This way out

Nature is the mother of invention
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and what better model to imitate than nature’s?

The Biomimicry Guild is a group of scientists that work with businesses to develop projects that copy designs and structures found in the natural world – like a solar cell patterned after a tree’s leaf, da Vinci’s flying machines designed like a bird’s wings or the xBee wind turbine prototype, with blades shaped like a bee’s wing.

The group has signed on companies like NASA, Nike, Seventh Generation and Patagonia, who have already used nature as a starting point for their products.

But it makes sense for all companies to look outside for inspiration. Plants and insects have been around a lot longer than landscaping companies, and they seem to have done all right for themselves. Trees only support the leaves that get sun; leaves in the shade wither away. Processes and people that work well in your company should be expanded and promoted; those that don’t shouldn’t.

Watch one of the guild’s co-founders, Janine Benyus, give examples of ways in which nature is already influencing products and systems at www.lawnandlandscape.com/webextras.

Sandwich Strategy
As companies get into the swing of 2010 and try to make this year better than the last, they could take a page from Panera’s playbook.

In the middle of a down economy, people aren’t always keen to spend their dwindling discretionary income on such niceties as ham sandwiches and pains au chocolats. But Panera has bucked the trend; the store didn’t lower prices and its profits were up 38 percent in the third quarter, according to a recent article in Time magazine.

Here’s how CEO Ron Shaich described his philosophy going into the downturn:

“We understood that the fundamentals of the marketplace really haven’t changed,” Shaich is quoted as saying. “Unemployment went from 5 percent to 10 percent. There’s 90 percent of society that is still employed. I couldn’t capture all those people that are unemployed. They weren’t eating out at all. All I could do was stay focused on who my target customer was, and not be reactive.”

It also helped that the store was already popular with hungry consumers. And, in 2009, the company continued to invest, hiring more employees, taking advantage of low real estate prices by opening new stores and focusing sales efforts on popular menu choices like salads.

Shaich says the company’s strategy has worked so far, but it won’t hold up forever, especially with price-conscious consumers.

“It doesn’t matter how cheap it is,” he says. “If it isn’t special, there’s no reason the business needs to exist.”

And apropos of nothing... Zombies
We all know that landscapes are important to people, and increase their property values and enjoyment of nature. But could they also save you in a post-apocalyptic setting?

The tables have turned in Plants vs. Zombies, a video game that lets you use plants to ward off an army of undead. The computer game, from Pop Cap, pits you against the zombies, and your only weapons are things like peashooters, wall-nuts, cherry bombs and potato mines.

Players have to plant seeds of each weapon to ensure a continuous supply of ordnance as they move through levels and battle wave after wave of groaning, shuffling (and sometimes swimming) intruders – including a zombie bobsled team and zombie dolphins.

You can download the game at www.plantsvszombies.com.