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“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” – Henry Ford

We all say, “failure is not an option” when starting a business. But let’s be honest, no one has all the answers when they first start out. Quiet frankly, most of the time you don’t even know the questions to ask in order to get the help you need. That’s why I’m breaking down for you the six things you can do RIGHT NOW in your business in order to make it a success!

1. Offer Services You’re Passionate About

Mike Michalowicz says, “a hobby is something that releases energy; a passion is something that creates energy.” By offering landscape services that you are passionate about, you are doing jobs that excite you. Jobs that when you drive by, you can say to yourself, “Yeah, I built that!”. If you are passionate about stripes in lawn, a lush, weed free and deep green yard, or an outdoor living space that you created, sell those types of services.

Reminder: As you continue working on and/or in your business, your passion will change – growth shapes us all. So don’t be afraid to offer new services as you grow and cut out the ones you’re no longer passionate about.

2. Always Be Consistent

Get rich quick schemes almost never pan out. Being consistently great all the time, now that wins every single time. Build your business offerings so that they flow like clockwork. When you put systems in place for your services to be easily repeatable, you are setting up a process that will help your business grow and scale.

Example – Put cash flow systems such as Profit First implementation in place or use a solid CRM software such as LMN. Using these kinds of tools in sync with your team makes you and your business a winner.

3. Keep Your Axe Sharp

Don’t just work harder, sharpen your axe. This is a lesson taught by the story of “The Two Woodcutters.” Have you heard the story? It goes a little like this…

“Once upon a time, there were two woodcutters named Peter and John. They were often at loggerheads over who chopped more wood. So one day, they decided to hold a competition to determine the winner. The rules were simple—whoever produce the most wood in a day wins.

So the next day morning, both of them took up their positions in the forest and started chopping away in their fastest possible speed. This lasted for an hour before Peter suddenly stopped. When John realized that there was no chopping sound from his opponent’s side, he thought: “Ah Ha! He must be tired already!” And he continued to cut down his trees with double the pace.

A quarter of an hour passed, and John heard his opponent chopping again. So both of them carried on synchronously. John was starting to feel weary when the chopping from Peter stopped once again. Feeling motivated and smelling victory close by, John continued on, with a smile on his face.

This went on the whole day. Every hour, Peter would stop chopping for fifteen minutes while John kept going relentlessly. So when the competition ended, John was absolutely confident that he would take the triumph.

But to John’s astonishment, Peter had actually cut down more wood. How did this even happen? “How could you have chopped down more trees than me? I heard you stop working every hour for fifteen minutes!”, exclaimed John.

Peter replied, “Well, it’s really simple. Every time I stopped work, while you were still chopping down trees, I was sharpening my axe.” ”

Pretty good lesson right? It’s not just about working hard, it’s about keeping your axe sharp and working smarter…not harder!

4. Handle Your PITA’s Appropriately

Fire your PITA’s (aka. pain in the asses). Yeah, you heard me – fire your PITA’s first! Don’t waste another moment of your time on them because they are taking up more time than they are worth. Set up a grading scale for your clients early on in your business and only keep the good/best ones. The ones that are consistently PITA’s, let them go. I promise, you’ll be happy that you did!

5. Measure Success Correctly

The measure of success is keeping your operating expenses low, your profit high and your ‘owner’s pay’ fair. All too often, you’ll see companies featured as the top 100 landscape firms by revenue, when in reality what they should really be featuring is the top 100 landscape firms by the highest profit. You can be a $100 million dollar company and be going bankrupt. Revenue is NOT the only facture. It’s sales – profit = expenses.

For more information on how to calculate this in your business, request to join the Profit First Pros – Experts In The Landscape Industry Facebook group.

6. Provide Solutions

You should always be selling to your client’s pain points. If you can determine your clients problem and then provide a solution at a reasonable cost, you have a win-win situation. Word of mouth is one of the BEST ways to grow and scale your business. By offering solutions at a reasonable price, your clients will refer you to their family and friends. Meaning that referrals will come naturally and your businesses will become repeatable and scale.

Pro Tip: Ask for testimonials that you can use on your social media sites and website. You should always be asking for testimonials and/or having your clients leave them on Facebook or LinkedIn. People work with people who they know, like and trust. Testimonials are how you build that from the start!

Now that you have a better understanding of the six things you can do right now in order to take the next step toward success in your business, click here to get a Guide on How to Calculate Employee Disengagement and Ineffectiveness.  This guide will help you better understand how disengaged and ineffective employees can affect overall company performance.

For additional help, book a FREE Consultation and let us lead you through 1:1 Consulting or in one of our Peer Groups!