Lessons From Seven Top Landscape Companies

Lessons From Seven Top Landscape Companies

Sep 12, 2023 | , , , , , , , ,

The following seven landscape professionals were awarded the prestigious 2023 Mighty Oak for their outstanding achievement. This honor is given each year to one member of each of Jeffrey’s high-impact peer groups — based on how they performed the previous year. The Four Achievements

There are four “developmental” areas in which a winner must show outstanding achievement.

Personal development
Professional development
Company development (their team, processes, strategy, etc)
Financial achievement (how their finances have developed over the past couple years)

Here are the winning contractors plus insight to their path to success.

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Jimmy Buffett’s Famous Business Strategy Is Not For Everyone

Jimmy Buffett’s Famous Business Strategy Is Not For Everyone

Sep 5, 2023 | , , , , , , , ,

With the passing of Jimmy Buffett, I am inspired to ponder the oft cited “work/life balance” that Jimmy skewers. Jimmy sings about working as little as humanly possible. According to Jimmy, life should be about beach bumming, drinking whenever, and fooling around. And yet, Mr. Buffett passed away a wealthy man based on the incessant hard work he invested into his business.

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7 Takeaways from the Summer Growth Summit

7 Takeaways from the Summer Growth Summit

Aug 29, 2023 | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Our Summer Growth Summit at Mariani Landscape in Lake Bluff, IL was the HOTTEST landscape event of the year! Over 3 days, we had 26 speakers covering inspiring and cutting-edge topics to help any attendee grow to their next level of success. The Summit concluded with a discussion between Jeffrey Scott and Frank Mariani regarding how Mariani Landscape grew from 90k in 1973 to 59 million in 2020. Then they discussed what has happened since making a private equity deal in 2020 and where the company is headed now. Frank and Jeffrey were like two old friends talking around the fire pit. They also covered the pitfalls of the 4 day work week, how to solve the labor issue, and how any company could pursue an acquisition growth strategy. Many companies brought their teams, and the energy was palpable. Here are 7 takeaways to get your mind thinking:

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Building Branches: Secrets to a Successful Branch Model

Building Branches: Secrets to a Successful Branch Model

Aug 22, 2023 | , , , , , , , , ,

Building Branches: Secrets to a Successful Branch Model

Announcing our newest Virtual Masterclass: November 1st, 11am to 4pm ET

Once your local market is saturated, where do you grow from here?

Growth-minded landscape companies can develop a branch network, offering more growth opportunities to their employees and clients.

Building a branch model is a logical way to expand your business. But it also has many pitfalls and challenges!

Whether you are a commercial or residential company, In this virtual masterclass you will learn from proven landscape entrepreneurs how to successfully launch and expand your branch model.

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Gain an Edge by Hiring a “Continuous Improvement” Manager

Gain an Edge by Hiring a “Continuous Improvement” Manager

Aug 15, 2023 | , , , , , , , ,

Continuous Improvement sounds like a cliche. Just like apple pie and motherhood (fatherhood), it brings a warm feeling to your heart, but it is much more than a platitude. It has the power to greatly tighten up your operations, whomever is leading it. Here’s a quick definition: It is “the ongoing improvement of products, services or processes through incremental and sometimes breakthrough changes”. It is mostly associated with process improvement. “How to continually improve processes, to give your clients a better experience, while helping your people become more efficient.”

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The Surprising Truth About “Retiring In Place”

The Surprising Truth About “Retiring In Place”

Aug 8, 2023 | , , , , , ,

Last year I ran a webinar on the topic of Retiring In Place. We covered why owners are going this route, and what it takes to put in place.You can watch the webinar recording on YouTube. Here are some surprising truths about this goal. The future is now. All entrepreneurs are dreamers and doers.We love building businesses and having big goals. A common dream is building a business to run day-to-day without the owner. Often these are the ten-year or someday goals. (I know this to be the case, because when I take on a new peer group client or coaching client, I inquire about their short and long term goals). Here is what I have discovered, after working with close to 350 companies:

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Unique Ways To Celebrate Your Employees

Unique Ways To Celebrate Your Employees

Aug 1, 2023 | , , , , , ,

Celebrating your employees. One of my peer groups has been bouncing around the question (and answers) of how companies recognize their employees, especially on their work anniversary? We all like to get presents or cake on our birthdays. (Hint: my favorite is NY Cheesecake, with cherries on top).Same goes for your employees. But I believe even more meaningful is acknowledging their work anniversary.

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Give Your Clients the Ultimate Five-Star Experience

Give Your Clients the Ultimate Five-Star Experience

Jul 25, 2023 | , , , , , , , , , , ,

How do you know if you are giving your clients a five-star experience? You can check your google reviews, but that gives very limited info.Here are two stories to illustrate the need for clarifying your customer service vision in today’s uncertain economy. I was recently helping a friend of mine (an entrepreneur in another industry) with his 3-year growth plans. Over the past few years his business has scaled nicely, and he was enjoying the sweet spot that he called ELF (Easy, lucrative and fun). He wanted to keep growing, but it was not clear what direction he should take his business. Should he change direction, or do more of the same?

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