4
THE CORE ELEMENTS
TO BUSINESS SUCCESS
CORE #4 / DOING THE BUSINESS
It’s Not What You Make, It’s What You Keep. I cannot believe we have completed 3 of the 4 CORE’s of Landscape Success. So far we covered Guiding the Business, Running the Business, and Getting the Business. What’s left? Oh yeah… now we have to deliver, in order to get paid. This brings us to the subject of Project Management. No matter how you cut it, landscape businesses are profitable because of their ability to schedule and manage work. In fact, our experience has been that 80% of your margin is based on the ability to maximize resources. My intention is not to cover how to plan a design build project. It is to give you the tools necessary to improve your overall project management. One quick side note: In manufacturing, everything is based on standardizing processes and products, with no customization to please customers. They buy what you sell. Landscaping is the complete antithesis of this. Everything is custom, and everything hinges on the customer receiving what was promised. What does this mean? It means you need a standard process for making customers happy and your project management is that tool. So, let’s start with the Key Rule, which is this: Every job you take on needs to be scheduled into the overall workflow that maximizes the use of your resources. One of the prime roles of Landscape Managers is scheduling work that places the right people, with the right materials, and the right equipment, at the right place, at the right time… and not a moment longer.
Scheduling that drives good margins can be achieved on many of the current Project Management Software (PMS) packages, like LMN. If a PMS package is out of your current budget, this may also be accomplished using a large planning board. Now, you have the 80% of the margin right (you should be at breakeven), the next critical person is the supervisor. Whether you call them a Foreman, Crew Leader, Team Leader – whatever – their job is simple; Bring the job in on budget. When the job was sold, the sales person estimated its requirements: materials, labor hours, equipment, and so on. Our experience at GreenMark is this information never makes it to the supervisor. And if there is one thing you take away from this entire article, it should be this: Every job must have a budget and your supervisors need to be aware of it. How can they keep your job(s) profitable if they don’t know the standard – on, or under budget? There are two other important impacts on running the business. First, you can check your estimates against reality. If you are underestimating jobs, the information is now available to sell better deals. If the estimates are right, then the cause for unprofitable jobs is how the crews are being run.
WILLIAM EASTMAN GreenMark Consulting Group Do you have the right supervisor? Do you have the wrong people on the crew? Do you have all the resources available when needed? About 15% of your margin is determined on how the job is managed and most, if not all, of that margin goes to the bottom line. I know all of this makes it sound as if your landscape technicians have no part in this. Certainly they are responsible for following instructions, but I want to elevate their role. Quality of work is not something YOU can inject into a job. It must be built in by the people doing the work. Training your crews on how to eliminate waste (doing things over, doing things wrong, wasting materials, or damaging equipment) has two payoffs. First, it raises their level of professionalism and second, the remaining 5% of your margin comes from doing the job right the first time. By the way, this 5% is pure profit. There is more to it than what we can cover in such a short article. That said, the team at GreenMark have a passion for project management. If you want to get scheduling, job efficiency, and waste under control – reach out and we will take you through our process. There are many things you can do to improve profitability, however, if you wanted a place start, it is here. Call us @833.RUGREEN or email greenmarkcoaching@gmail.com. Looking forward to talking with you.
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