Landscape Management, October 2010
Describe the state of the industry in your region OCTOBER 2010 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET S5 EXCEPT WHERE NOTED ALL ILLUSTRATIONS PHOTOS BY ISTOCK INTERNATIONAL INC NORTHEAST SOUTHWEST SOUTHEAST MIDWEST WEST CUSTOMER MIX SOURCE LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT Single family residential 55 Commercial 26 Multi family properties 11 Government institutional 6 Other 2 16 10 28 25 21 Kostecky Garden Design Nobody knows how long this recession will really last The recession in the mirror may be larger than it appears according to small business intelligence datahouse Sageworks Looking at revenue data from more than 25 million small businesses Sageworks CEO Brian Hamilton says small business sales were down 5 over the past two years and then down another 5 the following year When you go down 5 and then 5 again as anyone who knows the magic of compound interest will tell you thats more than a 10 decline Hamilton says That level of revenue shrink can have a fearsome effect on the bottom line Deleveraging assets is the technical term which translated means Im stuck with the same fi xed costs but have less income with which to pay them The bright spots seem to be coming from those contractors who check their pulse regularly see an unusual or unexpected throbbing and make changes to get a strong systematic pounding rhythm going again At least thats the case for those owners whove recognized that in repairing our damaged economy many of the ways in which we used to conceive of doing business will be fundamentally changed says Kirk Brown Joanne Kostecky Garden Designs business manager What does this mean for the industry We will never go back to pre recession highs Brown believes The successful companies will be those who can adapt and grow in new models of their former selves Action reaction To outperform the economy contractors are taking action what business expert and Harvard Business Review blogger Jeff Stibel describes as an entrepreneurs best weapon Small businesses can adapt to any circumstance quickly he says As every thriving entrepreneur knows speed breeds success Certainly nothing tops money as the largest client concern For that reason when offering new services today landscape and lawn care professionals are LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION In what region are you located TODAYS PULSE Relatively healthy 39 Flat 26 Down signifi cantly 14 Slightly down 13 Very healthy 8
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