Creating a clear vision for your company

I am always, always looking for ways to get better at running my landscaping business. Sure, I’m proud of the company my team and I have built. But, as one of my mentors, John Maxwell, likes to say, “Of all the things a leader should fear, complacency heads the list.”

That’s why I try to take advantage of every opportunity to learn from other landscaping business owners, and why the willingness of our industry colleagues to help each other grow is one of the things I love the most about our field. This past year I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Bob Grover, who founded Pacific Landscape Management in 2001 in Portland, Oregon. Focused on commercial maintenance, Bob and his team have managed to grow their company to $22 million a year in annual revenue – a remarkable and inspiring feat.

What’s Bob’s secret? From what I’ve learned and observed in talking to him, he has a very clear vision for the kind of company he wants to run and remains keenly focused on that vision. Here’s what I mean:

His “Team Orange” is recognized as a winning culture and a distinctive brand. Pacific Landscape’s uniforms are orange, a color that really stands out when you have a large fleet of trucks painted in it and some 250 team members wearing it on project sites around the city – especially in an industry where so many of us have chosen green for our company color.

Read more in our July issue here.