Landscape Management, September 2017

profit centers Mowing Landscape Maintenance On the flip side if youre serving a bigger job site five crew members may be perfect You can get the whole job done in one day so youre not paying the extra hours and a second days worth of travel time for the crew to go back and finish the work 4 Customer expectations Knowing your clients expectations is another critical element If you have a property that you could send 10 guys in and be finished in a day but your customer expects to see your crew there every day thats a whole different dynamic In this situation it would be better to set up an onsite caretaker and just have the mow crew come through and spend a few days cutting the grass That way you can be efficient with your equipment its not just sitting on the job site all week and youre still meeting the customers need to have you there every day Or how about a scenario where youre running three man crews but you take on a big job where youre expected to arrive on the job site and do all the work in a day You must send a bigger crew to make that happen so be prepared Compliment your new machine with a Towmaster T 14D 16 large drop deck trailer LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET September 2017 24 What type of Work should you be selling When youre first starting out the jobs you bring on will automatically dictate your crew numbers but as your business matures youll find that your targets start to shift Just be aware If your average crew is three people dont take on a bunch of postage stamp jobs that only need one or two guys to get the work done Youll have too many people on the property not to mention that youll be paying for ever inefficient travel time On the other hand you know you have that three man crew so dont target customers with big properties that need to be finished in one day If youre running all five man crews look for jobs where you can park that truck all day and all five of those guys can stay busy and not have to travel anywhere else Or your goal may be to have several different sized crews so you can serve a variety of customers The most important point here is be selective about what type of work you take on and target work that fits your model In the end its all a matter of understanding how to balance route density travel costs equipment expenses property sizes and customer expectations This is U S Lawns proven formula to determine more efficient crew numbers and ultimately achieve higher profitability It can work for your business too Fitzpatrick is vice president of U S Lawns an Orlando Fla based commercial landscape maintenance franchise system Continued from page 22 Photo u S lawnS optiCs contractors should consider client expectations about crew sizes and service frequency 844 720 4CAT offers@ clevelandbrothers com Offer valid from July 1 to December 31 2017 on Towmaster T 14D 16 large drop deck trailer Upgrades hold no cash value See your local Cleveland Brothers representative for complete details Campaign ID 00001114 www ClevelandBrothers com LOAD UP AND GET TO WORK WITH A NEW TOWMASTER TRAILER 7894 WITH FREE UPGRADES Tool box lid Two additional D Ring tie downs PA State inspection