Tikinetics

Most are aware that operating a landscaping business of your own is extremely tough. But with advancements in tech, this has streamlined things tremendously. Technology has been the greatest gift we have ever been given when it comes to easing the management of a landscape business. Specifically because in recent years there has been an explosion of available software and mobile applications that allow an owner to nearly run their entire business (management-wise) from a smart phone, tablet and/or computer in their office or remotely from home. The software tracks nearly every single operational aspect of a landscape business, including a critical function we are covering in this installment – job costing. For any landscaping business to be on track to hit their goals for profitability, they must be aware of these figures.

Job Costing To Know Your Numbers

Previously, a contractor would rely on the old school aluminum clipboard, a pen and paper – usually with a spreadsheet printed out that was designed in Microsoft Excel or Mac Numbers containing information about the tools needed for the job, what materials are going to be used, how much of each material, who or what crew is assigned this project, an approximate timeline and so forth. While the paper version of this works just fine, paper is susceptible to the elements, it can easily get lost, dirty or wet, rendering the data placed on this sheet completely useless if that happens. With the power of a cloud-based software, all of this information is stored securely, and can be easily accessed by anyone within the company if they want to see the numbers for profitability or to assess project completion efficiency and more.

A Tulsa landscaping company recently started using this tool and was able to drastically increase efficiency and more importantly, able to track their profits on each project down to the penny because they are able to know how much time the crew spent at the job site, including knowing when they arrived, when they departed, etc. with the help of GPS tracking on the tablet that the crews use.

The realization that an owner, operations manager, or any other top-level executive of a landscape contracting company gets to experience when they now are fully aware of all the activity within the business is truly empowering. Previous leaks in time wasted or resources that did not need to be used are now gone. Increasing profits in the company and often times this can lead to a lower price for the customer because the company can operate even more efficiently.

Additional information on the landscaping company in Tulsa, OK.

Smart business owners are out their always looking to adapt and get an edge on the competition. A landscaping company in New Braunfels, TX has seemed to have figured that out.

Leverage

If there is one word to describe a proper business strategy it is this. Using whatever means a business can attain to gain that edge is crucial to long term expansion. Though, the focus should not necessarily be all about the competition, a company’s true competition is its former self. But the fact remains, when a company leverages more efficient crews, or more efficient processes in the office, this means it takes less labor hours and therefore costs less. Meaning the company can attend those funds elsewhere within the firm. Whether that be lowering the price for their services or affording to spend more on advertising to acquire a customer.

If a company can outspend their competition with advertising, especially online with platforms such as Facebook or Google, they will win every time.

The New Discovery

The Texas landscaper discovered a combination of software applications that worked to help them automate so many lost ends throughout their entire business process. This begins with the most important facet of any business: customer acquisition.

The company acquires the vast majority of its clients by utilizing a specifically built website that draws in its visitors. “Most people that call in or request an estimate from our online form say they type a search inquiry into Google such as “New Braunfels landscaping” or “landscapers near me”. These are some of the best prospective clients you can get!” These prospects are telling the search engine exactly what they are looking for. The vast majority of these prospective clients are ready to sign up and buy, does not get any better than that with the exception of referrals from other clients.

From Sales, To Build, To Project Completion

From there, the sales process beings. Beginning with follow up, usually a consultation at the client’s home to assess their project. They then get their design team to piece together an elaborate landscape design using an incredible tool that turns a photo into the dream landscape. The client signs on board, then the crews get to work. They track their crews and time spend on job sites down to the minute with remote software products utilized by the installation teams equipped with tablets and mobile data. This ensures the job is done on time and on budget.

Once completed, the project manager will walk through the work area with the client, providing them instructions on how to care for their new landscape. The client either pays with a check, cash or pays with a credit card swiped on a card reader that the company attaches to a tablet.

This entire process is seamless, streamlined and set up for efficiency. The company is able to be select with their pricing on projects thanks to an ultra efficient labor crew that tracks their completion process from day to day and all other components of the system.

The company also offers consultation for other businesses about streamlining, here is their contact information:

The recent technology boom is creating a massive shift in the marketplace when it comes to nearly every business out there. Contractors are not an exception to the rule here either. Industries near and far are adopting new tech with applications and software that allow them to operate more efficiently, thus reducing labor hours spent on operations, meaning increased profits for the company and potentially more competitive pricing to beat other contractors.

Contractor and Office Tech Advancement

Many contracting companies are using an automation accounting platform. But there are still gaps that must be filled. Routing invoicing and approval is a big one. People are literally having the main office staff scan invoices and then email out invoice images to the project superintendent. Invoice images are “digital paper,” meaning they’re not actual digital artifacts. Any data that’s on them has to be manually entered, and the whole routing and approval process is manual as well.

Then there is the process of receiving payments. Solutions for contractor efficiency are built to handle paying the vendor only handle set up invoice approval, so then you need a payments automation solution on top of that. The good news is that automating payments is pretty easy to do with processing cards.

Automated Tracking of Sales

The next big factor is tracking the sales conversion rates. Basically needing to answer the big question, it being “How many deals do we close per amount of new leads that come in?” There are some solutions out there but nothing that is perfect. As companies evolve and new tech start ups create solutions, a lot of these issues will be in the not so distant past which leads to a bright future for companies across the globe. Before you know it, any issue your contracting company encounters will be solved by an application or software.

This video provides a solution to some of these issues with tracking nearly every aspect of operations: