As companies grow, they inevitably encounter roadblocks. One of the biggest is the $1-million sales barrier. At a recent session of the Professional Landcare Network’s Green Industry Conference in Orlando, Fla., three successful industry leaders described the challenges and rewards they encountered as they advanced their companies beyond the $1-million milestone.
The three panelists included Bill Cox, Lawn Management Co., Houston; Nick DiBenedetto, N.D. Landscaping, Georgetown, Mass.; and Bill Leidecker, Five Seasons Landscape Management, Reynoldsburg, Ohio. The session was moderated by Joe Kujawa, KEI Enterprises, Oak Creek, Wis.
“You’re going to keep hitting walls as you grow your company,” DiBenedetto said. “A million dollars is one of the toughest ones.”
But why is it so tough to break the $1 million barrier?
“It’s difficult to relinquish control,” Cox said. “I wouldn’t hire a salesperson for years, and I should have. That’s one of the regrets I have.”
Leidecker said that training and having confidence in employees is crucial to growth, but he adds that business owners must realize that growth requires a different mentality. “As your company grows, you go from managing tasks to managing managers, which is a lot tougher,” he said.
DiBenedetto agreed: “You have to start working on the business, not in the business. You need to do strategic planning, and that’s a big difference.”
Cox noted that business owners have to be willing to make changes in order to be successful. That means not only training current employees, but hiring new ones. “The same people who got you where you are today cannot take you to the next level,” he said.
But when is the best time to add a new position, such as a salesperson? Leidecker simply said, “The best time to bring on a salesman is one year before you need them. They’ll flounder for a year.”
Of course, it may not be a salesperson a company needs. The key is to hire someone with strengths in areas where you are weak. “If you’re good at operations, hire a salesman and vice-versa,” Cox said.
It’s also important for owners to realize that when hiring and training employees, there will be a learning curve. Be prepared to accept that work quality may be sacrificed – at least for a short time. Audience member and industry consultant Jim Paluch said many business owners get frustrated when they can’t do the work as well as they think they should. “One client said he couldn’t move forward until he learned to accept 92 percent,” Paluch said. “When he did that, his stress went down and then he could train employees to do the work as well as he could and the level of quality went to 100 percent again."