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Adding to Your Bottom Line11-06-09 | News

Adding to Your Bottom Line

By Ashley Harbaugh, assistant editor




Outdoor kitchens are in high demand because they extend living space and increase the home’s value. “The NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) is saying that demand for outdoor kitchens in upscale new homes is predicted to rise steadily over the next ten years,” said Chris Mordi of Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet. Photo courtesy of Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet
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Different niches offer profitable opportunities for landscape contractors to grow their businesses. With the tough economic times, adding new services to landscape contractors’ repertoires can help them expand into different businesses and gain more clients. Here are some potential markets that can give contractors an edge on the competition.

Snow/Ice Management

Snow and ice removal can be a very profitable venture for landscape contractors because projects for snow removal can be worth tens of thousands of dollars. For example, the city of Verndale, Minn., will be paying a contractor $30,000 for snow plowing and removal services in the city this year. By lining up a few projects like this, contractors can make a sizable amount of revenue over the winter.

Finding a good product to carry out the snow and ice removal is crucial for this service. One such ice melter is the Morton® EcoSafe™ Ice Melter. According to Niles Hysell, Marketing Product Manager for Morton Salt in Chicago, this product “incorporates a patented ingredient which has been shown in tests to result in less damage to pavement than plain salt.” Made with urea and potassium chloride, ingredients that can be found in fertilizer, this melter is an environmentally friendly option. “Environmentally friendly ice-melt blends are especially appealing to landscapers, as they don’t wreak havoc on plants,” said Hysell.






The small city of Verndale, Minn., will be paying a contractor $30,000 for snow plowing and removal services in the city this year. By lining up a few projects like this, contractors can make a sizable amount of revenue over the winter. It is important for contractors to understand the nuances of ice melting salt, before bidding on those kinds of projects.





Snow plow blades are helpful for clearing away heavy snow. Plow blades can be attached to the front of pickup trucks or skid steers, and can cost between $3,500-6,500. Plow prices are determined by options and features, as well as the size and style.


Another feature of this ice melter line that can be helpful for contractors is the availability of visible ice melters. “Ice melting crystals which are dyed a particular color help landscapers determine how much product has been applied during application, preventing overuse,” said Hysell. In applying ice melters, it is always important to keep in mind the winter weather conditions of the area and to adjust the amounts accordingly.

For clearing away heavier snowdrifts, a contractor can buy either straight or V-blade plow attachments. These plow blades can be attached to the front ends of either pickup trucks or skid steers. Straight blades allow contractors to push the snow toward storage areas, which is particularly helpful for driveways, parking lots and streets. V-blade plows are useful for heavy snow areas that require quick removal, such as streets or highways, and can clear any type of snow, whether it’s wet and heavy or loose and grainy.






Synthetic turf’s durability is excellent for high traffic places that face a lot of wear-and-tear, such as sports fields and school campuses. Construction costs of synthetic fields can vary dramatically depending on field size, geographic location, amount of site work required, etc. Some important things to consider are costs of turf materials (measured by sq. ft or sq. yd), infill materials (determined by lbs per sq. ft), seaming tape (by linear foot), seaming adhesives (by liquid measure), stabilizing fabric materials (by sq. ft or sq. yd), to provide clients a proper estimate. Photo courtesy of American Sports Builders Association


Synthetic Turf

Another option that landscape contractors can include in their list of services is synthetic turf installation. Over the past four years, installation of synthetic turf for landscape and sports purposes has grown 35-40 percent annually. With regular turf, clients have to spend a significant amount of time maintaining it, but synthetic turf gives the benefits of regular turf minus the headaches associated with maintenance. Capable of handling severe weather conditions, synthetic turf’s durability is particularly valuable for high traffic places that experience a lot of wear-and-tear, such as sports fields and school campuses.

An example of how having synthetic turf installation in a contractor’s service inventory can be worthwhile is the case of ATG Sports Industries, Inc. This company was awarded a $714,000 contract to install artificial turf on the football field of Bishop Carroll High School in Wichita, Kans., a project that accounts for 3 percent of the company’s 2009 work. How did it get this lucrative contract? It is the only local company that installs artificial turf.

Outdoor Kitchens

Many homeowners enjoy bringing the designs and comfort of the indoors to the outdoors. Installing and designing outdoor kitchens is a way that landscape contractors can take advantage of this popular trend.

“The NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) is saying that demand for outdoor kitchens in upscale new homes is predicted to rise steadily over the next ten years,” said Chris Mordi of Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet. And since installing outdoor kitchens can involve a number of different design and product elements, landscape contractors should look to contact professionals from a broad range of backgrounds and disciplines. “Contractors should start cultivating relationships with interior designers and bath designers,” said Mordi.






Since people love the beauty of holiday lights but not the hassle of putting them up, holiday lighting installation can be a very profitable market for contractors. The net profit average for one company’s franchises is 28 percent, and a 3-man crew can produce almost $2700 per day (which breaks down to about $755 net profit per day per crew). Photo courtesy of Christmas Decor


Holiday Lighting

The moneymaking possibilities of this niche market can put any landscape contractor in a jolly mood. Since many people like the beautiful effect of strings of lights on homes, stores, buildings, and so on, but don’t want to put in the time and effort installing and decorating, outsourcing holiday lighting to professionals is a logical train-of-thought.

The holiday lighting installation company Christmas Decor, Inc. has many stats that back up the potential profits of holiday lighting installation. The net profit average for the company’s franchises is 28%, and a 3-man crew can produce almost $2700 per day (which breaks down to about $755 net profit per day for the crew). “Depending primarily on production, you can do as little or as much as you would like—our franchises range from $20,000 in sales for a small operation, up to large operations doing north of $2 million,” said Jack Bush of Christmas Decor. Bush also estimated that the average amount for a contractor’s first-season sales could be more than $52,000. With figures like these, even Scrooge would think of installing holiday lights.






With time management software like that from AboutTime Technologies, employee time stamps are transferred directly to computers at the company office. Because of the software’s precise measurement of worker hours, it has been shown to enable 15-30 percent or more in payroll reductions. Photo courtesy of AboutTime Technologies





Another service that landscape contractors can add is the installation of splash pads. Splash pads appeal to people who want the beauty of a water feature in their backyard, but who don’t want to deal with a feature that requires a lot of maintenance (such as a pool). S.R. Smith, a company that provides pool and water features and equipment, provides a splash pad line called WetDek. “A contractor can stand out from the competition and attract new and existing customers with additional options, such as including the WetDek as a patio extension, giving the homeowner a hidden water feature,” said Hilary Winfield of S.R. Smith. Photo courtesy of S.R. Smith


New Technology

For landscape contractors, getting the most out of their labor force is a huge money-saving factor. But keeping track of labor and hours can be a difficult undertaking. New developments in technology, however, are contributing to workforce efficiency by enabling contractors to stay on top of labor and labor hours.

The company AboutTime Technologies understands the need for landscape contractors to monitor their work force and provides software that makes doing so easy. Uploading the software onto the cell phones of a contractor’s work force turns those cell phones into mobile time clocks, allowing workers to clock in and out with accurate on-the-spot time stamps. Once the stamps are collected, all the data is beamed back wirelessly to the company’s accounting and payroll systems. Because of the software’s precise measurement of worker hours, it has been shown to enable 15-30 percent or more in payroll reductions. Another advantage of this software is that each time stamp carries the GPS location of the stamper, thus preventing workers from punching in for their buddies.

These are just a few of the possible services that landscape contractors can use to their advantage. Creative, enterprising landscape contractors can always find more ways to carve out their own
unique niches.

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