HOW TO SUCCEED IN A LANDSCAPE BUSINESS

Successful contractors know how to succeed in a landscaping business. So, what is the difference between contractors that succeed and those that don’t?
I get to talk to hundreds of owner/operaters, and spend a lot of time thinking about how to succeed in a landscaping business.
There’s a lot of different angles that you could come at this question. But I really liked a random comment that Jim Wertz made to me this week. It just landed right in my brain and lodged itself there.
He’s a business coach for landscapers, lives in the same area I live in, and we get together for breakfast once in a while and just talk shop. While we were enjoying our pancakes, 🥞☕🥓 we discussed what it takes for hard-working owner/operators to succeed.
He sells coaching, and while everyone needs someone to hold them accountable and mentor them, having a coach isn’t the silver bullet. He had examples of his coaching clients who didn’t get the results they should have.
We built SynkedUP to help contractors learn how to succeed in a landscape business.
And while you need to know your numbers and have a system and process in your business, the software isn’t a silver bullet. I have examples of people who bought it but didn’t get the results they wanted.
Why didn’t they?
Queue the comment Jim made that’s still pinging around in my brain.
“The difference between those that succeed and those that don’t is… their willingness to change.”
Ya know… he’s right.
I had to quickly write it on a napkin 😂

When you learn how to succeed in a landscaping buiness, you know this resounding truth is: what got you here, isn’t what’s going to take you to the next level.
As your business grows, you need to grow.
If you double your business, 👉you👈, your leadership ability, your process, your system, and your people also need to “double” in skill, proficiency, and ability.
If we aren’t willing to change our habits, mindset, leadership, and processes, … well, then you’ll likely continue getting more of what you always got.
And I feel this same tendency in my own experience, both in working for Tussey Landscaping and in running a new tech startup.
It’s just human nature.
When we run into a roadblock or something that’s sucking the energy out of us, we just naturally want to blame the external circumstances.
What’s your excuse?
“I can’t find good guys”
“I’m not making enough money”
“My team drops the ball”
Who’s fault is that?
Yes, I know there are a hundred reasons.
But who’s fault is it?
If I can’t find good guys, then obviously what I’ve tried in the past didn’t work. What am I going to change to try a different approach and get different results?
If I’m not making enough money, if I’m an employee, how can I help the company make more money? If I’m an owner, where am I being inefficient or not knowing my numbers like I should?
If my team drops the ball, did I actually sufficiently outline our process for that task? Did I train them? Did they know what my expectations were?
Successful contractors know getting rid of these excuses is how to succeed in a landscaping business.
If you’ve never read Extreme Ownership, I highly recommend it. One of the top 5 books I’ve ever read.
In Conclusion
To land this plane, yes, my success does come down to my level of willingness to change.
Stop defending the way I’ve always done it.
Stop coming up with a dozen excuses why it won’t work.
Stop blaming others.
It’s me.
And my willingness to change.
No one said that knowing how to succeed in a landscaping business is easy. It’s hard.
But which hard do you want?
The “hard” of the current struggle?
Or the “hard” of putting in the work to learn, plan, and change?
Both are hard. Pick your poison.
I know which hard I want.
Weston Zimmerman
SynkedUP CEO & co-founder
P.S.
If you are a SynkedUP customer and are feeling the burn, the difficulty of changing habits when changing your processes for estimating, tracking time, scheduling, invoicing, etc., get on a call with our amazing Customer Success team. I constantly get DMs from people thanking me for how they’ve helped and supported me through this difficulty. The SynkedUP Support team knows, they care, and they’ve been there done that. That’s why we hire people from within our own industry.
If you don’t use SynkedUP yet, but feeling the need for something better, get on a one-on-one Zoom call here.
Don’t miss our 2023 Contractor Summit get-together and tour of Tussey Landscaping on September 21 & 22 in PA!

Weston Zimmerman
CEO and co-founder
See SynkedUP in action
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