Operate on your own turf
Oliver Wood runs the Greensleeves Lawn Care Huddersfield franchise, and has grown the business over nine years. Here, he describes a typical day on the job…
6am
I start my day early so after a shower and a quick breakfast I am out of the door by 6.40am on my way to the office.
7am
I get to the office, grab a cup of coffee and check any emails and messages that have come in overnight. I also double check all the jobs sheets for the day just to ensure everything is in order.
8am-9.30am
The lawn managers begin to arrive anytime from eight onwards to collect their vans and pick up their route details. I will spend some time with them running through their job sheets, helping them load their vans and ensuring everyone is happy. They will then leave to go and treat the customers’ lawns that we have scheduled in for the day leaving me to continue with the remaining administration I have to do for the morning.
10am
Mid to late morning will see me leaving the office on my way to visit existing and prospective customers. Over the next few hours I complete any quotations for new work that we have scheduled in and carry out customer service visits to our existing client base. Throughout the day I am regularly on my mobile to the lawn managers, answering various questions that arise and giving advice on specialist lawn issues that they have not previously encountered. I grab a quick sandwich for lunch whilst I am on the go.
2pm
By early afternoon I am back at my desk in the office, helping to process calls that have come in during the course of the morning (it has been a busy one thanks to a scarifying promotion we are currently running), booking in the lawn managers’ work for the following day, processing payments and carrying out the other administrative tasks that keep the business running on a daily basis. I use this time to focus on business growth and planning for any marketing activity that we have coming up.
4pm
By late afternoon the lawn managers begin to return to the office, having completed their routes for the day. I spend the next couple of hours helping them to unload their vans, processing their completed paperwork and ensuring everything is ready in terms of vans and equipment availability for the next day.
5.30pm-6pm
I leave the office for the evening and then head to the gym before going home to cook dinner, usually something Thai if I have the time.
