5 Common Pitfalls and Issues Of The Green Industry
The Green Industry is growing in popularity across the United States. Landscaping can be an all-season job and more and more individuals are starting their own fleets every week. Like any industry, landscaping comes with some pitfalls. People that are new to the Green Industry must know how to handle these situations in case they come up. Here is a list of 5 common pitfalls and issues of the Green Industry.
- Finding employees and training them properly: Training and finding new employees can be an expensive venture. Experts say a good way to handle this issue is to keep your fleet small. A smaller, well-trained fleet is better because you can give a smaller number of individuals better training. A larger fleet will be harder to train because of the time and attention you need to give each person.
- Obeying government regulations: Landscape fleets are subject to several government regulations. You must be fully aware of every safety, environmental, chemical, and equipment regulation in your state. A good way to stay on top of these is to appoint one person to keep track of all current and new regulations.
- Not knowing the numbers: Undercutting and underbidding are becoming a more common problem in the Green Industry. In order to win bids, fleet bosses are undercutting jobs. This will not turn a profit. If your customer is concerned about the price, try to offer them references and photos of past work. A good reputation is often more valuable than price. After all, you get what you pay for.
- Not performing upkeep on equipment: Using old equipment that has not been serviced in a while can actually cost more because of the resources the equipment consumes. Make sure your equipment is serviced regularly and replace it after 1500 hours of use.
- Not offering new services: Though your fleet may excel at a few certain things, it is important to offer new services when there are opportunities. Just make sure you are strategic and take the time to learn your new service before you offer it to clients.
Valley Green was founded by Charles Dooley in 1990. Headquartered in Holyoke, Massachusetts, we have grown to eight branch locations supported by inside & outside sales associates specializing in turf seed, sod production, golf sales, turf maintenance, nursery production, agriculture and arboriculture. The average green industry tenure at Valley Green is well over 20 years per associate!
642 S. Summer Street
Holyoke, MA 01040
Phone 413.533.0726
Toll Free 800.862.0089
Fax 413.533.0792
Wholesale Fax 413.533.4090