Dear Landscape Business Owners, We heard you loud and clear!
That is…
We heard from 197 lawn and landscape business owners over the past few days.
In case you missed it…
We asked one powerful survey question: What’s the single greatest challenge you face in your lawn or landscape company today?
And then we dug through the 197 answers. Here’s the summary data in case you missed it:
Now that we have shared this data, I’d like to ask you, “What are YOU going to do about it?”
What are YOU going to do about it?
There’s a ton of options in front of you. Here’s 9 options to consider. I jotted these down during my private phone calls over the past few weeks. See if any of these might work for you:
- Bitch, complain and gripe about how hard it is to find employess
- Bitch, complain and gripe about how hard it is to hire employess
- Bitch, complain and gripe about how hard it is to train employess
- Bitch, complain and gripe about how hard it is to keep employess
- Hold a conference and allow lawn and landscape business owners to join hands to bitch, complain and gripe about employees for two or three days in a row (GIE).
- Quit the business and get a real job.
- Sell the business and sit quietly on the porch.
- Fire all employees and only do the work you can do by yourself.
- Build a new employee system from ground up.
Personally, I’m sick and tired of hearing the negativity. So, options 1-5 are not for me.
Options 6 or 7 might make good sense for you. After all, we will all leave our businesses one day. Why not leave now when things are tough? It’s an option a growing number of landscape business owners are considering.
Option 8 is often chosen by those who just don’t like to be a manager. They say things like, “If you want it done right, do it yourself.” Or, “I just can’t find GOOD help.” Or “If I train them, they just leave. Why bother?” Enough said.
What about option #9? What would that look like?
What to do about your employee problem!!!
When is someone going to have the courage to do something radically different to solve their employee challenges once and for all? I think it will happen as soon as we pause and consider what some of the greatest minds in business have done to solve this age-old problem in the past.
Let me take you back in time to January 1914. An eleven-year-old growing company had developed a massive employee problem. They had 370% annual turnover. They had massive problems with tardiness and absenteeism. They were spending hand-over-fist to train new workers month after month…and then do it again. The business owner was so frustrated he decided to make a radical change.
That business owner decided to DOUBLE the wages of his employees.
The company owner was Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company.
Henry Ford, in a bold public announcement, proclaimed that his company would pay $5 per day when the current wage at Ford was $2.30/day. Within a few days, thousands of prospective workers lined up outside their factory in hope of getting one of these high paying jobs. Some referred to this as the Great Michigan Gold Rush.
History shows that the decision was so transformational, it ushered in the establishment of the middle class to our entire country. It wasn’t long before his competitors in the automotive industry followed suit. Shortly after, the automotive parts makers raised wages. In order to find employees, everyone had to raise wages…big time!
All of this brings me back to you and your landscape company. What are YOU going to do to fix your employee problem?
Let’s just say (for a moment) that you’re a skeptic about this OLD-FASHIONED Henry Ford idea. The idea of DOUBLING WAGES may sound impossible, impractical and dangerous in today’s hyper-competitive landscape industry.
Could this idea work for a landscaping business?
Consider the radical pay scale of just ONE of the members of the Super Lawn Toolkit Membership Training Program. This crazy young business owner pays his full-time landscaping crew members $35 to $40 per hour. He doesn’t provide health insurance. He has almost no turnover.
And before you say – this guy’s a nut – in an industry where the average revenue per full time equivalent is $129,046/year… his team is pumping out $407,412 per year per full time equivalent. In essence, he pays double the industry average of $20 per hour. He generates 215% more revenue than his peers! Nice…
Yes…a small 3-man team will generate $1.2 million in gross revenue while pumping his personal bank account over $300k for a year’s worth of residential landscaping.
Impossible some may say. You could NEVER sell work if you pay your guys $35 to $40 per hour to install landscapes.
Here’s the NEWS FLASH – It’s possible!
Would you be as bold as old Henry Ford in 1914? Would you do something as crazy as pay your field crews $35 to $40/hour to install landscapes? Let me answer this one for you…
Most of you won’t do it!
Which takes YOU back to the list of 9 options to deal with your employee problems. Here’s the list again so you don’t have to scroll back up or flip the pages:
- Bitch, complain and gripe about how hard it is to find employess
- Bitch, complain and gripe about how hard it is to hire employess
- Bitch, complain and gripe about how hard it is to train employess
- Bitch, complain and gripe about how hard it is to keep employess
- Hold a conference and allow lawn and landscape business owners to join hands to bitch, complain and gripe about employees for two or three days in a row.
- Quit the business and get a real job.
- Sell the business and sit quietly on the porch.
- Fire all employees and only do the work you can do by yourself.
- Build a new employee system from ground up.
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Side note: My wife told me I shouldn’t use the “b” word in my Wealthy Landscaper Newsletter. And I said to her, “Well YOU should talk to more landscape business owners. You’d know it’s the best word to describe the conversations.”
Forgive me for the strong language.
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But…
If you want to fix your employee problem…I’d encourage you to think long and hard about option #9.
And if YOU are interested in getting some help with finding, hiring, training and keeping employees, I’m here to help. I’m infected with a can-do attitude and a well-seasoned history of experience as an employer for the past 34 years.
My team and I have developed and documented step-by-step methods to give you an advantage in your marketplace as you find, hire, train and retain employees. But let me warn you…
There are NO SILVER BULLETS. It’s my opinion that being an employer (or HR Director) is the toughest job in our country…for now.
The only way to get your People Systems firing on all cylinders is to invest in your training…get yourself some education on this subject my friend. The people problem is going to be here for a while. And after it goes away…it will be back… then it may go away for a while…then it comes right back again.
What do you think?
Does this sound crazy?
Do you think I’m a nut for sharing these radical ideas?
Send me an email to Tony@TonyBassConsulting.com to share your thoughts.
Profit Greatly,
Tony Bass, founder
PS – Just in case you’ve never read the story about Henry Ford’s decision to Double Wages, you can get the details by clicking here. https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/blog/fords-five-dollar-day/
PSS – If you want to learn how to calculate your company’s financial productivity, then follow this link to watch the video, download the guide and see how your company compares. www.superlawntoolkit.com/WLPC
