business smarts Archives - The Edge from the National Association of Landscape Professionals

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business smarts

The Importance of Benchmarking

When you go to the doctor for a physical and your blood pressure is 120 over 80 and your temperature is 98.6, they’ll declare you’re healthy. This is because the average human has a blood pressure and a temperature that is in a certain range of healthiness. Likewise, determining the health of your business requires […]

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Business Smarts: Setting Contract Minimums

The first year Landscape America, based in Wrentham, Massachusetts, implemented contract minimums they were able to reduce their clients from 300 to 180 and increase their revenue at the same time. “We wish we had done it sooner,” says Doug McDuff, president of Landscape America. “It would have saved a lot of headaches and allowed us […]

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Business Smarts: Becoming a Snow Removal Subcontractor

If you want to break into the snow removal sector and don’t have the customer base to support the division yet, becoming a subcontractor can be a helpful solution. “I tell guys that don’t have experience if you can find a good contractor in your marketplace and become a subcontractor for them, that’s not only […]

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How to Influence Consumer Buying Decisions

Because landscape and lawn care services are mostly discretional purchases and there is an abundance of choice when it comes to providers, it’s critical you can persuade your client base to select you over other options. Your marketing efforts can be highly effective at influencing consumer behavior if you consider some of the main factors […]

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Business Smarts: Plant Growth Regulators and Their Potential

You can’t slow down time, but you can slow plants with the help of plant growth regulators. These products can be used in various settings and serve as yet another way for landscape professionals to work smarter, not harder. “PGRs are a powerful yet underutilized tool in the plant health care toolbox,” says Emmett Muennink, […]

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Photo: Master Lawn

Business Smarts: The Pros and Cons of Creating a Secondary Brand  

If you like the idea of being a full-service lawn or landscape company, you may be wondering what are the benefits of creating a separate company brand for a specific offering. Going this route depends greatly on your goals and plans for the future. Some of the reasons a landscape company creates a secondary business […]

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Photo: Joshua Tree Experts

Joshua Tree Experts Launch Franchise Model

Joshua Tree Experts, based in Stockertown, Pennsylvania, started in 2005 as a general tree service and plant health care company. Now they have grown to a $7 million business through their three-in-one business model by adding lawn care and pest control services. “We’ve really built the business up and we really focused on managing client […]

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Photo: Outback Landscape

Business Smarts: When to Launch a Secondary Brand

If you’re wanting to add another service offering for your customer base, typically, you’ll want to simply create a new division within your lawn or landscape business. However, there are certain cases where spinning off this new service into a secondary brand can be a better fit. Reasons To Create A Secondary Business Chase Coates, […]

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Business Smarts: How to Deal with a Bad Quarter

No one wants to experience them, but bad quarters will happen as you operate your lawn care or landscape business. Sometimes a bad quarter is due to external factors utterly out of your control, like Mother Nature not delivering the snow you expected for the winter season. Other times, internal factors like poor marketing strategies […]

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Business Smarts: Setting Clear Boundaries with Customers

Do you have issues with clients calling day and night with questions and concerns about their projects? Is your inbox flooded with constant emails, or is your phone buzzing with frequent texts from customers? While timely communication is an important aspect of customer service, lines must also be drawn for your team and your own […]

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