Strategic Planning Mistakes That Slow Landscape Company Growth
For many landscape business owners, strategic planning is something that starts with good intentions in the slow season but quickly becomes lost in the shuffle after the spring ramp-up. A plan only works if it’s still steering decisions in July, when your crews are booked out and every hour goes to the schedule.
The seven mistakes that stall a plan: skipping last year’s scorecard, setting revenue with no profit target, chasing too many priorities, setting goals you can’t score, planning without the people to deliver, planning alone, and waiting a full year to check in.
What Are the Most Common Strategic Planning Mistakes in a Landscape Company?
If you’re stuck in the cycle of writing a new plan in the slow season and having it collect dust as soon as the spring ramp-up hits, you’re probably making one or more of the following mistakes.
- Starting a New Plan without Grading the Old One
- Only Identifying Top-Line Targets
- Creating Too Many New Initiatives
- Failing to Set Measurable Goals
- Not Assigning Tasks to Team Members
- Keeping the Plan in Your Own Head
- Not Accounting for Seasonal Variability
Here’s what each one looks like in a landscape company, and what to do instead.
Are You Grading Last Year’s Plan Before You Write the Next One?
You can’t set honest goals for next year until you’ve graded this one. Before drafting a new plan, take a detailed look at last year’s and score each goal honestly. What got done and what didn’t? Why did some goals fall off the radar? How can you replicate what worked?
Grade every goal from last year A to F, then put projected year-end next to what you budgeted. Wilson360’s annual planning checklist starts with this scorecard.
Is Your Growth Goal a Revenue Number with No Profit Target?
It’s easy to get wrapped up in the big numbers, but a $10 million target only tells your team how big to get. It doesn’t tell them how to make money getting there. Pair revenue with a net profit target for current and new services and expand your view to 3-5 years out rather than simply focusing on one year at a time. Then, look at where the growth comes from. A year of thin-margin construction jobs can grow revenue and shrink profit.
How Many Priorities Should a Landscape Company Set for the Year?
Creating a dozen or more initiatives is an easy way to create confusion and ensure that nothing gets done. Rank your goals in order of priority and focus only on the top 5 at most. Paring down initiatives lets you see real progress over time instead of setting the same long list of goals every year with no real growth.
Can You Score Every Goal on Your Plan?
Goals like “improve customer service” or “increase revenue” sound reasonable, but you can’t score them until June. Every goal should have up to five clearly defined metrics that you can check throughout the year. For example, instead of “improve customer service”, identify the real desired result of better customer service like increased maintenance contract renewal rates or faster estimate turnaround and a higher close rate on enhancement proposals.
Does Your Plan Include the People Who Will Deliver It?
Strategic planning needs to be paired with direct accountability. Owners try to do everything, which is why so many $4M to $7M landscape companies stall. Every initiative should have a named person or team running it. If everything is falling onto your desk for direct action or approval, you may need to make key hires and promotions to assign tasks out appropriately. Identify rising stars on your team to fast-track, create retention plans to keep talent on your team, and develop a leadership team of crew leaders and account managers to own each goal.
Did You Ask Your Crews and Clients for Input?
A plan written by the owner alone only knows what the owner knows. Are you surveying employees about what keeps them around and what creates challenges in their workdays? Do you know what the most common pain points are for your clients?
Survey your crews and your clients before the planning session. Pull the top three needs from each and decide which ones next year’s plan will address. Then check your numbers against Wilson360’s landscape industry benchmark, so you’re planning from data, not memory.
Will Your Plan Fall Apart by Spring?
A landscape year holds a slow season, a spring ramp-up and a booked-out summer. A plan you only check in December stopped steering the company in April. Quarterly resets keep plans on track throughout the year, even during the busy spring ramp-up and the booked-out summer season.
At the end of each quarter, grade the quarter’s goals. Look at the people, procedures and tools you added and whether they’re working. Then set next quarter’s three to five goals against the annual plan. Between resets, a short weekly or monthly check-in keeps a slipping goal from becoming a surprise
Who Can Help You Build a Plan and Stick to It?
Don’t let strategic planning fall off, leaving you in the same place this time next year. Get a roadmap to reach your goals with landscape business coaching from Wilson 360. Find real accountability with CEO peer groups who will hold you to the plan.
Wilson360’s Catalyst Coaching program pairs you with a coach who builds the roadmap with you and runs quarterly goal resets. Elite, for companies over $15 million, adds an annual strategic planning retreat.
Book a Free 30-Minute Strategy Call with Wilson360.
Strategic Planning FAQs
How often should a landscape company review its strategic plan?
Strategic plans should be reviewed quarterly with brief weekly or monthly check-ins to avoid surprises at quarterly goal resets.
When should a landscape company do its strategic planning?
During the slow season before the spring ramp-up is an ideal time to work on strategic planning because your team will have more time to brainstorm, provide feedback, and identify goals for the following year.
Who should be involved in a landscape company’s strategic planning?
Along with owners, leadership teams should be directly involved in strategic planning. Employees and clients should also have a chance to offer their input with annual surveys.
What’s the difference between a strategic plan and a budget?
A strategic plan sets priorities and growth targets for the year. A budget funds those plans. Build them together so every priority has the people and the dollars to get done.
