lbtcadmin
12-30-2006, 06:21 PM
Lawn Care
Estimating - Pricing - Bidding - Costing
Managing to Succeed in Business
By Phil Nilsson, Green Industry Consultant
www.nilssonbooks.com (http://www.nilssonbooks.com)
Ask anyone what it takes to get ahead in business, and the most common answer will probably be perseverance. It sounds deceivingly simple. You find a market, sell something to it, continue to do that over and over and make a profit in the process. While possessing plenty of perseverance is an important factor to success, the placement of that energy can be totally wasted, misdirected and yield disappointing results. Maybe that's where theexpression working "smart" not "hard" comes from. For the green industry,that expression should be modified to working smart and hard at the same time. Very few contractors escape the "working hard" part, so a little more time needs spent on the "working smart" part.
WORKING SMART ...
What does it mean? The smart part of working is to correctly manage the working hard part. To practice working smart, you need to apply sound business practices and persevere in doing that. If you continue to work hard and persist at only that, you could work hard for the rest of your life and probably only achieve a marginal result. The bottom line is that a lot of people do business that way. Successful business people on the other hand know that they must apply time-proven management techniques. They practice the "art of smart" by staying on top of their game, listening closely to all the messages and signals, planning a course of action, sticking to the plans for estimating, pricing, costing and bidding jobs correctly, and expecting good results everyday.
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?
Expectations are important because you usually get what you expect.
Expectations are really targeted goals. Without them, there's nothing to go for. What do you expect? A company with misdirected goals wastes energy in a futile attempt to achieve success. Such a company dances around the goals that could set it apart from competitors and set it free from mediocrity.
Successful people think more. They think about their markets and customers. They think about their methods of production. They come to fully understand where the points of control are in their companies. Points of control include wise estimating, costing and bidding policies that result in profits, as opposed to "hit or miss" approaches to job bids. They do just the opposite of what you'd call the "quick and dirty approach" to management.
HOW DO YOU GET SUCCESSFUL?
Success is not exclusive. It's not reserved for a few gifted and talented people, which means anybody can do it. There is one requirement, however, and it's deceivingly simple. You must commit yourself to work toward a worthwhile goal. You must possess a burning desire to succeed like it is the most important thing in your life. The "thinking smart" part kicks in when you've thought about your business goals Once those are understood, a clear and definite course of action is planned and then followed. Working smart means that you know every aspect of your business like the back of your hand. No procrastination, no misses, no wishful thinking. You know it; you do it. You manage your business by design, not by accident.
JUST WAVE A MAGIC WAND?
Maybe you think I've made business success sound too easy -you wave a magic wand, take a few steps and, bang, you made it. If it were that simple, wouldn't everyone be really successful? Some of the businesses that aren't doing well can point to a million reasons - too much competition, the right help isn't available, pricing is too low. But how many of these same companies ever sat down, gave serious thought to what it takes to be successful and determined exactly how to achieve it? Instead of concentrating on negatives, switch to positives. That in and of itself is hard. If you don't believe me, get a piece of paper. Divide the paper in half down the middle. In onecolumn write positive, in the other negative. In the positive column write in all the reasons why your business will be successful. In the other write the reasons why your business will not be successful. It's easier and takes less brainwork to make the negative entries, whereas it takes real thinking to identify the factors for success. The lack of business planning is the number one reason why businesses fail or achieve only marginal results. Yet how many people actually take the time and energy to plan?
SELF-MADE OBSTACLES?
Well managed, successful companies don't usually happen by accident. If there aren't enough customers in your market area, go to another market. If your business has reached its potential and has stagnated, open a branch operation in the next closest market. When you've made a success of your business and can't decide what to do, take it national. Repeat that success elsewhere and everywhere. For every negative there's at least one opposing positive. Managing to succeed in business comes down to planning and execution of plans. You'll need to manage ideas and attitudes. It will take perseverance. Throw in a little "working smart" for good measure.
