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Tip: John Gachina, CCLP, CLT, founder and owner of Gachina Landscape Management, attributes much of his success to planning, coming up with a business plan that was both aggressive and workable, and following the plan.

In 14 years, Gachina Landscape Management in Menlo Park, California, has grown from a two-person operation into a full-service, landscape-management company with three branches, or divisions, and 250 people. John Gachina, CCLP, CLT, company founder and owner, attributes much of his success to planning, coming up with a business plan that was both aggressive and workable, and following the plan.

"The plan grew me and the company," says Gachina. "When I started the company, I was fortunate to have both business and horticultural training in school. I say fortunate because so many people who enter this industry come from a strictly technical background and have little or no business training. These same people oftentimes don't understand the value of developing a business plan and reviewing it every year to ensure it remains on target."

Gachina formally reviews his business plan every year with industry consultant Frank Ross. And every year the company revises it by setting new goals and budgets. The process has worked so well for this landscape contractor that he's taking it to his division (branch) managers and asking them to develop their own business plans. Doing so, he says, creates ownership, engenders healthy competition among managers, engages them in making marketing decisions, and overall makes them less reliant on headquarters.

A Plan of Their Own

"My division managers fully understand our overall plan, but they don't yet have a plan of their own," says Gachina. "I've given them the company's original business plan from 1988 as a template. I want them to develop their own business and marketing strategies using the corporate plan as a guide." He has instructed them to remain true to the company's overall goals, yet, at the same time, to develop their own plans for growing their markets.

Says Gachina, "Our managers have different personalities and operate in different markets. Giving them the ability to develop their own business plan will make them feel more like entrepreneurs and allow them to develop their markets to the fullest." He adds, "It just makes sense. If it worked for me in the beginning, it should work for my managers, now."

Beyond the Plan

Developing a business plan should be an important part of any landscape contractor's growth strategy, Gachina points out. He also advises any landscape contractor who hasn't entertained the thought of taking the Certified Landscape Professional (CLP) exam to do so as soon as possible.

"Even though I had some business training, I needed more," says Gachina. "Just studying for the CLP exam was like taking a course in Business 101. There are sections on human resources, ethics, finance, and just about every other aspect of running a business." As he points out, being a landscape contractor requires both technical and business skills. The technical skills are important, to be sure, but rest assured he wouldn't be where he is today without the business training and his business plan.

By John Gachina, CCLP, CLT
Gachina Landscape Management
Menlo Park, CA
Gachina@aol.com
(as told to Rod Dickens, ALCA Contributing Writer)