INSTALLATION: Get Your Feet Wet

Although Scott Hammond spent many years saving lives, he considers his current profession to be the most rewarding and life-enhancing, both for himself and his customers.
 
For more than 30 years, Hammond rode an ambulance as an emergency medical technician. He went in a completely different direction when he started his own landscaping company, Blue Creek Landscape, based in Ellensburg, Wash., and became fascinated with ponds and waterfalls. He credits his unwavering focus and emphasis on certification for his success with turning pond building into a profitable service.

TESTING THE WATER. A visit to a build-a-pond event stoked Hammond’s interest in water features. He built a pond in his own yard, which only solidified his decision to offer the service. He installed three ponds when he started the service in 1998, then seven the next year, and now he has more than 20 projects a year. He enjoyed the add-on service so much in 2005 he turned his focus solely to water features.
 
Due to the weather in his local market, the projects there are completed from May through October, but he has clients in his regional market territory as far away as Texas, that give him business even in the winter months.
 
Hammond started out installing small water features, measuring 8-by-11 feet and 11-by-16 feet, with the same tools he used for his landscaping jobs: a shovel, pick, wheel barrow, rock dolly and nursery cart.
 
“One to three guys can put in a small water feature with just hand tools,” he says. For larger jobs where large rocks need to be set, Hammond uses an excavator. 
 
A five- to six-person crew could install the smaller water features in a day, he says. Larger jobs would take the same crew at least three days.
 
Hammond’s entire workforce – besides himself – comes from subcontracting. This way, he avoids the cost of paying taxes, health care and other costs for the employees.
 
Once he receives job orders, Hammond lines up contractors and schedules the projects. He sometimes helps with the jobs, but the subcontractors do the majority of the work and get paid at the end of the job.
 
Generating jobs comes first, though. For this, Hammond finds it is beneficial to be a certified water feature contractor and he’s certified through Aquascape’s certification program. Retaining certification requires attaining a certain amount of education credits each year.
 
“It lends some credibility in my market, where people are not real familiar with water features,” he says.

The status also helps him connect with other professionals worldwide. The certification takes him around the country – and even to Ireland– to oversee and help build water features because of relationships he developed.

PROFITABLE PONDS. When pricing a water feature, Hammond considers the cost of travel, the materials and components used and the labor. He also has a profit margin goal. As a result, a standard 11-by-16-foot pond costs the customer about $12,500.
 
Hammond aims for a 50-percent gross profit margin. About 15 percent of the revenue goes to labor and another 28 percent of costs are consumed by overhead. Hammond has invested in advertising to draw in new clients and adds it’s important to track how new customers are directed to his company to determine which marketing methods produce the greatest return.
 
While passionately involved in pond building, Hammond has to remind himself to refocus on the business aspects of the operation. “I’m getting to understand the break-even analysis,” he says. “I have to consider the cost of the goods sold and everything that I’m going to leave in the ground.”
 
Hammond’s relationship with clients doesn’t end after the pond is built. For maintenance requests, Hammond subcontracts the work to a college student majoring in landscape architecture who has an interest in pond life. Hammond has the student connected with a local nursery where he sets up pond demonstrations. When someone inquires with the nursery about water feature installation, they’re referred to Hammond, and the college student takes care of the maintenance requests.
 
Hammond relationship with the nursery is mutually beneficial. “It’s been a great relationship for both of us because they don’t have to worry about water features,” he says. “They have their own landscape installation division. I take the headache of water features off their hands so they can focus on other things.”
 
Hammond’s challenge is educating people about water features and clearing up any misconceptions. “People aren’t familiar with ecologically balanced, low-maintenance water features,” he says. “I try to educate people on what they could have, instead of just the green puddle of water they imagine.”
 
Another selling point, is a water features can be more than a puddle of water in the yard. “Water features are not just a piece of landscape,” he says. “They’re dynamic settings that give people a place to reflect. They contribute to the wellness and enjoyment of families and the community.”