At this time of year sports fans are consumed with the National Football League playoffs. For the enterprise value specialists at Ceibass the playoffs focus attention on something that is often missing in the mindsets of many lawn and landscape owners and management teams – competition.

“The playoffs are a great reminder that in business we are competing all the time, in every way, against very formidable opponents” said Tom Fochtman, Ceibass CEO. “Most people in business get that they compete for customers. But they also compete for best practices, for the most competitive mindset, for a culture that produces an advantage, for winning strategies, for technology that gives them an edge, for key employees, for new offers and products that allow them to lead, for the best use of capital, for the highest margins, for the latest knowledge, for maintenance of their assets, for attractive employee benefits, and for taking on less risk. Said another way, they are competing to produce the highest return on their costs which include time, energy, money, and lost opportunities.”

The team at Ceibass then produced some more thoughts on competition triggered by the NFL Playoffs:

  • Do you really know your competitors and their strengths and weaknesses? “Watch some game film” and get up to speed on their tendencies.
  • Huddle. After each play the team with the ball huddles and talks about what they are going to do next, based on interpretations of the current situation. Do you have a daily huddle with key division managers or operations people? Stay in close touch. Keep your chain of command close to the boots on the ground. This is where the game is played.
  • Where do you stack up against your competitors in terms of products, services, customer satisfaction, people, processes, systems, and tendencies? Culture? Where are you vulnerable? Where are they going to attack you?
  • Are your strategies for 2023 competitive enough? Really? Businesses do not exist in a vacuum. Customers have other choices, so do you employees and key management personnel. Get real, real quick.
  • How are your banking relationships, your cash flow, your margins, your routes, your receivables? Top tier or middle of the road or lower? It takes money to compete successfully.
  • What’s your ability to adopt and adapt as the year progresses? How nimble and resilient is your company? Competitive teams are adjusting all the time, in real time, at halftime, between offensive and defensive series. Do you know the score, the down and distance and time remaining at times, in every situation?
  • Develop a more competitive mindset and you will see that it greatly enhances your ability to compete successfully. Go get’em.