 Todd Davis |
Yes, the economy is not as robust as we’d like. No, a rebound is not going to occur overnight.
Nationwide, wholesale nursery sales continued to decline in 2010. Crops aren’t moving as fast as we’d prefer.
On a recent nursery tour, one attendee (I won’t mention his name) looked over a block of overgrown 3-gallon material and said, “Those shrubs are old enough to vote.”
But the choice is yours. You can sit back and complain or you can rededicate yourself, take a hard look at your business and start making improvements.
In case you weren’t paying attention, there are plenty of nurseries out there doing just fine through this economic downturn. How, you ask?
They’ve analyzed what they’re growing and how they’re growing it. They’ve streamlined and decided to grow the crops that will make them the most money.
Small improvements, big difference
That’s what this special supplement in Nursery Management & Production is all about. You don’t have to overhaul your entire business to improve your bottom line.
It’s all about the small details. Look at your nursery as a series of interlinked components: shipping, potting, fertility management, marketing, pest and disease control, etc.
What moves can you make to cut costs? Perhaps even more importantly, what can you do to improve your crops and make your product more desirable than that from the competition?
Could you, like Bailey Nurseries, look at plant growth regulators as a means of manipulating branching and height to reduce the need for expensive, manual pruning?
Or, like JLPN Inc., could you take a look at your containers and possibly increase production space by 20 percent?
Look around, get busy
Don’t sit back and accept the status quo. Read the following case studies and learn what other nurseries are doing to thrive despite the down economy.
Make smart decisions now, and you’ll reap the benefits for years to come. Or do nothing and you can watch your shrubs vote in the 2012 elections.
It’s your choice.
Todd Davis
tdavis@gie.net
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