The upheaval in today’s economy has given a rebirth to the basic dynamics of successful business management. Easy to ignore in good times, the time-honored rules of profitable business management are a critical component in the recipe for building sales and profits when the going gets tough.

Here are 10 commandments of successful business operations that can help you and your nursery survive and prosper in this or any economy.

1 | Never allow any of your money to lie idle.

Making the sale and collecting your invoice is only half of the job of professional money management. Once you’ve collected your money, it’s important to manage it skillfully.

If you don’t already have a money market account at your bank, open one and have it linked to your business checking account for telephone or online transfers.

Deposit all daily receipts into the money market account where they will immediately start drawing interest. Never deposit receipts directly into your checking account. Keep a minimum balance in the checking account and transfer cash by phone or online only as needed to cover checks to be written. Banks have made this procedure so easy to use that there is no longer any reasonable excuse for not taking advantage of it.

Keeping all of your money working for you all of the time is an important part of professional business management.

2 | Be aggressive collecting accounts receivable.

Never allow your accounts receivable to go untended. You've earned that money; you have a right to it; you need it.

Dunning late-paying customers may not be your favorite pastime, but close monitoring of your accounts receivable file and following through on late payments is as important to your financial success as the quality of the services and products you offer. If your customers learn that you are cavalier about money owed to you, then you can be certain they will stretch your patience (and your cash flow) to the limit.

3 | Don’t be in a big hurry to pay your bills.

There's good reason why checks are slow to come in from people who owe you money. It’s because hanging on to cash as long as possible keeps that money available to draw interest or to work in the business.

That’s why it’s important to set up a system to pay your bills the smart way. It's easy to do and it moves you up another rung on the ladder of professional cash management.

Never jeopardize your credit standing by paying bills late. Pay your bills just before they’re due not long before, not after. It’s especially important to avoid late payment on credit card bills because of the oppressive penalties that most banks are now putting into place.

4 | Adopt a marketing mentality.

If customer satisfaction is the mashed potatoes, marketing is the gravy.

But keep in mind, marketing involves far more than an ad in the newspaper or a fancy website. Marketing is a complex challenge, all the more so in a business operating in a specialized niche such as yours. If you are to achieve optimum success in marketing your nursery, you must be willing to spend time studying, reading, and analyzing your market and your competition.

Keeping your business healthy and profitable requires an ongoing marketing program. There is no other way. Competitive prices alone won’t do it; quality products alone won’t do it.

Marketing embraces all facets of your operation. To be an effective marketer, you must nurture and promote your business image, sell yourself as well as your business, and concentrate on making your nursery the best choice for discriminating customers.

5 | Determine that you will never lose a client to a competitor.

Numerous studies over the years have shown that, on average, it costs five times as much for a business to find a new customer than to keep an old one. Focus on the significance of that statement; it is one of the most powerful concepts in the world of business.

With competitors standing ready and anxious to snatch away your customers and prospective customers, and your awareness of the cost of replacing a lost customer with a new one, it should be easy for you to understand the importance of never giving even one customer a reason to stray.

Once a customer does business with you for the first time, you’ve done the hard part. Now, your job is to instill the notion that doing business with you will always be a satisfying experience.

You and your employees must never lose sight of the fact that developing a new customer is a costly and difficult job. Once a stranger becomes your customer, a major part of your overall marketing program must center on ways to make sure that he or she never has reason to leave you for a competitor.

6 | Keep leasing in mind.

Most financial advisors agree that leasing products like cars or vans for personal use is usually not financially advantageous. But business is a different animal entirely.

The nature of business accounting is such that leasing can be the most sensible approach to many types of capital investment. It usually makes sense to lease if you will be able to use the cash in your business or in your investments to earn a better return than the cost of leasing.

Talk to your tax advisor about this the next time you’re considering a large capital purchase.

7 | Go the extra mile.

