Lake work walls, permeables & cranberries

Contractor Brad Tork does nearly all his work in 2 developments 1 hour apart in central Wisconsin, Nepco Lake and Castle Rock Lake. Brad says 99% of the properties they work on are waterfront properties (mostly vacation homes). So, they do a lot of retaining walls and a lot of permeable pavers. They’ve developed enough expertise in these areas to win a 2019 HNA Project Award. MORE

1-crew company permeable experts

Competition was crazy in lawn maintenance to the point where Key Landscape gave it up in 2006. They’ve done well in hardscaping by becoming experts at it in a market that didn’t have any. Today, Steve Key estimates hardscape accounts for about 90% of their non-snow work. 75% of that is permeable paver driveways. Not what you might expect from a small company with a single 3-man crew... MORE

Providing exceptional customer service

Customer service is about “how” you do things, not about “what” you technically perform. For starters, how do you handle complaints? What’s your policy? I bet you don’t have one. If you don’t provide training with specifics on how to respond to a complaint, workers tend to wing it and make stuff up. Not a good idea. Here are some good complaint-handling practices to incorporate into a training plan for your field workers... MORE

Building relationships builds your business

I strongly believe that people are the key to success for every single business. Regardless of size or what kind of services or products are being sold, people and relationships are an integral part of all businesses. Communication and commitment are part of every valuable relationship. So let’s take a look at some relationships that you can leverage as part of your contracting business... MORE

Plan for your future

About the time [our son] was born we decided we needed help with planning for our goals in life. The first order of business was to get disability and life insurance. This is something a lot of young people don’t think about. Look at my case though. Out of nowhere I had a stroke and was out of work for an entire season. Thank goodness I had disability insurance and savings... MORE

Contractor Profiles

Going into Hardscape Rehab

December/January 2020

Going into Hardscape Rehab

Contractor seizes the opportunity to launch a cleaning, re-sanding and sealing business. MORE

Biggest challenge is minimizing challenges

August/September 2019

Biggest challenge is minimizing challenges

Months of planning allow paver specialists to complete large projects to near perfection with minimal issues. MORE

Building a hybrid permeable project

June/July 2019

Building a hybrid permeable project

Hybrid permeable construction provides drainage by a pool while meeting local regulations. MORE

A big beautiful wall

April/May 2019

A big beautiful wall

Overbuilding a residential retaining wall with lots of curves and lots of cutting. MORE

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