Setting clear expectations
In business, setting expectations is very important. Clear expectations insure that everyone knows exactly what they’re supposed to do and they are on the same page. Without clear expectations, it is left up to the imagination of everyone and there are no boundaries. All employees should have their expectations set so they know exactly what […]
Dumb-proofing the business
There are some daily frustrations we all face, and one of mine is simple things that continually are problems in the company. I have found that it is best to dumb-proof anything and everything that is possible to dumb-proof in order to make mistakes or not following procedures impossible. Dumb proofing, as I define it, […]
How to filter out bad leads
Many leads and phone calls come in on a regular basis, and the demand peaks during the busier times of the year. Being lesser staffed with the overhead this year, we were forced to make processes more efficient and focus on priorities. As they say, necessity is the other of creation! We get leads from […]
Going to be a good year
We have been working hard and are ready for a big year. I realize that in hindsight one of the biggest problems last year was that things were out of control. This year I feel like things are under much better control in terms of money, employees, and equipment. This is what we have done […]
How to get money when the bank won’t give you a loan
Sometimes in business, you need to do some tricky things and be creative to make things work. After being declined for a line of credit, and exhausting our small credit card limit, I was forced to be creative to get much needed funds in the spring. I have used a couple methods: 0% APR offers […]
Business Management Technology
GPS tracking for Landscaping Company GPS tracking is a great tool. I started out buying a little magnetic battery powered GPS receiver on one truck, which would record data on an SD memory card and I would put it into the computer later. Before using time tracking software, this was great to see how long […]
Cross Training
Last year one of the things we actually did RIGHT was cross training. Really, out of necessity it happened. I didn’t plan on cross training, but being short handed in certain positions I was forced to cross train. We had planned on having a mechanic when we started the lawn mowing service business last spring. […]
direct mail conversion rates
according to SA, we got 32 total clients/leads from source: direct mail in 2015. 18 of these leads were converted to clients so thats 56% win rate on these estimates from direct mail .02% response rate (32 leads out of 15000 sent) $5000 was spent on mail which means: $156 per lead and $278 per […]
Importance of enforcing rules
A major lesson I learned this year- the importance of enforcing rules and policies you set. When our trailblazer came and visited us, he kept mentioning suggestions on how to do things better. He would say something like, “you should really have the guys lock their trailers at night” or “they shouldn’t be stopping for […]
How to collect bad debt with mechanic’s lien.
Bad debt- yuck- not fun. Inevitably, some people are not going to pay their bills. The best thing is to not allow them the opportunity to do that in your invoicing system by means of prepays or credit cards. However, bad debt happens. I have tried chasing down bad debt in many ways. Collection calls- […]