Never forget that a complaint from a customer can easily be converted into a valuable asset. Some years ago, a major retail marketing study revealed that customers whose complaints were satisfactorily resolved became better customers of the company than they were before the incident that triggered the complaint.

Some of the most successful companies in the world have been built on a foundation that revolves around the principle that customer complaints provide a valuable opportunity to build the business.

When L.L. Bean, founder of one of the world’s most successful catalog order firms, was starting out, he suffered what could have been a disastrous setback. Shortly after he began shipping his first waterproof, hand-made boots, complaints that the boots leaked started coming in from customers. Determined to fulfill his promise of customer satisfaction, Bean returned the full purchase price to every customer. Then, he set out to correct the flaw in the boot’s design. That was the beginning of the customer loyalty that helped to make L.L. Bean what it is today.

Sometimes, satisfying a customer complaint calls for measures that you may feel unreasonable. When that happens, think of the cost in time and money as an investment in your future.

Once you’ve sold yourself and your employees on why you are the best choice for customers who require the utmost in dependability and quality, you must focus your marketing efforts on ways to promote this image to both customers and prospects.

8 | Set your business apart.

America’s most successful entrepreneurs, gigantic or tiny, are those who have carefully developed an identity all their own. Your job is to evaluate your strengths and then combine them to form a unique identity an identifiable image for you and your business.

Perhaps you’ve been in business longer than your nearest competitors, or maybe you have a reputation for wide-ranging inventory or knowledgeable staff. Whatever your marketable strengths, you should write them all down, study them, and then determine how to separate yourself from your competitors how to motivate potential customers to seek you out, and existing customers to feel fortunate to have discovered you.

9 | Guard your most precious business asset.

Whether you have a few employees or a few dozen, they form the bedrock of your business. While adequate wages are a fundamental requirement for employee satisfaction, money isn’t the only motivation for most workers. Recognition for a job well done and respect for individual effort are important contributors to low employee turnover and high productivity.

Non-financial rewards such as company picnics, employee-of-the-month programs, suggestion boxes with rewards for usable suggestions, and other incentives are valuable at any time; but they take on special importance when circumstances limit your ability to increase wages.

10 | Develop a personal relationship with your banker.

Handling money is a banker's job, and most are very good at it. Even if your operation is relatively small, it's a good idea to develop a personal relationship with the manager at the bank where you do business. Discuss your financial picture honestly with the manager of your local branch. You'll get some good ideas and a favorable ear should you ever need a little financial help.

To some nursery owners, a tight economy means going into hibernation. To others, it’s a time to increase customer loyalty, solidify market position, and attract new customers. Following these 10 commandments of successful business operations will help you to turn any time into good times.

It’s time to recap your business’ annual performance, make year-end projections and set goals for the next fiscal year. But where do you start, and how do you best get an accurate picture of your performance? Let’s make a list you can follow for financial clarity.

The first task, and most obvious one, is to pull out your budget, sales reports and financial statements for the year. Wait... you don’t have a budget? Well, most people hate making budgets. There is this gray space between our ears that sometimes likes to get in the way of making the mental commitments required to set a budget. So, you’re probably not alone. Many owners and managers avoid setting budgets, fearing they can’t make realistic targets or adhere to set numbers. If you’re a budget-avoider, rest assured that you don’t need to strictly adhere to a budget. Budgets are more often a moving target. It is good to create a budget with goals and sales targets, but it’s also important to cut yourself some slack when it comes to following it to the letter and take advantage of unforeseen opportunities. Use your budget as a guide, not a rule book.

Now, gather your sales reports and financial statements. You do have sales reports, right?! Ok, if you don’t then go ahead and add that POS or accounting software upgrade to your 2019 to-do list immediately. Let’s crunch the numbers to assess your real net profit numbers against your budget targets. Are you hitting sales targets? How are your expenses? Then, based on your current financials, cash flow and season, let’s do a year-end forecast to ballpark where you expect to net end of year. Are you happy with this number?

