have some questians about growth.

[clclawn]

2-3 weeks ago i started a thread about can you have to much work. Alot of great advice and thoughts were posted. some recomended I stop complaning and get more help and equipment. So I hired one of my guys from part time to ful time. he is quiting his full time job this week. he and i have worked out a deal to use his truck because looks alot like mine. ( he wants to get it logoed like mine).

heres somthings ive been worried about and any advice will help.

my wife quit her good paying job this year( and mows with me 3-4 days a week) , and now I have my first full time employee. For the next 4-6 weeks we have more work then we can handle, but after that I am getting worried. Is there any chance in getting some high end costomers right now, or is the direct mailing to them only for marketing purposes for next year.

we are a maintenance co. and do some installs on the side, should i strat marketing moer install work for this summer when maintenace is slow, like pond intalls, fencing, paver and brick work. or should i keep marketing to the type of longterm costomer i alwas have targeted.

Ill quit rambling now and end it with for all you guys who have already gone through this stage of life and biz. what should i expect? what changes do i need to make?

ps thats mike and for the advice you have given in the past.

[jimslawnservice1]

Absolutly, get out there and sell some of these other installs that will carry you until the late season for grass. Before long it will be time for fall clean ups, then snow, ect.
I would work out a salary for your employee as possible. Instead of paying overtime (if you do) give him some comp time in the slow periods, or have him out there selling if capable.
Remind all of your customers that you do other things

[Elwood]

Advertising is KEY to keep growth happening. At this time of year, most people have settled into a maint. gig, but you can still snare some who are unhappy with the current provider.

Installs can be sold strong all season long.

I am not sure where in IN you are, but if you are in a snow region, start selling snow removal to your clients NOW. Get them lined up early and plan a growth strategy for this area.

Given your position in the company now, manual labor for you takes a back seat to management. In the past I am sure it was a give and take for you, but management is your TOP priority now and always look as far down the road as possible.

If you are not in a snow region, start looking for winter income producers. If nothing else, it should pay your winter bills, keep your employee(s) busy and hopefully generate more profit for your company.


I think you have made the right move. Good Luck and keep us posted!

[Seascape]

From my experience,,,,, i know exactly what your going through. Yes installs and construction keep the show on the road during that 6 wk period of dry heat. However,,,, there is still maintenance out there all year. Maintenance in the form of REHAB work. I see alot of it and its concluded w/ a nice mulch installation. Trick to this work is WORD OF MOUTH because than you can run a 2 month backlog on the work. You tell a flyer or paper ad customer that it'll take you 2 months to get to them and they'll find an outlaw to do the work in less than a week. Where as a WORD of mouth customer will pay you to do a temp on it than return at a later date to detail it out.As far as it primarilly coming from upscale?,,,,,, hard for me to say cause ive targeted upscale residential so thats where I see alot of it,,but,,,i have a stronf suspicion theres even more to be had in the commercial arena and middle to upper middle class residential arena. I dont doubt it 1 bit actually. But the money aint he same. I can run 2 men and a truck on most of these upscale rehabs ,,not even show up and make(take home) 1-2 k per day in most cases. I run 2-3 guys on these type jobs 4 days per week from the middle of march all the way through august at least when fall clean ups begin gearing up. I have a 6 week log on that work now. Its mindless work for the most part but i am fortunate to have 1 guy that is extremely detail oriented that i let run these jobs,,, he is a blessing. Werent for him (or someone like him) id have to make more of a presence on those sites.

Installs and construction,,, Its a whole other gig. I run myself and 2-3 men 5 days per week sometimes 6 on these. In most cases margins are higher in this arena but its well earned.These sits require constant supervision and the stress level can go off the chart.1 problem can cost $100s . They take longer to sell and aftercare is required. This side of my show takes 80% of my time and energy. Again in this case good help is required,,, good help to order,select,pick up, and coordinate that whole portion of a job,, or i can flip on them,, put them on the site while i attend those details and they can for the most part coordinante the site while im away. This is crucial because the more men on your clock the heavier the load. Used to be 15 minutes was 15 minutes,, now 15 minutes is actually 2 hrs in production because theres more men standing around. Kind of scary looking at it from that point of veiw huh?

So,,, If i were you,,,, Id first hone in on late season REHAB work and late mulchers ect.... Brush work, tree work, ect... At the same time dabble in small retainer walls pavers and installs. Untill you have a reliable self motivated person to help coordinate the install / construction sites id perhaps stay in the 5k per arena. Theyre smaller,less complicated and the corners are easier to wiggle out of if you know what i mean.

So this brings us to another issue,,, mowing. Shop joke around here is "aint no money in Mowing"! Thats not really the case but honestly i didnt start seeing real money untill i got in to the work mentioned above. I remember it clearly,, somehow bumped into 3 or 4 good REHAB jobs in a row ,, broke 10k at the bank and a red flag came up. By the end of that year i was trying to think of ways to phase out mowing altogether. Aint got that one figured out yet. Still have good customers in that arena and the upsales out of that are attractive so im not convinced letting it all go is what i want,, but its not one of my top priorities by any means. I stay out of it entirely except for 1 HOA and a few residential(very upscale 20-30 k) contracts that ive had for 8-10 yrs now. Other than that i dont want to hear about it. Have accounts set up and people authorized to use them just to keep that whole side of my show out of my hair.

