Aug 2014 2 Questions That Will Change Your Business
How long does it take to really improve a business?
Much less time than you think. I have seen many businesses improve quickly by focusing on 2 fundamental questions to begin with. These 2 questions are fundamental to a landscape business.
So here are 2 questions that help you improve yours.
Question 1
Where do my leads come from and is that source still working?
Most Landscapers don’t give this fundamental question anywhere near enough time each week. They know they should be doing more but choose to get involved in all the daily processes of running of a business and find each week they have no time left to devote to what I consider the most important task a business owner MUST do…Getting leads.
Even if you are working on site, quoting, invoicing, paying wages, ordering materials, training your employees etc, the 1 thing you must create time for is chasing leads. You must consider yourself a business owner first and a landscaper second. Why do I say that? Because if you think of yourself as a business owner first you will start devoting time to improving the way your business runs.
Look at your leads, where are they coming from, have they dropped off from one source like your website. If so, do you need to improve your SEO ranking, there are companies that can help you. If your website leads are ok but your alliances are not, get on the phone to some designers, builders etc.
This area of most businesses needs attention, make sure you are giving it some.
Question 2
The 2nd most important question is jobs making enough profit?
I say to landscapers all the time. If your jobs are making just enough profit to cover your business over-heads, the jobs are not worth quoting in the first place. But if you have quoted a job and the potential profit was lost on poor project management, then clearly this needs focus every week.
Even if your landscaping business is making reasonable profit, tracking profit per job should be a weekly procedure done by the Owner/ Construction Manager. Clearly no business can afford to let this vital area of a business go without focus.
So they are my two most important questions that need answering. Sure there are other important questions but these two I give priority.
Have a good July