Time For A Landscape Business Consultant?

Source: www.TurfMagazine.com

By Greg Sharpless
From the December 2023 Issue

Your landscape business has been humming along since its launch. But, lately, you’ve reached a static point in growth. Sales have flattened, profits aren’t where you want, yet you’re working more hours. You’d like to right the ship – and perhaps set a new course, one that will take the business to the next level of growth and profitability. How do you find the help you need? Should you hire a landscape business consultant? And where do you start?

To streamline the search process, Turf garnered input from a dozen landscape business consultants, who were each asked the same questions. View it as a starting point in getting to know some of the resources available, their specialty areas, typical clients, and consulting styles—related in their own words. We encourage you to visit the web sites provided for more information and we thank all the consultants who participated.

Click on a company name below to go directly to that consultant’s profile, or click here to begin reading all landscape business consultant profiles.

Augusta Land Care

mikeandes.com
Bellingham, WA
Founded 2013

Single Consultant

Specialties: Growth, management, marketing.

Typical Client: Up to $10M annual revenue.

Method(s) Of Consulting: We have a conference, MikeAndes.com/summit. In addition, I offer one- on-one consulting via Zoom.

What Clients Can Expect: I give a no-nonsense approach to business – I will tell you the truth even if it hurts. I use the principles that have allowed Augusta Land Care to grow to 135+ locations in North America.

Click here to read about the next landscape business consultant: Envisor Consulting.

Envisor Consulting, landscape business consultant

Envisor Consulting

envisorco.com
Atlanta, GA (partner consultants in VA, FL)
Founded 2011

Group Consultant: Two principals (Ken Thomas, Ben Gandy) and five consultant partners (Steve Bruce, Tim McColgan, Brian Shelah, Steve Krumnaker, Jessica Artt).

Specialties: Helping landscape companies understand the value of building a mature organization that can scale to its full potential.

Typical Client: Companies from $3M to $450M in annual revenues. Our typical small clients are companies with revenues between $3M and $15M who are still struggling with top-line growth, profitability, or quality of life – or sometimes all three. Contact is typically with the owner and top leadership. We work with owners in vision casting, strategic planning, structure development, and workflow documentation.

In larger companies, we work to train second-tier leaders in the basics of smart business practices and management development. Our typical larger clients are companies over the $25M range who need outside training and mentoring for next-tier leaders. We work all over the U.S. and Canada.

Method(s) Of Consulting: One-on-one consulting with companies (engagements from 12 to 24 months); group training; online training with Envisor Academy; national seminars; and organizational presentations. We have been nationally recognized for our Account Manager Training Seminars and education programs.

What Clients Can Expect: Our clients expect solutions to their growth and profitability issues or problems. They count on our team to bring our proven training and mentoring programs to the table, and many owners are looking for true partners to help them navigate the complexities of scaling and growing their businesses.

Envisor’s differentiator is our Green Dot Operating System, developed from our 30+ years of owning and operating successful landscape organizations, and our experience working with hundreds of landscape companies across the country. Green Dot is a set of best practices, combining business philosophy, systems, processes, information systems, and KPIs that work together to form a foundation of success.

Click here to read about the next landscape consultant: The Grow Group.

The Grow Group

growgroupinc.com
Dayton, OH
Founded 1995

Group Consultant

Specialties: Sales, leadership, operations, and financial performance.

Typical Client: We work with companies across the U.S. and Canada, and of all sizes.

Method(s) Of Consulting: We do in-person or virtual work, and host events where our attendees can come together to learn from our team and each other.

What Clients Can Expect: Led by Marty Grunder, The Grow Group is a premier coaching and education firm for landscape professionals, providing innovative events, peer groups, and real-world resources to help business owners and their teams succeed.

Click here to read about the next landscape business consultant: Halstead Media.

Halstead Media

halsteadmedia.com
Headquartered in DE. (Co-owners Corey Halstead and Anna Halstead are in CT. Our team is fully remote, with the exception of industry events, and is located all across the U.S.)
Founded 2013

Group Consultant: Full-service digital marketing agency with a team of 25.

