Insights: The need to diversify

Diversification has become one of many buzzwords we hear lately. As with most of these flavor-of-the-month, pop-culture fads, the term can be applied to any and all situations. One that it truly does apply to is professional landscaping. Those of you who support yourselves and your families in the landscaping industry have made it your business to become modern day jacks-of-all-trades. Certainly, your core business is installing and caring for plants and turf, but many of you have also become adept at everything from cutting, splitting and selling firewood, shoveling and plowing, to hanging Christmas lights and exterior home decorations during the holidays.

Many full-service landscaping businesses also provide design services and build hardscape projects like outdoor fireplaces and waterfalls. Diversification has become a necessity in many parts of the country because of radical changes in climate, which tend to cut short planting and maintenance seasons. In the Deep South, where the “season” seems to last all year, the need for diversification became apparent this summer because of the almost total absence of rain. Until mid-July, it had not rained enough to wet rain gauges since March. As you can imagine, our typically green South became brown and dusty, and mowing almost slowed to a stop, save for turf that was heavily irrigated.

If you do irrigation work in the South, you may be having the busiest summer of your life. If not, you are probably considering the need to diversify your business. One of our goals for Total Landscape Care is to become the most effective advocate for making professional landscapers successful. That’s why you see in this issue a myriad of editorial features and product profiles highlighting many of the niche businesses landscapers are adding to their portfolios. We know you turn to these niches in order to both grow your business and have an alternate income stream.

We’re doing our part to help you continue to reinvent yourself, and learn new skills which will ultimately create additional value and revenue sources for your company.

The Attachments Idea Book
Landscapers use a variety of attachments for doing everything from snow removal to jobsite cleanup, and regardless of how often they are used, every landscaper has a favorite attachment.
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Attachments Idea Book Cover