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Author: Jeffrey Scott

Jeffrey Scott

Jeffrey Scott

Jeffrey Scott, MBA, author, specializes in growth and profit maximization in the Green Industry. His expertise is rooted in personal success, growing his own company into a $10 million enterprise. Now, he facilitates the Leader’s Edge peer group for landscape business owners. To learn more visit GetTheLeadersEdge.com

Profit Power: Unbillable time is killing you

Every service company should assess how much unproductive, unbillable time its crews will have in a year. This, in effect, becomes part of your overhead. But most companies don’t track non-charge time and aren’t aware of just how large it is. In the last two years I worked with a company to uncover more than […]

Profit Power: Are you paying your employees too little?

Did you know that many high-profit companies pay their top employees above industry norms? In spite of the upward trend in pay rates driven by the H-2B program, I see contractors continuing to struggle to find great employees. But maybe they’re not paying enough to attract the right prospects? Last month I invited Verne Harnish […]

How to dramatically accelerate sales

How satisfied were you with your company’s sales this year? Did you convert all the highly qualified leads that crossed your desk? To ensure your company hits its sales goals next year, and to maximize your chances of having a breakthrough year, follow the five-step sales accelerator below. 1. First, you need salespeople who are […]

Profit Power: Are you addicted to growth?

    There was a time in my contracting business where my company’s profitability needed a big improvement, and we discussed internally if we had to grow, stay the same or shrink to improve profitability. It was a fierce debate about what actually drives profitability. As an entrepreneur, it’s hard to pause growth—even for a […]

Profit Power: Beware of head trash

  As I travel the world talking with landscape contractors in Canada, the U.S., Bermuda and Europe, I find some common themes for both success and barriers to success. While it’s common to blame the government, elections and others for a poor economy and bad policies, there are still landscape entrepreneurs succeeding. Conversely, there are […]

Profit Power: How to become the ultimate branding machine

The company with the most consistent branding I have ever personally experienced is BMW. The first car I bought (when I was still 15) was a BMW 1600, the precursor to the famous BMW 2002. It was used and cost me $300. It became my automotive project of toil, love, metal, winding roads and speed. It […]

Why you need a bifocal growth strategy

It’s deep in the middle of the season, and it’s a grind. You have to ensure you’re filling the pipeline, retaining employees, not burning them out, getting bids out on time and keeping clients happy. You’re juggling many issues and problems—the irony is that the more you focus solely on solving your short-term pain, the […]

Profit Power: The key to constant improvement in the face of setbacks

  Bill Gates once said,  “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in 10 years.” I agree with Bill and I have my own twist: “Most people overestimate what they can get done in a month and under estimate what they can get done in a year.”  […]

How to sell your business to an employee

If you are in a position to sell your business to an employee, or even an outside buyer, it is not so simple to merely put a price tag to the business, unless the person is ponying up a wad of cash and you’re simply walking away. For most situations the selling process is more […]

10 steps to greater efficiency

Every company can improve efficiency, and Toronto-based Curbz Landscaping was no different. The owners, Ian Grieve and Judith Inglis, are a team with each running a separate division of their company. One focuses on softscapes and small projects; the other focuses on hardscapes and larger projects. Their left brain/right brain approach to management, clients and […]

To sell more, build fewer relationships

This may surprise you: You don’t need to build more relationships to have more success. Many people will tell you “this is a relationship business,” and they’re right. But some people go too far, building relationships with every person in their community and every prospect they meet. You need to pull back and find your sweet […]

Profit Power: The best economy in the world

These are the best of times, even though some days it feels like the worst of times. The newspapers are filled with uncertainty in politics, global economy and important green industry-related legislation. Recently this publication shared news of a Michigan company going out of business because they could not get their H-2B labor, but close […]

Let’s Grow: It’s time to say yes

Imagine you could say yes to every single request your clients make, no matter the request! How would it make your clients feel? And how would it make you feel? The attitude of “just say yes” is how we grew our business from a one-product company—just swimming pools, no decks, no landscaping and no service—into […]

Profit Power: Time to be bold

Have you ever lost 20-30 percent of your business in one fell swoop? A new Leader’s Edge peer group member of mine decided to not get upset when more than half-million dollars of his business walked out the door. Instead of chasing growth, he opted to shrink the company (temporarily), pruning it like an overgrown […]

Healthy, wealthy, wise. Photo: ©iStock.com/James Brey

How to build wealth

A wise old man once told me your definition of wealth will change as you accumulate it and grow older. In my work with large and small contracting firms, I’ve discovered four types of wealth that are measurements of success. You might place these in a different order, but I’m sure you’ll think of all […]

Profit Power: Start the year strong

Starting the year strong means getting everyone on the same page, motivated to pull in the same direction as you. Here are eight steps to ensure a successful 2016–and at the end, an invite to a webinar I am holding that explores these strategies in depth. Decide how you want to do business, and then get […]

Video: 3 silver bullets for a successful 2016

It’s time to solve the big three: Better people, proven systems and more profitable sales. Jeffrey Scott discusses how solving these three problems will mean a successful year for you and your business. Landscape Management is the media sponsor of these workshops.

Profit Power: Getting to 20 percent net profit

As I help my clients plan for a successful 2016, I’m reflecting on what separates the average contractor from the real winners (those in the 15 percent and 20 percent profit range). How proactive of a leader are you, on a scale of 0 to 10? Are you lower down on the scale, closer to […]

Pricing for risk

The profit you earn on each of your services is driven by a few factors: The marketplace, how it’s priced and sold, how efficiently it’s produced and how much overheard you must recover. However, the profit you earn should ultimately reflect the risk associated with each service. The higher the risk, the higher the profit you should […]

Profit Power: A letter to your future self

A final thought for 2015: Statistics show you are far more likely to achieve your goals when they are written down. The challenge with goals is not that you won’t hit them, but that you don’t dream big enough and thus you hit your goals too easily, and you then become stagnant and bored. For […]

Profit Power: 15 strategies to drive up profitability with year-end selling

The more production that each crew can bill out each week, the higher your profits will be by year end. Your overhead has already been covered at this point, so every dollar of operational profit you earn goes right to your bottom line! This has a huge multiplying effect.  Here are 15 ways to increase […]

5 Ps of sales management

The tragedy of sales management is that good (sometimes great) salespeople are promoted to sales managers, where they often fail. They’re promoted to their level of incompetence. What makes a good salesperson differs from what makes a good sales manager. Sales management is a role you can’t study in school. It’s learned on the job. […]

Profit Power: What got you here won’t get you there

Are you ready to transition your landscape business to the next generation? If so, heed the following advice. Transitioning your role—from company leader to parent of the leader—requires a significant amount of self awareness (more than you’ve ever had in the past) to make sure you don’t torpedo the transition process and set up your […]

Profit Power: Unlock the value of your business

A few weeks ago I interviewed green industry acquisition expert Ron Edmonds for 60 minutes on the topic of “What is your business worth?” We had a lively debate! Here are nine insights from that conversation—and from my own investigations and experience—that will help you unlock the value of your business. 1. If you plan […]

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