Dan Green used to have an advertising company. A high-paced, reasonably successful advertising company. One of the hardest niches for advertising is action pack, direct mail - those coupon books you get with various ads for local services. It’s viciously competitive, fast paced, full of highly stressed and highly strung people… and it was his market. He knew it was important to make a change and escape wearing a tie to get outdoors.
Luckily Dan knew someone with a business that was focused on the outdoors that caught his interest. A cousin in Calgary has operated Cal Green Landscaping for many years. So he went to Calgary for extensive training and brought back equipment and was fortunate that one of the experienced foreman from Calgary came on board for the first two years since he wanted to live in Vancouver for awhile.
Dan wanted to get into the commercial side, but knew he had to start with residential while he built up his clientele. He wasn’t worried. His background was in high-pressure sales and he was confident that he'd be able to put on jeans and a nice logo shirt, walk in the property management door and get the business. Unfortunately, property owners have existing relationships. Getting business was a bigger challenge than expected. His time in the tough ‘mow, blow & go’ world of residential landscaping was longer than he anticipated.
Finally securing a contract in North Vancouver with Edgewater Estates turned out to be an excellent opportunity. Like most entrepreneurs, he put significant sweat equity into his first major customer, and focused on giving them excellent results. He had a strong concern during his early time when Edgewater went through several property managers, but it turned out to be the break he needed. His work was impressive enough that the property managers called him when they landed in their new properties. Commercial business started to be more common for him.
While his sales and marketing background may not have helped him as much in the beginning as he hoped, it was a huge asset as he ramped up. Dan realized quickly that property managers were busy and had many demands on their time. Instead of just providing the normal array of services, he made sure that by offering him a contract, they saved time, not wasted it. If there was something wrong, he fixed it. He gave the managers 24/7 access to him. He also astutely realized that he couldn’t be an expert in everything on every property, so if there was something he couldn’t get done, he found someone who could. Dan partners with tree fallers, horticulturalists, and irrigation installers. By billing directly and being a one-stop-shop, it gave clients an easy solution.
So far he's been able to keep his business lean and efficient. By bringing in expert resources on contract as needed, he's been able to maintain a full time staff with a maximum of 4-8 people depending on the season.
Dan, a proud member of the Métis nation within Canada, became involved with TACC when he wanted to expand his operations. During initial conversations it became clear that TACC could provide assistance with financing for the extensive heavy machinery required to do commercial landscaping. Currently Dan has more than $100,000 in equipment, including everything from a full size dump truck to commercial grade mowers. Working with TACC allowed him to upgrade his equipment so he wasn't spending time every two weeks repairing aging machines. This allowed him to work more efficiently, and offer even better service to his clients.
Now that his staff are more experienced, he will be going back to meet with TACC once a month for professional advice to ensure he stays on track to keep his business balanced while it grows.
The jobs that Dan likes best are the newer, multi-phased projects. If he can get one building, he can usually take over the rest of the development as it goes up. With modern developments he’s found that there is usually less large grass spaces around the properties and more concrete boxes and shrubs. As he humorously adds, “We go in and poodle the bushes once a month.”
Dan's long term plans involve having two right-hand guys that can handle day-to-day jobs, freeing him up to look for new business. Between the landscaping and getting out the numerous quotes, he generally works more than ten hours a day - just what he was trying to avoid in his advertising role.
The extra time will also let him expand into the gardening side of landscaping. He's looking to do some of the installations – the initial plantings, not just the maintenance after the first planting. After years of experience he's discovered that some of the landscape designers don't understand the long-term effects of their plant choices. “I saw one design that had an oak tree in a concrete planter,” he laughed. “There isn’t a planter in the world that can stand up to the roots of an oak.” Irrigation is another aspect not thought through, often looking like it was added at the end as an afterthought. This can be frustrating for him as his company is then brought in to maintain designs that were not carefully considered. So he's hoping in time to be able to put together the full plan himself, using the knowledge gained by working with the designs and landscapes on the North Shore.
When asked about his biggest challenge, he easily replies “staff.” “I have a good full-time staff, but bringing on people with a strong work ethic for the high season is a challenge,” he said. “It's a labour intensive job, the machines are heavy, and they're vibrating and loud. Anybody who can do the job, has a positive outlook, and a good worker isn’t looking for seasonal work in today’s market.”
Unlike where he trained in Calgary, our mild west coast climate doesn’t offer any downtime. The growing season is ten months out of the year, and the remaining two months involve pruning and cleanup. This year was even worse. The mild winter last year and wet summer this year meant there was no dormant period. Everything grew, all the time.
Researching eco-sensitive alternatives for clients hasn’t had much success. Once it’s time to show the money, eco-friendly is not often the client's choice. “I’ve attended strata council meetings where condo owners are saying that they don't want leaf-blowers due to the noise and environmental impact of the machines. But when I explain that it takes three times longer to sweep by hand and outline the costs, most of the time clients see the bill and vote for the leaf-blowers.”
When asked about the easiest part of his industry, Dan just started laughing. “It’s all been hard. It's been tough. It's been a battle.” Getting the loan from TACC was a big relief because he was able to upgrade to newer equipment that he didn't have to fix every week or two. “Still,” he added, “the fun part is that it's grass, and you’re outside... you don't have to put on a suit. Being able to throw on hiking boots, jeans and a t-shirt and go outside has been a blessing. When I've blown up a $12,000 tractor, I think about downtown Vancouver and suits.”
Daniel Couture
Dan-Green Landscaping
www.dan-green.ca
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