Cover Story: Teams for tough times
1 Mar, 2009 By: Ron Hall Landscape ManagementOwners are looking harder than ever at their employees and what they can contribute entering this uncertain season.
Ken carr, owner of Green-space Design & Landscape, is at home tending his 8-month-old daughter, Anna. He's busy this morning working up a direct mail marketing piece. His wife, Lori, who does "the books" for his business in evenings, teaches at a nearby school.
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Carr, 38, is optimistic by nature, and his contagious and honest enthusiasm makes him instantly likable, which serves him well when meeting prospects. But Carr knew he had to get off the equipment, out of the field and start designing, selling and networking to take his company to its next annual revenue goal of $500,000. To reach that figure, Carr says he needed one more good "team member" — a dependable field foreman.
Even in these days of high unemployment, that's not as easy as it might seem, Carr is discovering.
"I had a good candidate. I thought he might join me, but he went with a different company. They offered him a company vehicle, and it would be hard for me to do that," says Carr.
Undaunted, Carr continued his search, and just before this magazine went to press, he made an offer to someone from a local competitor. The offer was accepted.
Greenspace consists of Carr and now three employees, and the four of them will be tackling the growing number of landscape renovations that Carr, who doesn't do snowplowing, managed to sell this winter. While Carr is pleased with their work habits and appreciates their loyalty, he's convinced the new addition could make all the difference in the world.
 Ken Carr |
"I'm not looking to be one of the big guys here," says Carr. "If we can keep growing and be profitable, I'm happy with that."
Faith in the future
Mark Halla, driving to meet his wife for lunch, relates that he carried over very little landscape construction business from the previous season. He admits to being "a bit concerned at times," but says that he's running more leads than ever. Halla is confident once spring erupts, his Twin Cities' area landscape company will be busy again.
"We know for sure that God will be faithful. For me this is my mission field, and God has blessed me abundantly," says Halla.
Mark and Kay Halla have faith their full-service landscape company/garden center located near Chaska, MN, will continue to prosper, in spite of today's discouraging economy. Their faith is reflected in their company's name — The Mustard Seed Inc. ("...if you have faith as small as a grain of mustard seed, you shall tell this mountain to leave and it will leave and nothing will be impossible to you." Matthew 17:20)
 David Kafka |
Halla says that in spite of a dearth of projects going into the spring, he anticipates another busy season for his company — in large part because of his experienced management team, three of whom also have ownership in the company. Employee-owned landscape companies aren't that unusual, but few are structured like The Mustard Seed.
The Hallas founded the company in November 2003, after Mark had worked 14 years in a nursery founded by his grandparents in 1942. Initially, the couple worked out of the basement of their home. Borrowing $300,000 for trucks and equipment and putting in long hours, they soon found themselves overwhelmed. But that started to change within a few months.
"By the next spring, all the key people that I had worked with at the other business for so many years joined us. That was a blessing," says Halla. "We ended up having a team of professionals almost from the start. They've all stayed with us. None of them have left. In fact, we've even given them some ownership in the company, and we anticipate and hope they will always stay with us." Each of the three employees received a 10% stake in the company.
 Steve Booth |
The next milestone for the couple's business plan fell into place when they found and purchased a farmhouse on 30 acres. Again, Halla credits God for the good fortune, but he also acknowledges that the success of The Mustard Seed will continue only as long as he can motivate its employees.
"We're fortunate here because the people have a strong work ethic. Many of them have been raised on farms, and work doesn't bother them," Halla says. "I don't have to put ads in newspapers for employees. We put out a sign, and in about two days we have more applications than we'll need for the year."
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