The next step might be a little surprising for some of you, but ultimately, it’s why you’re in business: customer satisfaction. Part of evaluating your performance as a company is to gauge how you did, or didn’t, deliver on customer expectations. Do you send out a customer survey or solicit feedback from regular customers? Touch base with your sales managers to collect feedback from regular customers, and review customer service patterns that don’t align with your company goals and values.

Next, look at new customer acquisition rates. How many new customers did you attract and hire over the past year? Did they fit your target customer profile and what is their average sale? Balance this against your customer loss rate. Did you lose any long-term customers? Categorize whether these losses were good or bad for the business. Not every customer is an ideal customer.

Now it’s time to evaluate employee performance. How is the team doing overall, and how are individual employees performing? If you haven’t conducted performance reviews yet, now is a good time to get them scheduled before the end of year holidays. Your employee goals and those of your company need to be compatible. If you don’t conduct performance reviews and talk openly with your staff about their goals and ideas, it can put a serious dent in your profits.

You might avoid performance reviews because you don’t want to create the expectation of a pay increase in conjunction with the review. While I understand the concern, this approach will almost always fail you. You can split up performance reviews and compensation reviews and hold them at separate times of the year. One way or another, you need to give your staff feedback, listen to their ideas, and keep up with proper compensation and market value for each job role.

No business is an island. Like it or not, you operate in a fluid marketplace that can change quickly. That change will impact your budget, goals and projections. I know it’s challenging to spend the time to do market analysis – and it’s easy to operate in the microcosm of your own business – but keeping up with market trends is a must. In terms of product offerings and marketing, are you doing what you need to do to stay relevant and differentiate your brand? This is the time to look for underserved niches in the marketplace you could move into to increase profits – or achieve other business goals.

Looking for simple ways to turn this and next year’s business goals into reality? I’m going to make things easy for you: Just write it down! No seriously. Simply writing down a goal and attaching a timeline to it makes a huge impact on accountability – both consciously and unconsciously. Once a target is in black and white, your brain logs it as a must-do. If you spend any time online on social media, you’ve no doubt seen ads or promoted posts for a bevy of organizational products and daily planners. Clearly there is an art to how to write things down, and every owner and manager will find different yet equally effective methods.

If you haven’t yet set aside time for your annual business review and employee reviews, get out that new planner and schedule the time for yourself, and your staff. Your goals will thank you.

Leslie (CPH) owns Halleck Horticultural, LLC, through which she provides horticultural consulting, business and marketing strategy, product development and branding, and content creation for green industry companies. lesliehalleck.com

There’s a squabble going on in my hometown of Fort Worth regarding the city-owned public garden. It seems some people don’t want to pay an entrance fee. This fall, the city council agreed to levy a fee for visitors to the Fort Worth Botanic Garden to help fund the overwhelming amount of repairs needed.

When the news broke that FWBG would charge for the entire complex (previously, visitors to only the Japanese Garden and the Rain Forest Conservatory paid an admission fee) complainers came out of the woodwork. People gasped, raised their fists, furrowed their brows, spoke against it at the city council meeting. But this 84-year-old gem needs $17 million in improvements and is facing a $1.2 million annual budget shortfall. Like I said before, this is a city-owned facility and, based on the laundry list of improvements needed, the city has obviously not made the garden a priority. Most of the repair and maintenance recommendations aren’t “nice-to-haves,” they’re “must-haves,” according Sal Espino, chair of the FWBG Strategic Planning Task Force. He told the garden’s chair and park board members, “… failure to take decisive actions to implement new revenue sources and a more strategic approach to managing the Garden will jeopardize the very existence of the Garden for future generations.”

FWBG director Bob Byers told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “We can’t look the other way like we have for the last 20 years. If we do that, we won’t have the garden.”

The new admission fees, which are slated to begin next summer, are $12 for adults, $6 for children ages 6-15 and $10 for seniors. According to the Star-Telegram, a last-minute amendment directed staff to reassess those fees before they’re implemented July 19, 2019.

