Hey guys, I hope some of your experienced landscape construction/design guys can give me a hand.
The problem is that I am having difficulty extending my business into the design/install field. Though we have done a few decent size installs this year, and our customers very satisfied, I have not been satisfied. I want landscapes that really wow the customer and others.
Right now, its myself, my brother (and partner), and we have 3 full time employees as well as a few temp helpers when we need them. If we get a call on a large landscape project its always a huge pita to get things in place for the bid and here is why.
Neither of us have any real knowledge of plants other then just basic. So that leaves me getting a designer to take care of this for me. We ran into a girl at the nursery who has done everything thus far and does ok, but she is only a perennial garden designer. I need someone who can design all aspects of landscaping such as patios, walls, drainage, types of plants for soil conditions etc. I have called a few landscape designers before, but they want like 3k for a design and 100 an hour for consultation. I don't mind paying but I obviously cannot absorb that cost. How do I go about passing this kind of money onto the customer.
In other words, how do I jump this hurdle. We are pretty busy with our maintenance work, and this is just a huge hurdle we need to pass and its adding an incredible amount of stress. I know there are some of you out there who have been here, so please if you don't mind post here or drop me a line
cpasko@comcast.net .
Thanks ahead! I look forward to getting some incite on this situation!