Grow Your Landscaping Business: Stay in Control

It may be that when you started your landscaping business you had a vision in your mind of how it would be. However, you may now be finding that in reality, it is a totally different animal indeed. Juggling jobs (or getting enough of them), employees, and subcontractors could mean that you feel less than energized for the parts of your business that you used to love and find so satisfying in the past.

Of course, it could be that you are finding it more and more of a challenge to keep the cycle going, and are feeling swamped or exhausted even at the mere thought of it. With this, it is important to realize that you are not alone, and by investing in the right areas of your business you could see your stress levels lessen and feel a lot more in control.

#1 Choose software specialized for your business

Using software not designed specifically for your landscaping business can be a reason you feel so overwhelmed. Trying to adapt to the unadaptable can be frustrating, time-consuming, and damaging to your business. Rather than continuing this uphill struggle, you could try investing in professionally designed landscaping software put together by those with a firm background in the landscaping industry.

With the help of the right software, you can manage every aspect of your business, including your teams, workloads, and customer payments. As it is all mobile-friendly, you will be able to access your data regardless of your location.

#2 Invest in your employees

Regardless of your business, you need to be able to recognize your employee’s potential and invest in the furtherment of their education. This can be particularly helpful if you are looking to grow and expand your business further, as it will give your future employees the impression of you being a good boss to work for and the prospect of stability for their future employment.

Not only this, but it will improve your employee’s morale as well as increase their knowledge and skills. Offering their new specialist services to your customers could be particularly lucrative to your business and capture more potential customers in the future.

#3 Provide your workforce with the tools they need

You should always provide your workforce with the tools and equipment that they need to complete their tasks. In this, it is up to you to ensure that every item is fit to be used and that it is maintained and serviced regularly. This is necessary for the health and safety of your workforce and the only time that this is not your responsibility is when you rent a particular piece of equipment. Even then, you should ensure that your worker (as well as yourself) takes the time to look over the equipment before using it to ensure that it is in good working order and that there is no obvious damage to it. If there is anything missing from the equipment or the paperwork, the rental company should be contacted, and the equipment not be used.

As your teams will be covering large distances in order to complete their jobs, you should think about having your own fleet of vehicles – if you haven’t done so already. When you are just starting out, you may want to consider the second-hand market for your desired vehicles. This will help to keep costs down.

In order to have all your vehicles looking the same and uniform and therefore more pleasing to the eye than a total mismatch of colors, makes, and models, you could have the vehicles wrapped. This could also act as an additional form of advertising – as long as you include your company name, web address, phone number, and a general list of the jobs you can perform.

#4 Keep your workforce well informed

In order to get the best work from your employees, you need to keep them well-informed and up-to-date. This can be quite difficult to do when your teams are spread far and wide out on location, but it is even more important at these times. You may think that as long as your teams know what they are doing, you do not need to bother them, although this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Checking in and ensuring that everything is going to plan and that they have everything they need is crucial to your scheduling and planning. Understanding that communicating with your employees can help them feel valued, lift their morale, and even provide them with emotional support at times of need. This could be the difference between them staying as part of your company or seeking employment elsewhere.