Use Technology to Maximize Efficiency and Profit

 

One of the best ways to make your business more profitable and successful is to make it more efficient. Of course this doesn’t mean you need to completely overhaul how you do business; rather, it simply means you need to begin leveraging the right systems, tools, and technology to eliminate the bottle necks and inefficient practices that are currently preventing your business from operating at its true potential. The following are five simple and cost-effective tips for leveraging technology to achieve this goal.

 Utilize budgeting software to build an accurate business plan + strategy

• LMN’s online budgeting tool enables you to quickly create + adjust your plans as dictated by the current needs of your business, and enables you to manage your business throughout the year using real-time and accurate data
• Price your work accurately – no two companies are the same.  Your budget tool will automatically calculate the rates you need to charge to meet your goals for profit.
• Use accounting/cost-tracking software to track your actual expenses as they relate to your plan to inform you exactly when you’re going off track from achieving your objectives

 

Communicate best practices using industry standard systems + procedures

• Owners will never find the time to verbally explain every best practice to every employee, so it’s essential employees have access to systems + procedures that clearly outline how key tasks need to be performed
• When employees know exactly what they need to do and how to do it the right way every time, two things will happen to make your business more efficient:

1. Productivity will increase, providing your company a greater return on investment in its labor
2. Labor costs will decrease, enabling your company to submit more competitive bids and win more profitable jobs 

 

Implement mobile communications systems built for people-on-the-go

• Most business problems result from ineffective communication, whether it’s from customer-to-owner, owner-to-supervisor, or supervisor-to-employees
• Leveraging the right communications systems will enable employees to work more proactively and will remove the barriers that result in costly miscommunications and mistakes
• For example, utilizing blackberrys/mobile phones will result in productivity savings that will far outweigh their costs by enabling employees to:

1. Solve problems from the site in a timely and effective manner
2. Use e-mail to quickly communicate to groups spread across several locations
3. Track time and location data for payroll/billing/jobcosting

 

Provide employees with easy access to required knowledge

• Online systems + training allow employees to access the knowledge they need to complete the job anytime, anywhere (at work, at home, after hours, during bad weather, etc.)
• Properly training employees will result in a safer workplace, a more productive culture, and will increase sales without increasing labor costs
• Online training eliminates many of the obstacles posed by traditional “on ground” training:

1. Employees do not need to take any time off from work to complete the training; they can complete the training at their own pace from home
2. There are no travel expenses for employees taking online training
3. It enables owners, foremen, and supervisors to spend less time preparing and delivering training and more time addressing the key needs of the business
4. You don’t have to plan a set date/time for training – online training is available wherever, whenever so you can train on rain days, weekends, slow times of the year.  Your company only has a fixed number of hours for production.  You need to maximize your opportunities to use every available production hour for billable work.

 

Utilize technology to improve employee satisfaction and retention

• Clear communication and responsibilities empower employees to successfully manage their own work with little to no supervision
• Productivity and efficiency improvements achieved by leveraging the right technology will result in many direct and indirect benefits to your business:

1. Your employees will be more effective in completing their tasks
2. Your employees will be happier working for you knowing their company is very well organized and is committed to developing their skills and career
3. Your business will be better able recruit and retain the best people in the industry

 

Technological systems and tools are now available to make your business more efficient and profitable and are priced so that even the smallest landscape business can afford them! Landscape Management Network (LMN) offers a complete suite of online systems and tools accessible anytime and anywhere from its website, designed by landscape professionals for landscape professionals. Never before has such a turn-key solution been developed, tested, and proven to make your business more efficient, enhance its productivity levels, and save you a great deal of time and money while increasing your sales and lowering your expenses. Leveraging technology to enable your business to reach its true potential will generate a return on investment greater than any other business improvement strategy. Your profit represents this return on investment, and your business plan and operating budget are the roadmaps to achieve it.

For more information, visit www.landscapemanagementnetwork.com to see how you can improve your business and your competitive advantage with business tools and solutions developed specifically for the landscape contractor.