I am a Landscaper: Nikos Phelps

When Nikos Phelps first got into the green industry he was only 13 years old and had to have his parents drive him and a friend back and forth to and from his clients’ properties. That wasn’t always easy to orchestrate in the “pre-cellphone era,” Phelps says with a laugh. Despite the challenges, the business grew. While attending Penn State University, Phelps would drive home to the Harrisburg area two or three days a week to keep things going. Since graduating in 2007, he has turned his full attention to Utopian Landscapes LLC, which has grown tremendously since those days. Today, Phelps works alongside his wife, Terra (“the handler”), who Phelps says helps “balance him out on a number of different things.” While a husband/ wife business partnership can be tricky, both say they love it, and it’s made the business stronger. When Phelps isn’t working, you can often find him training as he’s recently begun competing in triathlons … and winning. Turf caught up with Phelps to tell us more about his passions.

About three years ago I started training for a triathlon on a complete whim. I had been a runner and a swimmer in high school, but ever since getting caught up in the business, I had let fitness go by the wayside. One day I just knew I needed some sort of outlet, and I told Terra, “I’m going to train for a triathlon.” It came out of nowhere and surprised me as much as it did her, but after my first competition I did surprisingly well and have since become more serious about it. I now have a coach (Vassilis Krommidas, a Greek national champion who competed at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games) and am training much more seriously.

Since I’ve started training, I’ve become a better person. It has helped with my stress levels and made me a better manager. I think my friends, family and coworkers would say they notice a difference — probably that I seem happier and more focused. It’s been a positive change for me and great for the company, so I don’t mind putting the time in.

Traveling is important to Terra and I as it helps us unwind and take a break from the business. In 2015, we went to New Zealand, and in 2016 it was Iceland and Greece. This year, it will be the Netherlands and Europe. We really enjoy experiencing new places and are always up for trying something different. Travel is both our hobby and our escape.

My motto is “Work hard, play hard.” When I’m working, it gets my full attention and I’m completely dedicated. But we’ll also take those longer vacations to refresh. And because we work a four-day work week, when it’s Friday we’re done, and we absolutely take some time to unwind. It makes us that much better and more refreshed when we come back on Monday.

My best advice to others is that if you have a goal, you should write it down. It just makes it feel that much more official. My current goal is to win Greek Nationals in 2017, but after that we’ll see.

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4 Landscaping Trends from the 2017 Houzz Survey

Last week, the 2017 U.S. Houzz Landscaping Trends Study was released and revealed that landscaping projects are being driven by new home purchases. Some good news for landscape professionals: Nearly 75 percent of homeowners hired a professional for an outdoor project in 2016. Nineteen percent are hiring a pro to help with outdoor maintenance after the project completion.

1. Renovating front yards for curb appeal.

Customers are looking to update their front yards with new landscaping features. The top three updates are: beds/borders, shrubs and perennials. Although 69 percent of outdoor projects take place in the back yard, 44 percent of projects are now taking place in homeowner’s front yards. Nearly half of respondents credit helping the environment as their motivation for reducing or removing their front lawn.

2. Reasons for renovating.

Personalizing a new or recently purchased home is the top motivation for homeowners to update their landscaping for the first time, according to Houzz. The majority of homeowners report using their outdoor spaces for relaxing including gardening, entertaining and family time. The second reason for renovation was due to elements of the outdoor space deteriorating and 42 percent report that their last outdoor updates were more than 10 years ago.

3. Low maintenance plants.

Since only one in five homeowners plan to hire a professional for landscape maintenance, it’s not surprising that 95 percent report they are updating with new plants and mainly choosing low-maintenance plants. The trend toward native and insect- or bird-attracting plants has increased since 2014, whereas the popularity of edibles has decreased by 7 percent in the same time frame.

4. Outdoor lighting updates.

Almost half of homeowners making outdoor renovations are also updating lighting with 73 percent choosing LEDs. Outdoor lighting, followed by irrigation systems, is the most popular upgrade requested for projects. Smart lighting, which can be controlled from a mobile device or computer, is being chosen by homeowners. The most popular updated fixtures are path, post or bollard lights.

You can download the full 2017 U.S. Houzz Landscaping Trends Study online.

