My 3 Simple Rules for Rebuilding My Company

I built a seven figure landscape business and then I tore it down. I blew it up, to bits and bits. I threw a lot of it away. Let a lot of it go. Some on purpose, some by chance and some because if I kept holding on to it, it would eventually be my undoing. It was hard, and it still is hard and the harder it gets the stronger I become! I’m at the point right now where hard is an every day thing. As a matter of fact I want it to be hard, I want it to be so damn hard that I have to rise to the occasion! Every. Single. Day. Get stronger, every single day and that’s exactly what I’m doing.

I’m in the middle of a rebuild with my company. Just like I tore it down, now I am building it back up. I had 25 employees and now I have about 15 and every one of them has been here for a year or less. I shed about $200,000 of business, that represented about 20 percent of my sales. Do the math, it was a ballsy move but it had to be done.

I made some major decisions, changed the rules and I have stuck with them. They go something like this:

No more toxic people – That goes for everyone from employees to customers to vendors. If you’re toxic you’re out. I don’t want anyone who is toxic to me or my business. I have left six figure customers because of this. I have let vendors go and yes employees too.

Do great work – This should be a given in any business but greatness is always on the horizon and you may not attain it in all of it’s glory. The moral here is don’t lose sight of the horizon. Keep striving!

Don’t be complacent – I have said this before, complacency in business is death. If you happen to be coasting along, being comfortable and just getting by then be prepared. The sudden drop is just ahead. You will be coasting no more, it’s just a matter of time.

That’s it. Three simple rules. General in their essence and maybe not so much on the practical side. Practical comes next. But first I had to clear my head, take stock of what I had, be honest about what I really wanted and make changes accordingly. I’m well on my way.