Nilsson Associates has the information you need (http://nilssonbooks.com/)
Business solution links:
Advertising (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm) -
Bidding Jobs (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm) - (http://www.asharpdesign.com/nilsson/discounts_and_deals.htm)
Business Growth (http://nilssonbooks.com/mangement.htm) -
Business Plan (http://nilssonbooks.com/mangement.htm#Business Planning Workbook) -
Commercial (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm#Selling To Commercial Customers) -
Company Policy (http://nilssonbooks.com/mangement.htm#Writing Your Company Policy Manual) -
Contract Cost (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm) -
Customers (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm#Selling To Commercial Customers) -
Employees (http://nilssonbooks.com/employee.htm) -
Estimating (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm) -
Job Cost (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Labor Time Data Handbook) -
Job Specs (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Writing The Maintenance Speci-fications) -
Labor Time Data (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Labor Time Data Handbook) -
Maintenance (http://nilssonbooks.com/operations.htm#Grounds Maintenance Manual) -
Management (http://nilssonbooks.com/mangement.htm) -
Mowing Profits (http://nilssonbooks.com/operations.htm#Maximizing Profits In Mowing) -
Pricing (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Pricing Your Services) - Sales (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm) -
Sales Letters (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm#How To Write Effective Sales Letters) -
Sales Skills (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm) -
Snow Removal (http://nilssonbooks.com/operations.htm#The Snow Removal Business) -
Subcontracting (http://nilssonbooks.com/employee.htm#Subcontracting the Work) -
Training Video (http://nilssonbooks.com/video_tapes.htm) -
Website Services (http://nilssonbooks.com/other_services.htm#Web Design) -
Winter Income (http://nilssonbooks.com/operations.htm)
Other
resources:
Sales Boosters (http://nilssonbooks.com/sales_booster_package.htm)
Job Estimating Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm)
FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)
New Business Startup Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/just_getting_started.htm)
Complete Operations management System (http://nilssonbooks.com/coms_package.htm)
Nilsson's Job Estimating System (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm)has everything you need to evaluate job site specifications & work required, figure costs, how to price ~ lawns, grounds maintenance, landscape installs. You'll get step - by - step instructions, bid proposal outlines & customer contracts, labor hours job times. You'll get job price guides to compare your prices with the going rates, overhead costs, materials, profit ratios. You'll set realistic prices, and job labor hours goals based on field tested, proven, time studied labor hours for every job you bid. You'll know how to evaluate every job for total work hours required, the price to charge for the job, the profit you'll make, best crew size, job costs. You'll also get add-on service check lists to help you maximize sales by upselling customers on additional property improvements.
(http://nilssonbooks.com/coms_package.htm)
Nilsson's FREE Job Pricing Guidelines
When it comes to pricing lawn and landscape jobsnobody has more landscape industry pricing information than Nilsson Associates, Green Industry Consultants. Nilsson's Job Price Guides covers lawn care bids, job bidding & estimating for tree care, irrigation installation & service, pavement sweeping & maintenance, snow plowing operations, landscaping and hardscaping job bids for both commercial & residential customers as well as real estate management, parks & recreation departments, municipalities, college and univeristy grounds. The prices cover; estimates & bids for grounds services, landscaping pricing estimates , estimating & bid the price seasonal work, year around commercial estimate contracts, price per square foot, best grounds maintenance & landscaping job to bid & pricing, price of lawn care, lawn mowing price, aeration pricing, lawns, commercial landscape job bid estimates, most all outdoor maintenance estimating & pricing, mulching prices, pricing chemicals, weeding & aerating pricing, fertilizer prices, prices for organic fertilizer, pricing weeds in beds, pricing pruning & trimming trees & shrubs, pricing commercial & residential snow plowing, hardscape pricing, pricing hydroseeding, irrigation service estimates for commercial & residential, pricing seeding lawns, pricing lawn sod, prices for slit seeding lawns, pricing edging lawn beds, spring cleanup prices, pricing fall cleanups, hourly price of pressure washing walks & patios, pricing trees, stump grinding prices, price for gutter cleaning, lawn dethatching price, price for shoveling snow, pricing salting, price for sanding.
For more information: Click Here for FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)
When it comes to pricing, estimating abd costing lawn and landscape jobs nobody has more industry pricing information than Nilsson Associates. Nilsson's Job Price Guides covers lawn care job bidding & estimating, costing landscaping job bids for commercial & residential customers. Get more customers. Price estimates & bids, grounds services, landscaping pricing estimates , estimating & bid the price seasonal work, year around commercial estimate contracts, best price per square foot, best grounds maintenance & landscaping job to bid & pricing, price and costing of lawn care, lawn mowing price, aeration pricing, lawns, commercial landscape job bid estimates, maintenance estimating & pricing, costing, mulching prices, pricing chemicals, weeding & aerating pricing, fertilizer prices, prices for organic fertilizer, pricing weeds in beds, pricing pruning & trimming trees & shrubs, pricing commercial & residential snow plowing, hardscape pricing, pricing hydroseeding, costing and pricing irrigation service estimates for commercial & residential, pricing seeding lawns, pricing lawn sod, prices for slit seeding lawns, pricing edging lawn beds, spring cleanup prices, costing and pricing fall cleanups, hourly price of pressure washing walks & patios, pricing trees, stump grinding prices, price for gutter cleaning, lawn dethatching price, price for shoveling snow, pricing salting, price sanding.