Critics of the plan say the cost is too high and it excludes people from being able to visit the garden. But FWBG has provided ways for some to visit for free or at a reduced cost.

Our large neighbor to the east is home to the Dallas Arboretum. It’s an incredible public garden that hosts more than 1 million visitors each year. Besides the remarkable beauty of the space, it also hosts sold-out public events throughout the year. The arboretum charges $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 for children ages 2-12. 1 million people pay those fees. There’s no crumbling infrastructure and no budget deficit, just a colorful oasis in the midst of a bustling city.

Fort Worth could and should have a similar experience for our residents and tourists. Fort Worth charges an admission fee for the Fort Worth Zoo and the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge.

I’ll gladly pay the entrance fee several times a year to meander through the rose garden, to look up in awe at the mature oaks, to meditate in the perennial garden.

As an industry, we must continue to educate the public about why plants and greenspaces are vital to our physical and mental health, and how there’s immense value in our public gardens.

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After you’ve sprayed, you’re done, right? Not even close. Pesticide disposal is heavily regulated, and those regulations govern everything from unused spray mixture to contaminated clothing and much more. Proper disposal extends far beyond the container.

The Weed Science Society of America created an 11-part Pesticide Stewardship Series, and the final entry covers the proper handling and use of pesticides. For the entire series, go to bit.ly/2xKmzzD.

Here are a few important tips from WSSA about pesticide disposal:

Excess product. Avoid having to dispose of excess product by purchasing only the amount needed. Excess pesticides can be given to another qualified user (if the product registration has not expired), taken to a qualified disposal site or collection location, or disposed of through a waste transporter. Special disposal programs may exist for products missing identifying labels.

Unused spray or dip mixture. Whenever possible, eliminate or minimize excess spray or dip mixture by practicing careful measurement, calibration and application. Apply excess mixture to another labeled site or follow all disposal regulations.

Rinsate. Rinse the pesticide container or spray equipment over an impermeable surface and in a way that allows recovery of the rinsate. If the rinsate contains no debris, it can be used the same day as part (up to 5 percent) of the water (or other liquid) portion of the next spray mixture of that chemical. Never pour excess product, unused spray/dip mixture or rinsate onto a roadway or into a sink, toilet, sewer, street drain, ditch or water body.

Empty containers. Rinse containers of liquid products thoroughly at the mixing site as soon as they are emptied using the triple rinse method or a pressure rinser. Puncture the top and bottom of disposable containers to prevent reuse. When disposable containers holding dry formulations are empty, open both ends to help remove any remaining pesticide. If containers are non-refillable, high-density polyethylene, there are collection/recycling programs for agricultural and commercial applicators in most states.

Leftover treated seed. The best way to dispose of a small quantity of leftover seed that has been treated with a pesticide is to plant it in an uncropped area of the farm. Use the normal seeding rate and depth and plant at the proper time of year. Do not put treated seed in a compost pile or leave it on the soil surface.

Contaminated clothing. Discard clothing that has been drenched or heavily contaminated with concentrated product. However, if the pesticide is regulated as hazardous waste, the contaminated clothing may have to be disposed of as hazardous waste.

Personal protective equipment (PPE). Discard PPE that has been damaged, designated as one-time use, expired or reached its use limit. Follow the most strict disposal directions, which may be state or local laws, the pesticide label or the PPE manufacturer’s instructions.

Material from cleanup of spills or leaks. Absorbent material such as pet litter, sawdust, or soil should be used to absorb small liquid pesticide spills or leaks and any water/detergent mixture used to clean the spill area. The absorbent material and any soil contaminated in a spill must be placed in a suitable container for proper disposal and treated as pesticide waste.

Containment pad/sump residue. A containment pad/sump is a safety system designed to contain and recover rinsate, spills, leaks, etc. Any solids left in the containment pad/sump should be dried and spread evenly over a large part of the field in accordance with label directions.

For more: www.wssa.net