2 min read

Trimming the Excess

Picture of SYNKD Writer SYNKD Writer : Jan 5, 2024 7:00:00 AM

South West

Green’s Lawncare’s Journey from Shiny Objects to Streamlined Success

By Matthew Green, CEO of Green's Landcare & Property Services

Have you ever gotten caught up in the shiny object syndrome? Are you always chasing the next coolest service or where you can make the next dollar? Let me tell you from personal pain that is not a good place to be. In fact, it can be damaging to your business, yourself and the reputation you have worked so hard to achieve. We were in that boat—at one point in time we offered 15 different services. As a small company, that translates to the customer’s mind that you are a jack of all trades and master of none. This isn’t a place you want to be. Eventually, you will stagnate, and the business will fail. If you look at the most successful companies in the world, they are very streamlined. They have few services, but they are really good at those services.

We, at Green’s Lawncare & Property Services, lived this exact experience, and I don’t want you to make the same mistakes we made. When we finally woke up and realized there was a better way of doing things, our world changed. Our employee retention skyrocketed, we could finally build a vivid vision for the future, we could predict our growth and cashflow each year … It was life-changing to say the least. Our team finally knew what they would be doing day in and day out. The best part is they started to build confidence in the services they were rendering because they had enough time in the “seat” to hone their skills.

Green's Lawncare & Property Services Finished Christmas Lights

We were able to solidify our marketing message and our target customer avatar, because we knew what our focus was.

To do this, we had to sit down and look at which services were the most scalable. To be scalable, the service must be able to be repeated exactly each time it is sold or serviced and everyone has to be on the same page. A classic example is McDonald’s. No matter where you are, you will get the exact same cheeseburger. When you are able to do this, your business will get exciting, and you will be able to blast past burnout (a very dangerous place you never want to find yourself).

We settled on three core services: lawn care (fertilization and weed control), pest control and Christmas light Installation. It wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. We settled on these three services with one thought in mind: “How can we provide the absolute best career opportunity for our team with the best training, onboarding and benefits.” I learned early on that we are in the people business, which happens to do lawn care, pest control and Christmas lights. The service is a byproduct of our most valuable asset, our people. The individuals make Green’s Lawncare a special place, not the services.

Green's Lawncare & Property Services Installing Christmas Lights

Here’s a great example. We had never done Christmas lights and didn’t know anything about it, but needed a winter service offering. We STUMBLED mightily our first year and only sold three jobs. Three years later, we are in the top five installers in the Indianapolis market. Come to SYNKD Live in February, and I will show you how and why we added Christmas lights to our service offering.