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An East Coast contractor recently told me that he failed to get any of his H-2B workers, yet his company hasn’t missed a beat thanks to some out-of-the-box thinking and hard work by a very committed management team. “We challenged ourselves to think our way out of the problem,” he told me.

It’s very easy to blame the economy, a failed guest worker program and Mother Nature for poor sales. The truth is, as the owners and company leaders, he and his partner are charged to meet challenges. As he explained, they had two choices: 1) stay in the boat and lose work because they were short on labor, or 2) swim to shore and do some aggressive recruiting and training. They chose the latter, and it is working.

Being diversified and nearly debt-free are also paying dividends for his company, at a time when labor is not the only concern. His challenges are shared by landscape professionals across the country, many of whom are offering new services, concentrating on core customers, developing new marketing strategies, bringing services in-house, and using more subcontractors to make the best of a difficult start to the season. But as another contractor recently told me, “Every year is different; this year just happens to be a little more different than most.”

Most is an understatement when talking fuel costs. Oil company profits are through the roof, yet fuel prices are galloping toward their highest level ever in this country. Profits are up; prices are up. This makes sense from a purely mathematical viewpoint, but when you’re operating a company that depends on fuel, the figures don’t add up.

When I complained to my wife recently about the rising cost of fuel, she pointed out that one of the frustrating elements of the situation is that we can’t do anything about it. As she said, “It is mostly a function of supply and demand, mostly, that is. We cannot control the supply, and we can only barely alter demand.” “Right,” I said. “We don’t have to drive the van and jeep, and we can spend most of the time in our gas-sipping, four-cylinder truck.”

As another token gesture, we made an executive household decision to keep our vehicles’ gas tanks only half full. After all, if we’re not driving them, why should they be sitting around full of gas? When we refuel, it’s only half a tank for the oil companies and half a tank for us and other living expenses.

Now, I’m not so naïve as to think this will make any difference at all to corporate giants, but at least we’re doing something to help us and, in some small way, making a statement. For PRO readers who use trucks, mowers and other equipment on a daily basis, spending time only half “filling up” is counter-productive. Monitoring fuel consumption, streamlining routes, and yes, even buying fuel on an “as-needed” basis for lesser-used vehicles and equipment, can make a difference with gas and cash flow.

The rising costs of doing business, the economy, labor issues and the drought are difficult in themselves, but their impact seems magnified because we feel powerless to change the situation. As our East Coast contractor pointed out, though, owners and leaders are charged with doing something to keep their companies on a financially sound footing. That could mean any number of things—from using innovative ways to find new laborers, to creating new markets and offering new services.

No, only half filling up is not what true businesspeople have in mind. More likely, owners who have experienced the cyclical economic ups and downs succeed because of their mind-set; they take charge and are optimistic about the future. For them, it’s less about how much fuel they put in the tank and more about attitude. Their tanks are half full, not half empty. PRO

What business-healthy and profitable habits have you recently developed? If you would like to share them with PRO readers, just give me a call at (920) 720-0573, or send me an e-mail at rod.dickens@cygnusb2b.com.