Specialties: We pioneered a comprehensive approach to marketing we call ‘systems.’ These systems include marketing strategy, branding, website design, SEO, Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn ads, videography, and data and analytics. We are the first and only landscape-focused marketing agency to be a Storybrand Certified Agency.

Typical Client: We work exclusively with lawn, landscape, and outdoor living professionals. They are located across the U.S. and typically have annual revenues of $3M+.

Method(s) Of Consulting: Remotely via Zoom, text messages, emails, and phone.

What Clients Can Expect: We help lawn, landscape, and outdoor living companies eliminate instability, fuel growth, and shape a lasting legacy with year-round, specialized marketing systems.

Click here to read about the next landscape business consultant: The Harvest Group.

The Harvest Group

harvestlandscapeconsulting.com
Nationwide (Seven consultants based in all regions of the U.S.)
Founded 2007

Group Consultant: The Harvest Group is a dynamic group consultancy.

Specialties: Design-build, lawn and landscape maintenance, lawn care, tree care, irrigation, snow removal. Also: operations, sales, HR, mergers and acquisitions, communications/PR/social media, sales and marketing, digital marketing, SEO.
Specialty topics include: people (find, get on board, keep, and grow the right people); quality (delivering consistently on your service promise); customers (find, get on board, keep, and grow the right customers); and employee handbooks. Let’s talk about ways to save time and reduce costs to increase profits.

Typical Client: Companies of all sizes in all regions of the country. Landscape businesses who are interested in increasing their profitability as they grow. Companies interested in systems.

Method(s) Of Consulting: The Harvest Group offers a wide variety of consulting based on the individual goals and objectives of the landscape company. From in-person assessments and field training, to coaching and sales training, to online education for management and team members.

We also offer Virtual Harvest Huddles featuring breakout rooms with various topics, peer groups, and specialized virtual seminars. Our consultancy has a unique focus on planning your business future, including growing through acquisition, selling, and exit planning.

What Clients Can Expect: The Harvest Group provides a unique approach, as we are a team of specialized consultants who can coach you through any challenge your company is facing. We bring the Harvester Horsepower to address your business needs and challenges. We often start with an initial assessment and identify specific areas of need. We deliver our one-of-a-kind Harvest Grow Card, which tracks your progress with key milestones on the way to harvesting your potential.

Click here to read about the next landscape business consultant: The Herring Group.

The Herring Group

herring-group.com
Austin, TX
Founded 2001

Group Consultant: We are a group of financial leaders who serve as CFO-level consultants for landscape industry businesses, led by founder and CEO Greg Herring.

Specialties: Financial leadership; CFO-level consulting; “Path to 12%” (focus on profit margin and life margin); data warehousing; pricing services; operational insights; industry benchmarking; and custom reporting.

Typical Client: Our typical clients lead growing businesses in the landscape industry with revenues of $3M to $100M throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Method(s) Of Consulting: Our financial leaders meet with clients virtually, and integrate within the clients’ leadership teams on regular monthly video conference calls. In addition to consulting, we also partner alongside clients’ teams, and do a portion of the work ourselves, including building custom tools and reports.

What Clients Can Expect: At The Herring Group, we are financial leaders on a mission for greater margin. Our clients expect us to provide executive-level strategic vision and partnership, to help them achieve healthy profit margins, and help owners increase their life margins.

Utilizing the “Path to 12%,” integrated with the client’s data, The Herring Group empowers business owners, executives, and operational managers to make more informed business decisions with greater confidence. With CFO-level analytics, actionable reports, and industry intel, we give growing companies a competitive advantage and the courage to create real change.

The Herring Group’s 10th Annual Landscape Industry Benchmark Report (herring-group.com/benchmark) has been open to participants since October 24, 2023. This is a trusted source for financial information to celebrate your victories, identify opportunities, and inspire your team.

Click here to read about the next landscape business consultant: Jeffrey Scott Consulting & Leaders Edge Peer Group.

Jeffrey Scott Consulting & Leaders Edge Peer Group

jeffreyscott.biz
New Orleans, LA (with executive coaches in NY, WI, and KS.)
Founded 2008

Group Consultant: We are a small, tight-knit group of coaches led by Jeffrey Scott. Every coach has owned their own landscape business, has graduated from Jeffrey’s program, and has been personally trained by Jeffrey.

