If you follow us on social media or are one of our clients you'll find we do not offer winter snow removal services. So many think we just take the entire Winter off. Doesn't that sound awesome? Sit tight... a lot goes on in the Winter that we "take off".
Well, we do, but it isn't what anyone thinks! We take the Winter off from our normal tasks out in the field because as most know... there isn't any mowing in the cold Winter months here in Indiana! Cleanups, aerations and mulch are usually done in the Spring and Fall seasons. So what do we spend our time on in the cold, cold months?
A lot of work, actually. We both start to feel like we live in our office! We completely tear apart our finances. What worked and didn't in the previous year? Do we need to change the way money flows in and out? This takes weeks upon weeks. Printing reports, comparing numbers. Reviewing the system(s) we used to manage our revenue, invoices and payments. Should we upgrade the current system? Stay with what we are using? Completely move to a new one? What do we need to grow & improve? Researching price increases on chemicals and supplies we use. Businesses need to constantly adjust financially. We review these things through the season, but now is the time to research and implement the BIG changes.
Then there is the equipment. Standard maintenance takes place all season long. During the Winter is when we take a look at each piece individually. The deepest of cleans take place! Is each piece of machinery to standard for the next season? Do we need to go ahead and replace certain parts or do we feel it has enough life left? Is a piece of machinery or equipment ready to be retired and replaced? As a small business, those are HUGE decisions to make! Does the shop itself need upgrades to allow for more services to be offered? Taking the Winter to ensure every physical tool is ready to roll for the next season is VITAL!
What about the services that we offer and how we schedule them? Do we need to look at expanding our crew(s) to meet the schedule demand? Speaking of schedule.. what is that going to look like for the next season? How many clients did we add? How many clients are we no longer serving? What do we need to do in order to accommodate those changes? Are we going to offer new services and maybe cut back with others? How about that scheduling system or program.. is it working for us? Maybe we should just commit to a whole other system.
And there is so, so much more. That is just a glimpse. With that being said, we definitely have an opportunity to spend some more time with family! For the first time in years, we took a family vacation! This year we have also added being selected to participate in ECHO Means Business UAG (User Advisory Group) which gives us the opportunity to act as mentors on the EMG platform all while learning and growing with all of the other
members! Check it out at www.echomeansbusiness.com !!
So... do we take the winter off? Eh, kind of...
