Seth’s Cut: An incredible industry

It is a thrill for our team here at Landscape Management, along with our partners, The Grasshopper Co. and Aspire Software, to present the 2022 LM150 list, our annual listing of the top 150 companies in the industry based on revenue.

This issue is a celebration of the industry and all it encompasses. Along with the list of the 150 companies, we also profile three of them: Level Green Landscape (view profile here), Sperber Landscape Co. (view profile here) and Conserva Irrigation (view profile here), a newcomer to the list. These three companies are all unique yet share industry success as a common thread. We also share advice from eight LM150 companies on what they think it takes to make the list.

As we sorted through the hundreds of submissions for the LM150 list, we were impressed that so many people from around the country took the time to share some of their wisdom about this incredible industry. The insights varied on topics like maintaining success, maintaining a team and maintaining sanity. Here are just a few of those nuggets I found useful:

“Stay humble, stay focused, stay hungry, stay honest, stay helpful and wake up like you’re broke every day. Don’t reflect on what you did yesterday but on what can you do today. Stay ahead of growth by implementing processes to help with hiring, scheduling, routing, purchasing, etc. Focus on hiring employees at the beginning who will ultimately help you get to the next level. Never sacrifice quality for quantity.” – Lane Plaisance, CEO and president of Landry’s Landscape

“We struggle to find enough landscape professionals to support our growth. We’re getting our team members involved in solving that problem. Recruiting is not a one-person job. We need everyone to be enthusiastic ambassadors of our brand and share what they love about working here.” – John Munie, president of Focal Pointe Outdoor Solutions

“Hire the right people and take care of them. You may think you can’t afford to pay top-quality people, but the reality is that if you want to succeed, you can’t afford not to.” – Chris Lee, president of Earthworks

“Establish a vision, communicate it to the team and ensure that everyone is growing in the direction to bring your company to that destination. It’s amazing what can be accomplished by a synchronized team; don’t undervalue that.” – Chase Mullin, president and founder of Mullin

“Be nimble and ready for the unexpected, invest in top talent and focus on building strong relationships internally and externally.” – Michael Hupf, owner and president of Lifescape Colorado

“Do what you do best. Develop a strong employee retention and recognition program.” – Wendell Furtick, president of Saluda Hill

“Take great care of your people, and they will take great care of your clients.” – Edward Schatz, Jr., CEO of HeartLand

“Find and empower key people who can help you reach your goals and share your success with them.” – Brandt Dillon, president of Texscape Services

“Excellent customer service is essential for success. It is possible to both take care of your customers and run a profitable business.” – JT Price, CEO of Landscape Workshop

Finally, while speaking to John Mohns, president of Benchmark Landscape in the San Diego area, for this month’s 5 Questions interview, something he said stood out. I congratulated him for being on the LM150 list, and he said he finds it amazing to look at the list and see so many companies doing the same thing and some of them are so much bigger. “It’s an incredible industry,” he said.

We agree.

Read more:

• LM150: 2022 rankings
• LM150: 2022 Top 25
• LM150: 2022 list by region
• LM150: Power moves
• 2022 LM150: Big year, big numbers
• 2022 LM150: How Sperber Landscape Co. went from zero to 60 in three short years
• 2022 LM150: Conserva Irrigation shows how modern problems require modern solutions
• 2022 LM150: How embracing technology helped take Level Green Landscaping to the next level
• LM150: Pros offer tips to hit your future growth goals

To view the complete list, breakdowns and company profiles, check out a PDF version here.