Real Contractor Stories: George Urvari of Oriole Landscaping
ORIOLE LANDSCAPING
LMN’s online tools, systems and training boost production for Toronto landscaping company
COMPANY:
In 1995, George Urvari started his own landscaping business as a way to pay for his university tuition. “I was knocking on doors to get business,” he says with a laugh, fondly remembering his amateur beginnings. Now, 15 years later, ‘amateur’ is the last word to describe George and his ever-growing company. Oriole Landscaping – his once small ‘door to door’ business – has developed into one of Toronto’s leading landscaping companies.
With expertise in a wide range of both residential and commercial landscape ventures – including design, construction and maintenance, as well as stone masonry, excavating and tree removal – Oriole Landscaping is the epitome of a ‘rise through the ranks’ business success story. Its fortune is likely the result of many long hours and sleepless nights – which, surely, George could attest to. But another contributing factor, and one that shouldn’t be overlooked, is the company’s unique management system. According to George, his “standardized” system organizes his business in such a way that his company has the potential to consistently reach its maximum production and profit capacity. The system is based on structure, protocol and standards. Simply put, George says the system focuses on “empowering people.” By giving his employees important resources and tools – and by training them to think like business owners, themselves, with the power to make smart business decisions on their own – George says his team has the necessary skill-set to “leverage the company to do more.”
CHALLENGE:
Though George has always followed the principles of “lean landscaping,” he was looking for a way to streamline his company’s production time and effort – specifically in the estimation department. Relying solely on Microsoft Excel spreadsheets to price jobs, Oriole was in need of a new, more advanced system that would not only improve production time and maximize efficiency, but that would also allow the company to price jobs accurately for profit. “We needed something with more flexibility and speed,” adds George.
SOLUTION:
Enter Landscape Management Network: A collection of systems, tools and training for landscape contractors, which George says has provided his company with the necessary elements to “turn wasted opportunities into profit.” Oriole Landscaping registered with LMN in 2009 and started using the system’s budget and estimating software to price jobs.
OUTCOME:
A ‘standardized’ system for pricing and estimating:
Using the system’s unique accounting software, George and his team of employees are able to “reduce the amount of time it takes for decision making.” In addition to improving the estimating process, LMN has opened George’s eyes to new, innovative ways of recovering his overhead costs. The key, he has learned, is accurately pricing his work. A little background information: Overhead costs are best described as the costs that are ‘not billable,’ which may include office rent and salaries, advertising, utilities, etc. In order to set your company’s prices properly, you need to include your overhead expenses. In other words, you must calculate the proper amount to add to your job pricing to pay for your overhead costs. In doing so, you will ensure your overhead costs are included in your job expenses and, therefore, paid by your customers and not coming out of your company’s profit.
While George has always included his overhead costs in his job pricing, LMN showed him that different methods could be implemented to better recover costs and better increase profit. Using LMN, George discovered how to allocate his recovery costs to the elements of a job (equipment, labour, or materials) based on risk. In his case, George realized that labour costs often posed the highest risk to his profit. So, to combat the risk, George now uses LMN to price his jobs in a way that takes into account labour risk. By following Oriole’s pricing system with LMN software, George knows that he is accurately charging his customer to cover his overhead costs and to cover his risk. Instead of guessing that his overhead costs are taken care of, he and his staff know the job is priced to include his overhead costs under the best and most appropriate way to achieve a profit.
Employees that care and understand the business:
Due to the positive results of LMN’s budgeting and estimating systems, George plans to incorporate LMN’s online training program into Oriole’s repertoire next and insists his employees will be taking the courses “during their down time” (on rainy days or during the winter season when production is low). “By next spring, all our employees will be assigned [an LMN account] and trained,” he says, confidently, “The goal is to have all key staff able to understand estimating and the value of productivity.” George adds that “it typically costs a fortune to train staff.” With LMN, however, Oriole employees have access to a variety of online courses, resources and documents, anytime, anywhere without the need to go offsite for formal training. “The learning curve is 10 times faster,” he says. “It’s very user-friendly and you don’t need any consultants setting you up.”
With his office staff now following LMN training and using its systems – such as setting up proper binders and programs for projects and supervisors– to establish a form of “standardized” office management, George has noticed the positive effects. “It works, which translates to people believing in the system,” he explains.
A system for continuous improvement:
Aside from the noticeable improvements in efficiency, the main reason George believes in LMN’s system is because it promotes the same business principles he has followed, himself, since starting out 25 years ago. One LMN concept that really hit home for him was the idea of hiring “superstars.” “Superstars do more work, more efficiently, which leads to more profit,” he explains. Operating under the “lean landscaping” philosophy, “forced us to be very selective of whom we hire,” he explains. “We look for entrepreneurship from the start. We don’t hire the wrong person and train them. Using the budget developed in LMN, we know exactly what we can afford and we hire the right person from the start.”
Another concept, both promoted through LMN and incorporated into George’s business protocol, is the Japanese-invented workplace strategy known as ‘5S’ – sort, straighten, shine, standardize, sustain – which is used to ensure consistent work practices and a safe, clean working environment. George uses this system to organize his office, trucks, trailers and, especially, his yard. “The goal was to set up the yard like a Home Depot,” he explains, pointing to the various numbered and labeled stations in his yard. “When you go to Home Depot looking for a plumbing part, you go to the plumbing section, not the electrical… well, same goes here.”
The yard is devised into different stations, namely ‘cement,’ ‘plumbing,’ ‘tools,’ ‘sundry,’ ‘loading’ etc., and his crews follow an “order of operations,” which is devised to appropriately accommodate their first and last tasks. “It works like a conveyer belt. It saves time and costs,” says George. “Too much inventory goes bad as it is…everyone who can read can follow the system.” Even the yard’s parking lot has numbered spots and matching numbered trucks. “The system works to standardize everything,” he adds. “If something is put in the wrong spot, it’s at least in the right department.” But with this “standardized” system in place, slip-ups are a rare occurrence. If something ever does go missing, George says it never goes unnoticed. He can tell right away by looking at the labeled departments and stations and is most-often able to locate the missing item simply by notifying his crews.
With the help of LMN, putting the proper systems and practices in place has proved to be a straightforward and valuable initiative for Oriole Landscaping. “It gives you the tools and training instantly,” exclaims George, referring to LMN’s system. “It has been enormously helpful.” In fact, George says that while he is just starting to “dab his toes” in a new business venture, snow removal, he plans on using LMN software to estimate his jobs. With such great results in boosting efficiency and productivity, George says he will continue to use the system to “reduce overhead and increase capacity during low periods.”
Whether it’s advice on how to nurture your staff to excellence, a tip to save on costs, or the steps to take to put a new business initiative in motion, we can all learn something valuable from each other. Our goal with our Contractor Stories is to spotlight real people with real obstacles and effective solutions that are applicable to your own business.
The Landscape Management Network is the ultimate profit toolbox for landscape contractors. Developed by landscape contractors for landscape contractors, LMN’s suite of online tools and systems offer landscape contractors anytime, anywhere access to tools that drive productivity and profit
