The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is predicting an active hurricane season this year, with more than a dozen big storms and a couple major hurricanes statistically overdue to hit vulnerable regions of the country. After Superstorm Sandy, the violent tornadoes that recently devastated parts of Oklahoma and the wind-whipped wildfires testing those living in the arid Southwest, reports... read more
In the last several months in this space, Jeff Harkness, Kevin Kehoe and I have written about sales performance, margin generation (a sign of pricing and productivity) and, of course, my favorite, net profit. Why net profit, you ask? Well, in my mind there are two reasons we’re in business: profit and fun. Profit is our scorecard and the fuel... read more
Q. When creating job descriptions, what’s the best way to separate the roles of design and production? —Mark Muzio, The Landscape Design Group, Waltham, Mass. A. This is a great question that companies of every size constantly struggle with, regardless of how many years they’ve been in business. Although my answer is straightforward and simple, creating a highly functional design/build... read more
Women-owned businesses benefit from third-party certifications. Katharina Hoffman, president of Hoffman Commercial Landscaping, says getting a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) certificate isn’t easy. It’s a lot of paperwork. It takes a lot of time. And it isn’t, she says, a free ticket to making money. But she’ll also tell you it saved her Caledonia, Wis.-based business. Hoffman credits her WBE... read more
Meet Chris Davitt, president of Ruppert Landscape, Laytonsville, Md. Who’s your mentor? Over the course of my life and career, my mentor has changed, but one is Craig Ruppert. That started when I first began working with Craig [at age 11]. There are just so many fundamental processes about work and life that Craig coached me on. Additionally, my... read more
When you first open your business, you’re just thankful customers come your way. Once you’ve been in business for a while, you realize that not every customer is a good fit for you. As I’m sure you know, it’s actually more profitable to be selective in the type of customer you serve and the type of work you do for... read more
