Every years brings about the talk of goals, growth, and progress. How much do you want to sell next year? How much do you want to spend next year? Will you be able to hire more employees?
I’m here to tell you to think bigger. And I speak from experience!
Generally, Spring-Green Lawn Care branches grow about 5-7% each year. This constant growth has allowed the company to become nationally recognized while the business model allows for a local company experience. But when I became owner of the Edmond/OKC branch in March of 2017, I knew that number would not be big enough for me.
There was more potential for greatness!
Year one
After nine months of hard work, measuring lawns to offer price estimates—over 50,000 lawns—and selling to anybody who would listen, my branch of Spring-Green Lawn Care grew by 25%. That’s far more than the normal 5-7%.
The plan had worked!
A couple things made this possible. First, we didn’t send out any direct mail unless we already knew the yard’s square footage. That’s why I did all that measuring of lawns.
Second, I noticed there was an astounding lack of lawn companies in the area with an online presence. So I followed up with my customers and simply asked for a review. It’s amazing what a difference it makes to simply ask.
Year two
As good for business was in 2017, I felt like it was time to step out of my comfort zone. Coaching from Mike Crandall with Sandler Training of Oklahoma helped, as did the local BNI chapter. With this newfound strategy, referral group, and customer base we began planning for 2018.
The original “How crazy can we get?” idea for 2018 was 100% growth in one year. Other sensible franchise owners were able to talk me down to just 85%. The basic strategy was to work with the most homes in the most dense areas. If I could access one customer in an area, why not two customers or ten customers?
Once again, the plan worked!
We ended up doubling in size in 2018. We reached 100% growth in a single year! In fact, after almost exactly two years of operation, Spring-Green Lawn Care in Edmond has tripled in size.
Working toward huge goals can give you huge results. You have to be willing to go that extra mile, then go one more mile. But the first step to accomplishing more is setting those bigger goals.