This information came from a session during the 2025 ELEVATE conference and expo. Don’t miss ELEVATE in Tampa, Florida, on Nov. 8-11, 2026.
Do you consider yourself a disruptor in the landscape industry? This is a person or company that intentionally challenges the existing order to create better outcomes.
As a disruptor, you are able to write the rules of the future, attract and retain the best people and create unfair advantages in your market.
Justin White, owner of K&D Landscaping, Inc., based in Watsonville, California, argues that self-disruption is better than forced change. He says that too often the landscape industry is responsive to the changes happening around them, rather than leading the way.
White himself realized they needed to change when in 2021, they lost $1.5 million and had to lay off staff members or declare bankruptcy. He abandoned their predictable profit playbook they’d been using and started thinking about how they could do things differently.
One example of this is how the company moved from six traditional core values to 30 fundamentals for their team to follow. These fundamentals were branded as the ‘K&D Way’ and outline actionable steps for how employees should operate, including ‘Speak Straight,’ which encourages team members to have the courage to say what needs to be said and ‘If You See It, Do It,’ prompting employees to be willing to do simple and ordinary tasks as no job is beneath anyone.
Since rolling out the K&D Way in 2023, turnover has dropped from 45% to 18% at the company. They’ve also been able to increase their average wage by 30%. White says one of his goals is to get every employee to the point where they are contributing $100,000 to the business.
Stay Curious
One aspect of disruption is you must always look for new ways to innovate. What once gave your company a competitive edge will eventually become the industry standard. For instance, in the past utilizing business management software was considered disruptive compared to those using paper time cards and bank balance accounting. Nowadays, it has become the new norm.
For instance, White predicts 51% of client turfgrass will eventually be maintained by autonomous mowers.
He encourages owners to test concepts before going all in on something. This allows you to build buy-in with your team. It’s also important to manage their expectations so they’re not disappointed by something in the early stages of testing.
White says one source of learning he utilizes is the quarterly earnings calls of publicly traded companies like BrightView. These presentations are full of data and trends. He also monitors brands like Google and Tesla and dedicates 50 to 100 hours a month to researching the latest AI innovations.
Invest In Tomorrow
Too often businesses prioritize short-term profitability over long-term innovation. White says that those with the disruptor mindset aren’t afraid to allocate resources to new opportunities.
When K&D decided to invest in switching to battery-powered equipment over the span of 45 days, their client retention went up from 85% in 2024 to 96% in 2025.
White says they’ve also experienced 40% annualized recurring revenue growth in Q3 of 2025.
He compares investing in your business to how you choose to travel from Phoenix to Florida. You could walk, drive or fly to get there. While walking is free, it will cost you your future. Planes are more expensive, but they will get you to your destination faster.
Redefine Success
The final aspect of the disruptor model is to focus on what the customer truly values.
“The companies that win are not the ones that do the same thing better, they’re the ones brave enough to do it differently,” White says.
Consider how your company can change the way it operates to the benefit of the customer.
In the near future, White anticipates that the role of estimating will be replaced by AI automation, and the recurring revenue model will change as well. Rather than allowing these to be changes your business has to respond to, be willing to get out in front and lead the charge.
White stresses that you shouldn’t be so attached to the current way you operate that you don’t give your future self a chance.
For more content like this, be sure to register for next year’s ELEVATE in Tampa, Florida, on Nov. 8-11.
