Lawn Care Service Business & Landscape Business Resource Succeed in Business

Ask anyone what it takes to get ahead in business, and the most common answer will probably be perseverance. It sounds deceivingly simple. You find a market, sell something to it, continue to do that over and over and make a profit in the process. While possessing plenty of perseverance is an important factor to success, the placement of that energy can be totally wasted, misdirected and yield disappointing results. Maybe that's where the expression working "smart" not "hard" comes from. For the green industry, that expression should be modified to working smart and hard at the same time. Very few contractors escape the "working hard" part, so a little more time needs spent on the "working smart" part.

WORKING SMART ...
What does it mean? The smart part of working is to correctly manage the working hard part. To practice working smart, you need to apply sound business practices and persevere in doing that. If you continue to work hard and persist at only that, you could work hard for the rest of your life and probably only achieve a marginal result. The bottom line is that a lot of people do business that way. Successful business people on the other hand know that they must apply time-proven management techniques. They practice the "art of smart" by staying on top of their game, listening closely to all the messages and signals, planning a course of action, sticking to the plan and expecting good results everyday.

WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?
Expectations are important because you usually get what you expect. Expectations are really targeted goals. Without them, there's no motivation, there's nothing to go for. What do you expect? A company with misdirected goals wastes energy in a futile attempt to achieve success. Such a company dances around the goals that could set it apart from competitors and set it free from mediocrity.

Successful people think more. They think about their markets and customers. They think about their methods of production. They come to fully understand where the points of control are in their companies. They do just the opposite of what you'd call the "quick and dirty approach" to management.

HOW DO YOU GET SUCCESSFUL?
Success is not exclusive. It's not reserved for a few gifted and talented people, which means anybody can do it. There is one requirement, however, and it's deceivingly simple. You must commit yourself to work toward a worthwhile goal. You must possess a burning desire to succeed like it is the most important thing in your life. The "thinking smart" part kicks in when you've thought about your business goals. Once those are understood, a clear and definite course of action is planned and then followed. Working smart means that you know every aspect of your business like the back of your hand. No procrastination, no misses, no wishful thinking. You know it; you do it. You manage your business by design, not by accident.

JUST WAVE A MAGIC WAND?
Maybe you think I've made business success sound too easy -you wave a magic wand, take a few steps and, bang, you made it. If it were that simple, wouldn't everyone be really successful? Some of the businesses that aren't doing well can point to a million reasons - too much competition, the right help isn't available, pricing is too low. But how many of these same companies ever sat down, gave serious thought to what it takes to be successful and determined exactly how to achieve it? Instead of concentrating on negatives, switch to positives. That in and of itself is hard. If you don't believe me, get a piece of paper. Divide the paper in half down the middle. In one column write positive, in the other negative. In the positive column write in all the reasons why your business will be successful. In the other write the reasons why your business will not be successful. It's easier and takes less brainwork to make the negative entries, whereas it takes real thinking to identify the factors for success. The lack of business planning is the number one reason why businesses fail or achieve only marginal results. Yet how many people actually take the time and energy to plan?

SELF-MADE OBSTACLES?
Well managed, successful companies don't usually happen by accident. If there aren't enough customers in your market area, go to another market. If your business has reached its potential and has stagnated, open a branch operation in the next closest market. When you've made a success of your business and can't decide what to do, take it national. Repeat that success elsewhere and everywhere. For every negative there's at least one opposing positive. Managing to succeed in business comes down to planning and execution of plans. You'll need to manage ideas and attitudes. It will take perseverance. Throw in a little "working smart" for good measure.

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When it comes to pricing lawn and landscape jobs nobody has more industry pricing information than Nilsson Associates. Nilsson's Job Price Guides covers lawn care job bidding & estimating landscaping job bids for commercial & residential customers. Get more customers. Price estimates & bids, grounds services, landscaping pricing estimates , estimating & bid the price seasonal work, year around commercial estimate contracts, best price per square foot, best grounds maintenance & landscaping job to bid & pricing, price of lawn care, lawn mowing price, aeration pricing, lawns, commercial landscape job bid estimates, maintenance estimating & pricing, mulching prices, pricing chemicals, weeding & aerating pricing, fertilizer prices, prices for organic fertilizer, pricing weeds in beds, pricing pruning & trimming trees & shrubs, pricing commercial & residential snow plowing, hardscape pricing, pricing hydroseeding, irrigation service estimates for commercial & residential, pricing seeding lawns, pricing lawn sod, prices for slit seeding lawns, pricing edging lawn beds, spring cleanup prices, pricing fall cleanups, hourly price of pressure washing walks & patios, pricing trees, stump grinding prices, price for gutter cleaning, lawn dethatching price, price for shoveling snow, pricing salting, price sanding.

For more information about Pricing Click Here for FREE Job Pricing Guidelines

Nilsson's Job Estimating System has everything you need to evaluate job site specifications & work required, figure costs, how to price ~ lawns, grounds maintenance, landscape installs. You'll get step - by - step instructions, bid proposal outlines & customer contracts, labor hours job times. You'll get job price guides to compare your prices with the going rates, overhead costs, materials, profit ratios. You'll set realistic prices, and job labor hours goals based on field tested, proven, time studied labor hours for every job you bid. You'll know how to evaluate every job for total work hours required, the price to charge for the job, the profit you'll make, best crew size, job costs. You'll also get add-on service check lists to help you maximize sales by upselling customers on additional property improvements.