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How to Make Mulching Work For You

At R.B. Stout Inc. in Bath, Ohio, they do not just sell landscape services, they sell an entire “look.” They want the properties they maintain to look complete and beautiful, and according to Jerry Kusar, the owner of R.B. Stout, the look would not be the total package without exceptional mulching work.

“A mulched property is much easier to maintain, and it looks good. We sell a ‘look,’ so mulching is important for us to accomplish this,” Kusar says.

R.B. Stout has successfully integrated mulching into its list of services. Mulching is a service that can bring in extra revenue, create a lot of repeat customers and give a great amount of credibility to a lawn care company. If carried out properly, a mulching service can be a wise thing to add to your company’s repertoire. Mulching, however, takes a large amount of manpower and time to become a consistent, reliable service to offer.

Here, three landscape companies share how they maintain a successful mulching service while still carrying out the rest of the services they offer.

R.B. Stout: Utilize strategies to extend your mulching season for as long as possible.

This year R.B. Stout is celebrating its 60th year in business. The company has garnered a great reputation for their mulching work, and that is because they have figured out a system that works for them. Kusar says a strong partnership with a dependable supplier has made all the difference in running an efficient mulching service.

“We have a good mulch supplier that can deliver top-quality material. You need a supplier who can do that. Mulch blower trucks cost anywhere from $165,000 to $300,000, depending on the capacity. You also need CDL drivers to operate the trucks. So it is a big capital investment,” Kusar explains. “When you get to our size, you need to have the trucks to keep up with the demand. We would risk losing maintenance accounts if we could not offer mulching services.”

Along with partnering with a good supplier, R.B. Stout has been mulching long enough to know how to structure its company calendar around the service. R.B. Stout has also changed the material it uses so it can extend the mulching season even longer.

“Customers pretty much want all the mulch down by the end of June,” Kusar says. “The best time for us is early in the year before we start mowing. We use all dyed material now so our mulch holds color all season, which is a selling point for us.”

While R.B. Stout has devised a solid formula for mulching, even they cannot avoid certain industry pitfalls. Overall, employee numbers make it difficult for any company to meet client demand for mulching. Unfortunately, no technology can really replace two solid hands.

“We have a severe labor shortage in our industry,” he says. “It would be nice to have 10 crews working during the week, but that is not going to happen. Mulching is physical labor that requires two hands, and there is no phone app to change that.”

R.B. Stout may face labor shortages like the rest of the industry, but they have developed a strong enough mulching plan that the company and its clients both profit from the service.

“We generate between $600,000 to $800,000 in mulching services each season. It is a steady and growing service,” Kusar explains. “Mulching can be profitable if you know your costs and your estimates are accurate. In a perfect world, the price of an installed yard of mulch would be $70. We are averaging $50, so we cover overhead and break about even. We do save money in the long run as it is much easier to maintain a mulched property and keep the look we are after.”

Read more: Reduce Manpower To Boost Mulch Profits

D&D Mulch and Landscape: Manufacture your own mulch for exceptional results.

D&D Mulch and Landscape Inc.’s clients certainly expect superior mulching from the company. D&D, operating out of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, has a very specialized approach to mulching that makes them stand out in the industry, according to company president Paul Doherty. Doherty explains that having in-house mulch has made it much easier to integrate mulching into its service offerings.

Image Courtesy Of D&D MULCH AND LANDSCAPE

“It was easier for us because we manufacture our own bark mulch used by our own landscape division. We generally do not use bark blowers, installing all our products by hand. This leads to a superior look,” Doherty says.

D&D has figured out its strategy when it comes to product as well as its strategy for pricing. Doherty and D&D have adjusted their pricing structure according to what clients seem to be requesting most. “Most homeowners these days are looking for a ‘per cubic yard’ cost of mulch installation. You must first determine the quantity of product and then adjust the price accordingly,” Doherty explains.

Like R.B. Stout, D&D has also faced the issue of labor shortages. To counteract that problem, “D&D has established two to three set crews [to handle mulching] because other crews are too busy with other tasks to have enough time for the manual labor mulching requires,” Doherty says.

R.B. Stout and D&D have another challenge in common as well: overlapping client demand. “The biggest challenge with this service is timing. Most clients will generally call and want service the same week; having enough manpower is crucial to complete the job within the client’s timeframe,” Doherty explains.

