Kim Lux
Preparing to sell? Date around!
That’s the advice the Thinking About Selling Your Lawn Care Company panel had during the WorkWave Beyond User Conference.
“As part of the due diligence process, I visited all the other brands in the platform before coming on board,” says Matthew Scott, of Highest Quality Lawn & Pest who was recently acquired by LawnPro Partners.
The other panelists agreed that the best way to find the right fit is to shop around and take meetings with multiple private equity groups or platform companies. This way you can ensure they align with your core values and what you want out of the sale.
But Scott notes what you want may wind up changing during this process. His sure did. Originally, Scott says he wanted to sell the business and move on. But now he’s working even harder than he did before joining LawnPros.
“You through a complete range of emotions,” he says of the process of selling your company.
Feeling stagnant? Bring in some fresh eyes!
And one of the most effective ways to do this can be through industry-specific peer groups. The benefits of which were shared during the Power of Peer Groups panel at the conference.
Bob Brower, of Lawn Plus, says members of his peer group rotate turns hosting as the group meets twice a year. Typical visits include a walkthrough of the host’s shop as well.
“You go through their office and their shop and when you’re in it every day you can turn blind to some of the problems or inefficiencies,” he notes. But Brower says bringing in those fresh eyes helps, and his fellow members are there to ask the tough questions and make him defend, or reconsider, his choices.
“We’ve all been there before,” Brower says of the peer group sharing successes and difficulties. “(Peer groups) help change the mindset from working in the business as opposed to on it. Accountability is huge.”
A day is 100s of small actions. What does that add up to? Decision fatigue!
That was Dr. Robert Coop, PhD’s, point during his session Beyond Human: AI and the future of field services.
Coop adds the best thing about AI is that it allows us to simply the hard things and automate the boring or mundane tasks. All of this equals more time for employees to focus on their passions and what they find engaging.
That’s why Coop says AI isn’t about replacing employees but retaining them.
“It’s gotten really, really good,” he notes.
Coop, who is WorkWave’s head of AI, shared some interesting technologies the company is working on, including Wavelytics, that will allow users to use AI for things like on-demand estimating and measuring, conversational analysis and much more.
Eventually, Coop says he’s optimistic that AI gets to a point where it can provide “auto-play for the workday.” Meaning it will create a list of what’s important and identify priorities that need human connect while automating the more day-to-day and tedious tasks.
“Would you ask a man that question?” Have conversations that educate!
As women leading the charge at service-based companies, the Closing the Gender Gap in Field Services panel took a deep dive into some of the difficulties they’ve faced on their way to the top.
“When I look around the room, I’m pretty much the only female,” says Theresa Smith, senior vice president of NaturaLawn of America. “But having a variety and balance at that table would be best.”
According to the panel, only about 10% of the landscape industry workforce is made up of women. Additionally, when it comes to who is holding leadership roles within the industry, that number is just 8%.
Panelists agree that inclusion is key to attracting not just more females into the industry but all minorities. That’s why education, training and teaching those soft skills and ethics classes are critical.
“You have to hold them accountable,” says Sharon Roebuck-McBride, senior executive vice president with Triangle Home Services.
Roebuck-McBride says her company has taken certain terms out of their everyday vocabulary to help with inclusion.
“There’s no more saying ‘My guys in the field’ or ‘The gals in the office,’” she adds.
Check back with Lawn & Landscape for more coverage from the WorkWave event.
