HOW WE DO IT: Total Landscape Moves to a New Office

Since 1989, Total Landscape, St. Louis, Mo., has had the mission statement “Building relationships one landscape at a time.” In early 2005, with 15 crews and $3 million in commercial and residential sales, we made a big change to accommodate that mission and the company’s size and potential growth: We moved to a new facility.

Our old facility included yard space of about 1 acre and a 2,500-square-foot building. Our actual office space was only 600 square feet and it was painfully obvious that our team was too cramped to operate effectively. 

Rather than try to have our staff operate from two locations, as some of our industry friends had done successfully, we determined that moving to a bigger facility was our best option. Also, acquiring existing space rather than building from scratch made the most sense for our move, though building a custom facility may be a viable option for us in the future.

As we went facility-hunting, our team considered several factors, including proximity to major highways and routing efficiency. Our new site allows us to service clients within approximately 30 minutes from any point. This is critical in job costing and eliminating windshield time, which affects our ability to bid competitively. Also, our new facility offers 4,500 square feet of office space and a 3,000-square-foot garage. Altogether, this space will allow us to address both our current space issues and also grow in the future. Moreover, the recent acquisition of an adjoining building gives us additional office space of 3,000 square feet and a ¾-acre yard, both of which keep us well poised to grow if we stay at this facility long-term.

We’re very proud of the planning that took place before our facility move. At Total Landscape, we believe that “failure to plan is a plan to fail,” and “planning is magic.” In October 2004, our management team met and appointed one person from each department to our “move team.” With an anticipated move date of February 2005, our design team laid out the new facility using a computer-aided design tool as a guideline for the move. The move team was responsible for acquiring new furniture, coordinating with our vendors (Internet, e-mail, computer, phone, voicemail, etc.), and scheduling everything necessary to have the building ready for moving day. Our plan detailed exactly what time we would move and how long our phone and computer systems would be down on moving day. This was critical because our goal was to move and not miss a beat. 

We officially moved our office team on March 4, 2005. That morning, everyone in the office reported to work with their moving clothes on and ready to go. With a teamwork mentality, trucks were loaded by 10 a.m. and we were moved in by the end of the day. Our computers and phone systems were installed prior to our arrival, so we cut off the systems at the old facility at 3 p.m. and were live at our new facility by 5 p.m. The office was completely functional and running at full capacity by the following Monday, March 7.

Of course, bumps in the road are inevitable. Though we had spent many hours planning the move, we experienced some zoning- and occupancy-permit problems prior to moving day. While our office staff moved in March, our production team remained at the old facility until the end of May. We communicated and operated through our Nextel network, but this nearly three-month delay was a challenge during the busiest time of the season. We neither anticipated nor budgeted for the extra expense of having two facilities at once. The setup kept us from operating at top efficiency. Since then, we have incorporated “what-ifs” into all of our business planning processes. As with most business problems, we found that communication is the key to overcoming unanticipated obstacles.

Overall, about $60,000 in hard cost went into the move and setting up the new facility the way we needed it. Right now, we’re leasing the space for $4,500 per month, which will increase over the 15-year term of the lease. Our goal in the next five years is to negotiate a purchase of the property or eventually own our own site.

Our official grand opening will be in spring 2006. We’ve made sure to let our clients know where our new office is located so they can send payments and other items and so they know where to find us for our new facility celebration. 

Because we can now operate more efficiently, we’ve been able to execute a growth plan to help us build to well over $10 million in our new facility. Our team is truly energized by the move. Taking the time to create an effective workspace helps our office team operate with top efficiency. Our shop also has more space for a better working environment. Best of all, our staff is excited to come to work at the new Total Landscape and we’re proud to have clients and vendors stop by to visit. – Bob Franey

The author is president of Total Landscape, St. Louis, Mo., and can be reached at 314/416-0517.