Being a landscape/snow business owner is hard. There are a million things vying for your attention, and it’s usually only the most urgent ones that get it. Meanwhile, your business keeps going—but is it growing? Has it increased in value over the last year? The truth is that most snow management business owners have no idea what their business is worth or how it’s actually doing. They’re usually fantastic technicians, happy to be working in the business, but rarely on the business.

But knowing the value of your business and understanding the steps to increase its value are critical for its growth and health. It will increase profitability now and make your business more attractive to potential buyers—whether you’re looking at selling now or in the future.

Let’s look at six pillars of business and identify best practices and tools you can implement fairly easily to increase efficiency, productivity and profit.

1 - Safety

The health and safety of your staff is your greatest priority. A Health and Safety Committee should be actively engaged in your business, and their recommendations should be taken seriously by leadership, along with a review of all accidents and near-misses.

Ensuring your staff are trained in health and safety is an easy way to eliminate potential hazards. We recommend standardized safety training for each employee, with most of the training taking place before the employee begins fieldwork. This will reduce the chance of accident or injury. We also recommend weekly tailgate talks to keep health and safety at the forefront of employee’s minds by reviewing proper procedures and identifying potential safety hazards.

2 - Staff

Your staff are your greatest asset. Keeping great staff is not only economical but essential to your success. To attract and retain staff, make sure you have systems in place for recruiting, training, evaluating and growing.

Hiring well is critical to business success. It’s important to hire based on your company’s core values, not based solely on a need for a spot to be filled.

Providing employee orientation and an onboarding plan is extremely helpful to the employee and to the organization. It ensures that everyone is aware of the job duties, expectations, company culture, training schedule and organizational structure. It sets up an employee for success right from the start.

Additionally, providing regular communication to your employees keeps everyone on the same page, creates confidence in your employees, and gives you control over your company’s messaging. Consider a monthly town hall meeting, a quarterly newsletter and a one-day kickoff each spring and fall to help build company culture and show your appreciation. Happy staff are integral to a company’s success.

3 - Customers

Your customers can make or break your business. Turn your customers into fans by providing them a great experience and managing their expectations.

Just as you use an onboarding program for employees, consider an onboarding program for clients. In the same way that it provides clarity for your employees, it will do the same for your clients. You can communicate how the job process works, the payment schedule, how any delays are handled, who to contact if there’s an issue, etc. It puts clients at ease because they know what to expect and this builds their confidence in your company.

Communication with clients is key. If there’s one complaint we hear regularly about contractors, it’s that we’re famous for not communicating with our customers. Set your business apart by providing proactive communication to your clients. For example, send an email to your clients to let them know when snow or ice is expected in the forecast and when you expect to start operations. Send them a weekly report that indicates when you were on site and what service(s) you performed. There really is no such thing as overcommunication when it comes to customers.

4 - Financials

A lot of landscapers will stop reading here, simply because they saw the word "financials." Most cringe at the thought of financial reports and spreadsheets, but ignoring the numbers can often be the downfall of a business. Learning how to create a budget, review budgets to actuals and read financial reports is imperative to understanding your business and where changes can be made to increase profit and efficiency.

To ensure the stability, longevity and profitability of your business, make sure you’re creating and reviewing budgets (weekly, monthly and annually), checking your margins and creating systems to keep you on track.

5 - Operations

Determining some best practices for operations is one of the quickest ways to affect the efficiency and profitability of your business. It also eliminates frustration, confusion and miscommunication.

Consider standardizing processes and equipment throughout the company and creating an operational manual. There are plenty of programs and apps that can assist with this. To track your progress, it’s important to have key performance indicators identified for each division. Measurements like hours vs. budget, fleet costs, measurement of quality of work being completed, and gross margin on each job are key.

6 - Leadership

A company is only as good as its leadership. Leaders must be committed to continually learning and growing and modeling that to their staff.

Creating a regular meeting rhythm is one of the most effective ways to start building cohesion in your leadership team. Scheduling regular SWOT meetings and strategic plans will keep everyone informed, which will help create consensus and accountability. Sharing your leadership’s vision and core values with your staff will help to create "ownership thinking" from the staff.

Investing in the professional development of your staff will add value to your operation and instill in your employees a greater sense of purpose and commitment to their role. Creating a career ladder (and indicating what is required to attain that advancement) is a great way to demonstrate the opportunities for advancement available at your company. It shows your employees that this can be a career, not just a job.

Understanding the value of your business requires a comprehensive evaluation of various business areas. By focusing on safety, staff, customers, financials, operations and leadership, contractors can increase the overall value of their business, which will not only benefit the current operation but will also attract potential buyers and increase the likelihood of a successful sale.

Grant Harrison is president of Nextra Consulting, based in Ingersoll, Ontario. Contact him at 519.868.6398 or www.nextraconsulting.ca.