January is a new beginning for the contractors we serve and partner with at Central Turf. The previous years activities and goals are now in the books and the focus shifts to what the new year will bring. While many of you already have established those goals and what this year’s activities are going to look like, it may be some time before the weather cooperates enough to get the crews back into the field generating steady and predictable income for your organization.
The time is now when it comes to education, training and planning for the upcoming season. Diversification of your business and pursuing new revenue streams is a fantastic opportunity to:
- Grow revenue
- Increase profits
- Strengthen relationships with key customers
- Retain employees with the offering of new services
An exciting category to add to your portfolio and help achieve the above goals is through drainage. By adding drainage to your offerings, you are adding a service that has:
- Low barrier for entry
- Less competition than the typical turf and irrigation market segments
- You already have the manpower and tools in your business
- Highly profitable margins on projects
- A new service you can add to your existing customer base
EVERY property you are currently working on has some type of drainage issue that can be resolved. From simple downspout discharge issues to large subsurface retention requirements, some type of issue is on every place you are currently working and every new project you will take a look at. What makes drainage different from some of the other categories we sell is how receptive customers are to your suggestions. So many times, homeowners will have a wet area of the lawn or an area being washed out by a downspout that they simply learn to live with. This issue may linger on for years simply because no contractor has ever even proposed how to resolve the issue. Being able to identify, diagnose, and solve drainage issues are accepted by homeowners at an extraordinarily high rate due to the lack of contractors making these recommendations.
While many of you reading this have some type of baseline understanding on how to identify and alleviate some of the issues touched on above, some of you may have a lack of background on drainage and how this can be an asset to your business. Regardless of where you stand in your drainage prowess, the below resources can help you to gain better understanding on how drainage can be a profitable part of your business.
Below is a list of some resources for certification, training and education that will help you to better understand the drainage process.
1. NDS
NDS offers a fully online certification course for contractors. This course covers common problems, drainage fundamentals, revenue opportunity and drainage system design. You will be required to register with NDS before taking the course. Once all modules are completed, you will be listed as a certified drainage contractor on the NDS website based on your geography and where you are located. A link to this course is below:
PDCC|General|4×4|Spanish or English Landing (ndscontractortraining.com)
NDS also offers a drainage calculator in a desktop and mobile platform. This is a great resource for sizing pipes and inlets as well as calculating storage. This takes the guess work and math out of figuring out how to size a system.
https://connect.ndspro.com/app
2. ADS
ADS offers a wealth of videos, documents, spec information and additional drainage resources on their website. While the NDS course focuses more on the residential end of the business, ADS is more geared to the commercial side of the space. All of their products can be used in either residential or commercial applications. Videos on many of their products reside in the below link:
https://www.adspipe.com/resources/video-library
3. Central Turf and Irrigation Supply
Central helps you train your team members to be even more productive with local classes, access to online education classes, counter training events, and onsite support/training from subject matter experts. Connect with your local Central rep to learn more about the training opportunities that are available to you. Classes are already in place for the winter and more are being added through March and April. Be sure to watch our latest webinar detailing how drainage can be added to your business! This webinar recording covers a variety of topics including leveraging your existing customers through new revenue sources and diversification in order to grow your opportunities. We stay at the leading edge of the industry and we’re ready to help you grow again in 2024!