Today we’d like to introduce you to Scott Johnson.
Hi Scott, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Started off with an interest of working outdoors instead of indoors. Told the owner of a commercial landscaping company that I was interested in what they do and was wondering if he was hiring.
I started a couple days later and found myself working along side the crew members doing the grunt labor that gets things done. I am a fast learner and I knew I had to start at the bottom, but also knew I didn’t want to stay in that position. So I worked my way up to foreman, and became the one to direct the crew on what needs doing. Learning more as I went, I then went up the ladder to superviser and was managing 5 different crews. So far, so good. The next step in the landscaping ladder, was the designing aspect. By then I had been successfully installing jobs by someone else’s designs. But I also have learned that “if you pay attention, everything is your teacher”. I soon started teaching myself how to do scale landscape designs and was doing well at it. I switched from commercial landscaping to custom residential landscaping because of the higher level of creativity involved. A gentleman that I became friends with a while ago, owned a commercial maintenance company. Many, large commercial properties. I helped him out with designs on some of the properties where they were looking to improve portions of the property. At one point, he purchased a residential landscaping company, as an investment, that was fairly new, but the owner wanted to relocate to the Dallas area and was selling the business. He had asked me if I’d be interested in running the landscaping portion while he continued his maintenance portion. I became the front man of the company, meeting all the customers and designing and selling all the work, while a crew that was put together for me, did all the installation, while I made sure the jobs were going in as designed and sold.
Things were going so good that, I put us on the map of professional landscapers, and he ended up selling the maintenance half, because there’s more money to be made in the installation end than the grass cutting part. The company became a household name and we grew to the point of needing more designers and more crews. After approximately 17 years of that position, he had told me he was interested in retiring,( he was a little older than me), and he wanted to know if I wanted to buy the company. Hell yes.
So I bought the company in 2010, and paid off a ten year loan in 8 1/2 years, and have been very successful with custom residential designs and installation, being my own boss and earning 5 star reviews.
I recently turned 65 myself and am considering the next step for myself, which is to sell the company to a young, enthusiastic designer who dreams of becoming their own boss, and I branch out into doing just the design aspect of the profession, and selling designs. *mic drop*
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Over all it’s been successful, but something I learned early on in this business, is the residential landscaping falls into the “want” category of life, and not the “need” category. So when the economy is struggling or the price of everything is going up, people are going to hold on to their money and buy what they need, not what they want. So, times can be tough. Something else that’s a reality, is everyone with a wheelbarrow and a shovel, thinks they’re a landscaper, and even though they are an amateur at every level, they still become some level of competition. So, I constantly had to remind people that they’re going to get what they pay for. So do your homework.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My expertise is in custom residential design. There is a lot to know. I think what has slowly, but surely set me apart from the rest is the phrase I said earlier. Pay attention to everything around you.
I have paid close attention to Mother Nature and how she runs things, and that has been my best teacher.
Plants, trees, bushes, shrubs don’t give a damn about what we think about anything, so it’s in our best interest to know as much as possible about all the plants and trees, so they can be used to the best of their ability. In other words, you have to put the right plant or tree, in the right place, and give IT the room it needs to grow and mature in. Seems pretty logical, but no one follows that.
What is the norm, is way too many items , including trees, are packed in, trying to give a “full look” now, and nothing has room to grow, so everything looks like crap later, and has to way over pruned to try to keep things separate. Also, the most popular mistake is using the wrong variety of trees, and planting them in the worst possible locations, and then butchering them their whole lives, trying to “make them fit”, and in the meantime they’re buckling and breaking sidewalks, driveways, streets, home foundations and sewer lines, etc. I’m on a personal quest to stop that behavior, once and for all.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Can’t say I’ve really taken many risks. I strongly adhere to : Be honest and transparent with my customers
Do the right thing, Always.
Be proud of every job I do.
And never, ever lose Faith.
Pricing:
- Good always costs a little more.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://crenshawlandscapes.com
- Instagram: Crenshaw.landscapes
Image Credits
These are all jobs by Crenshaw Landscapes and were taken by me or my office manager.
