Total Landscape Care Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/267037
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Total Landscape Care is a trademark of Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC neither endorses nor makes any representation or guarantee regarding the quality of goods and services advertised herein. For change of address and other subscription inquiries, please contact: totallandscapecare@halldata.com Adding on services is nothing new for landscapers, but in a lot of cases, they only expand to keep their business afl oat – not to make it thrive. But that isn't the case with two contractors I visited in January. Dan Thiel and Steve Mueller, owners of J&S General Contracting in Osceola, Wisconsin, haven't let their short work seasons and bitter winters slow them down. Not only do they offer landscaping, excavation and con- crete work, but they expanded their list of services to include playgrounds for schools, pools, selling hard goods such as rocks, hauling materials for railroad companies and constructing an athletic facility for a local high school. Their work at the high school ended up being their largest job to date: a $3.2 million project. "We try to have one good anchor job for the year," Mueller says. The contractors also widened their service radius from 30 to 60 miles when the economy started to struggle. Their business is also one of the few construction companies left in their area – but they've done a lot more than just survive. Since 2006, they've experienced a 360-percent growth. "By having a broader base of services, we run a turnkey busi- ness," Thiel says. "We're a one-stop shop. Clients can just turn to us for everything." While offering a variety of ser- vices can set your business apart from the competition, it's impor- tant to not overextend yourself. You need to be an expert on all you offer, so don't add services at random or too quickly. Read their advice for land- scapers just starting out on page 7. Watch a video on their tips for thriving at totallandscapecare. com/survival-tips. Lauren Heartsill Dowdle Editor-At-Large Diversity: Not Just a Survival Tool Wisconsin contractors added services and watched their business grow breaking ground M A R C H 2 014 To t a l L a n d s c a p e C a r e . c o m 5