Click Here for FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)
http://hispaniclawnforum.com/banners/jobestpakbanpn.gif (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm)
Estimating - Pricing - Bidding - Costing
Managing to Succeed in Business
By Phil Nilsson, Green Industry Consultant
www.nilssonbooks.com (http://www.nilssonbooks.com)
Ask anyone what it takes to get ahead in business, and the most common answer will probably be perseverance. It sounds deceivingly simple. You find a market, sell something to it, continue to do that over and over and make a profit in the process. While possessing plenty of perseverance is an important factor to success, the placement of that energy can be totally wasted, misdirected and yield disappointing results. Maybe that's where theexpression working "smart" not "hard" comes from. For the green industry,that expression should be modified to working smart and hard at the same time. Very few contractors escape the "working hard" part, so a little more time needs spent on the "working smart" part.
WORKING SMART ...
What does it mean? The smart part of working is to correctly manage the working hard part. To practice working smart, you need to apply sound business practices and persevere in doing that. If you continue to work hard and persist at only that, you could work hard for the rest of your life and probably only achieve a marginal result. The bottom line is that a lot of people do business that way. Successful business people on the other hand know that they must apply time-proven management techniques. They practice the "art of smart" by staying on top of their game, listening closely to all the messages and signals, planning a course of action, sticking to the plans for estimating, pricing, costing and bidding jobs correctly, and expecting good results everyday.
WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?
Expectations are important because you usually get what you expect.
Expectations are really targeted goals. Without them, there's nothing to go for. What do you expect? A company with misdirected goals wastes energy in a futile attempt to achieve success. Such a company dances around the goals that could set it apart from competitors and set it free from mediocrity.
Successful people think more. They think about their markets and customers. They think about their methods of production. They come to fully understand where the points of control are in their companies. Points of control include wise estimating, costing and bidding policies that result in profits, as opposed to "hit or miss" approaches to job bids. They do just the opposite of what you'd call the "quick and dirty approach" to management.
HOW DO YOU GET SUCCESSFUL?
Success is not exclusive. It's not reserved for a few gifted and talented people, which means anybody can do it. There is one requirement, however, and it's deceivingly simple. You must commit yourself to work toward a worthwhile goal. You must possess a burning desire to succeed like it is the most important thing in your life. The "thinking smart" part kicks in when you've thought about your business goals Once those are understood, a clear and definite course of action is planned and then followed. Working smart means that you know every aspect of your business like the back of your hand. No procrastination, no misses, no wishful thinking. You know it; you do it. You manage your business by design, not by accident.
JUST WAVE A MAGIC WAND?
Maybe you think I've made business success sound too easy -you wave a magic wand, take a few steps and, bang, you made it. If it were that simple, wouldn't everyone be really successful? Some of the businesses that aren't doing well can point to a million reasons - too much competition, the right help isn't available, pricing is too low. But how many of these same companies ever sat down, gave serious thought to what it takes to be successful and determined exactly how to achieve it? Instead of concentrating on negatives, switch to positives. That in and of itself is hard. If you don't believe me, get a piece of paper. Divide the paper in half down the middle. In onecolumn write positive, in the other negative. In the positive column write in all the reasons why your business will be successful. In the other write the reasons why your business will not be successful. It's easier and takes less brainwork to make the negative entries, whereas it takes real thinking to identify the factors for success. The lack of business planning is the number one reason why businesses fail or achieve only marginal results. Yet how many people actually take the time and energy to plan?
SELF-MADE OBSTACLES?
Well managed, successful companies don't usually happen by accident. If there aren't enough customers in your market area, go to another market. If your business has reached its potential and has stagnated, open a branch operation in the next closest market. When you've made a success of your business and can't decide what to do, take it national. Repeat that success elsewhere and everywhere. For every negative there's at least one opposing positive. Managing to succeed in business comes down to planning and execution of plans. You'll need to manage ideas and attitudes. It will take perseverance. Throw in a little "working smart" for good measure.