For:
Landscaping Contractors
Lawn Care Service Providers
Parks & Recreation Managers
Snow Removal & Plowing

Labor Time Data Handbook - Contains over 500 field tested, time-studied labor hours data for landscaping and grounds maintenance job estimating and calculating labor time man hours for facility managers, parks and recreation departments, campus grounds, schools and university grounds. Bid with confidence, save time preparing bids, easily determine best crew size, make money on every job you get, never under or overprice a bid again, set realistic labor goals for employees. Includes labor hours for just about every job performed in landscaping and grounds maintenance by contractors and facility managers, parks, campus grounds functions and sports complex maintenance. For Green Industry Job Bidding, Pricing, Profits, Estimating Irrigation and Hardscape Jobs and for use in non-profit situations where budgeting labor hours, scheduling the work and determining total employee production man hours is desired.

These methods of collecting information was the basis for creating my Labor Time Data Handbook of Standard Work Times of man hours needed to perform the work. Included in my time study was all sorts of grounds maintenance and landscaping installation tasks and work that is normally done by landscaping and lawn care service companies. I timed things like Mowing, edging, trimming, pruning, snow plowing, ice control, tree planting, mulch, aeration, slit seeding, shrub beds, hardscapes, blowing leaves, lawn chemical applications, spring and fall cleanups, seed, installing sod, water gardening, flowers, and over 500 common job tasks to numerous to mention. I timed the different work tasks using many different types and sizes of power equipment was used during the timing trials for edger, trimmers, riding mower, walkbehind, weed eater, tractor, ztr, chainsaws, loaders, trucks, trailers, sprayers, hydroseeders, spreaders and the usual equipment of running a green industry company.

Labor Time Data Table of Contents:
Introduction
How To Bid Contracts
Knowing The Scope of the Work
A Few Words About Profits
Units of Work
Service Frequency

Labor Times:
Aerification
Back Pack Spraying
Blowing
Cleanups
Dethatching
Edging
Grading
Granular Applications
Hydroseeding
Installing Flowers
Installing Pavers
Line Marking
Liquid Applications
Loading
Mowing
Mulching
Pavement Sweeping
Planting Shrubs & Trees
Pruning
Raking
Sanding & Salting
Seeding
Snow Blowing
Snow Plowing
Sodding
Staking & Guying
Stump Grinding
Trimming
Watering
Weeding
Reference Section:
Annual Sales Statistics
Calculating Equipment Costs
Employee Productivity
Fertilizer Recommendations
Mowing Height Recommendations
Grounds Maintenance Statistics
Labor Management
Landscape Construction Estimating
Non-Productive Time Cost Worksheet
Tables & Measures
MIscellaneous Formulas
Financial Formulas

How to order
Labor Time Data Handbook
Written by Nilsson Associates
Book # A-7, Price $69.50
To order online Click Here:
To order by phone Toll Free 1-866-280-2252

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Labor Time Data Handbook

Nilsson's Job Estimating System has everything you need to evaluate job site specifications & work required, figure costs, how to price ~ lawns, grounds maintenance, landscape installs. You'll get step - by - step instructions, bid proposal outlines & customer contracts, labor hours job times. You'll get job price guides to compare your prices with the going rates, overhead costs, materials, profit ratios. You'll set realistic prices, and job labor hours goals based on field tested, proven, time studied labor hours for every job you bid. You'll know how to evaluate every job for total work hours required, the price to charge for the job, the profit you'll make, best crew size, job costs. You'll also get add-on service check lists to help you maximize sales by upselling customers on additional property improvements.

Nilsson's Job Pricing Guidelines are in use by lawn and landscape contractors nationwide. See what other landscapers are currently charging from price lists compiled and updated by Nilsson Associates. Avoid Pricing Too High - Avoid Pricing Too Low - Win More Bids. Compare Your Prices With Nilsson's Price Lists Before You Bid - Makes Pricing Lawn & Landscape Jobs Fast, Easy, Accurate, Competitive.

When it comes to pricing lawn and landscape jobs nobody has more industry pricing information than Nilsson Associates. Nilsson's Job Price Guides covers lawn care job bidding & estimating landscaping job bids for commercial & residential customers. Get more customers. Price estimates & bids, grounds services, landscaping pricing estimates , estimating & bid the price seasonal work, year around commercial estimate contracts, best price per square foot, best grounds maintenance & landscaping job to bid & pricing, price of lawn care, lawn mowing price, aeration pricing, lawns, commercial landscape job bid estimates, maintenance estimating & pricing, mulching prices, pricing chemicals, weeding & aerating pricing, fertilizer prices, prices for organic fertilizer, pricing weeds in beds, pricing pruning & trimming trees & shrubs, pricing commercial & residential snow plowing, hardscape pricing, pricing hydroseeding, irrigation service estimates for commercial & residential, pricing seeding lawns, pricing lawn sod, prices for slit seeding lawns, pricing edging lawn beds, spring cleanup prices, pricing fall cleanups, hourly price of pressure washing walks & patios, pricing trees, stump grinding prices, price for gutter cleaning, lawn dethatching price, price for shoveling snow, pricing salting, price sanding.

For more information about Pricing
Click Here for FREE Job Pricing Guidelines

email nilsson.assoc@snet.net

__________________
Phil Nilsson
Toll Free 866-280-2252
www.nilssonbooks.com

Nilsson is a Nationally recognized "Best Selling Landscape Industry Author," Business Consultant, Speaker with over 30 years experience in the Landscape Industry. His articles appear in Grounds Maintenance Magazine, Lawn & Landscape, PRO, The Arborist, Landscaper Publications, P.G.M.S. and P.L.C.A.A