Imagine looking forward to work so much that you literally jump out of bed every morning. Patrick Keyes, owner of Camross Landscaping in Amityville, New York, does just that. He looks forward to interacting with customers, to the challenges associated with growing a business, and to providing a living for his family, something he couldn't have done if he had stayed home in Ireland.
Camross Landscaping - the name came from Keyes' hometown in Ireland - counts itself among literally thousands of other contractors who compete for work on Long Island. In this tough, competitive environment, what distinguishes one company from another is likely to be the ticket to success.
As such, Camross sets itself apart by doing custom design work, by providing full service, by giving all properties personal attention, and by doing the things the owner says "tickle his customers' fancy."
The end result speaks for itself. After eight years in business, the company, which caters to high end homeowners, has tripled its customer base. It lives off a reputation for being not the least expensive company around, but one that delivers, giving customers their money's worth and a little bit more.
Seeking Opportunity In America
On the way to visit his girlfriend Mary, who was in an exchange program at the time, Keyes met a stranger whose advice about moving to this country was straightforward: "Get into landscaping."
Yes, Keyes is proud of his operation. Yet, several years ago, flying 30,000 feet above the Atlantic, owning a landscaping business was the furthest thing from his mind.
That was back in the middle 1980s when Patrick and other Irish men and women were seeking work, if not their fortune, in areas outside their homeland. As he puts it, "times were tough back then. There just wasn't any way to make a living. Some of us went to London to work; others looked elsewhere for opportunities. I wanted to go to America."
Go he did in 1986 - with determination. He moved to Long Island and worked for a year or so in "The City" before being hired by Patrick Murphy, a landscaping friend in New Jersey. He worked for Murphy, learning the landscaping profession, until a lawn maintenance business came up for sale in Long Island. In 1989, he purchased the business, which included 62 landscape maintenance accounts, enough to get his foot in the door.
"It was a tough go at first," tells Keyes, who only three years in this country had worked at a variety of jobs in addition to landscaping. Bidding was a mystery, as were other business-related exercises. Not unlike other budding entrepreneurs, Keyes knew how to work, but didn't have a good handle on the business end of the operation. In fact, he says it wasn't until 1993- when he married Mary - that he made any money in the business.
"She immediately took over the book work," says Keyes. "She began showing me where I was falling short on the business end. If I needed money for a piece of equipment and didn't have it, she showed me where the money was and told me to go get it. She has a real business head and without her I wouldn't be in business today."
Separating Itself From the Competition
In 1993 Camross Landscaping also started to target high-end customers in more exclusive neighborhoods, offering the kinds of services that began to separate it from the competition. Keyes began to leverage his experience and education into more specialized work.
In addition to landscape maintenance, design and construction, he could offer customers irrigation design and installation, tree care, nightscaping and computer imaging. The latter, being able to show customers an image of their landscape design before a shovel had been lifted, has given his business a boost, notes Keyes.
In addition, a diet of design course work during the winter off season gives the Camross owner the reputation as a purveyor of unique perennial gardens.
Behind the scenes, Keyes is working to please customers in other ways, too. "All of our customers have a hot button," he notes. "The key is to find that button ." Keyes looks for it early on in their relationship, asking customers what they liked and didn't like from previous lawn services. He focuses on both, making sure his crews repeat the good things, but don't repeat past offenses. If weeds were a particular problem in the past, for example, he would concentrate on ridding the property of the weeds.
It's really as simple as that, he explains, talking about his hard-earned respect. In return, customers really come to depend on you.
''I'm always amazed by how much trust people put in you," explains Keyes, "like asking me if a tree that is well over 50 years old should live or die. Imagine that and I'm only 34," he says with a smile.
Indeed, a big part of Keyes' success is not only his respect for customers, but also for the land. He grew up on a farm in Ireland and always understood the synergy between the people who worked the land and the land itself. As he says, being in the landscape business today is really the closest he could get to farming.
Economically Speaking
Unfortunately, being in the landscape business resembles farming all too closely in one area in particular - money doesn't come easy. Having Mary keep the books has helped, says Keyes, but it still can be a struggle making ends meet.
"I've learned over the years to spend money carefully and avoid getting into debt," says Keyes, looking subconsciously at his cell phone. The phone has been a great help to the business but it can also be overused, he explains. It's easy to take things for granted, especially things that needlessly cost your business money.
The same holds true for properties. Some are more expensive than others to maintain, just by their proximity. Keyes, like so many other landscapers, strives to keep accounts close, to cut down on needless travel and loading/unloading time.
And at times, you have to spend money to make money. Preventive maintenance falls into that category. "If you ignore it, it will cost you money," says Keyes, who is constantly reminded of his dad's words when he was growing up on the cattle farm: "If you feed them, you will get your money back."
Likewise with his equipment. In spring '97, Keyes bought his first Walker mower, a 48-inch diesel powered unit with a GHS deck.
"My friends in Jersey convinced me to buy the mower," he tells. "Last November, I was asked to maintain six condominiums and I really couldn't do it without hiring another person in the spring. After listening to my friends and looking at the numbers, I decided to buy the mower. It was big bucks, but it also saves me big money."
As he relates, to maintain the property with a walk-behind would have cost him a new $4,000 mower this spring and one person's salary which, for 10 months, amounts to $20,000. He figures, in strict economic terms, that the Walker has saved him $24,000.
"The machine is a big deal for us even beyond economics," says Keyes. "It gives me a chance to do the job in a timely fashion. And it's so easy to operate I feel good at night."
But that's not all of the benefits, he emphasizes. Adding the mower with the big diesel power allows him to cut through the dew in the morning, giving his crews a head start. And it packs in the clippings which cuts down on emptying time- all important considerations in a competitive environment.
There's another side benefit. Keyes enjoys reading, but doesn't have the time to indulge himself. Riding the Walker gives him the opportunity to chew through grass, and more than a few audio books.
The Walker has been a good investment, he emphasizes, referring back to his money-saving philosophy. "You can buy an inexpensive pair of shoes. When you get them home and they don't fit, they suddenly have become the most expensive shoes in the world. The same holds true with equipment. If you buy equipment that fits your operation - even if it costs more up front - you will be far better off than buying less expensive equipment that doesn't fit."
Beyond Economics
If you ask Keyes how much money his business generates, he will get reticent, saying that's something he likes to keep to himself. Suffice it to say, in his words, he makes enough money to afford a good living for his wife and two children, Elizabeth and Henry.
"We work hard, but so does everyone in this business, in this country, for that matter," he adds with a footnote. "That's one thing that's not so good over here. People get too wrapped up in their work. You see people going to work in New York City at 5:00 a.m. and they don't get home until after 7:00 p.m. It doesn't leave much time for a family life.
"Yes, hard work has made this country what it is, but at the same time, it comes at a price."
To keep the price within reason, the Keyes family avoids talking about work after 8:00 p.m. unless it's absolutely part of the conversation. They're also looking to control growth, keeping the company at or near its present size. And they take a few weeks off in the winter to go home to visit friends and family.
The time is well spent and puts Keyes in a good frame of mind to begin the spring work on none other than St. Patrick's Day.
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