Wise Words

Wintertime leaves spare slots in the schedule for some contractors. Rather than hibernating until next season, why not evaluate your business and oil the squeaky wheels before phones ring off the hooks for spring service?

Consider this sage advice from industry veterans:

Set the tone – outline your mission statement and standards and stick to them. “The owner has to promote the culture, values and mission,” emphasized Jean Seawright, president of Seawright & Associates, a human resources consulting firm in Winter Park, Fla. “Establish that, and then set the standards or the boundaries within which people must operate. Then, hold them accountable and don’t tolerate decisions outside those boundaries. That’s setting the tone. It’s not plastering a piece of paper up on the wall. You have to really live (your mission) and make decision that are consistent with it.”

Read and listen – avoid trial and error. “I can’t overstate the value of being open and listening to other people,” stressed Roger Braswell, president, Power House Equipment, Fort Mill, S.C. “Avoid trial and error when you can. There’s something about us that we never learn a lesson quite as well as we do when we go out and make mistakes. Wisdom is getting smart enough to realize that some people really have learned a lot, and listening to them.”

Ask for advice – form a board of advisers who can offer unbiased feedback. “I have a voluntary board of advisers who I meet with quarterly,” said Dan Foley, president, D. Foley Landscape, Walpole, Mass. “These are people who will tell it like it is and who know me from different avenues. (It includes) my best friend from college, my accountant – they know me. They help me do the self-assessment. They would hear me pushing one side of the business and ask about the other side. Or, they’d see me stressed and say, ‘Maybe that’s not the best job for you in the organization.’”

Make a plan – business plans create direction for growing businesses. “(Our business plan) was our bible,” stated Tom Fochtman, co-owner, CoCal Landscapes, Denver, Colo. “We pulled it out once a week – we lived and breathed that document. We got bank financing and we were worried that if we didn’t do well we would have problems getting financing the second year. That business plan made a good impression on the bank.”

Delegate – use your customers’ satisfaction as a barometer when determining if you are spreading yourself too thin, allowing quality to suffer. “Look at your customers first,” Braswell noted. “If your customers aren’t delighted, something is not set up right. Probably, you haven’t delegated all the responsibility that you should.”

The author is a Contributing Editor to Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at khampshire@lawnandlandscape.com.