Mike McCann is a can do guy. He knows the way he wants things done and doesn’t quit until he’s satisfied. That attitude served McCann well in the early days of his business, Customers Outdoor Services, Milford, Mich., which in its first year grew from one to four trucks.
But as the company grew, McCann found his biggest challenge, like that of so many entrepreneurs, was translating his “do-it-the-right-way” attitude to the rest of the company.
McCann first entered the snow industry in 1988 by working for a landscape company owned by a family in his neighborhood. After five years with the firm, McCann started to get itchy feet and began considering the idea of opening his own company.
“I had wanted to start my own firm for awhile, but I didn’t have the money to buy everything I needed,” McCann recalled. McCann spent some time saving and talking with a business partner, and eventually got the capital he needed.
“We put a business plan together and put the money together. One thing led to another and in the spring of 1994 we started.”
The business was only supposed to be a sideline source of revenue. By now Mike was a full-time firefighter.
But after only a month, the company had secured enough work to purchase another truck and hire an additional crew. By the time winter rolled around, the company was ready to tackle snow management services, as McCann had operated a plow route for his previous employer.
Right from the beginning, McCann avoided residential work. “A lot of guys like residential because it is guaranteed money for the season. They can just send out a pickup and knock out 40 or 50 driveways in a night,” McCann said.
However, McCann added, “The problem I had with it was that I was allocating resources to it that are not really maximizing my profit potential. Plus, if you do 40 or 50 houses, then you also have 40 or 50 bosses.”
ADDING SYSTEMS. Today, Customers Outdoor Services’ average winter revenue is more than $1 million, with 28 commercial customers representing 48 contracts/sites. The biggest challenge has been transitioning from a small, “one-man show,” to a full-scale professional enterprise with layers of management, said Harvey Barnett, general manger.
“When you run your own business, you are the dictator and all roads lead to you. As you get bigger, you can’t handle everything effectively, so you have to be able to let your staff handle some of the responsibility, and that’s what we are striving for as we move forward,” Barnett said.
For example, estimating is an area that required a more systemized approach as the company has grown.
“Early on I was always eyeballing a lot and saying, ‘well, I can plow that in two hours.’ Low and behold, with [an employee or subcontractor] it would take them three or four hours. So, I was always too aggressive with the estimates,” McCann said.
In a competitive environment, padding the estimates to allow for less efficient operators wasn’t much of an option, so McCann began to create standardized plowing recommendations and hold training sessions to communicate those standards.
From summertime training sessions at a local country club to training-oriented picnics at the shop, McCann made education a priority. Using a combination of Power Point presentations, training videos and handouts, McCann makes sure his employees and subcontractors know how he expects the job to be handled.
For example, “I always tell them to take five minutes and size up the job. Understand where you are going to start and where you want the snow to go, and then formulate a plan accordingly.”
To turn this principle into a company-wide system, McCann developed binders that include sections for all sites the company handles.
Information on each site includes directions to and from the site, a basic plowing plan and tips for that site, aerial photos, site maps and more.
Also, in the office, each property has a separate spreadsheet form, which the dispatcher can use to monitor progress. “As each step is completed, the driver calls in and the dispatcher notes it on the spreadsheet. During a storm the dispatcher can review the accounts and see where everything stands,” McCann said.
The dispatcher is also equipped with a cheat sheet that indicates, approximately, how long each task should take. “So, if she hasn’t heard from somebody in two hours, and it is supposed to be a ½-hour job, she is on the phone to see what’s going on,” McCann said.
“Chances are the person just forgot to call in, but we have to be aware of were people stand, so that we can reallocate resources if need be,” McCann added.
Additionally, McCann, Harvey Barnett, general manger, and Jeff Nicholson, landscape maintenance manager, divide the company’s sites and during a storm continually circle among them to monitor progress and quality.
McCann knows too well the cost of not having a systematic approach (like the site binders) and the adequate resources (dedicated dispatcher and three supervisors monitoring quality control).
Five years ago, Customers took on a new shopping center. McCann put an inexperienced operator in an untested piece of equipment on the job. Early in the season a heavy, all-day storm event hit, dumping 12 inches of snow on the area.
“At the time, I was the dispatcher and confined to the office. When I called the guy to see how he was doing, he said fine. But after a little while I get a call from the property manager asking what the heck was going on.” Snow was barely cleared from the lot and the snow that was cleared was sloppily stacked.
Customers finished out the season with the shopping mall client, but did not get the contract renewed for next year.
“That was probably the most important event in shaping the mindset we’ve been using for the last few years. In this business you have to be able to deliver what you promise,” McCann.
PERSONNEL. In addition to increasing the company’s use of systems, McCann recognized the need to find and keep reliable subcontractors. Today, subcontractors complete about 95 percent of the firm’s work.
As a result, McCann is consistently on the look for potential partners to work with. This year the firm sent a marketing packet to a database of 1,700 contacts gleaned from industry directories and the Yellow Pages.
The packet includes information about Customers Outdoor Services and the kind of subcontractors and related equipment the company is looking for (loaders, loader operators, trucks, sidewalk crews, etc.).
The packet also includes a reply form on which the potential subcontractor can fill in the following items:
• Contact information (name, address, city, phone, etc.)
• Driver’s license
• Social Security license
• EIN Number
• Availability (days of the week and time)
• Type of equipment (year, make, model)
Additionally, the form asks the potential subcontractor to list any other companies/contactors who might have an interest in working as a subcontractor.
These replies are evaluated and some are kicked out immediately based on geographic location and related factors. However, the “kicked out” potential subcontractors go into a file the company keeps on hand. “So that two years down the road if I expand to their area, I can contact them,” McCann said.
Subcontractors that make it through the first round of evaluation are then contacted by phone where they get further scrutiny.
For example, McCann requires all subcontractors to have vehicle, liability and workers’ compensation insurance, as well as requires them to sign a contract.
McCann learned first hand the value of these items. Several years ago a person slipped and fell coming out of one of McCann’s clients – a doctor’s office.
The person who performed the work was actually a subcontractor and as the insurance companies began the process of working through the case, they discovered the subcontractor did not have liability insurance.
The situation was settled fairly in the end, but it taught McCann a solid lesson about having paperwork in order.
“With subcontractors you really have to be detailed oriented when it comes to protecting yourself and them contractually, just as you are with customers,” McCann said.
FUTURE PLANS. In addition to finding and retaining good subcontractors, Customers is also making moves to expand its non-winter business: landscape maintenance. The motivation behind the strategy is two-fold.
One, landscape maintenance expansion provides a way to employ more personnel year-round, which will help retain more talent that can be utilized in the winter for snow management.
Two, putting more focus on landscape maintenance will allow the company to maintain contact with its customers year round. “I have a number of property manager contacts with large sites that prefer to deal with one company the entire year. That shut me out of the snow. So [our renewed focus on landscape maintenance] should help us grow the snow, as well,” McCann said.
It’s a pattern McCann knows well. Beginning with a few trucks and a dream, Customers Outdoor Services has grown to a thriving business providing top-notch service to a loyal group of commercial clients.
As the company has grown, it’s required McCann to increase training, develop systems and more critically evaluate the people he partners with. And it’s required letting go and trusting others.
As Barnett put it, “It’s a big step to go from being in control of everything to allowing other people to make those decisions and accept their weaknesses and strong points. That’s what we are striving for as we move forward.”
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