EDITORIAL: Benchmark For Financial Health

Just returning from the Green Industry & Equipment Expo, it seems the sky’s the limit for what we can do in our businesses and for our industry.
 
The educational sessions at the conference showed us ways to differentiate our businesses from our competitors, how to improve profits and how to make our businesses lean. Additionally, we were exposed to new ideas on creating and maintaining order in our office systems, being a boss vs. a friend to our employees and removing barriers to communication with our workers.

Cindy Code

 If you didn’t have time to attend this year’s conference and show, visit our Web site www.lawnandlandscape.com for detailed show follow-up. Also, be sure and put the event on your calendar for next year. It will be held Oct. 23-25, 2008 in Louisville, Ky.
 
As we reengage in our businesses following a week’s worth of learning, it’s easy to fall back into the same old traps. Those pages of notes and dozens of business cards collected from the show are shoved into a drawer until there’s more time. More time? There’s never more time.
 
Sure, there’s lots to do before the year is out. Fall clean-ups, fall fertilization, irrigation system winterization, winter overseeding, equipment maintenance, the list goes on. Not to mention budgeting for 2008.
 
When you find the time – in between quotes and customer follow-up – remember that business forecasting and budgeting are keys to both your short-tem and long-term success.
 
In this issue of Lawn & Landscape, you’ll find our fourth annual Benchmarking Your Business report. This report, sponsored by John Deere, underscores the importance of business finances for landscape contracting business. While it may sound like a no-brainer, business education is still the primary need of a large number of contracting businesses.
 
Our research shows that slightly more than 50 percent of contractors receive monthly financial income statements. Of those receiving financial statements, only a little more than 25 percent review them. It’s not until a landscape firm reaches the $1 million echelon that regular review of financial statements becomes routine.
 
With an understanding of a basic financial statement, contractors can and should benchmark their firm’s numbers with other landscape businesses both regionally and nationally and within their revenue range and beyond.
 
Becoming familiar with what falls under overhead, what to pay both salary and hourly employees in various job positions, what’s a standard work week and what company benefits are offered to your employees are all critical indicators that will help create a strong foundation for future growth.
 
A healthy business base also benefits the entire landscape industry as these companies generally spend time on marketing the benefits of landscape services, pricing their services properly and become more involved with their industry at a higher level, whether through industry associations, community development boards or mentoring programs.
 
As you look to next year, take the time to check the health of your operations and find ways to incorporate one or two new ideas into your business. Those ideas may pay dividends.