Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Gange.
Paul, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started by mowing my neighbor’s lawns in my neighborhood growing up. I bought a van when I was 16 and was soon mowing the entire block. I continued to develop the maintenance division by mowing on nights and weekends during high school and found out quickly how competitive that market can be. During college, I knew I had to set myself apart from the mow and blow business model that I cut my teeth on growing up. I became a certified arborist and worked part time for a tree company to learn the business from sales and operations to climbing and safe practices.
I decided I wanted to make a run at developing the simple lawn business into a full service company. In 1998 we incorporated as Complete Landscaping LLC with 3 divisions – 1) Commercial/Municipal Maintenance, 2) Certified Arborist Forestry Service 3) Commercial/Municipal Snow Removal. Currently, we employee 16 full time year round employees and as many as 50 seasonal employees during winter snow storms. We are intentionally positioned to provide equal/better service as a large multi-state/national company with the agility of a small operation.
The labor shortage is a very real issue that started around 2012 as the economy gained steam again. We have been fortunate to build our team with great people by valuing their work/home balance, providing vertical promotion opportunities and offering generous pay. Our employees are the lifeblood of our company and are treated as such.
From day 1 – I kept true to 2 fundamental principals – unparalleled honest communication and a dedication to quality service. These 2 principals are the foundation of building and growing our team. Every employee that wears our logo understands the importance of this communication and standard of work.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The 2 biggest struggles we have seen are labor acquisition and reduced margins.
I was lucky to have started the company with a core few great employees that are still with us today. Our standards for our employees are not a walk in the park to abide by with random drug screening, mandatory uniforms, annual CE requirements, valid driver’s licenses, and long hr. days. The labor positions specifically are very tricky to staff for especially in the winter. An employee can work 14 (or more) hrs. straight in a snow storm and maybe 60 hrs. in a week, but then not work for 3 weeks if there are no snow events (not to mention braving the wonderful Chicago elements).
Rising costs and reduced margins
There really is no barrier to entry for an individual starting a “landscape” company. Anyone with a mower can start a small business. Humbly, this is where the cornerstone of Complete Landscaping was developed. Therefore, companies with little or no overhead reduce margins on maintenance work to near 0. Furthermore, equipment costs, fuel, insurance and rising labor costs can further thin what margins are left. We have offset this issue by establishing a premiere service and limiting our customer base to large commercial/municipal clients,
Once our reputation was established – a lot of the work came to us. We are never the cheapest and will not entertain bidding wars. Our customers seek us due to our reputation and expect exemplary service.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Complete Landscaping story. Tell us more about the business.
We are dedicated to giving back to the veterans of this country. We donate countless hours and donations to the local VFW post and are proud providers of SnowCare for Troops and GreenCare for Troops – both programs where we provide pro bono services to veteran families while a loved one is deployed or injured. If you are a veteran and interested in joining the Itasca VFW service, we sponsor 1 vet a year by covering their lifetime dues. Please call our office to inquire. In addition, we annually donate to projects for non-profits from golf outings to donating medicinal herb gardens and nursery stock.
Earth friendly
During the Emerald Ash Borer infestation and subsequent loss of millions of Ash trees in Northern Illinois – we made an internal decision to keep 1:1 ratio of remove: replace for our forestry division. For every tree (living or dead) that our forestry crew removes, we replace with a sapling (with a caliper of at least 1″) in that same year. We have successfully maintained (exceeded in 2012, 2015, and 2016) this initiative to date.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Our largest account had called our office at 11:30 PM and I happened to be in the office catching up on paperwork.
A tree had fallen on their electrical box and this 24 facility was without power. They requested emergency tree removal and were shocked/impressed that someone took the call that late. After dispatching our crane and 2 forestry crews the next morning, that relationship developed into about 12% of our current annual sales. The cash flow and labor demand from this account was the catalyst to facilitate rapid growth of our company.
Contact Info:
- Address: Main Office/Yard
1546 w Thorndale Ave
Itasca, IL 60143
Satellite Yard
7318 Barnard Mill Rd
Wonder Lake, IL 60097 - Website: www.CompleteLandscapingItasca.com
- Phone: 6307739080
- Email: paul@completelandscapingsitasca.com
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