Focusing on a specific division allowed Next to Nature Landscape to expand its maintenance offerings and provide steady growth for the company.
Located in the Kansas City suburb of Olathe, Kan., Next to Nature Landscape ranks No. 127 on the 2024 LM150 list, experiencing a 10-percent increase in revenue from 2022 to 2023. Its customers are about 60 percent residential and 40 percent commercial, and it provides landscape design/build, landscape lighting, irrigation, lawn care and maintenance services.
While owner David Ward says they saw growth across all divisions from 2022 to 2023, their maintenance division especially played an important role in their success.
“We made a decision about that time to really grow our maintenance division by adding to our sales team and adding to the services we provide — from plant health care to insect control,” Ward says.
Unlike services like design/build, where each project is unique, maintenance is more about bidding the square footage. The company doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel each time, Ward says, and can better predict future revenue.
“We like the steady understanding of that portion of our division to know where we are year after year,” he says.
Next to Nature’s sales team flooded its existing customer markets with the expanded services and how those services offered a one-stop shop for customers’ outdoor needs, and those efforts paid off, Ward says. The company experienced a 20-percent growth in its maintenance division during that time, and he says it’s still growing.
Internal growth
Ward says a quality sales team helped make that growth possible. Next to Nature currently has about 10 salespeople and is looking for self-starters and people who are passionate about horticulture.
“You could be the best salesperson in the world, but if you don’t love trees, grass and being outdoors, you’re not going to be super successful here,” Ward says.
He says it also looks to promote from within, which helps create a sense of success for everyone. If employees feel like they aren’t working in the right area, they can move to a different position that’s better suited.
“There’s something we saw in you if we hired you, so we’ll find the right spot, Ward says.
All of Next to Nature’s teams, from sales and design to production, use Aspire Software, which it started focusing on about three years ago. “It allows us to be on the same page throughout the entire team,” Ward says. “It will help us grow through the next 10 years.”
Secrets to success
Ward advises other landscape professionals looking to succeed to set goals each year that push them out of their comfort zones. Next to Nature creates goals that initially seem out of reach, but Ward says those help drive the company.
“Don’t underestimate yourself and your team,” Ward says. “If you push everybody and create that culture of ‘we can do it if we work together and believe in what we sell,’ the numbers will come.”
As it continues to grow, one thing that makes every aspect of the company operate better is the level of trust that’s been built and the fact that all of its team members want to see the business succeed.
“With more than 150 employees now, I can’t watch and motivate everyone like I did when we just had 20 or 30,” Ward says. “We’ve formed a team we trust who also trust the process. We created a strong culture of trust, and we want everyone to be successful professionally and personally. Without that level of trust, you can’t grow a company.”
