Letters

Teach your children well

Colin Vincent, branch manager at Southern Spray Lawn Care in Nashville, shares this photo of our youngest reader to date – his son, Ethan, enthralled with our March issue.

Colin explains: "He can’t go to school in the morning without a copy of Lawn & Landscape. Ethan is 2 and a half and absolutely loves lawn equipment. Southern Spray concentrates on turf and ornamental applications, so he knows a spray truck when he sees one, but he prefers big zero-turn mowers. He also can spot a “weedeat-eater” and even an aerator in the ads. He spends his morning ride to preschool with Lawn & Landscape. No DVD player in this truck!"
 

Bigger isn’t always better

In your June 2012 issue, I read the letter to the editor “On staying small and local,” and I would like to say how much I appreciate you recognizing these companies. Many companies choose to maintain this mindset despite their number of clients or their revenue. Actually, the article and idea of a very small business starting, growing and maintaining the ma and pa shop feel completely mimic my company’s story and mission.

After being a full-time mother to my two children and working a few part-time positions at local retailers, I decided I wanted a change. I wanted to start my own business. After baffling countless ideas of what to do, I decided I was going to start a lawn care company by myself. No one would have ever known that this idea of trying to find something to do to pass time and generate a little spending cash would quickly transform into my dream and passion.

My husband knew of a general contractor who had recently moved to a new home and was looking for someone to maintain his lawn. There was my chance and I ran with it.

Starting off with one customer, a self-propelled push mower, a hand-me-down blower, my SUV, a homemade trailer and both of my kids in the back seat, my company was born and I began my first day at my new job. Despite critics and speculation of me, a female, developing a successful business in a predominantly male industry, I have proved quite the contrary.

Through maintaining a focus on relationships, consistency and personalized service with every client, my business has grown year over year since that day in the mid 90s when I started with one customer. Over time, I have transitioned from a maintenance only company to offering full landscape services including design and installation, construction of hardscapes and outdoor living spaces, and beginning in 2013 will even launch our new fertilization and lawn treatment segment. In 2011, our revenue exceeded $350,000 – a first for us.

We never deviate from the idea of being a small, local business in our daily activities. Keeping the small business feel is our culture and how we will remain as an organization with both our clients and our employees. We continuously look for ways to demonstrate our culture to the community.

Over the past few years, we have had the opportunity to sponsor sports teams of client’s children, charity events and fundraisers held in local neighborhoods and private clubs in which we work - all to continue to build on that small, local business mentality.

Thank you for your contribution and information into our industry and especially recognizing the little guys (or girls) out there and I look forward to my next issue of Lawn & Landscape.

Kimberly Bates
K.G. Bates, Inc.
Stockbridge, Ga.

Doing business the right way

My name is Scott Beauregard and I have been in the landscaping business for over twenty years.

I have always run my business according to state and local laws. I am insured, pay sales tax to the state and make sure any employees working for me are documented and legal to work in the United States. I realize that with the economy the way it is that people are doing whatever it takes to make ends meet.

However, I take offense to people that throw a little trailer on the back of their vehicle load up with equipment and call themselves landscapers. More and more of theses companies pop up every day. I work very hard to make a living and do things the right way to keep my business going.

In the past, I would take down license plate numbers or phone numbers off of these companies and turn them into the New Jersey Catch program for businesses that are tax cheats and usually would see some of them gone within a few weeks. However, there seems to be an infestation of companies lately.

I know that it is illegal to operate a commercial business in New Jersey without commercial plates and signage on your vehicle, but local law enforcement does nothing about it.

I have contacted Gov. Chris Christie’s office in regards to this matter several times but have never received any answers as to why the state does not go after the millions of dollars in lost sales tax revenue.

I have called the senators office and also received no response. Even after reaching out to the media about a local business trying to stay afloat in such tough times with all this illegal competition, but once again no response.

People don’t realize that this is a serious industry. Homeowners need to understand that having one of these companies work on their property is an accident waiting to happen.

God forbid someone gets injured on your property and they are uninsured, then they can sue you as the home owner. Even worse if one of the employees gets hurt. What if they hurt someone like a neighbor or someone’s child.

Every other business that is open has to go through proper procedures in order to open the doors, except our field. If you can offer me any suggestions on how to help clean up this industry please let me know.

I am tired of spending countless hours bidding jobs, then seeing someone else do the work and pocket every penny.

Scott Beauregard
Owner, Hidden Hills Landscaping
Hazlet, N.J.

All about Utah

I enjoyed Jim Huston’s article in the May issue of Lawn & Landscape. I appreciate the fact that you highlighted the Utah market and a local contractor.

I lived in Utah up until about a year ago and had been there on and off for about 10 years as a BYU student, LCO and part of the green industry workforce.

It’s got to be one of the weirdest landscape markets around, but I think you nailed it with your summary of market conditions.

Austin Gardner
Client Relations Manager Eastern Land Management
Stamford, Conn.

Circular file

A quick note to say thanks for your publication, Lawn & Landscape. Every month, my boss’s wife gives me a stack of fresh trade magazines. Today was one of those days, and I got frustrated with a lot of the other magazines, so they found a new home with the trash can (too many ads, weak stories, disorder). Though I don’t benefit from everything in your magazine, I like the order, the depth of the stories and the variety. Thanks for continuing to deliver value.

Patrick Werick
Account Manager, ValleyScapes
St. Mary’s, Kan.

Think before you irrigate

In far too many industry articles in various publications over the past several years, the theme has been about what services to add. Irrigation services which is 65-70 percent of my business is one area being promoted.

In my area, we are already saturated with irrigation providers. Irrigation in N.J., it is a licensed activity. Despite the huge amount of systems in our area, a big irrigation company may only have six trucks, and they are few and far between.

There are no irrigation firms with 10-20 trucks and dominate players, like some parts of the country. Irrigation is a technical, specialized service, requiring extensive knowledge to even replace a head properly. To service the client right, one must have knowledge and comprehension of best installation practices, operating pressures and precipitation rates.

My company maintains a huge inventory of pipe fittings, nozzles, valve parts, valves, heads, electrical and plumbing supplies to name some items. We have personnel with strong irrigation skills and a decades long background in the business. For a person mowing 50-150 lawns, or a landscape design/build contractor to add irrigation maintenance or installation to their list of services, doesn’t make sense.

Any service requiring special skills, a large variety of special product and performed in low volume, will be a silent money loser despite the perceived revenue enhancement. The time spent to set up a service call, analyze the issue, acquire materials for the service and warranty what is done in low volume, not only negates the revenue but can silently steal more money from your pocket.

When adding a new service in our time of economic uncertainty, it must be one that your customers are asking you about in a volume, where one special person or a crew can be dedicated 3 or more days per week, and remaining days can be productively filled with what are the business’s current mainstay.

Harold Fox
Owner, Town Pride Lawn Service
Medford, N.J.