|
|
A homemade trailer, a car and a dorm room.
That’s how it all started for landscape contractor Chuck Twist and his partner, Tim Tunin.
Fifteen years ago, the dynamic duo had big dreams of the perks associated with owning a landscaping company – a nice shop and comfortable offices, attractive company vehicles and the latest equipment. And then there were those lavish desires – a rooftop helicopter landing pad and gaudy pinky rings.
While rings and a landing pad still top their wish list, Twist and Tunin have made those other dreams a reality. The pair opened TNT Lawn & Landscape Mgmt, Inc. in 1987, as college students in Oklahoma. Now they have grown their startup to a profitable lawn maintenance business.
And Twist, president of the company, claims the key to success is having grand ambitions – and the determination to see those come to fruition.
“Someone once said: ‘If you really want something, act as if you already have it – and it will be yours.’
“I live by these words,” Twist expounds.
And he’s serious. The green industry veteran is now president of a 14-man operation because he went after his dreams.
LOOKING BACK. Growing up, Twist took on a handful of jobs – from hauling hay and selling produce to mowing lawns. During those early years, Twist developed an interest in self-employment and says he never pictured himself working for anyone but himself.
Determined to do some type of environmentally oriented work, he took classes at North Eastern Oklahoma A&M Junior College, majoring in forestry. He spent his summers working for a landscaping company in his hometown of Bartlesville, Okla. And as fate would have it, his future business partner spent his summers working for a competing company in the same town. When their paths crossed later at Oklahoma State University, their collective dreams would begin to take flight.
Once at OSU, Twist switched gears with his education, changing his major to horticulture and landscape architecture with an emphasis in turf management. And after his first year at the university, he went back to Bartlesville for another summer of landscaping. But this summer was different – it was the year Twist and Tunin would become Twist-N-Tunin, or TNT.
Still working for competing landscape outfits, the two spent weekends and rainy days making plans for their new company. Working out of a dorm room, with only a makeshift trailer and Tunin’s car, the pair jumped into the green industry at the end of the summer – with wide eyes and high hopes.
“By the fall semester, we were up and running,” Twist remembers. “At that time we were just raking leaves, pruning trees and whatever else we could do without expensive lawn equipment and without a truck.”
Come spring, the two-man company had landed a few lawn contracts, a bank loan, a truck and some equipment. Their dream was shifting from the elusive to the tangible. They were off and running.
And they haven’t stopped since.
But all was not peachy for the growing company. After 10 years in the business, TNT reached a plateau. The company’s growth and revenue flat-lined.
The problem, Twist recalls, was dependable labor – or the lack of it.
“We had a dream. We were working hard on that dream, but the workers were just not cooperating and were always in the way of that dream. It’s hard to work on your business when you’re constantly working in it,” he notes, recalling those days of trying to manage the company while cleaning up after its unreliable workers.
The answer came with the addition of dependable international workers through the H2B visa program. TNT discovered that nine seasonal H2B workers could do the same work that had previously required at least 18 domestic laborers to complete. And the quality of work done by the international workers was far more impressive than that of their predecessors.
“Those guys not only do what they are expected to do, they do it with a smile on their faces. They are happy, they enjoy their jobs and they really want recognition for a job well done.” Twist acknowledges.
Through his interactions with H2B workers, Twist developed an interest in the visa program. He and Tunin recently started an H2B corporation called H.O.L.A. (H2B, Occupational Labor Alternative) Labor Consultants, Inc. Aimed at assisting other businesses with their labor needs, the company currently has eight clients and 17 successful certifications to its name. The side business is still developing, but Twist sees it as a possibility for future growth.
LESSONS LEARNED. Through his endeavors with TNT, Twist has developed a sound understanding of life in the green industry.
“Research alternative methods of doing things until you find out what works for you – and do not be satisfied with less than what you dreamed of,” he advises.
“Stick with what you do best and get rid of all the rest,” Twist recommends. “Concentrate on your niche. Ours is landscape maintenance – mowing lawns, weed control and fertilizer services.”
Twist admits that dreams need to be more than just ideas scribbled on paper. His early hopes for a successful green business came through constant visualization of his goals.
“We literally hung pictures on the wall of equipment and other tangible items that we wanted. We spoke frequently of the things we wanted and of our dreams, as if they were already a reality,” Twist explains. “By doing this, I believe that you will then automatically do the right things and take the right steps that will bring these things to reality.”
Twist says another key to success in the industry – particularly in a start-up company – is staying out of unnecessary debt.
“Tim and I do not pocket all the profits,” he mentions, referring to his partner. “We actually pay ourselves fairly petty wages. Most everything is socked back into the business, and it always has been.”
Besides their property, new shop and offices, everything is paid for. And they make persistent efforts to avoid any further debt.
MAKING PLANS. Ask Twist about tactics for the coming year, and you may get a chuckle from the experienced contractor.
“As sad as it may be, my partner and I have really gotten comfortable at where we are now in the business,” he shares. “We have no big plans for 2003. We are, however, making several smaller plans.”
The company’s overriding goal for the approaching year is to keep expenses to a minimum. Last year TNT made some costly purchases and remodels. Now, Twist is adamant, the company will watch its expenses closely to avoid affecting the bottom line.
Twist is also looking to attract more H2B customers in the coming months. And TNT, he hopes, will get some of its own H2B workers on permanent visa status. Doing so will help the company do more dormant tree pruning and leaf removal in the winter to drum up business and off-season income.
“We are also hoping that our loyal H2B workers who get permanent visas can get their families here with them so they will want to stay year round and reap the rewards and benefits of being employed full time with us."
The author is Assistant Editor - Internet of Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at aanderson@lawnandlandscape.com.