5 Ways Landscape Contractors Lose Money

Making money is the key goal in any business but it is not as simple as it sounds. Landscape contractors who are on the lookout for work can make phenomenal profits or can make horrendous losses depending on few primary decisions. The first and foremost thing to understand is that money coming in does not account for profit directly and there are leaks that exist due to which they can lose money. Here are few top ways that need to be plugged in order to start making money.

1> Project management  

Many contractors who are still used to managing their business with a one-man crew mentality may turn out to be inept at covering all process. The idea is to create a system or process in place that can make the execution of projects easier. This may be related to reorganizing the office space, improving the website design and SEO, or delegating work to employees for implementation. Remember, landscape contractors who keep themselves free from day-to-day operations have more time at hand to focus on the business end.

2> Flaws in marketing  

A good marketing will always generate leads but you need to judge whether you have the capacity to execute these many projects at one given time. It is imperative to understand our own capacity before making promises. If you are busy with the existing work, chances are you will miss out on the new promising leads. This results in a double loss situation where you not only lose money on new sales but also lose the money spent on marketing and generating the lead in the first place. Another important thing to remember is to ensure that someone picks the phone for inquiries because generally, a customer won’t call twice.

3> Labor Troubles

A lot of landscape contractors try to save money by settling on whomever they can hire. Remember, the people who work for you represent you and your company. The company’s reputation is at stake when you have unskilled labor working for you and can result in negative marketing. Another leak that adds up hiring such labor is the cost of training them as per your company standards. You can instead go for some experienced labor that has done commendable work and can provide a good value for the company. A seasoned labor that can be retained will be boon not just in terms of plugging the leak but also adding more value to your company.

4> Use of technology

Due to the advancement in technology, a lot can be achieved in terms of project management, tracking employees as well as expenditure. Usually, landscape contractors do not utilize these technologies and apps that can otherwise save time and even improve the productivity of labor. Saving time and tracking finances help in saving money along with a proper track of time to bill the clients. Project management apps make it possible for the backend staff to focus on customer services and business growth instead of spending time in filing paperwork, creating schedules, and billing.

5> Handling the cash  

Even though you have multiple projects going on at various sites, you may still fall short of liquid cash. To improve that fluidity, you might seek a loan or credit on the basis of the work. This might just increase your profit leak since the repayment will involve some kind of percentage. Instead, ensure that you get paid for time, plan your finances well, and make sure that you are making money and not buying work. Use technology to plan an internal system to get paid on a regular basis and start defining trigger-points when you should be tough on your clients to pay up.
If landscape contractors can successfully plug these 5 burning issues in their business, making a profit will no longer be a problem.