Follow Through for the Win

Learn how to maximize your bottom line by using these nine powerful tips found in this GardenCenter article. 

“Nothing happens until somebody sells something.” It’s uncertain who originated this pearl of business wisdom, but it’s widely recognized as an unarguable principle of business success. The truth is, until a sale is made, the business goes nowhere.

However, what it fails to point out is that focusing solely on sales at the expense of sound business management can be a path to financial mediocrity — or worse. How you manage the revenue generated by your garden center’s sales will determine how much of that money reaches your bottom line.

This article discusses nine powerful techniques that can help you gain maximum benefit from your sales right now:

Keep your money working for you
Skillful management of your revenue demands that you never allow any of your money to lie idle. Here’s a technique that will help you to avoid that costly error:

If you don’t already have one, open a money market account at your bank and ask to have it linked to your business checking account so that you can make telephone or online transfers.

Then, deposit all of your daily receipts into the money market account where they will immediately start drawing interest.

NEVER deposit receipts directly into your checking account. Keep a minimum balance in the checking account and transfer cash by phone or online only as needed to cover checks written. The banks have made this technique so easy to use that there is no longer any reasonable excuse for not using it.

While even money market interest is anemic at this time, interest rates are certain to climb and you’ll be set for an extra benefit when they do.

To read the full article, click here.

Taking Charge of Chinch Bugs

Make sure your yard stays green this year by avoiding the chinch bug. Learn preventative measures from this totallandscapecare.com article.

Rego Korosi, Flickr.com 

Give a chinch an inch, and they’ll take a yard. This old southern saying about chinch bugs speaks to the destructive nature of these pests that threaten turf in the South and Southeast. Even though chinch bugs are found throughout the United States, it’s the southern chinch bug that has notoriously evaded control by developing resistance to some of the most commonly used insecticides.

However, a ton of products are available to rid this pest from commercial turf and residential lawns. If you’re not getting the results from the product you’re using and you live in Florida, there’s a chance that chinch bugs have become resistant to it. Most likely, though, you simply need to evaluate and adjust your method of application.

Doing Damage: 
Experts consistently describe the cost of controlling the southern chinch bug in the millions. In Florida alone, $5 million annually is spent on control and on replacing chinch-damaged turf. Richard Duble, professor and extension turfgrass specialist at Texas A&M University, calls the southern chinch bug the most destructive pest of St. Augustinegrass lawns, with more than $50 million spent each year for its control.

Click here to read the full article.

Essential Jobs Include: Creating Job Descriptions

As a boss, you juggle many hats so make sure your employees are still getting your best! This article found on greenindustrypros.com makes a good argument for the importance of employee motivation in regards to your company's success.  

Landscape company owner/operators wear a lot of hats. They not only do the physical work of actually servicing accounts, but also sell and manage, respond to customers and do bookkeeping. The owners of larger landscape companies—who rarely if ever work on a crew anymore—wear many hats of their own; as a company gets bigger, the behind-the-scenes demands grow exponentially.

Whatever your personal situation is, the success of your company largely rests on the backs of your employees doing the work in the field. You must be able to trust them. In order to develop that trust, it's useful to have clear job descriptions in place before placing a new employee into action.

Tony Bass, a business trainer and former contractor, says that when you take a moment to reflect on all of the work that you do, you can start to see how it fits within numerous different roles within your company.

Click here to read the full article. 

Hand Protection Tool Box Talks

Hand safety is key in any workplace - especially when pulling, pushing, or operating machinery. Make yourself more aware of potential dangers by reading this article from ishn.com. 

Hand Bandage, eveline.timeless

Hand injuries account for 80 percent of all occupational injuries.

This is because the hands are engaged in almost all activities on the job. Can you imagine any occupation that does not make use of the hand? Hands are so important because of their utility. They provide us with the dexterity needed to perform most daily activities. In fact, hands, as tools, are so versatile and can perform many intricate functions more than any single known tool developed by man.

No wonder hands are highly useful on our jobs. There are many dangerous conditions on the job to which the hand is always exposed. Sharp edges, pinch points, protruding objects, splinters, exposed blades on unguarded machinery and many more. These conditions may not always be too obvious to the working person.

To continue this read in hand safety, click here.