Pest Management Professional, November 2009

economic conditions had challenged his business for the past couple of years but theyd always managed to navigate the waters effectively In 2008 the waters proved choppier however than even he expected He expects modest growth for Ewart that means anything under 5 percent If youre doing anything under 5 percent youre just holding your head above water in 2009 He believes he will finish 2009 with 4 percent growth and is planning for similar growth in 2010 When he looks around and sees whats happening in other industries hes thankful for that Im looking at lowering my growth expectations for this year and am focusing hard on some of the long term planning for what I see as difficult times ahead Ewart says My focus cant be on some of the mundane and everyday things I focused on last year We want to maintain the business we have and at least have some modest growth he added I dont want to overdramatize but were kind of hunkering down Orkins new franchise for Mexico which makes up a good piece of his business did not help Ewarts business The collapse of the credit markets combined with sudden currency devaluations made the Mexican market difficult to navigate It has underperformed and suppressed his overall growth numbers Still Ewart acknowledges that hed rather be in the pest management business than any other during times like these If you were trying to build a business that would perform well in difficult economic times it would look a lot like the pest the state of your industry Focus on 2010 control business Ewart says We dont have the high level of capital investments that other industries have In an economic downturn its those kinds of investments that will kill you The drop in residential lead generation that Ewart experienced in 2009 had been going on since 2007 but it hadnt had such a dramatic effect on his bottom line until this year Through July Ewart had seen his residential sales fall by 5 percent He believes the upper middle class what he says are the heart of the customer base for the pest management industry nationwide has gone on an economizing kick Unfortunately pest management is one of the first budget items that these families give up Ewart says he beefed up his commercial sales efforts to offset the losses he has seen in the residential market Ive found that residential customers arent nearly as loyal during times like these Ewart says Its caused me to rethink the way I do business Before the increased focus on commercial sales Bug Masters business was evenly split between commercial and residential services Ewart says he expects to see those numbers tilt slightly more heavily toward commercial work as his sales force gets its legs beneath them but he hasnt seen the increase yet We are focusing on those efforts instead of doing other more residentially focused advertising to make the phone ring Ewart says From our perspective conventional approaches to residential advertising will offer diminishing returns over the short term Ewart says his crystal ball is Despite all of the problems he foresees Ewart remains bullish on the industry overall and urges his fellow PMPs to take their future into their own hands pretty cloudy as he heads into 2010 He believes the economy will remain anemic and will likely remain so for at least a couple of years He says health care and the federal debt will hamper the economy and present significant challenges not only to the pest management industry but to small business owners in general Unless youve got a lot of cash on hand and can go out to make acquisitions there wont be much chance to grow rapidly in the next few years Ewart says Its not like my five year plan is to triple my business over that time Theres just no way thats going to happen Despite all of the problems he foresees Ewart remains bullish on the industry overall and urges his fellow PMPs to take their future into their own hands Ewart says the industry has weathered this kind of economic struggle before and it will make it through this one too Celebrate the fact that youre in the pest management industry Ewart says Were doing a lot better than many other people are in this economy Our future is in our own hands and it looks bright to me PMP You can reach Andoraka at 216 706 3735 or fandorka@ questex com www mypmp net NOVEMBER 2009 PEST MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL S9