Landscape Management, June 2017

June 2017 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET S15 a bunch of equipment in the spring because everyone was flush with cash That doesnt necessarily mean everybody needed extra equipment They just happened to have a bunch of extra cash and they wanted equipment We make sure our people have everything they need Weve been investing in the best equipment but were not buying equipment because we have cash Were buying equipment because our business will support it I think one of the things thats really helped me in this industry other than being smart enough to know Im not a great horticulturist and surrounding myself with great horticulturists is making sure were applying discipline to our decisions You know were not doing things because we think we want them Were doing things because the customer is telling us they want them Were not spending money emotionally or bidding emotionally Were bidding based on the facts and I think seeing how the business works on the other side has helped my team I take the great things about the industry that have been in this industry a long time the passion that makes properties look great and combine it with sustainable economic practices My biggeSt MiStake waS Not fully understanding our cost structure early on The last thing we want is to be a low baller but early on we werent good enough at our pricing and estimating We spent a lot of energy making sure we understand our costs and were bidding in a way that makes financial sense for us J T Price business book Club A great business book can serve as the philosophy by which a business owner molds his or her company Most company executives read many business books but only a few tomes stick with them and thats probably for the best Many owners make the mistake of zigzagging their style and direction every time they read a new buzz book says Lebo newman owner of Signature Landscapes That burns out an organization and rarely achieves any productive changes for the better A few of our LM150 leaders pointed us to the business books that were the most influential for them J T Price The Hard Things about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz So many of these business books talk in really vague terms This book talks about the things that are not fun about running a business but you need to do them making the hard people decisions and making sure youre holding yourself and your team accountable Kelly Solomon StrengthsFinder by Tom Rath Instead of getting frustrated now I understand people I was talking to a business owner who said My entire staff is incompetent I looked at him like How could that be Youre still in business today You cant be the only smart person there Hes surrounded by people who can do stuff you just have to channel it and find it Lebo Newman The One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard Ph D It was one an early simple for everyman type of business book that was easy for all of our employees to understand created a common vocabulary and gave simple guidelines to success We used it extensively and even became one of Ken Blanchards pet companies He would call me periodically to check in on how things were growing and what fun things we were doing He liked doing fun things such as allowing employees to throw cream pies in my face and other key managers when they reached certain goals in safety production etc It was a good relationship as he always had some new ideas to share back with us There are so many great business books out there its a matter of finding the ones that fit your culture and can actually be implemented for change Jon Georgio Good to Great by Jim Collins I was floored by what it had to offer from leadership styles to a culture of discipline to using technology as accelerators It was an instrumental book for me The Servant by James C Hunter Its a story about servant leadership which really just says turn your organizational chart upside down If youre the CeO youre there to serve everybody else not the other way around and it teaches you that you need to fulfill the needs of everybody in the company