’s products can be fitted on various vehicles including tractors, wheel loaders, backhoes, skid steers, and tandem trucks. Plows are sold through a North America-wide dealer network. Dealers, in turn, sell to customers – typically snow contractors, Departments of Transportation (DOT),...

Successful businesses don't happen by accident. Business growth requires strategic planning and a commitment to work on your business and not just in your business. There are 5 important reasons why your business isn't reaching its full potential, despite all your time, energy and hard work. 

Mistake #1 - NOT SHARING YOUR LEADERSHIP ROLE

Are you trying to do everything yourself? We encourage you to start by looking at your own leadership role in your business. Have you identified what kind of leader you are? Is your leadership style serving your team well so that your business can grow and operate without you?

Mistake #2 - NOT LISTENING TO YOUR CUSTOMERS

Do you understand your customers?

You wouldn't have a business without your customers but at the end of the day, do you understand their behaviour? You have the power to create loyal ambassadors to your company by giving your customers a great experience and managing their expectations.

Mistake #3 - NOT INVESTING IN YOUR STAFF