Greg Picca never really intended to build a million-dollar-plus landscape design/build/maintenance business. He'd earned his bachelor's degree, after all, in architecture. But like a lot of college students, he'd discovered a way to make a few extra bucks by mowing lawns in his spare time. Today Picca and his 20-24 employees are making a few bucks—and then some—by mowing lawns, managing turfgrass, installing plants and outdoor lighting, building hardscapes and water features, plowing snow, clearing land and grading.
Picca is the owner of G.P. Property Development Corp., dba G.P. Landscape Design, in Center Moriches, NY, on Long Island. He founded the company in 1998 but didn't start to focus on it full-time until 2004 when he finished college. By 2008 the company was doing about $675,000 a year. That figure jumped 40% by 2011, and then another 100% from 2011-2013.
"I credit our growth to being honest with all customers," Picca says. "We complete projects in a timely manner so clients don't have to wonder when we're going to finish something. It also helps that I've been able to let go of the reins a little bit. I have great people I can delegate certain things to, which frees me up to focus on managing our construction and hardscape jobs to make sure the quality level stays there."
Building an optimum book of business
As is the case with most successful landscape companies, positive word of mouth derived from quality workmanship has helped to build up G.P. Landscape Design's book of business. The company got its start in residential maintenance, gradually evolving into residential installations. Commercial accounts soon followed as the company grew in size and name.
Today roughly 45% of sales comes from maintenance, 40% from installation-type work, and 15% from snow removal. With respect to client mix, the company has seen a ratio of 80/20 shift to about 90% homeowner and 10% commercial. Picca is just fine with that.
"Over the past five years, we've been working with some large commercial accounts on the Island," Picca tells. "Accounts like these look great on paper; they keep you really busy and provide steady cash flow. For one account alone we were servicing around 30 properties. But when you really break it down, you're probably not making a lot of money on many of these accounts. The exposure is great, but you're just not making a lot of money.
"We lost an account this year that we'd been working with for about five years," Picca continues. "I got a little nervous at first because it was a lot of revenue. But now I have those two maintenance crews, which were dedicated to this large account, service several more profitable accounts. That's on the residential side. Now these crews still work 10 hours a day, but we're much more profitable for those 10 hours."
Residential customers, as Picca will attest, don't pinch pennies as tightly as most commercial clients do. "When a tree dies on a homeowner's property, they say 'replace it' without batting an eye," Picca cites as an example. However, you have to find the right homeowners who view the maintenance of their landscapes as a priority.
"With every new account we get, we really try to push a full-service contract," Picca points out. That would include the basic mowing and trimming, along with cleanups, bed maintenance, mulch, fertilizing, and weed/insect/disease control. G.P. Landscape Design also offers lawn renovation services, i.e. aerating, dethatching, overseeding, etc. "Full-service accounts have really helped our profitability," Picca adds.
G.P. Landscape Design also caters to high-end residential clients on the installation side. The company has never done much advertising; word of mouth has always helped generate enough new leads. Over the past few years, though, the company has started displaying at a couple of local home and garden shows.
"We tend to get some bigger installation jobs from these shows," Picca says. "A lot of the people who attend have a big landscaping job they want done, but don't know how or don't want to do it themselves. They're able to meet us, talk to us and ask questions, and see some examples of our work. So these shows are a great venue for this type of lead—people who want that in-ground pool, outdoor kitchen or outdoor living space."
Time to delegate
Once G.P. Landscape Design's installation business was poised to take off, Picca hired a full-time designer to help relieve him of some of those duties. Picca says he now spends 90% of his time overseeing bigger landscaping projects, meeting with clients, and prospecting for new business. "From 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day, I'm all over Long Island looking to generate new business," Picca relates. "When I get back to the office, I forward any estimates to my designer, Carol Leonick, so she can do the actual design. Before I had Carol, I might have to spend four or five hours a day doing designs. We're too big now and there are too many other things I need to be focusing on."
