Think forward to December 2018: Where do you want your business to be? What do you need to put in place now to get there? Here Marty shares what he’s learned about the power of strategic planning from mentor Clay Mathile, former CEO and owner of the Iams pet food company, and what the team at Grunder Landscaping is.

I’m on the road or in the air a lot, speaking at industry events and coaching and consulting with clients. That kind of travel can become a real bear if you let it. All those hours in the car or in flight, or waiting for delayed flights, or for the hotel wifi to actually work, can feel like a complete waste of time..

Some 19 years ago, when I was 31 years old and my landscaping company was doing about $1.5 million in annual sales, I naively thought I had this whole running-a-business thing figured out. I had ten gleaming trucks on the road, a hard-working team, and an expanding client list. We were growing year over year and.

Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association The Buckeye January/February 2018 By Marty Grunder Now that the holidays are behind us and we’ve turned the calendar page on another year, it’s a great time to take a step back and really think about what you want to accomplish in 2018. One area that we’re all struggling with in.

In last week’s Great Idea, we talked about the importance of finding and developing right-hand men and women. Because when you fill and foster these key positions, you lessen dependence on yourself as CEO and you greatly grow the value of your company. I asked you to take some time this past week to make a list of.

Lawn & Landscape January 2018 By Marty Grunder Before we all dive headlong into a new year, it’s worth taking some time to reflect on 2017. Did you accomplish what you set out to do? Where did you come up short? What lessons did you learn? What will you stop, keep or change doing? Here are my biggest takeaways from.

It’s a familiar trajectory in our industry: A young person buys a cheap lawnmower and starts cutting grass in the neighborhood to make some money. Then he buys a truck to reach new customers farther afield. In time and with grit and determination and a whole lot of hard work, he builds a full-fledged landscaping.

Tomorrow is January 1 and with it comes all the usual talk of New Year’s resolutions. We promise ourselves we’ll eat better and work out more. We tell ourselves this is the year we’ll improve our companies’ efficiency. We resolve to create better systems and this time stick religiously to them. But the problem is.

Ready or not, the holidays are here this week. If you’re like me, you look forward to spending time with your friends and family, but you find it difficult to leave work behind. You feel the need to always be reachable by your team and clients, and you find yourself compulsively checking your phone to make sure you.

We’ve all seen the difference having a strong team spirit can make to the success of a company. Employees see themselves as part of something bigger than themselves. They work together to solve problems and get the job done. They actually like the people they work with, which can make even the most taxing or tedious.