Growing Pains and Gains: Growing Your Own Business

In this Pro Landscaper Magazine. Holly reveals her top tips for growing your own business.

Growing your own business is a sensitive process that should be planned for and managed says Holly Youde

It has been an amazing time for change and growth here at Urban Landscapes and the company continues to grow and evolve which makes for very exciting and challenging times. It reinforces the fact that the business started with just one employee and now boasts a team of almost 30 people.

It has been a huge learning curve but what we have found are the key factors in managing change. Growth is often measured as the only definition of success, but it can come with a cost to the business.

We have always tried not to rush into building the business too quickly so that the service we offer to our clients is never diluted and our standard of work is always the best it can be. Primarily, our continued success relies on the customer relationship and the referrals that come because of happy clients. In the early days of running our business we were pretty much used to doing everything. As we grew and more team members came on board we needed to transition into learning to delegate more and embrace the change in company dynamics – much harder than it sounds.

When any new employee comes on board the organisation changes slightly and the company shifts a little to fit what that new person can bring. It’s the same with business growth too – we are constantly evolving and embracing change even though sometimes it may not feel comfortable at the time.

You must take charge of your own growth too, create a business plan and have an ideal vision of the future. We work consistently with a business consultant who has been invaluable, by bringing a new perspective. Evolution won’t happen by chance – we know we are responsible for our own growth.

Recently, we have taken on an apprentice as part of a commitment to help grow and develop an individual. We believe working with apprentices introduces enthusiasm and a willingness to learn, as well as enabling the business to train the next generation and help young people into a career in landscaping. Our advice is simple – treat the apprentice as your next superstar, not just as cheap labour. Give them opportunities to gain experience not just the basic tasks, and you’ll find they’ll contribute a huge amount to your team and your business. We want to help nurture and develop our new apprentice and have a plan for his continued development within the company.

MY TOP TIPS FOR GROWING YOUR BUSINESS

• Whatever you are doing and however big your business it is always about the client experience – go the extra mile.
• Enjoy it! Every step is new and different but that’s part of the fun.
• Easy does it – take time to think things through, talk to people, ask for advice and don’t rush into things. Don’t hire an employee, hire a person. We try to treat everyone equally and have fun staff days out – happy staff stay with you! Loyalty is key and we like to think everyone understands what we are wanting to achieve and shares our vision.
• Work with a business consultant who can help with your transition as the company grows. It really does help to bounce ideas off someone who is outside of the madness too.
• Go with your gut. Trust your business intuition – you had the foresight to start a business so you’ll know if an idea feels right or not.