Progress with Less

Brooke Inzerella on Managing Business Operations with Smaller Teams

I’ve been in business long enough to know that bigger is not always better—or more profitable. In fact, it can often be the opposite. So, when the labor shortage of 2020 met the increased customer demand of 2020, I knew I had very little time to retool our processes so that we could continue operating with the team members that we already had and at the level of professionalism that our clients expected. A couple of shifts in paradigm helped me through this moment:

Let go of what you don’t want to make room for what you want more of.

First, I knew I had to be really strategic about the work I accepted. It was very hard for me to turn down good projects, but I’ve had to flex that muscle a lot these past two years. I had limited resources to get work done, and my usual methods for attracting and hiring staff were not working. I had to make daily decisions on projects to pass on. I always thought this would be the defining moment of “success” in my business, but it was way harder than I thought it would be.  Because of this shift, I’ve been able to set the course for apprenticeships for a few younger guys wanting to learn more skilled trades, like irrigation and lighting.

Let challenges become opportunities.

In the past two years, I’ve had to rely on subcontractors and freelance workers more than ever. I have two teams of carpenters that I relied on for custom carpentry work for our outdoor kitchens, pool cabanas and other structures. These are skilled and talented craftsmen that I knew, if willing and eager, could learn new skills and work on different types of projects. I communicated regularly with my subs about upcoming projects and let them know that if they were willing to accept challenges and pivot out of their comfort zone, I would have enough work to keep them busy every day for the foreseeable future. This resonated with them, and they enjoyed our work relationship enough that working for us on a day-to-day basis was appealing to them.

Before we knew it, we had a framing crew building concrete terraces, laying synthetic turf and planting large specimen trees. Another was put prepping and laying cobblestone and constructing Koi ponds. We even had a 67-year-old carpenter’s helper become an expert painter—a job he loved doing and wanted to do every day! I discovered there wasn’t much these crews couldn’t do and do well. These crews were energized to learn new skills, and I was happy to keep them busy. At the same time, I found freelance architects willing to work on a project-by-project basis. And at a moment when our design side was in high demand and we needed some project management help, my best hardscape and landscape crew leader became my righthand man by learning Google Sketchup, CAD and project management skills to rival a 20-year veteran. There may be a remarkable story such as this right there in your organization. He is loving this new job role, and I could not have survived the past two years without his contribution. Even though we are still looking for additional full-time design and project management help, we’re not desperate and we can take a little time to find the right candidates.

I imagine the labor supply shortage will level out at some point. Or maybe this is a challenge the industry will face for a while. Figuring out how to do more with less has definitely been a challenge for me, but I do think it’s been a positive change overall.

About

Brooke Inzerella is a licensed landscape horticulturist and owner of Horticare Landscape Company in Lafayette, Louisiana.

www.horticarelandscape.com