
Jan 2023 Review Your Landscaping Business in 6 Easy Steps
We as business owners are often busy being more hands on than we want to be, so when someone asks “are you happy with every aspect of your business?”, we might respond with “enquiries and sales are good, but systems could be better”.
Now that it’s the beginning of the Calendar year, it’s a good time to be reviewing what you have been doing in the previous year or two, and look at it from a fresh, yet honest, perspective.
Your Schedule
Firstly, have a look at your weekly schedule and ask yourself, could I offload some tasks to others, so I have more time to work on my business this year? If the answer is yes, great! List the tasks that can be offloaded. If the answer is NO, then you are not trying hard enough. That could mean looking at the way you structure jobs, with the potential to simplify some tasks.
Money, Quoting and PM
Are your sales, profit, personal wages, cash-flow, and final result of your jobs, where you want them to be? If you answered yes, I say… Great! Move to the next section! But, if you answered with something along the lines of “it could be better”, then look at these ways to improve the money, quoting, and PM area.
- Update material costs and re-calculate employee hourly rates, so that you know the costs are accurate when you quote new jobs.
- Increase charge-out rates.
- Increase markups on materials, both soft and hardscapes.
- Could you be reviewing installation and design jobs every quarter to see what the Project Gross Profit was, and if you are getting your quoting right?
- Are you looking at your P&L every month and acting on what you see?
- Do you need to create a Cash-flow Forecast?
Team
When you consider your team, ask yourself the following questions:
- Have you created a vibe in your business that retains team members and attracts new members? Or could you place more effort into bonding events, training team members, spending time and listening to team members, and helping them develop?
- Are you passionate about your work and sharing it with team members? Remember, it’s your passion that really influences your employees, not just your experience.
Software
- Are the systems you are using working effectively, or could you be using different systems? i.e. quoting, project management, scheduling and time sheets, social media posting apps etc.
Marketing
- Are you happy with your marketing, or could you enhance your website design and the professional images you organise and upload to your website and social media pages?
- Do you have enough high quality alliances or could you be engaging one or two more alliances that have the work you are seeking?
Your Accountability
- As business owners, we need to be motivated and tread our own path, but it can be a lonely path at times. What can help is someone who has great business experience, who can listen to your issues and give advice or suggestions, or just help keep you accountable so you achieve your goals.
An overview of your business is a great way to start the calendar year. It could save you mistakes and losses, increase income and profit, and improve the way everything operates.
Have a great 2023!