Viewpoint: It’s About Time

Preparing this issue got me thinking a lot about “time.” The time of the year, time management, the time in which we live. The way we measure, plan and approach our days, weeks and years – and how our approach impacts us – are all recurring concepts in this issue.

A good friend once told me that this is the best time of the year. Spring is almost here, March Madness basketball is in full swing, baseball spring training portends of the warm weather that will soon be coming our way, and so on. Then again, that same friend also often said that fall was the best time of the year because of the MLB playoffs and the start of the football season (so maybe he just really likes sports).

But, debate about “best time of the year” aside, March is an exciting and busy time for everyone in the outdoor power equipment industry. As the majority of the country thaws out from winter, commercial and consumer customers alike are preparing to get to work on their landscapes. They want to ensure their current equipment is serviced, operational, and ready to go “on time,” and/or they want new equipment, and they want it now. I’m sure that each one of those customers feels that his or her time is of the utmost importance.

As Scott Jardine, president and owner of Arn’s Equipment, points out in the dealer profile article beginning on page 26, “Time is money, so our customers want to know what equipment will allow them to do the job quicker and more efficiently.” In the profile piece, Jardine shares his tips on meeting the customer’s needs quickly, as well as managing for business success throughout the year.

A big part of meeting the customer’s needs on time, is managing your own time – and your employees’ time – within your dealership. Ty Bello, president and founder of Team@Work, tackles that topic head on in his article on “How to Make the Pandemonium Go Away” (page 20). Ty examines time management, or, as he puts it, self management. He details how removing pandemonium from your day is about you and how you manage your day, but it is also about your team, and how they have been trained.

Part of managing time – or managing ourselves – is adapting to the time in which we live.

In the dealer profile piece, Jardine also shares his thoughts on how business success is dependent on keeping up with this ever-changing industry.

The Anonymous Distributor (page 7) also discusses how keeping up with the times – and keeping up with current technology – is essential to business success. A.D. outlines how technology can be scary, and sometimes overwhelming, but how it can also be beneficial if utilized to your advantage.

So, whether it is dealing with this busy time of the year, managing the time within your day, or dealing with the technology of the time in which we live, there are a lot of considerations related to how you approach your year, month, week, day or even the next hour.

And, no, it is not lost on me that if you are still reading this, you are devoting your precious time to our magazine. So please take just a bit longer to check out the rest of editorial insight mentioned above as well as everything else we have packed into this issue of OPE. I hope it is time well spent, and I wish you success during the busy months ahead.

 

Sincerely,

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John Kmitta

Associate Publisher/Editor

Outdoor Power Equipment (OPE) magazine

763-383-4405

jkmitta@epgmediallc.com

OutdoorPowerEquipment.com

 

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