Silent Service, Big Impact: Winning with Electrification and Automation

View your landscaping business as a logistics company; focus on systematic approaches to add value by taking things away (e.g., weeds, clippings) or bringing things (e.g., pruned boxwoods), rather than just blowing.

Prioritize saving labor costs, as it represents 90% of your business expenses. Electrification and automation offer significant labor efficiencies, and also help with employee retention due to improved working conditions.

Invest in tools that measure every attribute of your sites (e.g., linear feet of edging, square feet of mowing) and use this data to create accurate production rates and bids, moving beyond guesswork.

Recognize that electrified equipment can provide valuable data beyond fuel savings, offering insights into profitability at a site level, similar to IoT in manufacturing. Use this data to make analytical decisions.

Develop a written automation strategy that includes a SWOT analysis for your business, reviewing existing routes for automation potential, and creating a new architectural plan for technology adoption.

When evaluating new equipment, engage with authority figures (e.g., Crest business developers), be transparent about your business needs, and define clear, measurable goals and metrics for trials to assess performance scientifically.