Stage a getaway

Is vacation just a dream? Is “trip” a four-letter word? Can you imagine getting away from your business to refresh, or does the work involved to take time off create more stress?

Lawn & Landscape surveyed green industry owners and learned that 82 percent take vacations. That means the majority of you are enjoying a break from your business – and you’ve got systems in place to make this happen.

This month, we talked to three owners who share how they vacation and why getting away is beneficial personally and professionally.

Before Shawn LaRue started Horticultural Services Group, he was the hard-working branch manager of a ValleyCrest operation in Destin, Florida. When the company’s founder and green industry visionary Burt Sperber would come to town, sometimes LaRue picked him up from the airport.

“I got to spend one-on-one time with him, and one question I asked was, ‘What would you do differently, being a very successful person in this business?’” LaRue says. “He didn’t hesitate. He said, ‘If I had to go back, I would have taken more vacations, spent more time with family.’”

That insight influenced the way LaRue decided to run his life and business. “As a business owner, you’re never done,” he says. “There is always something that is demanding your attention. It’s really about what your perspective is and what you prioritize.”

Photo courtesy of Shawn Larue

LaRue determined when he started his company, he would build an organization that gave him flexibility and the lifestyle he wanted to live, which included abundant travel. He and his wife maintain a bucket list of destinations they’d like to visit.

Every year, they cross off some of those locations. Last December, it was Spain. This June, the family, including two children ages 11 and 14, will spend 20 days in Europe. This trip has been a long time in the making, LaRue says.

Of course, leaving the business isn’t easy. And LaRue has found out the hard way what the wrong people can do while you’re gone. Last year, the business was going through a difficult transition after an irrigation manager left and took his apprentice with him. LaRue was left with no one in mid-August.

“Irrigation people are hard to come by at that time of year, so I pulled the trigger on a guy who was a bad apple,” LaRue says. “I didn’t do a background check, I just did an interview and he seemed to know his stuff. I spent a few days with him, and then I took off on vacation.”

This was not a vacation the family could postpone. LaRue’s wife’s family had been planning a reunion in Chicago for some time. But while LaRue was away, the new irrigation manager bad-mouthed LaRue’s business and attempted to steal customers.

“I have a good relationship with my customers, and one of them actually called me to tell me what he was doing,” LaRue says. “When I got back from the trip I had to cut him loose.”

But LaRue doesn’t regret the decision to go on the trip. “Ten years from now, I’ll remember that vacation but I won’t remember all that crap that went on,” he says.

“We all got to go to Chicago and we had never been there before. It was an experience.”

Systems keep the ship running while LaRue is out. And supervisors are empowered to make decisions during vacation times, and any time.

“We want them to be in a position to make decisions on the fly as they need to make sure we can respond quickly to customers’ needs,” he says.

During vacation, LaRue checks email once a day. “I set up a message to let people know I’m on vacation, and I leave the number of one of our guys in case there is an emergency,” he says.

Unplugging is not easy. “Getting back is always tough, but it is what it is,” LaRue says.

Because at the end of the day, LaRue is working to enjoy life. “At some point, you have to decide, ‘Why am I working this hard if I don’t have anything to show for it?’” he says. “If you go about business this way, you’ll grow old and wonder where all the time went.”

Being away from the business for some time during vacation gives you an opportunity to refresh, revisit the way you do things and collect ideas from other places that might work in your own operation.

Sometimes “aha” moments happen on the beach. That was the case for Wendell Furtick, president and CEO of Saluda Hills Landscapes in Lexington, South Carolina. Every year, his family vacations with some college friends and their families. Years ago, Furtick was sharing his frustration about an administrative staff member whom he really liked, but who was not performing as expected.

Furtick had a wake-up call. “My friend said, ‘Look, Wendell, there are a lot of people out there who can do what you need and do it right, and you are not helping out this person or your business if you continue down this road,’” he says.

Photo courtesy of Wendell Furtick

While working in the business, Furtick was just too close to the situation to think about the big picture. That honest discussion was just what he needed. When he talked to the employee, both agreed the arrangement wasn’t working out for anyone. “We went on to hire a person who was overqualified and during the following years helped grow the business a lot,” Furtick says.

Fresh perspective is a beautiful thing for business. But getting a break to press the reset button requires planning and a business structure that promotes accountability. If the owner is the only one making decisions, leaving the operation will be difficult, Furtick says.

Throughout the year, Furtick reinforces information flow from clients to property managers and supervisors who actually touch properties weekly. “We want to make sure property managers are contacting our superintendents to get problems resolved and we built our company so people at the lowest possible levels are making as many decisions as possible,” he says.

“We built our company so people at the lowest possible levels are making as many decisions as possible.” Wendell Furtick, president and CEO

If an employee comes to Furtick with an issue, he helps problem solve and encourages the team member to consider how he or she would handle the issue. Giving your people the power to make decisions takes practice. It’s not something you can put in place right before vacation.

Before trips, Furtick huddles with managers to discuss projects that are open. “There are two sides of the planning,” he says. “There is the financial planning, because we are a small business and cash flow is the lifeblood. So we want to make sure we are shored up on our accounts payables and bills that will come due while we are gone.

“And, there is operations planning, and we have good leadership in each of our divisions who have their own teams to hold accountable, so they are empowered to make decisions to run their own divisions.”

Saluda Hills is set up so information flows from the bottom up. Hopefully, issues are resolved before they rise up to Furtick.

“Our managers are a real good firewall and handle things in their arenas,” he says. “We have a great team. That’s the only way I can take a vacation.”

Vacation for Rick Hodges is not defined as a trade show in a warm location, or a seminar at a hotel with a swanky pool. He prefers to completely escape from the business, and when he does he can unplug from what’s happening at Baseline Landscapes back at home in Portland, Oregon.

“We have children and we want to provide opportunities for them to break away from their routine, so we build vacation in our family structure more than we do our company structure,” Hodges says.

Photo courtesy of Rick Hodges

Time off amounts to up to three weeks a year, with one weeklong vacation generally scheduled in February when the business is slower. Hodges takes mini-breaks throughout the year. Long weekends are easier to plan for and means less time away – and that was the ideal scenario when Hodges was newer in the business.

“I had more energy then and I wanted to keep my finger on the pulse of what was going on,” he says. “But over time, as you develop your employees and you have that core group of people, you can take longer periods of time away,” he adds.

For Hodges, that means having a few good men. His older sons work in the business and serve in a management capacity, overseeing the shop and helping other crewmembers. That said, Hodges is careful that his other employees do not feel “micromanaged by my kids” while he is out of town, and there is an established trust between Hodges and all of his people. “Our guys have never let us down,” he says.

But that’s because they understand Hodges’ expectations. Before he leaves for a vacation, he sits down with the team and reviews projects that are open and what tasks must take place while he’s gone. He also contacts customers, which are primarily residential, and lets them know he’ll be out of the office. “We don’t want anyone to have any surprises,” he says. Most clients reply with, “No problem.” All of them know who to call when Hodges is gone.

Hodges says he can vacation from the business – completely turn off and refresh – because he trusts the people back home will handle any issues that could arise. Having only one go-to leader to rely on when you’re gone can be risky, he adds.

“What if that guy goes down? What if he gets sick? It can’t be just one guy,” he says. “I have three core guys that I meet with ahead of time, and that is how you get the freedom.”