Landscape Management, October 2012

BUSINESSPLANNER2013 By Kevin SaBourin ts that time of year again Time to sharpen the pencils clean the eyeglasses and put new batteries in the old calculator But business planning doesnt have to be so diffcult Close your fscal snapshot by fnishing the fnancial aspects of your new business plan establishing new sales goals and reviewing your human capital needs Nows the perfect time to refect on last year and determine what worked and what didnt Take a close look at one important part of your business plan that has huge implications for operational effciency employee retention and the bottom line your feet Fleet management equipment costs and how well the feet integrates with the entire operation is one of the biggest challenges landscape contractors face every year A feet affects everything from employee happiness and engagement to your proftability Sound feet planning cant be taken for granted You cant make poor feet decisions and not expect it to affect other areas of your business plan Consider several factors about what makes a sound feet and how it impacts your planning Does the equipment handle your jobs effciently and effectively Does your equipment work well or is there a lot of repair work because of its age Do you have the right equipment for the bids youre getting or do you have to make do Are you meeting your fnancial goals based on your feets cost against the bids earned These questions can be viewed from the perspective of the company owner operator and customer If your feet gets the job done but is old and diffcult to operate The owner might be happy because hes saved the cost of new equipment but his head is in the sand regarding the upkeep cost and ineffciencies of old equipment LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET OCTOBER 2012 30 The operator like the equipment will be worn out It takes a lot of effort to maintain a piece of equipment that no longer does the job effectively Customers noticing the ineffcient equipment might question how the job was bid and how you manage your business Because a customers perception of the success or failure of your business is often based on equipment If the wrong machine for the job or too much machine shows up The owner will have productivity and expense tied up in a suboptimized unit capable of much more work The operator is likely to be happy with too much machine it makes quick work of the task but theyll be unhappy to have to make do with a machine thats not right for the job The customer could either be confdent in your company resources or concerned about potential collateral damage from unnecessarily large machines operating on site And the expense of the new equipment which is passed on to them in higher job costs could also be of concern Next examine how you organize your jobs by route or job type The route approach requires nimble units closely bundled because of their physical proximity The job type allows for more highly specialized pieces built for the task at hand However it sacrifces some of the geographic benefts of minimized travel time Maybe you use a mixture of route and job types If your equipment deducts from rather than contributes to your fnancial goals The owners fnancial goals wont be met if the equip Analyze your equipment fleet