Chris Stoudt, owner of Stout Lawn Care in Pottstown, Pa., worked up a healthy to-do list before his trip to the 2023 LM Growth Summit.
And while he was able to check off most of those items during the event, he says the most impactful part of his experience was a handful of takeaways that he hadn’t considered before heading to the Summit.
“First, going in and meeting with the companies that sell a lot of the products that we use regularly made me more confident in the programs that I had put together,” Stoudt says. “I always suspected that what we were doing was taking the right approach, but being able to get affirmation from the vendors about that, along with a few new ideas to try, was invaluable.
“But the best takeaway was probably the networking and the people I met, some from firms the same size as us and others who are bigger, which is where we’re trying to get. I met Chris Brown from Teed & Brown (Norwalk, Conn.) and the guys from Lawn RX (Brad Herrle and Shawn Rodgers) over in Pittsburgh. We still stay in touch and have our own little networking group, which is really cool.”
Continuous improvement
Although last year’s LM Growth Summit was his first, Stoudt has pursued professional development opportunities throughout his career. His company is a RealGreen by WorkWave customer, so he’s participated in numerous user conferences over the years and has taken advantage of local and regional events when possible.
So, when a couple of his colleagues in the area recommended the Growth Summit, he was eager to attend.
“I’d heard it was a good event from some vendors I know, colleagues who had gone in previous years,” he says. “And for a long time now, I’ve found that networking and putting myself out there has been good for me as a business owner and as a person too.”
Stoudt says he valued the Growth Summit’s one-on-one nature, which sets it apart from other industry events. “It’s such a unique format. The one-on-one conversations and the time with vendors, really digging into problems, is invaluable,” he says.
He also appreciated the fact that his fellow attendees represented lawn care companies of all shapes and sizes.
“I’m a big fan of diversity in the company size. We’re not a huge company, so it was nice to meet a couple of the larger companies down there in more of an intimate setting than a user’s conference where you have thousands of people,” Stoudt says. “That’s the big difference for me, that you have more time to interact with people you want to interact with (at the Growth Summit).”
Five stars, would recommend
Just like other landscaping professionals did for him, Stoudt has been singing the praises of the LM Growth Summit and the value it delivered to other colleagues. If the opportunity presents itself, he says, lawn care companies need to seize it.
“I think the most important thing that we can do as an industry — particularly as a small-business owner — is network,” he says. “No one has all the answers or all the newest ideas, so being able to meet others, learn how they operate and talk about their business was great. I thought it was a really unique way to elevate your business.”
