What to do in the winter to avoid the winter time blues? 

  I work for a large (for Indianapolis) landscape company.  We have 4 designers and 2 assistants.  In the summer there are approx. 100 employees.  We are a full service company with design and installation, irragation, maintenance and a garden center.  There are many laborers that are kept over for the winter.  Management thinks this helps keep good employees around.  At previous jobs there has been plenty to do because everyone is laid off except the salary positions.  Here, on the other hand, the winter days are long and hard.  There is some design work to do but not near enough to keep everyone busy.  Plowing is out of the question because the laborers want this time because of the great pay.  What do you do to try to keep busy and make money for the company when everyone else thinks its OK to just sit back and relax for the winter.  

  With today’s economy I want to show my employer that I am trying to make a difference in this “down” time.  Who knows what is going to come with spring.  Will the economy pick back up and everything be fine?  What are we going to have to change to keep our business thriving?  The landscape industry will always make it through a recession, I just want to make sure my job does too.  What can we do now to ensure work for early spring.  What are optional services we could provide?  What can we do to make money with the people we have instead of eliminating cost by eliminating positions.

I’m opening up this blog to people interested in writing about anything related to the business of landscaping. If you’d like to get started, first register for a free account and then login and click on the write button. All posts are reviewed prior to being published so if you’re unsure of an idea just contact me and we can talk it over beforehand.

Since the winter season is starting let’s get started with article ideas related to winter. Here are 5 topics:

1. Does anyone send out thank you or holiday cards at the end of your season. Extra touches like that can make all the difference when renewing your contracts or trying to pass on a rate hike.
2. How do you make money when it’s below freezing in much of the country?
3. What do you about keeping your employees busy during the winter or how do you make sure they’re going to return in the spring if they don’t work in the winter?
4. What are the best ways for getting new business in the winter or lining up work for the spring?
5. How do you use your downtime for networking?