It’s a bit ironic, really; a lot of very successful landscape contractors began their careers pushing lawn mowers. But after they established their businesses, a lot of them stopped, dropping the ... View More...
Some people have to learn everything the hard way, and apparently, I’m one of them. For instance, for years when cleaning house, I’d use the same bottle of spray cleaner, toting it from room ... View More...
Whether you’re learning how to throw a fastball, or to play the piano, everything starts with the fundamentals. Throwing a ball against a pitchback over and over or practicing the scales may not ... View More...
After a few years, he decides that mowing lawns and doing other landscape maintenance chores isn’t really his strongest service area. He decides to focus on other aspects of his enterprise that will ... View More...
New York, Wright gravitated to anything mechanical. He loved to tinker with cars. “I fixed everybody’s cars and lawn mowers; I just couldn’t get my hands away from tinkering with things,” ... View More...
You’ll get a chance to do just that when the seasons turn and winter’s chill forces green grass into dormancy. In fact, if you play your cards right, you can earn a steady income working through ... View More...
Gary Mallory grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. While in high school, he didn’t give much thought to where his career path would take him. He never imagined that he would be in the landscape business, ... View More...
If you're an action-movie fan, you may have heard a character - perhaps a superhero - boasting: “I have the strength of ten men!” As a landscape or irrigation contractor, you probably have ... View More...
At the time, he was heading up the office of the FBI in Dayton. One day, he received a call from J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI, informing him that he was going to be transferred. The new job sounded ... View More...
The other day, I was having a conversation with George and Mike LaForest, the principals of Apartment Services Company, Inc., a landscape maintenance and snow removal company located in Livonia, Michigan. ... View More...
I first met Steven Kinzler at a chapter meeting of the California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA).That was about 14 years ago. He was a newly-licensed landscape contractor at that time and very ... View More...
Nick Gramer, the owner and operator of Blue Moon Lawn and Landscape in Muskegon, Michigan, is a stickler for safety. It all stems from a serious accident he witnessed about six years ago ... View More...
By taking a strategic approach to dealing with the challenges that winter brings, you can put your company in an advantageous position. If you can do this, you won’t be caught in a bind when Mother ... View More...
As a business owner, your days consist of one decision after another. Some are no-brainers: “Should I update my website?” Of course! “Should I check this prospective employee’s ... View More...
The green industry would not exist as it does today without the invention of the motorized mower. These mighty machines are many times more efficient than their muscle-powered predecessors, and you could ... View More...
Hutcheson does not have an easy job, but then again, ‘easy’ is not in his vocabulary. Hutcheson is the president of U.S. Lawns; he’s held that position for the past 14 years. Trying to ... View More...
EDITOR’S NOTE: Although this study was conducted in 2004, more than 11 years ago, it is still relevant today. We recently spoke with John DeCell about this report, which compared prices for doing ... View More...
Pumps are among the oldest machines ever invented by mankind. All the way back in 2000 BC, the Egyptians invented a device for raising water called a shadoof, a long, suspended rod with a bucket at one ... View More...