Randall Landscaping: Use tools and processes that will increase efficiency.

Tommy Randall says his company, Randall Landscaping in Salem, New Hampshire, could not survive without mulching.

Luckily, adding a mulching service to his company offerings was not too difficult. He had the truck; he just needed a wheelbarrow and some hand tools. It was a smart choice to invest in those tools because mulching has been smooth sailing for the East Coast company. In fact, mulching clients seem to come to them.

“I don’t think there are any challenges of selling this service because it is basically an add-on service for everyone to their maintenance contract. And who doesn’t like the look of fresh mulch after the winter? It’s a pretty easy sell because the mulch will really spruce up any property,” Randall explains.” For commercial and condo clients, mulch is always included in their contracts, and most of our residential maintenance clients ask us to install mulch for them every year, without even having to try to sell it to them.”

Read more: Mulch Service Solutions

Image Courtesy Of RANDALL LANDSCAPING

Each season Randall installs over 1,500 yards of mulch. The biggest challenge Randall ever faced when it came to mulching was figuring out pricing. For both the customer and the company’s sake, it is important to be very accurate when it comes to pricing. Being off on pricing can either eat up revenue or anger a customer.

Randall explains how he navigates pricing.

“I price it mostly per yard installed, with any edging/bed prep being additional. If it is a time-consuming job with a lot of plant material and flowers to contend with, I may price it per man-hour, but 98 percent of the time it is more profitable to bill per yard installed,” he says.

Randall almost always finds it more profitable to bill per yard installed, but he does suggest taking into account other factors when pricing a job.

For example, certain qualities of the outdoor layout may decrease productivity. In general, for Randall, mulching success is mainly based on the efficiency of the service he offers.

Read more: 6 Best Practices for Mulching the Right Way

Image Courtesy Of RANDALL LANDSCAPING

“We can crank through a lot of mulch per hour; sometimes homeowners are amazed at the productivity. With having the bark blower, we can get the job done in half the time as someone else, and our pricing will probably be similar. Each job is different though, so you need to take that into account,” Randall says.

“On one job you can have wide open beds, and on another have beds loaded with plant material, perennials and annuals. You want to price that one higher because of the time spent trying to work around the obstacles and being careful not to damage anything.”

While mulching was a natural addition to his company’s services, Randall admits it is only a profitable option if the business invests in the right products to make it a success. While certain machines can be expensive, they often increase productivity, which, in turn, increases the return on investment.

“I find that mulching can be profitable, but only with good production,” Randall says. “That is why I invested in the bark blower, so the guys can get twice as much done in a day versus using wheelbarrows. There is the added cost of fuel and maintenance on the machine, but I think it’s worth it to be able to increase the productivity. Not to mention it is much easier on the guys physically.”

Read more: Like a Boss: A Smarter Mulching Operation

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How To Decide On A Floor Plan Layout

When you’re building a home from scratch, the floor plan will determine how you best use the space. It’s an element of the home that is very personal to each familial situation. Just as budget and space are key considerations when purchasing or building a home, so too is the floor plan. So here’s how you decide what you need.

What kind of lifestyle do you lead?

The kind of lifestyle you lead and the kind of family you have will largely dictate the type of floorplan you require. The best example of this is how you live your lives – are you outdoorsy people? Or do you prefer the creature comforts of your living room? Do you have kids, and if so, what are their ages? Will you need communal areas and a playroom or more private spaces for your teenagers?

If you have young children, it’s also wise to consider the safety aspects of a home. Stairs and the way they are designed, balconies and their access points and particular flooring may be a living nightmare when children are around. But remember, stairs can be gated and other elements can be temporarily blocked off so rather than putting you off completely, look at these features from the perspective of ‘can they be adapted for the time being?’.

Will the layout meet your needs over time?

It’s crucial that you look at the overall layout of the property. The number of bedrooms and bathrooms, plus the size of the living areas. If it doesn’t suit your needs, you can always customise the design. Choosing this over aesthetics is imperative. Don’t get swayed by beautiful hardwood floors or modern appliances.

