Articles written by guest contributors
Bill Gardocki teaches a class at Hardscape North America.
Why a contractor teaches competitors
By Bill Gardocki, Interstate LandscapeWhen choosing topics for my articles, I like to pick something that I think has a wide range of interest to contractors. Compaction, geo-synthetics, the 4-day work week…these are all topics that I have received a lot of feedback on from Hardscape Magazine readers. This past month Editor Tom Hatlen asked if I would write about the most-asked question I get. I said, “Okay – but it is not going to be what you might think.”
Over the past 15 years I have been an instructor for over 100 ICPI and NCMA certification classes. I have been a speaker at over 100 dealer and manufacturer education days. I have conducted seminars for 7 state landscape associations and have been a speaker at 5 local garden clubs. And, last year I started teaching the Landscape Construction class at my Alma Mater, the Thompson School of Applied Science at the University of New Hampshire.
So when Tom asked what question I get most frequently, the answer was easy: Why? Why, as a contractor, do I do so much contractor education? Aren’t I giving away all my secrets it took years and years to learn? Well, I cannot deny asking myself those questions a few times, especially when I look out into the crowd and see my direct competitors in the audience.
I think the teaching bug hit me as a junior at Norfolk County Agricultural High School in Walpole, MA. I had a great horticultural teacher named Gerry Peters. You probably know, or had a teacher like him, passionate about the subject, compassionate but demanding of his students, fair handed, and always there to answer questions. After 2 years of being around Gerry, I wanted to be just like him.
So off to college I went, got my Agricultural Education degree, and just like him I became a high school agriculture teacher. But after a few years I was making more money running my 3-month summer landscape business than I was working 9 months as a teacher. I had to take my new young family into consideration, and so the teaching gig ended in 1987. I did not really think about it for the next 10 years as I built a successful landscape construction business.
Then in 2001 I heard that ICPI and NCMA were looking for contractor instructors for national certification classes. Here I am today, training my competition. That brings us back to the “Why?” I don’t think there is one of us that would say hardscaping is an easy business. It is tough, competitive, stressful, and needs to be handled like a professional business.
We as contractors need all the help we can get because most of us have no business management background. The only way to improve the industry is through education. You have read in these pages many times that I don’t necessarily believe in the term “lowballer.” I do believe that we have a lot of contractors in the industry who don’t understand how to bid, install, follow up, and in general, how to run a business.
Many of my competitors are smart, college educated individuals. But, many of them don’t really understand using industry “best practices” in the installation of their projects and all the factors involved in the cost of running a business.
It is my opinion that the only way to raise the bar in our industry is to have everyone that’s on the playing field play by the same rules. Once the rules have been laid out, let the chips fall where they may. What are the rules? To me it is the ICPI, NCMA, manufacturer and state specifications that are clearly spelled out for our industry.
At every level within our industry we must be diligent about supporting, promoting and enforcing these widely accepted installation specifications. As a voice in the industry, I feel responsibility to get the word out about raising the bar. Raising the bar not only about specifications, but also about business integrity, community activism and personal character.
Anyone who has seen one of my classes or seminars knows that I speak from the heart and don’t hold anything back. I think that as a contractor myself, the contractors in my classes feel a bond that they don’t get from some other speakers. As I say in my class, “I drop my drawers” and tell everything about my business and answer any question.
I don’t hold back my passion for the industry and I don’t hold back my ultimate belief that as contractors we all need to understand that following national specifications, attending best business practices seminars and raising our level of industry and business knowledge ensures we are all playing on the same playing field. These things build respect for our industry and ultimately allow us to raise our pricing accordingly.
That’s “Why.”
Bill Gardocki is the owner of Interstate Landscape Co. Inc. in Londonderry, NH, installing hardscapes for over 40 years. Bill has taught over 100 classes as an NCMA and ICPI certified instructor. He also provides hardscape seminars for dealer/contractor education days, and last year became the Landscape Construction instructor at his alma mater, the University of New Hampshire. Contact Bill@InterstateLandscapeNH.com
