Business File Archives - Hort Journal Australia

Monday, December 4, 2023

Bush foliage doesn’t grow in paddock rows (Image: CHFF/PGA)

Bush foliage doesn’t grow in paddock rows (Image: CHFF/PGA)

Challenge accepted : Managing growth in multiple growing businesses

08/11/202310/11/2023 admin 75 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By Andrea Caldecourt

Managing the demands of a horticulture business is challenging enough but what happens when you have multiple rapidly-growing businesses to manage, all with very different needs?

Multi-award-winning Sunshine Coast business Cedar Hill Group is the parent company to seven separate entities, each operating in discrete horticultural fields, from tissue culture and tubestock production, to cut flower export and online retail.… Continue reading

How to run your business and thrive in these times

08/11/202308/11/2023 ohn Corban 64 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By John Corban

We cannot control external occurrences, like the economy or the weather, but we can control our response to what happens. We have experienced an extended boom in the Landscape Industry, so what we might be experiencing now is business as usual, (in other words the boom has subsided).… Continue reading

Are you in a rut running your business?

11/10/202311/10/2023 John Corban 112 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By John Corban

For several months you may have felt that everything at work is tough, whether its winning work, trying to find a new employee, managing team members or managing cash-flow, your energy is flat and you feel you and your business is in a rut.… Continue reading

Create a vision for your business and communicate it with your team (Image: Karen Smith)

Create a vision for your business and communicate it with your team (Image: Karen Smith)

Creating an inspiring business future

12/09/202321/09/2023 John Corban 140 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By John Corban

Think back to when you started your business – you were probably somewhat fearful, but incredibly excited about what you were starting. And you probably imagined growing your business over time to a larger business with a key team, great clients, good profits, and a reasonably high profile.… Continue reading

Plan for costs (Image: Rich Earth Landscaping)

Plan for costs (Image: Rich Earth Landscaping)

Financial strategies to boost sales and profits

04/08/202318/08/2023 John Corban 171 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By John Corban

The beginning of the new financial year has begun, so now is the perfect time to analyse your Profit & Loss (P&L) from the year just finished. Then, create a forecast knowing what areas of quoting, projects, project management and maintenance, and retail you need to improve.… Continue reading

Why? One question that will change how you run your business

07/07/202307/07/2023 John Corban 168 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

John Corban

We all know what service and products we provide in our business; we also know how we provide our service or products, but are you clear about WHY you run your business?

Many business owners in the horticulture Industry might say they love working with plants, maintaining and installing gardens, or growing and selling plants, but do your employees and clients know WHY you do what you do.… Continue reading

Why now is the time to set bigger goals?

05/06/202305/06/2023 John Corban 198 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By John Corban

Typically, what happens after a boom period is a slowing of enquiries. Many business owners get very cautious, and decide to cut expenses and operate from a restrictive mindset.

They can feel the pressure of going from excessive enquiries to much less, or they find clients holding back on spending as much.… Continue reading

Work on your marketing so more of your ideal clients see your work

Work on your marketing so more of your ideal clients see your work

Win more jobs when clients are holding back!

03/05/202303/05/2023 John Corban 245 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees

By John Corban

Enquiries have been at a peak for the last few years, however, with the media reporting interest rate and cost of living hikes, some prospects and clients may be reducing their original spend or even delaying a project.… Continue reading

Why should you know your critical percentages?

11/04/202311/04/2023 John Corban 245 Views 0 Comments #Tree, Botanic gardens, Garden Design, gardening, horticultural, horticultural industry, landscape, landscape design, Ornamental trees, Shade Trees

By John Corban

When I work with a new landscaping client, in the first two sessions, I analyse their profit and loss (P&L) and highlight their four main expenses (as a percentage of their sales), and compare these to what the targeted percentages should be.… Continue reading

Creating a viable succession plan for your business

05/03/202305/03/2023 John Corban 288 Views 0 Comments

By John Corban

Five steps to create a viable succession plan for your business (This plan can also be used to sell your business)

Are you at a stage in your business where you have been thinking about creating a succession plan?… Continue reading

Avoiding common mistakes when creating a website

04/03/202304/03/2023 Melissa J Scott 291 Views 0 Comments

By Melissa J Scott

Too often when a business owner is looking for a website developer, the focus on technical ability and the mechanics and not on the brand identity or how to convert traffic into paying customers through heart-felt connection.… Continue reading

Good images represent your business (Image: Jason Busch/Landart)

Good images represent your business (Image: Jason Busch/Landart)

Tips on turning your images into masterpieces

04/03/202304/03/2023 Melinda Hird 294 Views 0 Comments

By Melinda Hird

Today, the world of digital marketing is bigger than ever before. What’s more, consumers are demanding more variety in their daily lives. This means that marketers need to adapt their strategies accordingly and add new content types to their mix of existing media.… Continue reading

Parts of my business need a shake-up, what can I do differently?

08/02/202308/02/2023 admin 280 Views 0 Comments

By John Corban

As business owners we are busy, often being more hands-on than we want to be, so when someone asks if you are happy with every aspect of your business, we might currently think ‘enquiries are good, sales are good, but systems could be better and I need to offload some of my tasks so I have time to manage my business’.… Continue reading

Staying hungry to run your business

16/12/202216/12/2022 John Corban 300 Views 0 Comments

By John Corban

Remember when you were keen to start your own business? Let’s look at the how and why it is important to stay hungry to run your own business.

You may have been doing small jobs on weekends and that gave you the confidence to launch your business full time.… Continue reading

Managing time

03/11/202203/11/2022 John Corban 340 Views 0 Comments

By John Corban

When there is not enough time in the day to do everything, time management is crucial for a healthy work-life balance.

When I met Steve, a landscape contractor and horticulturist, he said he felt that there was never enough time in the day to do everything.… Continue reading

The theory of constraints – what’s holding your business back?

05/10/202205/10/2022 John Corban 369 Views 0 Comments

By John Corban

Do you feel there is a part of your business that is not operating the way you would like it to? It might be your time management that continually puts pressure on you and limits your business growth and efficiency, or it might be your project management system that creates inconsistent results on projects.… Continue reading

The benefits of planning for business growth

03/09/202203/09/2022 John Corban 305 Views 0 Comments

By John Corban

Should you plan your business growth and what are the benefits? Considering the challenges of the last twelve months (rain, COVID19, increased materials costs), some business owners could think it is hard to plan business growth. They might say “I am just trying to organise my business from week to week and maintain a reasonable productivity due to the unprecedented rainfall.”… Continue reading

Identifying and managing difficult clients – part 2

03/08/202203/08/2022 John Corban 381 Views 0 Comments

By John Corban

We discussed managing difficult customers in a design business last month, so this month we look at identifying clients that don’t suit your business and how to manage those that are difficult in a maintenance business.

If you were to describe the type of clients you would like more of, what would be their profile?… Continue reading

Identifying and managing difficult clients

09/07/202209/07/2022 John Corban 380 Views 0 Comments

By John Corban

They change their mind repeatedly, they remove parts of the quote, leaving the potential project fragmented, which you know will end in an average result. They show disappointment with work done, they question variations and refuse to pay invoices.… Continue reading

Using social media to attract employees and clients

02/06/202202/06/2022 John Corban 437 Views 0 Comments

By John Corban

The most significant and powerful change in small business marketing since 2010 has been the introduction of social media. Instagram and Facebook are the two most popular platforms used by businesses in the landscape/horticulture Industry, employees and clients for daily posting and viewing.… Continue reading

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