Topic(s) Of Specialty: Financial management and profit improvement; vision and strategy development, and implementation; employee-first “destination company” culture; sales and marketing leadership; scaling of organizational chart and business; and owner’s role and freedom.

Typical Client: In the U.S. and Canada, between $1M and $20M, though many contractors approach us when they are still $1 to $5M. Generally, clients have 51+% residential, or they are commercial with a unique niche.

Method(s) Of Consulting: We have built a community of high-impact ‘Leaders Edge’ peer groups for owners and those second-in-command. We take on a handful of one-on-one coaching clients each year, helping them and their leadership to create a roadmap to success, guiding them through the implementation.

We also run various virtual masterclasses and in-person events, including the Summer Growth Summit (jeffreyscott.biz/events), and we have the most-listened-to podcast in the industry, The Ultimate Landscape CEO.

What Clients Can Expect: We help contractors to fix, scale, or exit their companies. They can expect dramatically higher profit, higher enterprise value, and increased discretionary time. We bring the joy back to business ownership. We help the owner clarify their vision, figure out their path to growth, and then provide the proven systems for staffing and scaling their business. We live for our client’s success.

Click here to read about the next landscape business consultant: Landscape Leadership

Landscape Leadership

landscapeleadership.com
Austin, TX (but our entire team is remote.)
Founded 2008

Group Consultant: We are an agency.

Specialties: Website design and development; photography and video production;
digital marketing; and sales enablement.

Typical Client: Lawn care, tree care, pest control, design-build, and commercial landscaping businesses only. Client revenues range from $2M to $40M. All in the U.S.

Method(s) Of Consulting: As a remote agency, most of our interactions happen over video calls. We occasionally travel to our clients’ locations.

What Clients Can Expect: Landscape Leadership is a sales and marketing agency, built by and for lawn and landscaping professionals. We have decades of experience as landscaping professionals and marketers. We know what works. Simply put, we help our clients attract more qualified prospects, increase annual revenue, and grow their bottom line.

Our clients don’t have time to execute the sales and marketing efforts they need to get to the next level. They understand marketing is only as good as it is effective at giving them an edge and bringing in new business. They need a partner with Industry knowledge as deep as theirs, someone who can hit the ground running.

As we partner with clients, we help to establish them as leaders in their local market – not only to prospective clients but also in the minds of job seekers. Landscape Leadership is proud to have a longstanding history of educating the Green Industry on how to improve sales and marketing at their organizations. Feel free to browse the hundreds of articles and videos on our website.

Click here to read about the next landscape business consultant: LawnLine Marketing

LawnLine Marketing

lawnlinemarketing.com
Tampa, FL
Founded 2016

Group Consultant: We’re a company with 30+ employees.

Specialties: Internet marketing – Website development, SEO, Google ads, Facebook ads, social-media management, email/SMS marketing, review building and lead tracking systems. We also offer a recruiting service where we help lawn/landscape companies find the employees they need to grow their business.

Typical Client: Established lawn care and landscaping companies with a minimum of $1M in annual revenue. Our average client is doing about $7M in revenue.

Method(s) Of Consulting: We do one-on-one virtual/phone consultations and strategic planning. Then, we execute our marketing services to help them reach their goals. We also host webinars and often speak at industry conferences and events.

What Clients Can Expect: Our clients can expect significant increases in revenue from our marketing services. Our services are completely done for them. We handle the market research, strategy planning, execution, lead tracking, and data analysis. We offer a completely transparent solution that enables lawn/ landscape companies to know exactly where their marketing dollars are being spent, what strategies are performing the best, and what adjustments we need to make. With our vast amount of data from lawn/landscape companies all over the U.S. and Canada, we also help them to understand their closing rates and identify problems in their sales processes.

Click here to read about the next landscape business consultant: Ready Business Systems

Ready Business Systems

readybusinesssystems.com
Rhode Island
Founded 2019

Group Consultant: A small group of consultants.

Specialties: Business systems; CRM setup, integration, training, and transitioning; marketing; automation; business strategy; and business finance.

