MuirView Landscape & Design

[MuirView Design]

Hi my name is Adam, and I'm an alcoholic...

Oh, sorry wrong meeting....Let me start over.

My name is Adam, and I'm a workaholic... Ah, that sounds better!

I'm 33 years young and I own MuirView Landscape & Design. I'm coming to the end of my 2nd full years in business and I have one full time employee and also a part time guy. I have close to 8 years experience in the industry and have worked for several companies as both laborer and foreman. I got out of the business for roughly 6 years and tried my hand in the corporate world. I was a head operations manager for a large service company where I ran several multi million dollar accounts and I was also an insurance underwriter for several years. Both of these jobs were invaluable in teaching me about business and management skills, client relations, quality of service, etc. Unfortunately, they didn't teach me jack sh-t about hardscaping!! Anyway, I eventually just couldn't take being indoors any longer. I felt my soul dying and everyday I would long to be back outdoors with my feet on the earth and my hands in the dirt. So, one day I made up my mind and just took the leap. Walked away from a cushy, high paying office job with great benefits, free lunches and a steady schedule and put my savings into doing what I love. And honestly, I've never regretted it. This is the best profession in the world to me. Being only in my 2nd year, me and my family struggle a lot. We've had some hard times. We're gearing up for another hard winter, but I know deep down, that if I persevere, sacrifice and keep doing right by my customers, that soon....very soon, I'll be able to stop chasing the dream.....and start living it!

[JFMX345]

Thanks for the story Adam, your work looks top notch. I'm sure you'll be very successful.
If you have them, how about posting a pic of your equipment/trucks. I love watching companies progress over time.

Justin

[cgland]

:Cry: You're going to make me cry!

Chris

[MuirView Design]

Crying! There's no crying in Hadscaping! Sorry I know the story was a bit cheesy....but hey, that pretty much sums up my career.

[mckeeland]

Good story Adam, sorry i never read it before until now. It always nice to hear someones back story, you can get a better understanding of where they are coming from. those years spent working for the man should really help you excel at your business. unfortunately most of us where born with the gift of working with our hands, but no clue on how to run a business. that we had to learn the long and hard way. you already learned the business part, and i can see you have the talent to do the work, so in many ways u are ahead of alot of guys that have been doing this along time.

[MuirView Design]

Thanks Jay. I appreciate the kind words.

It's still a learning process for me. I was just thinking the other day how different my life was two years ago.

My decision to change careers at 31 put myself in a sink or swim situation......and in a lot of ways, I'm still just treading water.

[mckeeland]

in some ways i have done the same thing. about a year or so ago i was unsure about what i wanted to do with my business, alot of personal things going on, business was put on the back burner. then some things changed for me and i decided to make a re-commitment to my business. took a big leap and reinvested in it, again, basically restarting some things. its been well worth it, i have a new zeal again and look forward to the next ten years.
its a struggle at times, but i feel one of the keys to being happy in life is loving what u do for a living, if u got that, then ur one step closer.

[musclecarboy]

Awesome story! With the gorgeous projects you're working, you'll be successful. How's this year shaping up? That boulder wall + patio looks KILLER!

[MuirView Design]

Awesome story! With the gorgeous projects you're working, you'll be successful. How's this year shaping up? That boulder wall + patio looks KILLER!

Thanks bro. The year is shaping up okay. I've got a better team than in years past, so I feel confident that we can have a better year this year than last year. It just takes finding the right clientèle that isn't just looking for the cookie cutter design at the lowest price. Doing good work and quality designs is only half the battle. Running a truly profitable business is what takes time to build. We're getting there.....slowly but surely.

[Mbella]

Adam, sometimes, you have to take those cookie cutter jobs if you want to keep those good guys busy.

I know it's a sacrifice, but it is very important.

[MuirView Design]

I agree Mike. It's the people that want the intricate design at cookie cutter prices that I can do without. I am definitely willing to take whatever work will keep us busy.

[Mbella]

I agree Mike. It's the people that want the intricate design at cookie cutter prices that I can do without. I am definitely willing to take whatever work will keep us busy.

Oh yeah, no shortage of those people.

[Colonial]

and there never will be, lol

[JZap]

Amen to no shortage of frustrating customers! :frusty: <sighs>

[MuirView Design]

Yeah, what's with people thinking they are on a used car lot and that haggling prices is going to get them the same product for cheaper. Arghh!!

[JZap]

I did a design for a potential customer (referral from a friend/nurseryman) in December. The job was in the $40-60K range and was everything they asked for including: 2 large boulder walls (cut wall with over 150 yards to be removed), 750 sq ft of "Devonstone" by request, extensive landscaping, etc. and the jobsite is basically a pool cut into a hillside, so limited machine access. I then broke down the job by category: hardscape, landscape, cabana, etc. to help accomodate their unknown budget. They then asked if I could spilt it by section and not category. I did with the understanding that we were at the point where we need to talk budget. I then made some minor changes to the design to get to their number. Last week they asked if that was all we could do? I simply told them I feel we've proven we're the company for their project and they agreed, but wanted to haggle over price. The job still is in limbo. The budget is now $25K and they "love" the design and don't want to compromise. It's sad, but you win some and lose some. I had a lot of time invested in this design and sale, but I mean why have me do so many revisions just to haggle over literally a few thousand bucks? Just have to let it go... maybe they'll call in Sept...

[Mbella]

John, tell them it's not your job to make it affordable, it's their job to afford it.

[MuirView Design]

John, tell them it's not your job to make it affordable, it's their job to afford it.


Gotta love that slogan!!!

[JZap]

I went with, "We don't discount our quality, so I'm sure you understand it's not unreasonable for us not to discount our price. I can promise you will have the highest quality installation and there's value in quality of work." He just called me back yesterday with a "solution" for the budget. Looks like this one might pan out after all.