Nilsson Associates has the information you need (http://nilssonbooks.com/)
Business solution links:
Advertising (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm) -
Bidding Jobs (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm) - (http://www.asharpdesign.com/nilsson/discounts_and_deals.htm)
Business Growth (http://nilssonbooks.com/mangement.htm) -
Business Plan (http://nilssonbooks.com/mangement.htm#Business Planning Workbook) -
Commercial (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm#Selling To Commercial Customers) -
Company Policy (http://nilssonbooks.com/mangement.htm#Writing Your Company Policy Manual) -
Contract Cost (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm) -
Customers (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm#Selling To Commercial Customers) -
Employees (http://nilssonbooks.com/employee.htm) -
Estimating (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm) -
Job Cost (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Labor Time Data Handbook) -
Job Specs (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Writing The Maintenance Speci-fications) -
Labor Time Data (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Labor Time Data Handbook) -
Maintenance (http://nilssonbooks.com/operations.htm#Grounds Maintenance Manual) -
Management (http://nilssonbooks.com/mangement.htm) -
Mowing Profits (http://nilssonbooks.com/operations.htm#Maximizing Profits In Mowing) -
Pricing (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_bidding_pricing.htm#Pricing Your Services) - Sales (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm) -
Sales Letters (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm#How To Write Effective Sales Letters) -
Sales Skills (http://nilssonbooks.com/advertising_and_sales.htm) -
Snow Removal (http://nilssonbooks.com/operations.htm#The Snow Removal Business) -
Subcontracting (http://nilssonbooks.com/employee.htm#Subcontracting the Work) -
Training Video (http://nilssonbooks.com/video_tapes.htm) -
Website Services (http://nilssonbooks.com/other_services.htm#Web Design) -
Winter Income (http://nilssonbooks.com/operations.htm)
Other
resources:
Sales Boosters (http://nilssonbooks.com/sales_booster_package.htm)
Job Estimating Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm)
FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)
New Business Startup Package (http://nilssonbooks.com/just_getting_started.htm)
Complete Operations management System (http://nilssonbooks.com/coms_package.htm)
Nilsson's Job Estimating System (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm)has everything you need to evaluate job site specifications & work required, figure costs, how to price ~ lawns, grounds maintenance, landscape installs. You'll get step - by - step instructions, bid proposal outlines & customer contracts, labor hours job times. You'll get job price guides to compare your prices with the going rates, overhead costs, materials, profit ratios. You'll set realistic prices, and job labor hours goals based on field tested, proven, time studied labor hours for every job you bid. You'll know how to evaluate every job for total work hours required, the price to charge for the job, the profit you'll make, best crew size, job costs. You'll also get add-on service check lists to help you maximize sales by upselling customers on additional property improvements.
(http://nilssonbooks.com/coms_package.htm)
Nilsson's FREE Job Pricing Guidelines
When it comes to pricing lawn and landscape jobsnobody has more landscape industry pricing information than Nilsson Associates, Green Industry Consultants. Nilsson's Job Price Guides covers lawn care bids, job bidding & estimating for tree care, irrigation installation & service, pavement sweeping & maintenance, snow plowing operations, landscaping and hardscaping job bids for both commercial & residential customers as well as real estate management, parks & recreation departments, municipalities, college and univeristy grounds. The prices cover; estimates & bids for grounds services, landscaping pricing estimates , estimating & bid the price seasonal work, year around commercial estimate contracts, price per square foot, best grounds maintenance & landscaping job to bid & pricing, price of lawn care, lawn mowing price, aeration pricing, lawns, commercial landscape job bid estimates, most all outdoor maintenance estimating & pricing, mulching prices, pricing chemicals, weeding & aerating pricing, fertilizer prices, prices for organic fertilizer, pricing weeds in beds, pricing pruning & trimming trees & shrubs, pricing commercial & residential snow plowing, hardscape pricing, pricing hydroseeding, irrigation service estimates for commercial & residential, pricing seeding lawns, pricing lawn sod, prices for slit seeding lawns, pricing edging lawn beds, spring cleanup prices, pricing fall cleanups, hourly price of pressure washing walks & patios, pricing trees, stump grinding prices, price for gutter cleaning, lawn dethatching price, price for shoveling snow, pricing salting, price for sanding.
For more information: Click Here for FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)
When it comes to pricing, estimating abd costing lawn and landscape jobs nobody has more industry pricing information than Nilsson Associates. Nilsson's Job Price Guides covers lawn care job bidding & estimating, costing landscaping job bids for commercial & residential customers. Get more customers. Price estimates & bids, grounds services, landscaping pricing estimates , estimating & bid the price seasonal work, year around commercial estimate contracts, best price per square foot, best grounds maintenance & landscaping job to bid & pricing, price and costing of lawn care, lawn mowing price, aeration pricing, lawns, commercial landscape job bid estimates, maintenance estimating & pricing, costing, mulching prices, pricing chemicals, weeding & aerating pricing, fertilizer prices, prices for organic fertilizer, pricing weeds in beds, pricing pruning & trimming trees & shrubs, pricing commercial & residential snow plowing, hardscape pricing, pricing hydroseeding, costing and pricing irrigation service estimates for commercial & residential, pricing seeding lawns, pricing lawn sod, prices for slit seeding lawns, pricing edging lawn beds, spring cleanup prices, costing and pricing fall cleanups, hourly price of pressure washing walks & patios, pricing trees, stump grinding prices, price for gutter cleaning, lawn dethatching price, price for shoveling snow, pricing salting, price sanding.
Click Here for FREE Job Pricing Guidelines (http://nilssonbooks.com/free_job_guidelines.htm)
http://hispaniclawnforum.com/banners/jobestpakbanpn.gif (http://nilssonbooks.com/job_estimating_package.htm)