Priorities, professionalism & property

They say the third time is a charm, but I think the first two were darn good.

I’m referring to year 3 of the Turnaround Tour – the project where we team up with Bill Arman and Ed Laflamme of the Harvest Group to dig down deep into the 3 landscaping operations to find out where they can improve.

Before we get into the details of the Turnaround Tour, I want to welcome back Verizon Connect, our Platinum Sponsor for the third straight year. Returning for a second year is Gold Sponsor, Exmark, and on board for the first time is Corona Tools. All three sponsors make this complex project possible, and we appreciate all of their support.

Lawn & Landscape accepted applications and in-depth financial information last summer from landscaping companies around the country. Bill, Ed and myself then chose the three companies we deemed could best benefit from their help and had the most compelling stories.

The editors of Lawn & Landscape then joined the Harvesters at each winners’ locations late in 2018. We will check in with phone calls throughout the year to keep up on their progress. Something new we are doing is visiting the locations at the end of the project to see what’s changed since our initial visit.

This year, we will focus on companies in Dayton, Ohio; Fort Washington, Maryland and Bala, Ontario.

The owners of Brunner’s Lawn & Services in Dayton started their company in late 2010 and have been doing well, but they feel like they can’t get a minute to stop working in the business instead of on it. They say there is plenty of work in the area, but can they get their business in order before they both get burned out?

In Maryland, a married couple owns Maple Hill Lawn and Garden. They’re trying to balance personal and work life and make their company more professional while also improving back-office operations. Can they get everything under control to achieve the growth they envision?

And north of the border, another married couple owns Pratt’s Lawn Care and Landscapes, located in a vacation city in Ontario with the population of 500. They are located on a large piece of land and elected to build a garden center on it, but that move may have not been the best use of the property. Will they be able to make the garden center profitable without hurting the landscaping side of the business?

Keep an eye on future issues of Lawn & Landscape magazine for stories on how the companies are doing. You can also visit bit.ly/lawntour or hold your camera over the QR Code below for videos of the companies’ progress, along with coverage of the previous two years of the Turnaround Tour.

Good luck to all!

Brian Horn, editor, Lawn & Landscape