Domenic Chiarella’s 2015 Green & White Industry Predictions

Our 2015 Green and White Industry Predictions Series continues this week with predictions from Domenic Chiarella. Before he began his career training business owners to increase their sales, make more profit and experience less stress, Domenic served more than 27 years as the Director of Operations and Business Development at Ultimate Services Professional Ground Management, Inc.

Domenic Chiarella

Domenic advises to invest in your team in 2015 and that there has never been an easier time to get on board with technology to help you do that.

Go iTalk: What do you think will be the biggest positive for the green industry in 2015?

Domenic Chiarella: The biggest positive for the green industry in 2015 will be the explosion of virtual business tools.  The internet will help us with training, with education, with webinars, with interaction, with business practices, and with communication.

The virtual world is all around us.  We saw in the last GIC in Louisville a selection of the software and hardware we can use to make ourselves and our businesses more productive.

But there is a new way of thinking going on: the possibilities to learn, to grow and to be consulted. Virtually.  The real positives of this amazing development, are the accessibility, the efficiency (you need to set aside much less time) and of course the cost saving it brings.

Go iTalk: What do you think are the biggest challenges for the green industry in 2015?

Domenic Chiarella:  The biggest challenges of 2015 are to stay focused on the client and to stay focused on our business.

The Government will be doing what they always do: finding ways to tax us.  We business owners need to stay focused on what we can do, rather than what we can’t.

We can help our business and our employees have better tools and better education.  The challenge will be to continually spend the time and the money to enhance our tools and to career-develop our team.

When we give our team a better way to operate and enhance their abilities, they take on greater responsibility for our results. When our clients see, feel, and know they have a better team doing their work, we become more successful.

Go iTalk: What impact do you think technology and/or the Internet will have on the green industry in 2015?

Domenic Chiarella:  Technology and the Internet are about to revolutionize the green industry.

It’s set to change the way we learn, the way we communicate within our business and the way we attract and communicate with our clients.  The software is becoming ever more user-friendly and the hardware is increasingly affordable.  There has never been a better, or easier way to get on board.

The real trick is utilizing technology to streamline our business practices: estimating; proposals; work orders; scheduling; and invoicing – to name but a few.  Learning how to use the right technology, will make business processes more efficient and easier to manage.

Being able to see how our business works and how it flows from one department to the next, will be where the real impact will occur.  Once we can educate our company, technology becomes our greatest enabler and our goals become far easier to achieve.

Go iTalk: What is your growth prediction for the green industry in 2015?

Domenic Chiarella:  Growth has never been the problem.  It is the profit of businesses that needs to be looked at.  How much profit are you making?  How healthy is your business?

Many times, when you talk to the big boys and girls of this industry, you listen about how successful they are, or how much they’ll grow over the next year, and so on.  But what I’m always interested in is what the business is taking home.  What are their profit margins?  How can they make more profit?

Profit margins within this industry hover around the 8% mark for a good company to 12% for a very good / great company. With the right business structure – as was my personal experience and what I now teach – these percentages can go up. Significantly. Making a tremendous difference to the growth you ultimately wanted – more money in your pocket.

I predict that we as landscapers and snow contractors will understand this on a deeper level over the coming year and will make a noticeable difference to our profits as a result.

Go iTalk: Any other 2015 predictions or comments?

Domenic Chiarella:  This is more of a thought, than a prediction.  The green industry can really become the force that it is.  We in the green and white industries are hard working men and women who make our world a better one.  We enhance the look and feel of homes, businesses, parks, universities, and the many other parts of where we live.  One day, we will elevate the minds and souls of how society and the business world see us, to the professionals and artists we are.

The Virtual Pioneer for the landscaping industry, Domenic runs web-based training courses, helping small business owners in the snow and landscaping industries. Domenic has been training business owners throughout the US and Canada since 2011 and his clients’ results are testament to his unique and easy-to-follow systems and processes. 

The voice of real-world experience, Domenic served for more than 27 years as the Director of Operations and as the Director of Business Development at Ultimate Services Professional Grounds Management Inc – one of the most creative and collaborative organizations in the New York and Connecticut areas.

To find out more about Domenic, go to 7 of 7 BEST Business and Life Strategies or connect with him directly on LinkedIn.