1/2 the management team leaves the company

Brothers Mitch and James Andrea had been gearing up to go full-time in their company, Elmwood Landscapes, for years. Their 10-year plan was for James to work on real estate part-time and eventually leave Elmwood to go full-time. But, the 10-year plan became a 3-year plan and James left the company at the end of 2022. Mitch is still working out how to fill in for the loss of his brother, his partner and key employee.... MORE

Dealing with inspectors & code officials

As we began designing and installing increasingly complex projects we found ourselves graduating from cookie cutter infiltration pits to custom stormwater management plans using permeable pavers. That required learning new terms, new documentation, new construction methods. And as our knowledge and experience grew, we found code officials really weren’t that difficult if you knew how to work with them. Here are some lessons I learned along the way: ... MORE

What would you do different?

The time comes when you look back and say to yourself, “If I could have only done things differently.” I have been involved in this industry since the early 80s, and, yes, there are some things that I would have done different. I want to share some of those things that I think are important that might help you become more efficient, better organized, have fewer headaches, raise the level of quality, and be more successful.... MORE

All walls all the time

It wasn’t long after the startup of contractor Drew Nicoliello’s 35-year-old business that retaining walls become the primary focus of his company. “We've carved out a niche as an earth retention contractor. There's not a lot of companies around that specialize in engineered residential retaining walls.” As such, Drew says profit margins are exceptional and allow him to pay “top dollar” and keep well-trained employees a very long-time.… MORE

Should I charge consult fees?

I got a call from a contractor wanting to talk about consultation fees. He had been charging $150 for a consultation for a few years and hadn’t been getting any pushback. Until now. There was new competition in town, and they weren’t charging any consultation fees. He had several leads tell him, “Well, other companies aren’t charging me fees to get an estimate, so I’m just going to get quotes from them.”… MORE

Contractor Profiles

Still learning after 30+ years

February/March 2023

Still learning after 30+ years

After 3 decades in business, Burnell Weaver is transitioning out of day-to-day operations, and into full-time managing his company. MORE

At Prime Lawn nearly everyone knows how to do everything

August/September 2022

At Prime Lawn nearly everyone knows how to do everything

Cross-training employees allows the company to offer a range of services and consistently do them well. MORE

Coming back from a mountain of debt

June/July 2022

Coming back from a mountain of debt

Hardscape contractor Steve Bousquet learned how a contracting company should be run and now spends time mentoring others. MORE

If only this happened every project

February/March 2022

If only this happened every project

With limited input and generous budget, client tells contractor to run with it and create an award winning project. MORE

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June/July 2023

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