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To Bobby Jenkins, owner of the Austin-based ABC Pest and Lawn Services, the decision to expand into the lawn maintenance business was easy to make.
The company had been purchased by the late Bob Jenkins, Bobby?EUR??,,????'???s father, in 1967. Jenkins Sr. had steadily built up from a one-truck operation, with the business name changed from ABC Pest Control to ABC Pest and Lawn Services in the early 1990s. Bobby Jenkins describes what happened next and how that decided the firm?EUR??,,????'???s move from pure pest control into the lawn maintenance field.
?EUR??,,????'??We changed the name to ABC Pest and Lawn Services,?EUR??,,????'?? Jenkins recalled. ?EUR??,,????'??And we thought that referred to our lawn care?EUR??,,????'??+like weed and insect control, fertilization and feeding. But our customers heard the name and they thought we were in the lawn mowing business too. We had to say no?EUR??,,????'??+but at some point we figured if they want something we might as well give it to them.?EUR??,,????'??
Jenkins took a page from his late father, who had started with a lone pest-control truck. In 1999, Jenkins?EUR??,,????'??? son went into lawn maintenance by purchasing a single-truck operation, which included a supervisor and a three-man crew.
The transition to mowing, trimming and blowing was not as smooth and simple as Jenkins had hoped.
At first, ABC found that the new operation wasn?EUR??,,????'???t providing the same level of care that its more experienced pest-control operation did. Some customers were disappointed, and that slowed down ABC?EUR??,,????'???s growth.
?EUR??,,????'??On paper, it seemed like our pest-control technicians could do fertilizer application too,?EUR??,,????'?? he said. ?EUR??,,????'??But what happened was that our pest control techs were not that good at finding and stopping turf diseases. Our service, at first, was mediocre. We had to find new lawn techs. It turned out to not be as efficient as we had hoped, but our level of service went up and the business followed. We had to go through the school of hard knocks and it took some time.?EUR??,,????'??
One key to getting things on track was putting longtime foreman Steve Ambrose in charge of the lawn division, Jenkins said. The company originally let new, untested workers run the operation, but they needed someone they knew and someone they could trust.
?EUR??,,????'??He?EUR??,,????'???s willing to go out in the field and see what?EUR??,,????'???s actually going on,?EUR??,,????'?? owner Jenkins said. ?EUR??,,????'??The key was his being hands-on.?EUR??,,????'??
From the single maintenance truck, ABC?EUR??,,????'???s Austin operation has since grown to 15 lawn maintenance trucks and crews, two irrigation installation and maintenance crews and six lawn (turf disease) care trucks.
Where to find capable and dedicated workers is another key to a successful business. Like many other medium and large-sized maintenance companies, ABC is taking advantage of the federal government?EUR??,,????'???s H2B program that allows temporary workers from Mexico to work part of the year in this country. Back in 2002, a private consulting firm helped ABC fill out the paperwork and get the ball rolling. Now about 25 of the roughly 50-person lawn division workers are Mexican citizens.
ABC is lucky. After Sept. 11, 2001 the guest worker program lost favor with many lawmakers. The Professional Landcare Network, or PLANET, is pushing with other groups to open the door for more foreign workers, but for now, the demand for them outstrips the supply.
The guest worker program requires foreign workers to return to their home countries for several months of the year. It?EUR??,,????'???s a perfect setup for the landscape industry?EUR??,,????'??+where winter work is slower. (Most of the local workers who remain stay busy setting up holiday lights and with other tasks.)
The Christmas lights business is up nationwide?EUR??,,????'??+for ABC it increased 100 percent from 2003 to 2004. The company has a plan to grow in its more lucrative and mainstream markets too.
Now that ABC?EUR??,,????'???s lawn care, pest control, fertilization and other services operate at the same high level, the company?EUR??,,????'???s opportunity for growth is clear. The key will be to cross-market the services to the customers ABC already serves.
?EUR??,,????'??Our goal for now is to package these services in a bundle and cross-market them,?EUR??,,????'?? Jenkins said. ?EUR??,,????'??That?EUR??,,????'???s where our biggest opportunity is. Our greatest opportunity is to have a customer who has all four of these services.?EUR??,,????'??
A year or two ago, ABC planned to expand its installation and landscape contracting services. A portion of the crews were put to work installing irrigation systems, hardscapes, fireplaces and large trees. But it wasn?EUR??,,????'???t the best use of the company?EUR??,,????'???s resources.
