Landscape Management, June 2018

Photo Schultz InduStrIeS give you 15 points back off that money We went one step further and said Anything you make over that well split in half with you So the first year they hit about 14 percent Then last year which was our second year it just blew up They hit close to 25 percent margins We take the kickback all the way down to the field so its not just management that shares in it We gave three quarters of a million dollars back to the team last year What has the impact been internally The people in the field are engaged much more Theyre engaged in production Weve completely flipped the culture that Hey if you want to stop at 7 Eleven and spend 45 minutes in the morning buying cigarettes and Cokes for the day thats your money We now have foremen saying Youve got to help find me somebody else because this guys not cutting it Whereas before if they had a guy on a crew that wasnt producing it was just a guy on the crew who wasnt producing The mentality is to focus on the bottom line and not be so focused on getting from 14 million a year to 20 million When youre driving that top line I think you lose sight of the bottom line Is there anything else you attribute the successful shift to bottom line thinking to We have a very very good inclusive culture all the way down to the laborers We have very little turnover as a result of it So thats a good thing Because were not looking towards growth having that good core group of employees makes it easier for us to sell higher dollar work We did H 2B for a couple of years and then the government started messing with it and I just walked away from it When we did that we again changed the culture to say we need to really make sure were taking care of our people this is the place where they want to come to work every day and LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET June 2018 S8 where they enjoy working We have a standing policy that if you leave for more money dont come back You dont get to work here go make 5 an hour more for 90 days and then come back here and expect us to take care of you We offer health insurance We do paid time off all the way down to the lowest paid laborer We do longevity and milestone bonuses so you get a check when you hit five 10 15 20 years We pay a hundred dollars per year What other advice do you have for landscape business owners trying to be more profitable I see the flyers that say Well beat any price by 10 percent How do you know youll beat any price by 10 percent Youre not focused on what it costs you to do business I know theres a point where you have to get enough work to feed three guys plus yourself so youre chasing work but once you get to the point where you have consistent work then step back and say Can I look at replacing some of what I have with something thats better The first 20 years we did work for just about anybody in the marketplace Weve gone to the model of picking and choosing our clients and working with clients that understand the value of a job well done as opposed to just buying the cheapest thing in the marketplace Thats worked really well for us I think a lot of people lose sight of the fact that theyre chasing the work but they never step back and say is it the right work Is there better work out there for me Profit Pointer Lack of cash can be a vicious cycle Schultz says noting hes aware of many landscapers who rely heavily on lines of credit It just compounds itself and then theyre out chasing work to have work but theyre not making any money on it he says adding that companies in this scenario may be two payrolls away from being out of business if they face an unforeseen challenge Thats not a healthy business model ProfIleS Schultzs work is about half design build installation and half maintenance including snow and irrigation