Transforming lakefront properties into dreamscapes is both a challenge and an adventure for Fred Squires, Jr., president at Fingerlakes Landscape & Design in Skaneateles, New York. Nestled in the eastern end of the Finger Lakes region of central New York, the design/build and grounds care firm caters to residents and businesses that are looking for something different.
“We are able to turn a plain Jane lawn into a virtual outdoor getaway, it all comes down to what clients’ budgets are,” says Squires, who started the business with partner David Smead when the two were fresh out of Paul Smith’s College in the Adirondacks. Like many landscape firms, Fingerlakes (FL) Landscape & Design began with a pickup truck, a wheelbarrow and a passion for the outdoors.
“We both studied urban forestry, and so we began with a woods operation and went into landscape design and install, excavation and hardscape,” Squires says of the progression into what they do today, which is a $2-million business that’s 70 percent design/build and 30 percent maintenance, including snow removal.
Last year, the business grew 75 percent. “We doubled the size of our shop – and that was a real tough thing to do,” Squires says, adding that the company will “stay status quo” in the coming year with 5- to 10-percent growth.
Why the jump in sales? “That’s my aggressiveness,” Squires says, half-joking. FL Landscape signed some large snowplowing and maintenance contracts, and it took on a large residential design/build project. “We had to add people and equipment. It was almost a shoot-from-the-hip situation, but it worked. It worked great.”
Like most green industry businesses, FL Landscape bears the perennial challenge of hiring good people, and has learned the hard way that cash is king and some contracts just aren’t worth going after. Squires, whose role in the business is to “keep the blood and guts of the company moving” while partner Smead’s detail-oriented focus is lent to managing the shop and maintenance, says they learn a lot from their own clients.
“I love meeting clients and hearing their stories, where they come from,” Squires says. “Because I’m a native of Skaneateles, when people move here or come from another area we get to learn from them and hear about their milestones and how they got to where they are. We work for successful people who we learn from just by talking to them about their businesses.”
Here, Squires shares his own hard-knocks lessons and how he applied some of his clients’ insights to his landscape operation.
Don’t overextend yourself. This advice seems to go against the landmark growth FL Landscape experienced last season, but there’s a difference. The big jump in sales during 2015 was the result of direct contracts from customers who could see through the commitment. And, the hard lesson learned about overextending the business came from engaging in a deal as a sub to a general contractor who was not reliable.
“It’s easy to put yourself out there with too many projects going on, and then you have too much money going out and not enough coming in,” Squires says, specifically referring to the Onondaga County Courthouse in Syracuse. The attractive project lured in FL Landscape because of its visibility and the project scope.
“We installed 6,800 square feet of pavers, 284 yards of concrete, plus sod, plantings, laser-cut Canadian granite curbing – we did all that work and got stumped for $124,000,” Squires says.
The project was funded through government stimulus dollars, Squires says, adding that “We felt some recession in this area, but there was a lot of commercial work going on at the time that was guaranteed from federal stimulus money.” The Onondaga County Courthouse was one of those projects.
While this project was online, FL Landscape had two other large commercial endeavors in the works: an amphitheater at Nottingham High School in Syracuse, and a planting job in Lansing, New York. The prime contractor on the courthouse job was paid. He cut FL Landscape a check that was short by those six figures Squires noted. “Then he filed bankruptcy, so I lost,” Squires says.
There’s no recouping funds when a business falls flat. So Squires had to scramble to get suppliers paid. “It put me in a tough bind,” he says. “Fortunately, we had a great winter for snowplowing, and I wrote promissory notes to suppliers and told them my situation. They understood, and within a matter of six months I had them all paid off.”
The lesson: Only partner with contractors that have a proven track record. “I will not work for any unknown contractors,” Squires says, adding that this one that duped him was a connection through the county and Squires didn’t have any experience with the company.
The good news is that the Onondaga Courthouse is a stunning project and an example of the type of work FL Landscape produces. “It was done in 2010 and still looks brand-new to this day,” Squires says.
Keep it simple. Avoid getting mired in details. Even on large design-build projects that can become quite complex with specifications, materials, equipment, labor and the permits [link to sidebar] required by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), just keep it simple.
“Make sure you deliver what you promise the client,” Squires says. “When it comes to installation, we keep it simple and have good equipment so we can get in, do the job effectively and efficiently at a pretty good pace, and complete it.”
As for pricing and contracts, no one wants to review a 20-page contract with fine print. (And fine print usually means you’re hiding something.) “Get to the point of what the project is and what everyone is responsible for,” Squires says.
FL Landscape likes to transition design/build clients into maintenance customers. So clear communication from the beginning, and delivering on expectations helps keep accounts for the long-term.
“If you are doing everything you say you are going to do, you shouldn’t have to worry about the contract because it will be right on the money,” Squires says. And, don’t be wishy-washy. “Let your yes’s mean yes, and your no’s mean no.”
Hire good people. A core group of people at FL Landscape have been with the business nearly since its inception. “They share our passion and want to make our jobs shine,” Squires says. And their attitudes rub off on new hires, creating a culture of committed workers.
“Personality is huge,” Squires says of finding the right fit for FL Landscape. Crewmembers are frontrunners of the company, he says, because they’re interacting with customers. “They are going to be seen by the public, so they have to convey their passion to clients.”
Finding good people isn’t easy, and FL Landscape includes a team of 26. The company has advertised on Craigslist and in publications. They also recruit through local colleges. “We have a good interview process we go through to see if they are a fit for the company,” Squires says. Character is key.
Squires’ sons Brandon, 26, and Ryan, 22, work full time in the business. Brandon is a construction manager and Ryan heads up the mowing operation. Nathan, 14, works in the business after school. “The boys have been involved for a long time,” Squires says.
With a growing maintenance division, which was 30 percent of sales last year, and a word-of-mouth reputation as a premiere landscape design/build firm in the area, FL Landscape is looking forward to a year of stabilizing after fast growth and also moving forward. “What drives us is the challenge of taking our designs to the next level so we never become stale,” Squires says.