Typical Client: U.S. and Canadian companies with 10+ employees. We work with companies with 5+ employees if they are looking to grow to 10+ employees.

Method(s) Of Consulting: Regular virtual one-on-one meetings; in-person meetings are available.

What Clients Can Expect: Ready Business Systems helps landscaping business owners free time and increase profits through expert marketing, system building, and automation.
The RBS promise: You own what we create; never any ongoing fees after your three-month commitment; we teach you how to do it yourself; our consultants have years of real-world experience running and growing a landscaping company. We offer a GAME Plan program (Goals, Accountability, Meetings, Execution) to keep you on track with monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly one-on-one virtual meetings.

Click here to read about the next landscape business consultant: Two Twelve Advisors

Two Twelve Advisors

twotwelveadvisors.com
Washington State
Founded 2019

Group Consultant: Three members, family owned, with a combined 45 years in the Green Industry and 15 years utilizing Aspire Software.

Specialties: Aspire Software utilization aligning with industry best practices; operations implementation consisting of process, accountability, and verification.

Typical Client: Annual revenue $3M+.

Method(s) Of Consulting: We work with companies both in a group setting and individual meetings. All work is virtual. We utilize prepared materials in addition to creating customized materials.

What Clients Can Expect: We specialize in coaching and training landscape companies through implementation and use of Aspire Software. By supporting you in maximization of software, we empower you to increase profits and efficiencies while creating a positive company culture through proven systems with a personal touch. Our mission: embedding operational excellence, driving increased gross margin. We’ll work closely with your organization’s stakeholders to understand the specific needs and objectives. Once we have a firm understanding, Two Twelve creates a customized plan to take your company to the next degree, the boiling point.

Click here to read about the next landscape business consultant: Wilson360

Wilson360

(Formerly Bruce Wilson & Company. Led by CEO Robert Clinkenbeard. Bruce Wilson remains active as chairman and consultant.)
wilson-360.com
Greenville, SC
Founded 20+ years ago.

Group Consultant: A team of Green Industry professionals, former landscape business owners, and executives and entrepreneurs, with expertise across all business-management disciplines.

Specialties: Unique experience in market growth and density strategies; leadership development; landscape business operations; mergers and acquisitions; strategic planning; financial planning; operational performance; organizational and professional development; technology; marketing; communications and PR; and recruiting.

Unique Knowledge: snow and ice management; water and drought management; plant health care; sustainability and conservation; customer relationship management/satisfaction; market research, benchmarking and data analysis; media relations; and talent management.

Wilson360 consultants are active in Green Industry legislative affairs, including H2B and issues impacting the environment and climate action, and study market trends impacting the commercial, institutional, and residential property industries.

Typical Client: CEOs and landscape business owners nationwide: all regions, sectors, and service lines, including design-build, commercial landscape maintenance, snow/ice, drought/water management/irrigation, PHC/IPM, and tree care. Annual revenue: from building businesses at $5M to multi-branch, multi-region firms at $25M+, to national rollups, to companies diversifying, selling, or re-grouping.

Method(s) Of Consulting: In-person, one-on-one, team training, virtual meeting, webinars, focus groups, and prepared materials, plus annual client conferences and invitations to select executive leadership and development programs, workshops, virtual training, and boot camps. Engagement model: project-based assignments, long-term engagements, fractional/interim executive positions, and specialty assignments, such as financial benchmarking, product/service launches, and annual surveys.

What Clients Can Expect: Aggregate executive experience, high-caliber professional insight, and MBAs focused on strategy, operations, and implementation. Wilson360 has long-standing relationships with first- and second-generation clients, including a history of working with some clients for decades, and a reputation for trust based on the quality and impact of results.

The firm emphasizes teamwork and collaboration, boasts a network of valuable connections and resources, and has the ability to compete on all levels. Wilson360+, the firm’s multimedia and resource partner network, offers additional value through market intelligence, podcasts, webinars, and access to proprietary tools and information available only to Wilson360 clients.

Sharpless is an award-winning freelance writer and former editor of OPE Business magazine. He has worked with and covered a range of markets and industries throughout his career.

Do you have a comment? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, or send an e-mail to the Editor at cmenapace@groupc.com.