However, it may be worth looking for a home that may allow you to alter the floorplan as your family grows and matures. You may move into the place with one child and be there for 15 to 20 years. Your requirements two decades later will definitely be different to those when you moved in. For example, spare bedrooms or extra spaces may be able to be converted into home offices, playrooms or a teenage retreat.

Will you be adding extra features?

When you’re deciding on a floor plan, the extra features can be tempting. After all, what’s a home if it doesn’t reflect the personality of the people living in it? Those features are a great way to explore what will make a house your distinctive home. Consider what kind of inclusions you want to include so you can account for them in the floor plan. Whether it be a larger tub to soak yourself in or the kind of splashback that will bear witness to your culinary feats, think ahead of time to cover everything you need. It’s also handy to think of your furniture and how the space can be decorated using your existing pieces.

Don’t forget the location

It’s easy to fall in love with a property. But don’t let your love affair get in the way of your surroundings. Floor plans have the potential to be modified, the location of your property does not. If you’re looking at a model home, remember the view will be different from your plot of land from each window. Remember to envisage that view before deciding where it is you want your master bedroom to go.

Don’t ignore the family

You may be the boss of your family but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have a say in what their future home should look like. They may have some different ideas and who knows, their ideas may even work! Be open to your family’s opinion and take their opinions into consideration. Of course, if you’re designing a home from scratch, you’ll be able to dictate exactly what it is you want, as long as it fits within the property lines.

Remember, there isn’t a perfect floorplan. What works for you now may not work for you in the future. There will always be positives and negatives. It’s up to you to prioritise what you absolutely need and what you can possibly live without.

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How to Leverage Your Local Business Relationships

Landscaping is by its very nature a local business model. In local marketing, it’s all about who you know, and who knows you. Marketing consultant Kelly O’Neil, president and CEO at Innovate Brand Agency, shares her best tips for building profitable local relationships.

1. Leverage your local media. Appearing in print gives you a lot of exposure and credibility. Touch base regularly with your local journalists, especially those who write about home and garden topics. Ask them what kinds of stories they are looking for and let them know you’re always available as a source. It’s always a good idea to distribute press releases when you have news, but you needn’t wait until you win an award to court the press. “Write up some seasonal how-to landscape tips for your local market and distribute them as a press release to your local luxury or town magazine. This can be a phenomenal way to get clients quickly,” says O’Neil.

2. Tap into local referral networks. Join Business Networking International or a similar business group focused on hard referrals (as opposed to soft networking meetings where participants simply pass business cards.)

3. Build your own referral network. Often, people who are upgrading or remodeling their home are great candidates for landscaping services. General contractors, interior designers, pool providers and similar types of companies all make great referral partners for landscape providers. If you specialize in one type of landscaping, like lawn care, some of your best referral sources may be landscape companies with a different specialty. Do a reach-out campaign to established local contractors and remodelers with whom you can create relationships and pass business back and forth.

4. Establish great relationships with local vendors. Nurseries, garden supply stores and hardscape suppliers are all great referral sources. Touch base with them regularly so they know you’re available and reliable.

How to build your local partnerships

One of the biggest networking mistakes most small businesspeople make is not being proactive about creating referral partners, O’Neil says. “Don’t just wait for relationships to happen. You need to reach out and say, ‘Hey, I’d love to sit down and have a meeting with you. I’m looking to establish referral partners. I like the work I’ve seen from you and I’d like to discuss taking it to the next level.’”

Consistency and persistence are the keys to success, she adds. “People are busy. Just because they don’t get back to you right away doesn’t mean they’re not interested. I have a rule where I continue following up until they say no or until I feel it’s wasting my time.”

How do you know when to move on? O’Neil suggests reaching out at least three to five times (five is better) before considering writing a potential partner off. Don’t worry about being a pest; your persistent outreach can actually help build trust in your character. “If you’re that persistent following up it lets them know you’re going to be on top of serving your clients.”

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Social Media: Is It Worth It? One Landscaper Explains How It Can Be

It’s easy to spend a lot of time and effort on social media and see nothing in return if you’re not using it strategically. But smart use of social media can pay off, says Lori Gurka, a social media expert who manages online marketing for BCLS LLC in Richmond, Virginia.

