Editor's Focus: Nov. 2000, It's Your Systems, Stupid

One of the industry’s real success stories from the last few years has been the growth at The Brickman Group, a company that has traditionally been well respected but a relative mystery because of Dick Brickman’s lack of interest in the glare of the spotlight.

I spent a morning with Scott Brickman, Dick’s son and the current company president, at one of the company’s regional offices not too long ago. (The results of this interview can be found as part of our Conversation Series in this issue.)

Aside from its private nature, what has always intrigued me about this company is the consistency of the comments you hear from its competitors: "Man, are they profitable." "They really seem to know what they’re doing." "They beat us on the base contract and then they make up the difference with add-on services."

What became clear in talking with Scott is that this company hasn’t grown to $225 million in annual sales through better ideas as much as it has succeeded because of a commitment to constantly refining its systems. If Scott had to sum up the company’s operations philosophy in four words, I bet they would say, "Reduce waste, eliminate callbacks." Those two ideas surfaced time and time again during the interview, and that’s a lesson all contractors should take to heart.

Think about what those four words tell you – the elements for success may already exist in your business. What may be lacking is a system or series of systems that produce the desired results. There needs to be a system for hiring. There needs to be a system for training. There needs to be a system for pricing. The list goes on – selling, quality control, purchasing, reviews, etc.

Yes, The Brickman Group is a dominant industry player. But its employees use the same mowers, drive the same trucks, install the same plants and dig with the same backhoes as every other company. The key to the company’s success is efficiently managing operations.

As winter approaches, challenge yourself and your managers to improve your company by focusing on a couple of key systems, breaking them down and improving them. This won’t turn your company into one of the largest in the country overnight, but it will be a step in the right direction.