How to Achieve Landscaping Business Growth by Removing Yourself From the Day-to-Day

Landscaping has always been a labor-intensive industry, boasting one of the longest workweeks across all sectors. Being a landscape business owner is hardly any easier. In fact, many landscape business owners frequently multitask and tend to involve themselves in everything from estimation to material delivery. However, there is often a hidden cost in not detaching yourself from the day-to-day operations: how can you focus on growing your business while being ensnared in repetitive yet seemingly critical tasks? The key to achieving landscaping business growth may lie in deciphering how to organize with the intention of eliminating day-to-day tasks from your plate.

Read on to discover effective strategies to grow your landscaping business. You will learn about:

• Establishing landscaping business growth through a strategic growth plan
• Analyzing areas of your business needing assistance
• Landscaping business growth around key performers
• Landscaping business growth through delegating to experts

Let’s delve right into it!

 

Establishing landscaping business growth through a strategic growth plan

Clearly, the last few years have been a mixed bag for the landscape industry. It is natural to wonder how to effectively run a landscaping business when each year brings unexpected challenges. From COVID-related aftershocks to soaring fuel prices, macroeconomic trends are evolving rapidly, demanding that landscaping business owners establish a strategic plan to navigate growth.

For example, an Axiom survey has revealed that over 80% of younger generations may continue spending more time on gardening in 2023. If you are a smaller landscape business owner, this could translate to fewer new residential maintenance contracts. Try implementing a strategic business plan by looking at new growth opportunities and revenue streams, such as snow removal or pivoting to more installation projects. This approach brings landscaping business growth by allowing owners to allocate their budgets to purchase necessary equipment for specific services, hire experts in those areas, and promote the services to existing and new customers.

By doing so, business owners can stay ahead of trends instead of suddenly encountering revenue gaps throughout the year.

 

Analyzing areas of your business needing assistance

A strategic business plan also aids in analyzing underperforming areas of your business. This step is crucial in understanding how to organize your landscaping business without the need for day-to-day involvement from the owner. Collecting this data can be challenging, but it is usually well worth the effort to identify what disrupts your weekly routine. Is it bidding last-minute on RFPs that are suddenly brought to your attention? Or perhaps following up on payments for a substantial job crucial for clearing dues?

Identifying trigger points that derail your well-laid plans allows you to seek assistance in these specific areas. For instance, if bidding and estimating materials consistently consume your time, you can consider relying on professional services like GoMaterials and Takeoff Monkey to take on that workload. After training your staff to utilize these services, you can review the final output without getting bogged down in project details.

 

Landscaping business growth around key performers

Most landscaping business owners are well aware of, and deeply concerned by, labor shortages. This concern remains consistent in consecutive State of Landscaping reports over the past few years, and for good reason. The quality of your labor force significantly influences your success. Business owners often involve themselves in day-to-day operations when the labor force lacks skills or the ability to make tough decisions. Cultivating a culture of independent action can be a rewarding strategy to reduce involvement in every task.

The Pareto Principle, or the 80/20 rule, states that 80% of the consequences come from 20% of the causes. In this context, 80% of the work completed comes from 20% vital few team members. This serves as an excellent starting point for identifying individuals who truly contribute value to your business. Once these high performers are identified, it is essential to acknowledge their contributions by assigning tasks that you often find yourself pulled into. Recognizing their value increases the likelihood that newly promoted employees will be motivated to learn quickly and alleviate at least one day-to-day task from your workload. By continually organizing your landscaping business around key performers, you not only free up time to focus on long-term goals but also establish redundancies in case you become too occupied to handle specific tasks.

 

Landscaping business growth through delegating to experts

The world is entering an era of specialization. Involving yourself in activities where you lack expertise often leads to an ever-increasing list of day-to-day responsibilities. Insufficient resources and expertise can encroach on your workday, even affecting tasks at which landscaping business owners excel. Consider estimating plant material, for instance. Even seemingly unrelated events can trigger a series of unforeseen price increases or expenses without insights from professional estimators. Delegating estimation to a team of professionals, such as GoMaterials, can help you avoid rectifying estimation errors down the road and shield you from potentially profit-diminishing losses.

Fortunately, modern landscaping business owners can leverage numerous online and mobile-based services tailored to their needs. From estimation and takeoffs to design and accounting, delegating to field professionals can spare you the troubles and hassles of attempting to handle everything on your own. In the process, you not only sidestep potential profit pitfalls but also safeguard yourself from burnout.

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