A dedicated leader in the Landscape and Commercial Snow Industry
Mike Kukol has spent more than 40 years learning and growing Horizon Landscape Company in Wyckoff, New Jersey. He is a firm believer that continuous learning is the key to success — even if you’ve been in the industry for more than 40 years. Kukol spoke with Snow Business at length about what he has learned since starting his business in 1976 and how that has helped him keep his eye on the horizon for future growth for himself and his company.
Moments with Mike Kukol
Mike Kukol has learned a lot over his 40-plus years as owner of Horizon Landscape Co. Here are a few of his transformative growing pains:
1. Your business is not YOU: As a sole proprietor or someone starting in business, you have to take a weekly paycheck. You’re an employee like everyone else and your salary is an expense that your business has to pay.
2. Get involved: Do not join an association to get a decal and credentials on your business card. Meet people, learn and share with each other.
3. Keep learning: Take business or finance courses and continue to educate yourself on industry topics.
4. Establish boundaries: Blending a family-run company into a corporate culture is not easy. Those cultures are diametrically opposed. You are responsible for 50 other people and have to balance being a father with being the president. Sometimes, you need to run it as a corporate entity when you really want to be someone’s family.
5. Track your time and costs: Separate expenses by department so you can see down to the hour and dollar what each is costing and what each ismaking. Before we did that, we had no idea which department was making
or losing money.
6. Organize and delegate: Make a list of everything you do, check off those that others could be doing and hand them off. Before I did this, my list had literally more than 250 tasks. I have been able to whittle it down to less than 100, freeing up my time to work on the overall vision and strategy for the company.
Continue reading our featured story in the February 2019 edition of SIMA Magazine!