G.P. Landscape Design's maintenance division has also continued to grow organically. Another key employee, Joe Walsh, has helped relieve some additional burden by taking the management of this business off of Picca's plate. "Joe has been with me a long time," Picca says. "He handles all estimating, scheduling and customer service for our maintenance clients."
As G.P. Landscape Design essentially tripled in size over a six-year period, the administrative burdens became too much for any owner/operator to bear, including Picca. He began to rely more and more on Nicole Amendola, his office manager of seven years. "We've counted on her to develop great relationships with clients, and really just hold things together," Picca says. "As we grew, we had to change from being a paper-trail company. We track everything electronically now, including our trucks and crews with GPS. We use a company called Vehicle Tracking Solutions."
And then there's the rank and file, who Picca says deserve just as much credit as anyone on his staff. Most are not year-round employees, but many have been with Picca for years. "I've had guys come to work for me who said other contractors they'd worked for would yell at them in front of others, miss payroll once in a while, and not even pay them that well to begin with. I understand you have to treat your employees well and pay them well. Like it or not, money is a motivator."
Above and beyond that, though, Picca also says pride is a huge factor. "I always try to over-expect and push our employees," he relates. "If they don't make a deadline or hit some goal, as a team we try to figure out why. And you have to do it constructively and professionally. When they do hit their goals, though, they know there's going to be something extra in it for them."
Even though many of his employees have been with him for several years, Picca does have numerous slots to fill every season. "We try to go off of recommendations from our existing employees," he points out. "For the most part, this works out well. We figure that if we have an excellent employee who fits our culture well, he or she will recommend people who will also be a good fit."
G.P. Landscape Design has a thorough screening process for new hires. "We always look for people with previous landscaping experience," Picca says. "When we hire someone, we do so on a probationary or trial basis. The employee spends time on each of our crews so each of my foremen can help with the evaluation. New employees have to understand that, without exception, quality and professionalism are number one. Shirts tucked in, keeping trucks and equipment neat, cleaning up jobsites ... that's how we do things here. It's not for everybody, but we require it. And we reinforce this over and over at our bi-weekly company-wide meetings."
Communication, and your word, are everything
No matter how good your team, processes and standards are, mistakes are going to happen, Picca reminds. "What customers remember is how you handle those mistakes," he adds. "For example, if a window breaks, will you have a contractor there the next day to fix it?
"We always stand by what we do," Picca continues. "We always have someone in the office to immediately answer any questions a client might have."
What Picca refers to as "constant contact" is hugely important in both commercial and residential. The biggest customers get a weekly email recapping what took place that week. "Simple emails like this can go a long way," Picca points out. "Many of the new clients we pick up are blown away by this. We also tell them that either myself or a service manager will be on their property at least once every two weeks to check things over.
"Being proactive is the key. We'd lost clients in the past because they were unhappy, and we didn't know it. Most customers will just not renew with you, rather than talk to you about a problem. We learned a lot from that."
Even G.P. Landscape Design's smallest of clients get a phone call a month, either from Picca or one of his managers. "No matter how small an account might be, it's important to remember that they're still helping you pay your bills," Picca says. "We want to make sure they're happy with how the crew is treating them, how their property is looking, and so on. Again, you need to identify any potential problems before they get fed up and fire you. That's the key to retention."
Retention and word of mouth have helped G.P. Landscape Design become a multi-million-dollar landscaping company on Long Island. Picca would like to continue growing. Recently he's had the front driver's side of each of his trucks painted green to match his employees' uniforms. It's all about branding. "It might sound like a silly waste of money, but we immediately started hearing comments from people in the community who were taking notice."
Over the course of his 16 years in business, Picca has noticed something himself. "It's really cool to see how not only we have grown as a company, but how our clients and their families have grown," he says. "There are kids I went to school with who now have their own homes and families. We had serviced their parents' properties for years, and now we are servicing theirs. We've had many customers since our first year in business. It's nice to extend a little courtesy to those who've helped us grow."
