Key trends and data that landscapers and LCOs need to grow in 2017 and beyond.

1. State of the IndustryWhat landscapers and lawn care operators
need to know to grow in in 2017.
Chuck Bowen
Editor and Associate Publisher
Lawn & Landscape

2. 5 things we’ll cover today
• What the ‘average’ landscaper looks
like
• The state of the industry
• What customers think of you
• Key trends for your business in 2017
and beyond
• How you can take advantage of them
to grow

3. The ‘average’ landscaper
• (Caveat: This person doesn’t exist.)
• But, in 2016 the average landscaper:
• Employs 10 people
• Earns $339,000 in annual revenue
• Pays himself about $59,000 (if he pays himself)
• Pulls in net profit of 16 percent
• Does full-service landscaping for mostly residential
accounts
• The owner is the primary salesman, especially in a
design/build business
• He’s also still working in a production capacity during the
day and doing back-office work in the evenings and
weekends

5. 30%
29%
24%
6%
6%
5%
HOW DO YOU PAY YOURSELF?
Trial and error Weekly budget plus bonsues
A little when it's slow; a lot when it's busy Like a crewmember, hourly
A percentage of profit Other

7. Service by profits

8. Fastest-growing service in 2015

10. 2015 revenue

13. Landscapers go mobile
• 8 out of 10 contractors use a smartphone for work.
• About 60% of landscapers are on Facebook. The
next biggest platform is Linkedin, and then Twitter.
• They’re using these devices to take photos and text
with their employees and customers, as well as to
access urgent information like the weather reports
on the go.

14. Customer perceptions
• Grow the Market study in 2016
• Homeowner and commercial property managers
• Shows challenges and promise
• Trust and price
• Value of greenspaces
• Planned work

15. Homeowner perceptions
• 62% say landscape installations are prohibitively
expensive (down from 2013)
• 73% say landscaping increases the value of their home
• 54% say green space around a home is an important
contributor to the environment
• 46% say landscapers are professional businesspeople
• 39% trust the recommendations they get from
landscapers and LCOs they hire

19. Whom they ask first

20. But what about hardscaping/installs?

23. • 20% of homeowners are planning a major hardscape job in the next 2
years
• Walkways
• Patios
• Outdoor kitchen
• More than half will likely hire a contractor

25. Property managers
• What's most important when you decide to hire a
landscaper?
• 52% say quality of work (jobs on time and within budget)
• Next highest is 19% a high level of customer service
• 8% relationship with the account manager

26. Why they fire
• 69% – problems with services/jobs are completed
properly
• 19% – poor customer service
• 5% – poor communication

27. How to win their hearts
• What one thing could a service provider do to instill
your confidence in their company?
• 53% – have excellent communication
• 13% – offer multiple services
• 1% – at the bottom of the list is have the lowest bid
• You need good account managers who can
communicate your company’s value to your
commercial clients.

28. Key trends for 2017 and beyond
1. Water, water, water
2. Labor challenges (H-2B vs. domestic)
3. Stress
4. Business systems/technology
5. M&A/private equity investment
6. Regulations

30. Trend #1 – water

31. Trend #1 – water
• Rates are going up
• It’s only getting drier
• Infrastructure is crumbling
• This is an opportunity

32. Source: 2015 Circle of Blue research

34. What you can do
• Remember: Customers need water, want to save money
• Expand irrigation services
• Focus on water management
• System upgrades
• Permeable pavers

35. Trend #2 – labor
• Biggest bottleneck for
landscapers, regardless of
geography, services or size
• H-2B isn’t perfect, but it’s what
we’ve got
• Other sources
• Focus on recruitment

36. Trend #2 – labor

37. How does labor hold you up?

38. How do you use the H-2B program?

40. What you can do
• Stop complaining
• Develop a solid recruitment and retention plan
• Attend the National Collegiate Landscape Competition

41. Trend #3 – technology
• Software systems
• Taylor Milliken
• Cub Cadet and Bluetooth
• Exmark and Red technology
• Mowz/Plowz/Pros.com

42. What you can do
• Automate and integrate what you can
• Find a software that makes sense for you (and your team)
• Use the data you have
• Schedule time to review this on you calendar

43. Trend #4 – M&A/PE investment
• KKR and BrightView is not LandCare USA by a long shot
• TruGreen buying Scotts LawnService
• SiteOne on the move with more acquisitions
• (And these are just the major ones)
• Opportunities for you:
• Making your own acquisitions
• Cashing out
• Finding new, talented employees

44. What you can do
• Test the waters for acquisitions or sales
• Helps you fix what’s broken before you need to
• Keep a lookout for good hires
• Focus on your “local” message and make hay while the big guys are
busy with integration

45. Trend #5 – regulations
• H2-B is consistently inconsistent
• Minimum wage hikes in states and at the federal level
• Overtime regulations at the DOL
• Patchwork regulations of other inputs
• Stormwater taxes
• WOTUS

46. What you can do
• Join the National Association of Landscape Professionals
• Join your state association
• Talk with your local representatives
• You pay taxes
• You employ constituents
• You invest in your community
• Put a face on the industry

47. Trend #6
• Trump overshadows
everything we’ve
discussed today.
• He could make these
changes worse or
eliminate them
entirely.
• Time will tell if he can
work with Congress to
change EPA, DOL, or
H-2B

48. Final thought(s)
• It’s a great time to be a landscaper – unprecedented optimism and
growth
• The industry has a great story to tell and you are all ambassadors for
that story
• As much as is wrong in the industry – H-2B and the labor crisis and
chemical regulations – a lot is right and it’s incumbent upon everyone
in this room to spread that message and do something – anything –
to effect some positive change, however small

49. Cool stuff from L&L
• Our iOS app and new digital magazine
• The Lawn Care Radio Network on iTunes
• Our scholarship fund for college students
• The Benchmarking Your Business web app
• Our many social media outlets

50. Questions, comments, concerns?
• Chuck Bowen
• cbowen@gie.net
• 216-393-0227