One of the keys to a profitable 2017 for green business owners is engagement with your current customers, while you continue to court new customers, particularly millennials. Recognizing changing consumer demands, particularly when it comes to regulations, will have a big impact in the year ahead. Millennials have different values and see the world as a much more precarious of a place that needs protecting. As a result, green industry business owners need to be more sustainable in your program offerings and in the products you use.
Role of regulations
A key area of concern for many green industry business owners for 2017 and beyond is the role of regulations in lawn care. Bans on cosmetic pesticides, such as the one set to take effect in 2018 in Montgomery County, Maryland, have many across the country worried. Environmental activism is here to stay and is anticipated to have an increasing impact on the lawn care industry.
Understanding how new regulatory changes will impact your business is an important area for you to focus on. If you need assistance figuring out how to handle these types of changes in your community, consider consulting groups such as the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP), for guidance in the important role the green industry plays in protecting the environment.
Where is the growth?
For 2015, Lawn and Landscape’s State of the Industry report found that more than 40 percent of green industry businesses named landscape and mowing maintenance as their main revenue source, as well as the most profitable source of income. The same survey respondents predicted that landscape maintenance would be the area to experience the most growth in 2016 and beyond. However, the design/build segment is definitely an area to watch in terms of the fastest growing segment, as it increased seven percentage points from the previous year.
Diversification is clearly one way to be certain your green industry business continues to experience growth. Some of the advantages of diversification include allowing you to broaden your service offerings, as well as establish a more diverse client base to make your business become as economically resilient as possible. One of the ways to ensure that adding new services works for you and helps your business attract new customers is by focusing on how to properly market your expertise. Be sure to cross-sell your existing green industry services to any new customers you may acquire, as well as notify existing customers when you add new services.
Will regulations impact your business in 2017? How can you add new customers? Spring-Green can help, whether through our industry leading marketing and technology or the collective knowledge our franchise owners share with each other. Learn more about how Spring-Green can help you grow in the year ahead. Call 1-800-777-8608 or visit us at www.growmygreenindustrybusiness.com.
