Make more money in less time

Talking about ways to increase efficiency at hardscape jobs, Bill Gardocki, owner of Interstate Landscape Co., shared at his Hardscape North America workshop that he and his company only work a four-day work week, putting in 11 hours a day. “Most of my competitors think I’m crazy,” he said. “It was a lifestyle choice. I’m still making the same amount of money.”

To Gardocki, it’s all about raising prices and cutting employees. Basically, he’s doing less work for more money. “When you’re working a four-day work week, you’d better be efficient,” he said.

Gardocki isn’t big on the latest technology, saying that cell phones and computers decrease efficiency by 20 percent in the industry. His crews are only allowed to use their cell phones during breaks, and recommends having a policy for all kinds of potential time wasters like rain, smoking, showing up late and more. “If you don’t have a company handbook, you are insane,” he added.

Get to know the site.

Gardocki knows exactly how many hours he spends doing quotes: 480. And he makes that a part of the calculation when he figures out his overhead costs. “I’m technically getting paid,” he said.

He also goes out of his way to make sure his potential clients have as much information as possible to eliminate questions. He also directs people to his YouTube page, where they can see examples of his projects and methods.

Interstate Landscape has a couple of GoPro cameras on every job, so they now have a large library of all kinds of projects and can send clients a video showing exactly what crews are going to be doing.

When he does a one-hour quote with a potential client, Gardocki goes out of his way to show that he’s a professional, digging holes in yards and showing off equipment like his Ziplevel. That way, he’ll stick out in the homeowner’s mind. But he’s also surveying the area and making notes.

“You need to notice items before they come back to bite you,” he said. “If you wait until the guys are on the site, and you don’t have drain pipe, then they have to come back to the shop so it’s important to notice those things before you send the guys out.”

Have the right stuff.

Before getting started on any project, Gardocki has a site meeting with his foreman. And the foremen are all employees that have been promoted from within. Gardocki wants them to learn his system. “Make sure they see all the things you saw when you were doing that first meeting,” he said. “Any time wasted doing the site work is your fault, not the excavator’s fault.”

Gardocki works hard to put the right person on the right job for the best efficiency. Some are good at working equipment and others are good at laying pavers. “Think about the guys and women on your team,” he said. “What are their strengths and weaknesses? Put together crews that work effectively together.”

But it’s not just having the right people on the job; you have to have the right equipment. If you’re a hardscaper, you’re in the excavation business according to Gardocki. “Excavation is the killer. We need to understand we’re an excavation company and if we don’t have the right equipment, we’re not going to be efficient.”

When it comes to compaction equipment, bigger is better, he said. “Have the most appropriate and efficient equipment. Large equipment pays for itself very quickly.”