Landscape Management Network’s articles are now featured in the Landscaping section of Mike Rowe’s Trades Hub website.

As a landscape or snow and ice contractor, we all make mistakes. The best, most profitable companies are those that learn from them. We all fail, so fail better than your competitors.

Using a lean technique called the 5 Why’s will help you solve not just your problems, but the reasons why they keep happening.

We all want to retain people and keep them at peak levels of performance. That’s because we understand that people are the driving forces behind our businesses. Without good people, we have nothing. In order to retain good people, however, emphasis needs to be placed on improving the quality of work life we offer them. [...]

Trying to determine which technologies are worth your time and effort? Perhaps a deeper look at some of today’s technologies that are streamlining everyday work activities will bring some clarity…

While a weak economy does mean a higher volume of talent and therefore a higher chance of finding a star performer; a weak economy also means a higher volume of not-so-great candidates vying for a job with you. The real trick now is finding an effective technique to sort through a higher than normal volume of applicants, clearing away the low performers so you can find the few top performers who will be great assets to your business. Here’s how to narrow down the search and find the top performer for your business.

Company culture is best described as the set values and principles you share with the people within your business. To create a strong sense of company culture in your business, you need to understand what your primary values are and align your people with these values. Read on to discover how to align your people with your core values to create company culture.

How many of us witness our email inboxes overflow with email after email? We barely have a chance to answer an email before the next one comes in. How many of us feel time-crunched? Or that we are being pulled in a million different directions at once? The problem with this is that – without a break from all the madness – these experiences contribute to an enormous amount of stress. And as we are told every day by health experts, stress has a major impact on our health and wellbeing. Here’s how to work towards achieving a better work/life balance.

Having a budget in place and using it is one of the biggest differentiators between non-successful and successful businesses. Why? Because when you have a plan, you know how much you can afford to spend on things like equipment and materials. But it’s more than just that. When you budget, you have the ability to set clear, measurable goals. And when you have measurable goals, you can actually communicate your plans to your employees and reward them for having a stake in helping you achieve them. Here’s why you should start budgeting for better business management and better productivity.

Happy Friday! It’s the beginning of a new month – and a great month at that! April promises (hopefully) warmer weather, longer, sunnier days and a more busy and productive season. What better way to get the month off to a great start than to review some of the best business advice featured on the blog? Here are some of the top posts of the month.