Strategy Archives - Jeffrey Scott

Ensure a Better 2024 by Managing Internal & External Uncertainty

Nov 28, 2023 | Employee Retention, Employees, Exit Planning, Financial, Growth Tips, Income, Management, Planning, Pricing, Strategy

I recently spoke with Ron Edmonds, President of the Principium Group, a leading mergers and acquisitions firm serving the Green Industry. Ron and I were prepping for his talk at my Financial Master Class, chatting about how a company’s “value” is driven in part by removing the uncertainties in the business. The lower the uncertainties, the higher the value. Business Uncertainties can be split into two groups: internal and external. Our conversation on uncertainties reminded me of the Serenity Prayer: Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. My version: Know what you can control internally and externally, and focus intently on those elements in your business; don’t stress on the rest. With that in mind, here are a couple examples to get your mind turning:

My Top 5 Favorite Benchmarks: Uncover Your Hidden Inefficiencies

Nov 21, 2023 | Financial, Growth Tips, Income, Planning, Pricing, Strategy

As we approach year-end it’s helpful to do a deep dive analysis on your numbers.

What worked? What didn’t? What should you change?

To do this correctly you need to look beyond the typical sales and profit benchmarks.

Hidden Inefficiencies and Opportunities

I recommend using a more sophisticated set of KPIs (i.e. benchmarks) to uncover the hidden efficiencies and opportunities in your operations.

Can You Compare Your Benchmarks?

As you do your analysis it helps to compare your numbers with other firms.

Let me emphatically state that accurate benchmarking between companies is possible, it just takes some effort.

You need an apples-to-apples format, and everyone needs direction on how to navigate the format.

I have spent 16+ years fine tuning and testing my benchmarking tools. This allows us to put on our Financial Master Class (details here) with accurate data.

Three creative strategies to grow sales next year

Nov 14, 2023 | Competition, Financial, Growth Tips, Incentives, Income, Planning, Pricing, Productivity, Strategy

Next year will not be easier than this year, in terms of making sales. There are uncertainties in the air: with the wars, the high interest rates and the upcoming election. All this makes it harder to set your budget. The best you can do is make a forecast, and then revisit those forecasts on a regular basis. Your budget cannot be set in stone.With that in mind, here are 3 sales strategies to help you think differently and increase your chances of sales success. Three sales strategies to help you think differently in 2024.

Taking Big Risks with Dustin and Wade Vugteveen

Nov 9, 2023 | Marketing, Planning, Podcast Series: The Ultimate Landscape CEO, Productivity, Strategy

Wade and Dustin Vugteveen are owners of DeHamer Landscaping, a 10M+ firm in Grandville, MI. They do a mix of snow, maintenance, landscape and irrigation. We discuss their history of startups, first with a baseball training business and then in retail. We discuss how...

Are You an Entrepreneur or a Workaholic?

Oct 10, 2023 | Growth Tips, Leadership, Management, Peer Groups, Planning, Productivity, Strategy

In discussing fast growth, I recognized there are two types of hard workers: Workaholics and Entrepreneurs.

Workaholics.

Here are some criteria that define this type:

Nonstop work 6+ days a week
Very few vacations, and possibly only in off season
Not many hobbies.
Family life does not come first.
Always on call.
What got you here, won’t get you there.

It used to be that all entrepreneurs were workaholics (just work harder!)

But things have evolved.

Workaholics may succeed early on, but then they plateau because of their approach.

They tend to breed inefficient mini-me’s who then burn out.

Entrepreneurs.

…are a different breed, they:

Understand the “work hard play hard” balance
Use delegation to take successive responsibilities off their plate.
Hire A and A+ players so that growth is not stopped by the Peter Principle (definition below)
Set up systems, measure on results.

Every Great Entrepreneur Needs A Coach

Oct 3, 2023 | Financial, Growth Tips, Incentives, Income, Leadership, Planning, Productivity, Strategy

Early in my consulting career I hired my own coach. The gentleman was low cost, had skills, and helped me refine my new business direction. A few years later I hired the “real deal” coach—it was a much bigger investment, and helped me build my skills and scale my business to what it is today. Who’s my next coach? It’s been a while since I worked with such a great coach, until this weekend.At the racetrack here in New Orleans I hired my first “real deal” driver development coach.He and I are similar, and his coaching techniques really resonated. They may also resonate with you, as you coach up your own team. SIX USEFUL COACHING TECHNIQUES

Strategic Growth: How to Build Dramatic Value In Your Business

Sep 26, 2023 | Competition, Exit Planning, Financial, Growth Tips, Incentives, Income, Leadership, Mighty Oak Award, Peer Groups, Planning, Productivity, Strategy

This past week I had some thrilling conversations with my coaching clients on their growth strategies. I told a few of them “either you are buying low, or someone else is buying low, and they could be buying you!” Let me explain what I mean. Scale Determines Value. As the hype of the merger-mania floods our industry, it makes it looks sexy to sell one’s business. But unless you have achieved significant scale, you are losing out and leaving massive opportunities on the table. The scale of your business determines its value.

Building a team and a profitable business with Scott Lamon

Sep 21, 2023 | Podcast Series: The Ultimate Landscape CEO, Productivity, Strategy, Webinar

Scott Lamon owns the 17 yr. old firm, Tynic Landscaping in Southwick, MA. His firm revenues 3.5M with almost 50 people at peak including PT help; they do 60% commercial and 40% residential. Jeffrey and Scott discuss all the different jobs he had before he got into the...

Six Guidelines for Better Budgeting. Start Now!

Sep 19, 2023 | Financial, Growth Tips, Income, Peer Groups, Planning, Productivity, Strategy

Budget season comes earlier than you think. It starts now. You need to budget early for a few reasons: It confirms your pricing for next year.It brings clarity to big investments. It forces you to get next year’s goals figured out now. The budgeting process should “ideally” start at the end of Q3 (September) after you have 8 months of current year actuals. Here are six critical guidelines.

Lessons From Seven Top Landscape Companies

Sep 12, 2023 | Financial, Growth Tips, Income, Leadership, Management, Mighty Oak Award, Peer Groups, Productivity, Strategy

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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