So,, trick to it i think and one of the hardest starting points is what a big shot in the industry told me a long time ago,,, gotta spread the money around. You cant do everything. Comes a point you have to trust others. Pay them well in most cases they adapt. I couldnt keep a back log of anything if i wasnt sure my guys were content and relied on theyre job,,, that theyre gonna be there,, and that i have a couple "major players" that can get it done. Its not cheap. All my labor knows exactly what theyre role is why theyre here. Everybody has a bad day if i have to break it down for anybody. Especially this time of the year.

Employee retention is HUGE. A couple of my guys probally still remember $150 paychecks in august and have seen the show grow . Those that respect it now and respect what it took ,, shared the grunt, and made sacrifices are what id say"well off" now. Spread your money around,,, the more you spread the more your fed if your people are good. Find people that crave responsibility.

One last note,,, dont decal this guys truck,, its a bad move. Its your show. Need another truck go buy 1. #k used if you have to but dont decal this guys truck. Its gonna or could very easily put you in a jam. Youll come to regret it some day,, just my instinct.



Installs,,,,

[Phil Nilsson]

You need an "income strategy" for the summer slow down starting around July ... then again for winter. Make money in season just to "blow it off" getting thru winter is a losing strategy. Snow income and other more reliable things are needed.

[clclawn]

just a few more details on the guy i hired. he has been working for me part time for a year. he hates his full time job, and has been waiting for me to offer this possition to him. we have already worked out the overtime problem with comp time, and he is well trained to do everything our co. dose, and a few things he dose better then i do. He is in it for the long hall. he is the type of person who will help run this company some day.

as for phills coment, as far as summer slow times I have never had a problem finding work, I will just need alot more then in years past.

its just alittle scary when you have so many people depending on me. thaks for the support

[Phil Nilsson]

Don't rely on just ONE foot soldier .... cross train EVERYBODY you hire and go with a mostly Hispanic workforce ... somebody walks out the door on you ... well so what. Keep the control and power in your hands, not any one employee.

[crzymoe]

i am somewhat in the same situation. it is just me and a friend doin it as partners. we really dont want to hire anyone because of the headaches (taxes, workmans comp, ins. more equipment). this time of year it feels like the only day off i have is a rain day, so that just really puts me further behind. I really enjoy mowing, i worked at a golf course for 15 years, but i just dont feel that there is really the money in the mowing. we offer a pretty full range of things, fert/weed control, mulch, trimming bushes, done a few bed installs and trees as well. i actually have a few lawn installs lined up if it ever stops raining here. I really believe there is more money to made in the project side of things then in mowing, i keep tryin to get my partner to believe that too. I also believe the best type of advertisement is word of mouth, we havnt advertised in the past 2 years. we mow 70 accounts a week right now, tues- friday and sunday we do our commercial places, i dont like dealing with all the cars in parkin lots. just wanted to add my 2 cents, keep mowin straight lines.

[Elwood]

and go with a mostly Hispanic workforce ... somebody walks out the door on you ... well so what.

Why just Hispanics?? Why bring race or the "hispanic workforce" ideals into play? Hire anyone who shares the same goals as you for your company. If they are Hispanics, fine, but hire anyone who is willing to help your company GROW. Yes, you will have employee turnover, BUT training new employees costs a lot of money. Look for employees who are in it for more than a check on Friday. Look for employees that are career minded and are looking for a place to start AND a place to go.

These people will help your company grow so they have a place to go in your company. Constant turn over is costly and is like a small anchor around the ankle of a company. There are enough obstacles and "small anchors" in business, why encourage another one.

Of the people you hire, you will find leaders emerge and you will need to train foreman, supervisors, crew leaders, etc.

As your company grows, these people can grow with your company. There will always be the need for general labor and many will be satisfied with just that, but at a stage in which you are at, look down the road, thru your eyes AND your employees eyes.


As Phil stated, you should not put all your eggs in one basket, so to speak regarding employees. Depending on one person too much can be a bad thing if he/she leaves. Cross training, as mentioned is great and as you grow and hire more than just the one person, your dependency on one particular person will decrease. If you look for people who are willing to help make the company AND their future grow, they will be there for a very long time and you can focus on growth, not keeping up with new employees.

Good Luck!

[Phil Nilsson]

There are plenty of Hispanics that are willing to work for $7 or $8 to start ... are good workers, show up ... if you had ten working for you at that pay rate ... you'd be "big dollars way ahead" ... compared to American born U.S. This seems a direct avenue toward staying profitable. Hire Hispanic ... and they can train everybody who walks in the door ... American and Hispanic right off the bat you have a language problem.