“Offers via Facebook for your area are free and can be used multiple times. It’s the same with Twitter. Instagram has become the place to showcase your projects with videos or even grids of pictures to show your work.”

Here are some tips to make social media work for you:

• Update your social media often to keep your audience engaged with your page.
• Don’t be afraid to show your human side in your marketing. You and your people are the biggest assets to your company brand.
• If you’re new to social media, focus on one platform to start with. Know your ideal client, and choose the one where they are most likely to hang out. Try Facebook or Instagram if you serve a residential market; LinkedIn and Twitter are great ways to connect with commercial customers.
• Post appropriate content for the platform you are using. Human interest updates and casual snapshots of employees, family and even pets are cool on Facebook. On LinkedIn? Not so much. Stick to strictly business updates and portfolio shots for the world’s largest business networking site.
• Posting eye-catching and exciting content encourages sharing. This can be as simple as close-up photos of in-season blooms to more elaborate content like drone videos.
• Ask your followers questions to increase engagement.
• Plan ahead so you don’t run out of ideas. Gurka suggests creating a content calendar for each month, using one topic a week.
• Remember that social media is all about community. If you go there, be prepared to engage with your customers. They will expect to use it as a customer service channel, too, so once you’re on social media be sure to stay on top of it.

Social media is also a great way to boost the reach of your offline promotions. For example, when BCLS sponsored the local minor league baseball team, Gurka shared a picture of the company’s promotional sign in the stadium along with the post, “BCLS LLC is the proud grounds maintenance team of the @GoSquirrels.” The use of the hashtag helps maximize their reach across social media. “People search for the Richmond Squirrels? They see a blurb about BCLS being the landscaping company of the team,” she says.

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Like a Boss: Stepping Back and Learning to Delegate

When Todd Thomasson, owner of Rock Water Farm Landscapes & Hardscapes in Aldie, Virginia, started out, he was basically doing it all — working 100-plus hours every single week and wearing all the hats. After working all day in the field, he’d meet with clients every evening. Maintaining such crazy hours, Thomasson admits he “barely remembers his 20s.” It was a busy time — but the company has grown tremendously because of that hard work at its start. A decade older and wiser, Thomasson says he has learned to hire for growth — and to let go of some of the control he’s solely maintained — but he admits it hasn’t been easy.

Thomasson says that he has learned he doesn’t want to be everyone’s go-to for everything at this point in the company’s growth. Along those same lines, he doesn’t want every single customer to have his cell phone number anymore. He has delegated much of that work to managers who can be handling those matters.

“The fact is, if it’s getting to me, there’s been a breakdown in the system somewhere and I want to know why,” Thomasson says. “And if it gets to a point where I must intervene, it’s important to get to the bottom of why.”

Getting to this point where he’s been able to take a step back and let managers handle a lot of the day-to-day stuff has also meant accepting the fact that mistakes are going to be made.

“You have to be able to let your employees make mistakes, too — after all, it’s how they learn,” Thomasson says. “Mistakes are how I learned. Hopefully with your direction, they won’t make mistakes as bad as you did. It’s certainly not easy to do. It’s not easy to sit back and watch mistakes being made. However, it is how you handle those situations that will make a tremendous difference in what your employees learn. And it’s how you handle those situations that will ensure they don’t happen again.”

Thomasson says it is a huge mistake to come in yelling and cussing over a mistake that was made. He says that will only cause employees to resent you. Instead, Thomasson says he keeps a very open line of communication with his people so that they aren’t afraid to come to him if a mistake is made. This is where steps toward growth can really be made.

“As we sit down and talk out a problem, we get to the bottom of why it happened in the first place,” Thomasson explains. “It’s possible it was even my fault — maybe I didn’t give that employee everything they needed to succeed. If they were missing a tool from the truck for the job one day, did I provide them with the checklist of what they would need? You must always ask yourself if you provided your employees with what they need to be successful before you let them take the blame for a problem. Working together is where you come up with the best solutions and the best opportunities for growth.”

Thomasson adds that when you are working to get to the root of a problem that it’s very important to leave emotions out of the discussion. He says he has spent a lot of time focusing on emotional intelligence.

“Controlling your emotions is hard,” he admits. “I am not always successful at it but it ultimately leads to a more productive conversation when you can do that.”

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