February 2014

February 2014 Web Extra: Why is it so difficult to ‘work on the business?’

February 24, 2014By

Here’s one more question and answer from the exclusive Landscape Management interview with Michael Gerber, author of legendary small business book The E-Myth. For the rest of the interview, read “Beyond The E-Myth“ from the February issue of LM. LM: I believe you coined one of the phrases that I’ve heard landscape professionals quote very often—“work on the business, not in... read more

February 2014 Web Extra: ‘How We SERV’

February 24, 2014By

Landscape industry subcontracting guru Terry Delany of Fayetteville, Ark.-based GroundSERV, who was featured in the February 2014 “1-Minute Mentor” department, attributes part of his company’s success to its commitment to helping subcontractors (aka “strategic partners”) make money. “The minute you start investing in (subcontractors), the profit will come naturally to you,” says Delany, whose business outsources all of its production... read more

February 2014 Web Extra: Six minutes of time [excerpt from ‘The E-Myth Landscape Contractor’]

February 11, 2014By

Let’s explore the financial impact of wasted time. We will start with a simple question. Is it possible that in your company, your employees waste as much as six minutes of time per day? Is it possible? Right now, I want you to ask yourself this very question. I have asked this question of seminar attendees more than 200 times.... read more

February 2014 Web Extra: McKay on ‘Predictable Success’

February 11, 2014By

By Jerry McKay, Owner McKay Landscape Lighting, a $1 million to $2 million, landscape lighting company Omaha, Neb. The book that has affected my company for the better is Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization On the Growth Track—and Keeping It There by Les McKeown, president of and CEO of business consulting firm Predictable Success. I plan to read two more... read more

Recommended reading

February 10, 2014By

The Pew Research Center reported last month that nearly a quarter (23 percent) of American adults had not read a single book in the past year (that includes e-books and audiobooks). This number has nearly tripled since 1978, when Gallup reported only 8 percent of the population was non-book-readers. That figure hovered between 13 percent and 18 percent between 1990... read more

5 ways to build bench strength

February 10, 2014By
Photo: j3net/flickr.com

Early December headline in the Wall Street Journal: “Employers Gain Confidence to Hire.” The national unemployment rate has dropped below 7 percent. For many, this is really good news and an indication the economy is finally coming back. This news is on top of reports that the economy grew at 4.1 percent and 3.2 percent rates in the third and... read more