I often ask contractors why they decided to start a landscape business during our management workshops. Often, they shrug or laugh followed by saying something along the lines of “I wish I knew what I was thinking”. There is simply no way in this business to avoid work.

Stress is excitement and enjoyment in your work gone wrong. It comes from many different sources in the landscape business but most of all I think it comes from a lack of planning and a shortage of systems.

I have come to realize after speaking personally with many landscapers in our management workshops and operating my own landscape company that most companies and managers in the green industry tend to hang on to deadwood employees for too long. Don’t be afraid of turnover. The success of your business depends on it.

At the end of the day, you can run your business on intuition, but your banker is all about numbers. Manage your numbers well and the bank will speak your language and HELP YOU grow your business.

Companies that have achieved success during this economy have followed the same strategy – to find a more efficient way to get the job done. As a contractor, there are ways to grow both sales and profits without the typical headaches involved in hiring more people.

Many of your staff will not have the natural tendency to resolve the problems they identify on their own. It is up to you, the owner, to create the culture that will not allow people to identify problems without solutions.