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When it comes to making a profit, there is significant confusion between markup and margins. “When we say the word markups, there are markups for recovering overhead and then there are markups for recovering what we call labor burden,” says Tony Bass, founder of Tony Bass Consulting. “There are markups for profit. In my view […]
Snow season will be here before you know it. While staffing up for the growing season is hard enough, snow work has its own set of challenges and hiring subcontractors is one way to help mitigate this labor challenge. Even if you have enough in-house employees, snow subcontractors can help bolster your company’s crew […]
When you lack a mathematical process for your project estimating, you can end up losing significantly on your jobs. While you can get away with guesstimating, this isn’t ideal to ensure the long-term success of your lawn care or landscape company. “They base their estimating on the experiences they’ve had or the gut,” says Tony […]
If you’re tired of breaking even or even losing on jobs frequently, it may be time to review your current estimating practices. Like some other landscape contractors, you might not even have a formal estimating system. David Arnold, managing partner at Two Twelve Advisors, LLC, points out that while smaller companies might not have the […]
While no one can know for sure what will happen with the economy over the next few years, landscape companies are not resting on their laurels. Despite having some of the best years of business recently, many are taking the necessary precautions to ensure their companies can weather the potential recession. Raising Prices With inflation […]
Talk of a possible recession is a major topic in the news cycle right now. From rampant inflation to continued supply chain woes, the general attitude about the economy has been quite negative. What remains to be seen is if a recession is actually coming in the near future. Curtis Dubay, chief economist in the […]
In the sweltering heat of July, snow is probably the last thing on your mind, but now is the time to be reviewing your snow and ice management contracts if you haven’t already. “You should be looking at all of your agreements annually for routine analysis of where you stand on the efficacy of the […]
When you’re looking to improve your company’s efficiency, one aspect you can consider is outsourcing some parts of the business that make up your overhead. Just like how you’d bring on a subcontractor to handle some of the tasks that aren’t your company’s specialty, outsourcing certain departments allows you to pass on duties that need […]
Oftentimes when a consumer is making a sizable purchase for a house, a car or other investment, they look for financing to help make the cost more manageable. Yet frequently, landscaping companies opt not to offer their customers any financing options, believing this is best left to the banks to handle. However, offering financing has […]
Productivity is a major focus for lawn and landscape businesses as there is limited time in the season to get certain tasks done. However, as a leader, your individual productivity can suffer for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s handling unexpected fires or being pulled into unplanned phone calls or meetings, your limited time can […]