Graduation is only five days away and Larry Rhodes is moving fast. As manager of landscaping and grounds for Elon College in Elon College, North Carolina, he is largely responsible for how the campus will look on its biggest day of the year.

It's a new day. Big is better, borrowed money works better than your own, and when equipment breaks, you throw it away instead of fixing it.

Successful lawn maintenance contractors come in all shapes and sizes. That's one of the strengths of this industry. You don't have to be a conformist to succeed.

Your customers are your business. Without them, all is lost. That's why experts from around the country talk at length about ways to retain them. But as important as they are to your operation, not all customers are worth having. In fact, some can be downright miserable, even unprofitable. For those, a "Dear John" letter may be the best thing for your business.

How long would you stay in business if you charged upwards of 30% more for your services than the competition? What if you operated with a two-complaint rule, meaning that on the second complaint, you simply told your customer to find another landscaper? Or, perish the thought, what if you maintained a property according to Mother Nature's schedule and not that of the customer?

As I write this in December '99 and you read it next year, we will have passed into the next century. I suppose this marking of time has caused almost everyone to think about the future and form their own opinions. Clearly there are extreme views. Some have looked glibly at 2000 saying nothing will happen and "let the good times roll." Meanwhile, the alarmist and doomsdayers have predicted catastrophic problems, often profiting handsomely from the fear of the future.