Then the rains came... That’s the biggest difference between this season and 2002 for
many of our readers, particularly for those working east of the Mississippi.
Not just rain — snow, too. | | Rob Santo and Richard Gottschalk,
Jr. |
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Winter grabbed the Midwest and Northeast by the neck and wouldn’t
let go until April. For good measure it delivered some nasty wallops to
the Mid-Atlantic region. While the long winter meant cash for readers
offering snow services, it (and the rains in the South) played havoc with
spring service schedules. For this reason, and because 304 of the 374 (81%) survey respondents
are located in the Midwest, Northeast and Southeast, our results are admittedly
and unintentionally weighted toward readers in the East. “We had already started our spring schedule and had broken down
our snow equipment, and we got slammed with snow,” recalls Rob Santo
of Garrick-Santo
Landscape Co., Malden, MA. Not just once, but several times. Santo
and his partner, Richard Gottschalk, Jr., have been going full tilt since
last fall’s property cleanups... and they don’t expect the pace
to slow until this winter. “We’re actually hoping for a normal winter,” says Santo
with a crooked grin. “We need a break.” This year, we gathered readers’ comments and opinions in person,
by telephone, mail and online. Readers completed half of the 374 surveys
online. | Click on the images below to
view a full-size version of each chart. | | | More work this year? Yes! | | | More than two-thirds of ompanies
expect revenue to grow this year. |  | | But profitability is not necessarily
following in step. |
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What did we learn?We learned that the industry is, comparatively speaking, healthy. Almost
three of every four respondents (276 of 374) reported having more work
than in 2002. And 253 (68%) said their revenue is greater, while 74 (20%)
predicted flat sales and 41 (11%) less revenue. “Right now, our grounds maintenance business is looking good,”
says Steve Goodson, Green
Grass, Inc., San Antonio, TX. “We’re finding that businesses
still want to keep their properties looking good, and homeowners feel
their time is too valuable to maintain their landscapes.” Goodson says his market is experiencing a residential building boom.
“When interest rates dropped, those people who thought they couldn’t
afford a home decided they could,” says Goodson, adding that he’s
helped many of them afford their landscapes by financing them through
the John Deere program. Although U.S. home building activity slowed late this summer, more than
1,165,000 new home sales are predicted this year, reports the National
Association of Home Builders. No profits? But this year’s yo-yo economy has more than a few clouds. Our survey
suggests that our readers aren’t reaping the profits they’d
like to have. This confirms reports we’ve been receiving about fierce
price-cutting, particularly for commercial and, in many regions, institutional
and multi-family accounts. “Jobs that are worth $150,000 are going for about $65,000 to $70,000.
These people need to be put on public display and mocked for this kind
of nonsense,” says Steve Middleton, Mississippi Lawns, Brandon, MS.
We’ve also been told that the plentiful rain in much of the East,
and particularly the Southeast, caused the grass to grow fast and denser,
too, requiring more frequent cuts and obviously requiring more time and
labor. “It’s costing so much to mow that one of my clients is going
to surcharge their customers because of the labor. They were forced to,”
says Ed Laflamme, Grass Roots Consulting. “But they’re not going
to do it with their A-1 best customers. They’re applying the charge
to customers who just take basic services. They feel it’s worth a
try.” And that’s not all. | Click on the images below to
view a full-size version of each chart. | | | Is it time to raise prices? Readers are split down the middle. | | | It's hard to find good help.
Labor availability is the top management challenge. |
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Weather woes Scott Brown, Lawnco Lawn Care, Atlanta, says the wet weather “rapidly
degraded the preventative benefits of any sort of pre-emergent we applied
. . .Weeds are flourishing faster than they can be stomped out.” This, and other reasons, caused only 135 (36%) readers to report that
“it is easier to be profitable this year,” while 235 (63%) said
not. Planning to raise prices for 2004? Readers were split down the middle
with 181 (49%) saying they will, 178 (48%) responding they won’t,
and seven (2%) saying they’ll be dropping prices. Even so, readers
continue to grow with 122 respondents adding at least one new service
this season and 66 buying another business, acquiring a franchise operation
and/or opening a new branch. Just 22 reported dropping a service and 13
to selling all or part of their businesses. Big challenges Industry’s biggest business challenges in 2003? Readers again fingered the availability of labor (77 responses) as tops
on their list, although “managing growth” (68), “developing
supervisors” (62) and “cash flow” (58) narrowed the gap
compared to previous years’ surveys. While readers stuck almost exclusively to business issues in our survey
(likely a fault of the survey since it didn’t ask weather-specific
questions), the readers we interviewed in person or over the telephone
came back again and again to the weather’s overriding importance
to landscape, lawn service and grounds management. Erratic weather, as
it always does, creates both havoc and opportunity for the Green Industry
. . .sometimes both simultaneously. Wetter is better?“Last year, the drought was killing us. This year, we had great
snow, a great grounds maintenance season and we’ve done well with
enhancements, but the overtime just hasn’t cut us loose,” says
Brian Akehurst, head of Akehurst Landscape Service, Inc., Joppa, MD. The good news/bad news trend is likely to continue into the fall because
of strong customer demand, he says. Akehurst, whose 120-year-old company has experienced and adapted to
every manner of economic curveball, credits new construction and commercial
activity within his metro Baltimore market area that continues to expand.
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