By all accounts, Chris Aldarelli, president/owner, Aldo 1 Landscaping & Lawn Service, is at the helm of a successful business in Ocean City, N.J. Sales in 2001 are up by 20 percent and more growth is on the horizon for 2002. But, just as any other business owner, Aldarelli also faces a challenge.
"Managing the projects we have and the new projects going forward is the only thing we have to worry about," Aldarelli declared. "Our labor force is great this year, but the residential and commercial work this year has been astronomical."
Although the company employs 150 people and its staff is dedicated, Aldarelli still felt that his current staff didn't meet the needs of the amount of work coming in. So, to deal with this work overload, Aldarelli hired a few more supervisors and another employee to help manage the office. "With me being out in the field dealing with residential and commercial clientele, [hiring the extra employees] worked out well for us."
Some might be wondering how Aldarelli has managed to secure all of this work in a struggling economy when many customers are cutting back on services. "[In our area], people are really going full force with pools, pavers, landscape designs, etc.," he remarked. Perhaps the best part about all this new work is that it is coming from word-of-mouth advertising, which Aldarelli prefers.
"We started 12 years ago, and everything we've gotten is from our reputation and word-of-mouth," he enthused. "I really feel that with advertising you're picking up a client who is looking for the lowest price. But, by word-of-mouth, I get the job on trust and the customers don't question the price."
Aldarelli advises other companies that to be successful, owners must be dedicated to developing staff and providing quality work. "The key is reliability and having the work force to get the work done in a timely fashion," he stressed.
Aldo 1 has been able to do this because of its very low turnover rate. "If we turnover three a year, that's a lot," he declared. "We don't go through a lot of help." In addition, most of Aldarelli's supervisors and office managers have been with the company for 10 or more years.
"The all know the system that's in place and we're all working for the same goals," he emphasized.
To read how other companies have fared in 2001, check out Lawn & Landscape's State of the Industry Report in the October 2001 issue.