Intricacies of Running a Commercial Landscaping Business

A business owner is someone who works hard, is independent, and takes pride in their work. As you venture into the world of owning your own commercial landscaping business, take note of a few important details to help you build a strong, scalable business.

Build a Strong Team

As Michael Jordan said, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” The team of employees whom you work with can take your commercial landscaping franchise to the next level. You may be a great landscaper—or salesman, or marketer, or bookkeeper—but you cannot be the one who does it all.

A key thing that you will do as a business owner is building a team of professionals who are responsible, hard-working, and reliable. As you grow your company, you may want to hire a competent manager to help you delegate responsibilities, manage budgets, or find new customers. A good team of professionals can make all the difference in how your business works.

Define and Meet Expectations

As with many service-based industries, your commercial landscaping franchise will rely on effective communication. Defining and meeting expectations is important on two levels. First, you need to be able to communicate with your customers to understand their goals and then fulfill their needs. Second, you must define what you expect from your employees and what they can expect from you.

Customer Expectations

As a landscaping professional, you will be judged on many levels. First and foremost, your customers will look at your work to ensure that it meets their standards. Second, your clients’ clients—the customers, tenants, and employees—will notice if the landscaping looks bad or is unsafe.

Each client has a different idea of what they want out of their landscaping, so communicating clearly and effectively with clients is a must. Really listen to them as they describe what they want their properties to look like, and use the proper tools and equipment to come through for them.

A critical part of owning a commercial landscaping business is being there for your customers, what we call becoming a business friend. Make commitments to them and then follow through on those promises. Build a reputation for being a company that keeps its word and delivers the landscaping services that its customers want.

Team Expectations

After you have hired your amazing team of employees, the trick is to keep them working for you. High employee turnover isn’t just annoying, it’s expensive, so taking steps to retain your good employees is good for business.

One thing you can do to keep employees happy is to make it clear what you expect of them and what they can expect of you. Defining these expectations lets everyone know their responsibilities, which in turn helps ensure that you are providing crisp and clean service to your clients.

Put just as much effort into communicating with your team as you do into communicating with your customers and you will be rewarded with hard workers who deliver results. In addition, follow through with your responsibilities to show your employees that you are just as dedicated to working hard for your clients as you expect them to be. Coming through with what you say you are going to do builds trust with your employees, which is essential to maintaining a good team.

U.S. Lawns has been in business for over thirty years, and during that time we have learned a thing or two about building strong teams, communicating expectations, and building scalable businesses. We have the tools and resources our commercial landscaping franchise owners need to get started.

If you’re ready to learn more about our franchise, request more information!