Recently, I was strategically planning with a business owner and his team in the sunny state of Florida. We got on the subject of trying to eliminate or at least reduce what the landscape industry calls, “The Morning Circus”. The Morning Circus is the time spent by many landscape companies trying to get their crews out the door in the morning. We all know the faster we can get the project at hand finished, the more profitable the job will be. Non-billable time in any company is a huge waste of payroll, which is most businesses #1 expense!
Many landscape companies have no idea the time wasted when their crews stop regularly at gas stations for fuel, ice, or lunch. When asked about considering to purchase a shop ice machine for his crews, my client was open to the option. A matter of fact, my client’s neighbor, sells restaurant equipment and he could buy a used commercial grade ice machine for as little as $900. When we calculated what he was spending in water and ice per day, we determined that number was $7.87 per crew! That $7.87 was for a large bag of ice and 1 case of bottled water for each crew. Upon doing the math of 3 crews per day and an average of 20 working days per month, we quickly realized he was spending a whopping $472 per month on ice and water.
By doing simple math, this expense was costing my client $5664 per year. This does NOT even include the unbillable time that is spent at the gas station! If he buys the ice machine for his shop and utilizes filtered tap water, he will be saving approximately $4764 per year. Sometimes business owners get so focused on trying to grow their company, they often overlook some of the smaller things! My advise in this blog is to take your blinders off and simply look around. Try to think about how you can reduce non-billable time, eliminate waste and improve efficiency. No go buy your team that new ice machine. Oh, and did I mention that its also a great morale booster?