HindSite Software published the 2016 Green Industry Benchmark Report. According to the report, 89 percent of respondents expect their revenue to grow in 2016, and 48 percent expect the economy to improve.

Up 4 percent from last year, 82 percent of respondents reported year-over-year revenue growth in 2015, according to the report. Additionally, 28 percent of respondents saw an excess of 20 percent revenue growth.

“Our goal with the Green Industry Benchmark Report is to take an annual pulse of the typical green industry business,” explained HindSite Marketing Manager Chad Reinholz. “With more than 40 pages of results and analysis and more than 60 graphs, the Green Industry Benchmark Report is the most comprehensive survey of the green industry freely available.”

Some of the report’s findings include the following:

• The top challenge a typical green industry business faces, identified by 28 percent of respondents, is attracting and retaining employees.
• Seventy-nine percent of green industry businesses expect to add staff in 2016, up 6 percent from a year ago.
• One way green industry businesses are growing revenue and profitability is by installing field service software. Fifty-five percent of respondents who saw revenue growth in 2015 used field service software.
• Businesses that train employees weekly were more likely to experience revenue growth in excess of 20 percent than green industry peers.
• Seventy-one percent of respondents say they expect to raise prices in 2016. Rising labor costs and low profitability are the two primary drivers behind the price increase.

This year’s Green Industry Benchmark Report also includes an analysis of the sales and marketing attributes of high-performing green industry businesses.

“We’ve consistently heard that marketing and selling were two areas of interest to green industry business owners,” Reinholz said. “The results were pretty clear—in order to have a high-performing green industry business you need to focus on improving your sales close rates and invest time in your website and social media.”

The report is the result of a two-month-long surveying effort that reflects the opinions of hundreds of green industry business owners and managers who provide services including landscaping, irrigation service and installation, mowing, fertilizing and snow removal. This is the fourth year HindSite has released a Green Industry Benchmark Report.