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How to Manage a Landscaping Business
- 1). Hire reliable employees. Perform background checks. Pre-employ.com a leader in background screening testing, offers an affordable solution for small businesses to learn who their employees really are before making hiring decisions. Ask for references and follow up with calls. Get outside help for tasks such as money management and business tax calculations. Caterpillar, the biggest brand in landscaping equipment, suggests: "Surround yourself with qualified people who can provide valuable advice, such as lawyers and accountants."
- 2). Plan each landscaping job thoroughly and assign each member of the team the responsibility of a specific task. For more complex jobs, draw out schematics. SmartDraw creates a software that allows landscapers to print illustrations and schematics to follow on large projects. Download the free software.
- 3). Get customer approval before proceeding. Show the customer design printouts for more complex jobs. For smaller jobs, have the customer sign a work order agreement that lists the jobs they expect to be completed for the quoted fee.
- 4). Use cell phones or walkie-talkies to be in two places at once. Sign up for a business account with a wireless phone service to take advantage of multiple phone discounts. Give employees instructions to contact you before and after a job. Be available if any discrepancies arise, so you have the final decision on the direction to take, such as changing a hardscape choice or if a lawn mower cuts into the customer's plumbing line.
- 5). Quote reasonable rates. Lenzie Harcum, program director of the Small Business & Technology Development Center, says, "Calculating expenses requires consideration of direct costs like labor and gasoline as well as indirect costs such as insurance, telephone and utilities." When quoting a rate, account for hired help needed to complete a job, the amount of hours it will take and any materials to buy.
- 6). Invoice customers immediately for smaller jobs. Use software like Quickbooks to produce and print invoices to send with employee landscapers before they go out on the job. Leave enough room on the invoice for them to add adjustments, if necessary.
- 7). Build relationships with customers so they'll help get the word out. Build a website. Post pictures of completed landscaping projects. Use all opportunities to inform potential customers about the business. Let the people you do business with know about the services you offer. Word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool. Keep business cards handy. Run small advertisements in the community newspaper.
- 8). Plan for growth. Identify ways to grow and make small steps towards those goals. Re-evaluate the business plan each year to take into account industry trends and ways to improve operations and management activities.
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