Green Industry Businesses Optimistic About 2014

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2014 Green Industry Benchmark Report

The Green Industry Benchmark Report helps business owners see how they compare to their peers.

St. Paul, MN (PRWEB) February 16, 2014

According to a comprehensive report recently released by HindSite Software, green industry businesses have high expectations for 2014. In fact, 93% of respondents expect to grow their revenue in 2014, up from 75% the previous year. The economy isn’t as worrisome as in the past, either, as just 4% expect the economy to worsen, while 48% expect improvement.

That’s not to say green industry businesses don’t have issues. Marketing continues to be a thorn in the side of a typical green industry business, as 29% indicated it’s an area in need of improvement, followed by attracting and retaining employees and inefficient operations.

These findings are reported in the 2014 Green Industry Benchmark Report recently released by field service software vendor, HindSite Software. The report is the culmination of a month-long surveying effort that reflects the opinions of hundreds of business owners and managers who provide services ranging from landscaping and irrigation maintenance and installation to mowing, fertilizing and snow removal. This is the second year HindSite has released a Green Industry Benchmark Report.

“We serve a lot of green industry businesses, and they consistently ask us how they compare to other customers, “ explained HindSite’s marketing manager, Chad Reinholz. “The Green Industry Benchmark Report helps them see how they compare to their peers.”

Among the key findings:

•     Green industry businesses are, for the most part, owner-centric. When asked how comfortable they’d be vacationing for two weeks during their busy season, 19% said they’d be very uncomfortable, while just 9% said they’d be very comfortable. Interestingly, those using field service software within their business were more likely to be very comfortable than those who weren’t using software to manage their business.
•     2013 was slightly better than 2012, with 73% of respondents indicating they’d experienced revenue growth in 2013, up from 69% in 2012.
•     To no one’s surprise, green industry businesses are very customer focused. 94% of respondents said a satisfied customer was more important to their business than making the margins they expected on a job.
•     Green businesses have a hard time finding good employees. 79% said it was somewhat or very difficult to find good employees, while only 3% said it was very easy.
•     Expect green industry businesses to hire in 2014. 75% said they’d increase the size of their staff in 2014, compared to 54% last year.
•     Expect a price hike if you buy green industry services. 69% of respondents plan to raise prices in 2014, with most citing increased operating costs as the main reason.
•     Green industry suppliers have reason to be optimistic in 2014, as 63% of businesses plan to increase spending on equipment and software to improve their efficiency, up from 51% in last year’s survey.
•     Green industry businesses have been busy updating their websites. 67% say they have updated/overhauled their website in the past year. It should come as no surprise, then, that 80% of respondents are somewhat or very pleased with their website.
•     Green industry businesses are heavily attending trade shows and conferences to improve their knowledge, with just 5% of respondents saying they hadn't attended an industry event in the past year. 77% attended 2 or more.
•     Green industry businesses continue to turn to software to manage their businesses. 43% of respondents say they use field service software in their business, up from 32% a year ago.

This year’s Green Industry Benchmark Report also includes a new human resources section. It covers typical health benefits, employee pay, resources about how to find good applicants and goal-setting practices.

“We’ve been seeing revenue growth in the green industry for the last two years, but hiring growth really started to happen last year,” Reinholz said. “We expected human resources to be a significant area of interest for green industry businesses this year, and decided to grow our report to help green businesses understand human resources trends.”

The Green Industry Benchmark Report is available free at http://www.hindsitesoftware.com/2014-green-industry-benchmark-report.cfm.

About HindSite Software
HindSite Software has helped green industry contractors better manage and grow their business with field service management software since 2001. Initially designed as irrigation business software, HindSite today assists service businesses with scheduling and billing (e.g quickbooks scheduling software), contact management, field data collection, and invoicing in QuickBooks® and Sage . This paperless field service management software has been proven to increase efficiency and organization, meaning greater profit potential with less administrative time.

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