?EUR??,,????'??Putting in shrubs is one thing but big trees is another,?EUR??,,????'?? Jenkins said. ?EUR??,,????'??I?EUR??,,????'???m not interested in doing big, one-time projects. We want to do repeat business?EUR??,,????'??+that?EUR??,,????'???s what I?EUR??,,????'???m after.
Landscaping, installing seasonal color?EUR??,,????'??+annual bloomers?EUR??,,????'??+is the extent of what the company wants to do in terms of installation. The time and effort required to do the big jobs properly cancels out the profit incentive if it?EUR??,,????'???s just a one-time thing.
Put together, ABC?EUR??,,????'???s strategy sounds like a recipe for success.
We are staffed with three office personnel that carry out the daily functions of the office including answering all incoming phone calls, route scheduling and processing of work. We have one full-time mechanic and one part-time mechanic who keep our equipment mechanically sound, safe, as well as keeping all mower blades sharpened weekly.
Longevity is key for business success and growth. A majority of our crew leaders have been with the company three to four years. For laborers that are not United States citizens, we provide a work visa that is paid by the company. Over the years, our crew leaders and laborers have returned from Mexico year after year. We have also have numerous family members of existing employees referred to us. We feel that this is an enormous benefit to us because the new employees have an idea of what to expect and have basic information about the company.
Most of our hand-held equipment is Shindaiwa. Our small push mowers as well as walk behind ones are Exmark mowers. We have a current repair log on each piece of equipment for repair purposes and have found that replacing equipment after two years of use helps reduce repair costs and saves money. Usually, at or around the two-year mark, costs for upkeep and repair begin to outweigh the value of the equipment, even with the benefit of having an in-house mechanic. Our service vehicles are Ford F-250 trucks combined with a 14-foot trailer. Currently, we are in the process of going from truck and trailer combinations to box trucks for our mowing crews. This decision was made for several reasons, including enhanced image, improved security, and fewer concerns about tires and electrical connections. We are changing our lawn care vehicles from Ford F-150s to Ford F-250 vans for similar reasons.
The first year we expanded our service was not a pleasurable experience. We attempted to have our residential pest control technicians do the lawn fertilization while they treated the house and yard for pests (this turned out to be a big mistake). The pest technicians did not have any specialty training in types of turf, diseases, weed identification or insect damage to turf. They were unable to answer simple questions and could not perform the service to the level desired by ABC. Once we separated the service, and hired a lawn specialist to sell and service the accounts, we started to see good results as well as steady growth. Our lawn care program is a five-application-per-year agreement. All our fertilization is slow release granular and all our contracts cover weeds and surface damaging insects. We also offer disease management, grub control and fire ant treatment that can be added to the annual contract.
Our lawn maintenance crews consist of three people per crew (for both residential and commercial). They include a crew leader and two laborers. This setup allows us to keep labor costs manageable and the crew efficient. We found that adding an additional (fourth) crewmember did not enhance the service. On the contrary, many times the additional man seemed to be a hindrance. Also, the addition of a fourth person does not provide a proportional increase in production. Our residential crews visit 15 to 20 homes per day (this can be done only with very careful routing). By keeping routing tight, our crews can visit the maximum number of homes in a workday and spend little time driving from stop to stop. The crews are equipped with one deck mower, two 21-inch walk-behinds, two weed-eaters, hedge-trimmers and blowers. The commercial crews are set up similarly, however on our larger accounts we have a detail crew. This detail crew consists of two people visiting the account each week to focus on the shrub trimming, mulching, weeding, and tending the beds. We found a detail crew is necessary because mowers cannot do the specialized work properly or as efficiently. We also have a two-man crew that does small enhancements on these commercial accounts (flowers, mulch and small landscape).
In the beginning, when we first expanded our services, we were doing new system installation and repairs. By the second year, we were running five installation crews. It did not result in acceptable profits because it is such a labor-driven service. In addition, irrigation did not fit our service model of ?EUR??,,????'??one tech, one truck.?EUR??,,????'?? As a result, we abandoned the installation business and just focused on repairs. This allowed us to return to our primary service model and begin to be profitable again. We currently have three repair trucks and one supervisor.
All employees are provided with the same benefits that our office and pest techs are offered. We provide them with health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, our 401K programs, as well as bonus programs. We also include all employees in our year-end profit-sharing program.
Raleigh, North Carolina
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
Hardscape Oasis in Litchfield Park
Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
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