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2019 is your year.
It's time to take your lawn and landscaping company to the next level.
Make these 8 changes right now, and in 2019...
No more excuses. No more waiting around. Find out how you can start making 2019 great right now:
Don’t wait for Spring to start your Spring Cleaning.
Set “Cost Goals” on Supplies and Repairs
Sometimes, mechanics want everything to be “perfect.” Truth is, you don’t need a mower to run at 110% to get the job done. Set a monthly goal for your supplies and repairs. Be reasonable. Be smart. What do you actually need? Don’t overspend.
Get Rid of Unnecessary Leases
Been leasing your lawn mowing equipment? What about your newest truck? Leases can eat into your profits… and they’ll never give back. This year, figure out how you can pay off your equipment. As a bonus, you’ll have one less stress to worry about.
Fire the Employees Who Aren’t Pulling Their Weight
Best to nip this one in the bud right at the start of 2019. It’s never easy to fire an employee, but if someone is dragging down your team, they’re dragging down your whole company. Get it over with, and part ways before the season picks up.
“But there’s no work yet!”
That’s the point.
Start on your hiring process TODAY and you get to laugh at all the other guys when they start whining about how “there’s no good employees anymore.” Because you already hired them.
This is how I see most lawn businesses operate:
Makes sense… until you have too many jobs, and the new employees either quit, or move too slow. Then, you have to tell your clients “sorry, we’re understaffed and can’t do the service we said we would.”
That is bad for business.
Start now. Figure out:
For more on this, check out our complete guide to hiring for your landscaping or lawn care company.
There are two groups you can start training right away
Get your field crews to achieve a higher level of quality.
Help them brush off their winter rustiness now, and you’ll have very satisfied clients as soon as the grass starts to grow.
This will lead into a bunch of new referrals right off the bat - which will make a huge difference this year
Get your office staff ready to answer phones.
Prepare them with a list of “must ask” questions and “must know” answers. Remember - not answering phones is the number one reason most lawn businesses fail.
Multiply Your Team with Software
What if you could clone Members of your team…
...and not have to pay them…
...even though they multiply your work output by 2, 3, and even 10 times?
That’s what the best Lawn Business Software will do for your business. Make sure you get the right software now, and start training your team how to make the most of it.
It’s going to make a huge difference in the middle of your season. This is the difference between the “always small” lawn companies, and the people who eventually “go big.”
Some quick updates on marketing your lawn care business in 2019:
Brush up on your marketing skills. Get online. Make your website look amazing for 2019.
Start using Google Adwords, Facebook. Build out smarter email follow-up campaigns (this is really easy with Service Autopilot’s latest update: Automations).
To become a true master of explosive growth, check out this Ultimate Guide to Marketing Your Lawn Care Business.
It might sound like a lot, but spending just one day planning out your next year in marketing will catapult you ahead of the competition.... And help you double your growth, easily.
2019 might be the first year in a long time anyone has seen a tax cut.
It should even affect lawn companies like yours.
But until then… costs are always going up:
Right now is a good time to let your low-paying clients know that you have to raise your prices.
Here’s a quick article on how to raise your lawn prices… without losing any valuable clients. It boils down to this:
It’s cold outside.
There’s no kind of sunlight, except that grey foggy blur.
This is the perfect time to hone your skills as an entrepreneur.
Here’s a quick list of resources where you can watch videos, read books, and blogs to sharpen your business senses:
Nobody is saying you have to get through all of these. Just find one source of knowledge that you really enjoy.
You’ll get ahead of your competition right now, while they’re all at home on the couch watching game day replays.
Right now, I’m talking to a few lawn care owners. I asked them what their goals were, and this is what I heard:
Sounds great, but…
How will you do it?
Instead of thinking about what you want out of 2019…
Decide on what you’re going to get from each month of the year.
Set a specific, realistic goal for yourself in January. And another in February, etc. Write these goals down now.
When you break up your year like this, you can focus on knocking out your “growth obstacles” and snowballing your business into an unstoppable machine.
Focus on SMART Goals, and 2019 is going to rock.
Software is the difference.
Difference between what?
It’s the difference between the “man in a van without a plan” and actually growing your small business.
The right software will even allow you to quickly rise above “small business” and eventually shoot you past that mythical million-dollar mark.
There is no better time to start using the right software for your lawn care business than-
Right. Now.
The sooner you master your software, the sooner you can eliminate hours of wasted time, cut down on resources, and even save yourself from having to hire extra people.
This is true even if you use software other than Service Autopilot.
Your competitors are still deep in hibernation.
Start now...
...and by Spring, you’ll be ready to have your richest year ever.
Happy growing!
Updated Jan 9, 2018 7:00 AM
Tags: Business Operation
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