LANDSCAPING
CHANGES PAY OFF AS MARKET SEGMENTS MOVE WITH THE ECONOMY
Carl Williams, general manager of Lawn Sense, has skillfully navigated the challenging economy by reinventing the lawn and turf management fi rm he owns with his wife Brenda.
“We’ve changed our emphasis a couple of times — from maintenance to installation to lawn care,” Williams says. “And along the way we invested a lot of resources in marketing, purchased the best equipment for our needs at the time, and even came up with a new name for the company. The result has been growth each of the 15 years we’ve been in business.”
The name game
The Monroeville, Pa., company began in 1997 as Williams Landscaping. Initially the focus was on maintenance work but, as with many landscaping operations, the fi rm identifi ed better opportunities.
“I discovered that the lawn treatment side of the business had a good profi t margin and there was less competition,” Williams says. “It was apparent that fi rms doing this type of work were not selling what customers needed, but what they wanted customers to buy. Whether a lawn needed a lime treatment or not, they were selling it.
“That was the impetus behind changing our name to Lawn Sense in year three,” he says. “The name was an important
way to differentiate our services — taking care of someone’s lawn in a sensible way — from every other landscaper. I fi gured the name Lawn Sense would brand our business and help us stand out.”
Landscape installations
At one time new home landscape installations were an important part of the business for Lawn Sense.
“We had a good run for about seven or eight years,” he says. “Construction was booming and we did installations for some big regional and custom builders.”
When this part of his business slowed down, Williams decided that to maintain a presence in the installation marketplace he had to fi nd the right niche.
He considered two options: the $2,000- to-$8,000 project and the $50,000-to- $200,000 job.
“The latter seems to fi t us best,” he says. “Our ability to more accurately bid a project has improved. We have enough data over the past 10 years that we are comfortable with higher priced jobs. We are not scared to do them. I think we have found the right place in the installation market.”
Williams believes larger projects have a greater margin for error, which tends to eliminate some of the competition. “Just like I learned early on with lawn care, that service work is a better niche for us than cutting grass, the same is true in the installation fi eld.”
“Reliable Bobcat equipment has made a signifi cant impact on the business. This industry is so competitive that you need good equipment to give yourself an advantage. On installation jobs, Bobcat machines are a key element in the bid; they make us money.” — Carl Williams, Lawn Sense
28 WorkSaver | SPRING 2012
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