Employee retention has never been much of an issue at McHale Landscape Design, a $20-million full-service landscape and maintenance company based in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. In fact, the company has many long-term employees who have been with the business for two decades or more—including McHale’s 50 foremen. But Kevin McHale, president, says he was getting […]
Though his son has grown up around the business—and the industry—Cody Whelchel, owner of Texas-based Cody Landscape, says the process of transitioning business ownership to his son has been more complicated than he anticipated. Currently in the midst of that process, Whelchel, who founded the landscape design, installation and maintenance business in 1986 along with […]
Let’s face it: As a result of the lack of knowledge available to people about the landscape industry and the career potential within, its image is tainted. This is particularly true with younger generations. “Students and parents think it’s a dirty job and that you don’t make any money in landscaping; we just have this […]
A savvy business owner knows he or she constantly needs to be on the lookout for a growth bottleneck. If they want their businesses to continue to grow and perform, they need to remove these “hold-ups.” But what if the owner is the bottleneck? That was exactly the case for Doug McDuff and his business […]
Switching companies—or even just positions within the same company—always brings a new set of challenges. For Bill Horn, East Branch Manager for Gachina Landscape Management in Menlo Park, California, 30-plus years with the same company had him used to a certain way of doing business. Horn brought his ideas to Gachina and had to find […]
Located in Austin, Texas—where technology is basically a way of life (and most certainly a way of business)—Ben Collinsworth, owner and founder of Native Land Design, says he felt embarrassed that his company appeared to lag in that arena. Watching friends outside of the industry transform their businesses with technology inspired Collinsworth to do this […]
Landscape business owners often feel like there is an “us versus them” mentality when it comes to employees. They feel like everyone is just in it for themselves. Nikos Phelps, founder of Utopian Landscapes LLC based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, says that he sensed tension building in his company and took a step back to ask […]
Growing his company through the 2008 recession meant that Dave Fairburn, CEO of North Point Outdoors in Windham, New Hampshire, found he was “saying yes” to nearly every opportunity. He was always afraid to turn work down because he was unsure where it’d come from next. While trying to be all things to all people […]
Like a lot of landscape business owners, Shayne Newman, owner of YardApes, a full-service design, construction and maintenance company, was significantly impacted by the lack of visas to come through the H-2B program this past year. Of the 66,000 available, he didn’t get a single one—and he admits he was unprepared for it to be […]
As is often said, “It can be lonely at the top.” Dean DeSantis, owner of DeSantis Landscapes, a Portland, Oregon-based landscape design, installation and lawn care company, was wrestling with this very feeling. Though he has a great team in place, he felt he had nobody to consult with for higher level advice. Because of […]