Vancouver-based Frontier Landscaping does maintenance in a rocky climate
When the going gets tough, refocus and go somewhere else.
In a way, that’s what Steve and Tina Pash decided when their company, Frontier Landscaping, confronted diminishing commercial and residential development in Clark County. They said the bidding process quickly became an unmerciful warzone, prompting them to diversify their services rather than cut their own throats by underbidding projects in a tumultuous environment.
For Frontier, that meant maintenance in two forms. They looked internally to adjust their company structure and business practices, which meant limiting construction bids, acquiring a tree service wing and reducing their construction team by half. They also directed new emphasis toward their maintenance division.
“The trend came along with the economy,” Steve said. “You have to figure out ways to change how you run your business and to make money, or go away.”
Steve said the flow of money changed along with the economy. Where home ownership and commercial space were booming a few years ago, individuals and businesses are now turning to apartments and existing retail and commercial spaces. Now, property owners and management firms are writing more checks.
Frontier’s approach is to follow this shift and rake in success along the way by maintaining these existing landscapes. But it’s not a market segment without competition. According to Steve, many businesses are already implementing similar strategies. Tina believes the increasing competition, paired with frugal clients, has created a price-driven market.
“Altogether, it’s changing the entire way we do business,” Steve said. “The work doesn’t come to us like it used to; you have to work hard just to get working.”
This is why the two dug deep to fine-tune day-to-day operations related to overhead. They applied a new level of scrutiny to labor – their largest expense – as well as purchasing, which reduced their man hours and implemented a more stringent and detailed budgeting process.
“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there,” Tina said. “If we hadn’t done anything at all, I don’t think we’d be here right now.”
Tina said this earnestly, because last year the two felt Frontier finally hit a recessionary wall that their colleagues recorded a year or two prior. What the pair said they did differently was to transform the financial obstacle into a source of positive change. Not only did it help them refocus, but bottoming out relieved a lot of the uncertainty of the past few years.
“We’ve been looking down now for a few years just wondering when the bottom was going to hit,” Steve said. “I feel like we’re there now, and I’m more positive knowing that, even if we’re not moving, we’re still looking up.”
With this optimism, Tina and Steve are looking to keep their company morale high. They also focus on quality, communication and care; something they’ve learned to perfect over their 22 years in the field. Refocused and ready, to them there’s no compelling reason to get gloomy about the future because the peak seasons are just rolling in.
“We’re not seeing tons of work come in yet,” Steve said, “but you have to prepare accordingly and think positive before you start anything.”
