There are a lot of steps and processes landscapers put in place to become successful, and David Land, president of Tulsa Landscape and a 2014 Landscaper of the Year finalist is no different.
With more than 30 years of experience in the landscaping industry, Land has seen it all and has applied what he has learned over the years to making his business successful.
Here are his five tips to success:
1. Networking. “I have met so many people in the green industry,” Land says. “Some of them have big companies and some are one-man operations, but I really enjoy continuing to meet people. I think I get more insight from them.”
2. Having the right team. “We’re probably unusual compared to a lot of landscaping companies, because we focus on design/build,” he says. “We only have five employees on payroll right now, but we have probably 30 subcontractors. We want to find the best people we can for subcontractors, because even though they may be 10 or 20 percent more expensive, they’re always going to be less expensive in the long run.”
RELATED: View Tulsa Landscape’s project photos
3. Running lean. “So often it’s easy to get busy during the season and let the numbers slide a little bit,” Land says. “The last three or four years have really helped us fine tune the things that we really don’t need. We have found those places that we can cut that don’t really add any value to us and certainly won’t add value or quality to our clients.”
4. Marketing methods. “I think we focus too much a lot of times on the old methods of doing things like direct mail, TV or radio,” Land says. “Those are old outbound marketing methods, and those don’t really work like they used to. The newer inbound marketing methods like website, social media and blogging are where the clients are looking for us.”
5. Education. “One of my favorite things that Ewing Irrigation does is a couple of seminars a year, and they’re always doing something on sales, marketing or profitability,” Land says. “Those things are hugely valuable. We try to attend those events and bring our people with us.”
Read more about David Land and his business in the November issue of TLC.
