The Garden Artist, Inc., is a landscape design and build
company specializing in outdoor living areas.
We are the recipient of national, international and professional awards for
our business practices and the aesthetic and functional qualities of our
landscapes. Our Mission Statement consists of one statement “Long Term View”.
We apply these three words to all venues of our business.
The underlying significance of our Mission Statement, “Long
Term View”, drives a long term practice to our relationships, continuing
education, R&D, sustainability, and community involvement. A benefit of working over the long term is the
time efficiencies that come with experience and familiarity.
Time Efficiency is our most valuable asset because however
business savvy, no one gets the opportunity to recapture time. Our time
Efficiency falls into six categories; Workforce Relations, Customer Relations,
Vendor Relations, Continuing Education and Research and Development, Community,
and Sustainability. Each category is equally important.
As we excel in Long Term Thinking through repetition,
adjustments and experience, we become more efficient and proficient in our
policies and actions. Take for example
our Construction Team. We pay higher
than market for a skilled, company and customer service oriented, quality
workforce. The longer our workforce is
on the job, the more we benefit from time efficiencies, such as eliminating the
revolving door of new untrained personnel.
A long term workforce tends to represent the company well and through
experience and dedication our team doesn’t stand around waiting for one phase
to end so that their work phase can begin.
I’ve noticed that my Team takes a lay pocket of time to mobilize and
repair their tools, stage materials, work on another section of the yard. These time efficiencies, the result of
workforce retention, shorten our receivable time line.
For our customers, our Long Term View goes beyond the well
designed outdoor living area that they will enjoy for decades. It includes
warranties, quarterly touchbacks, quick turnaround on warranty items, phased
landscape improvements, and annual walk-thru’s to assess the health of the
plants. Our customers are for life and
not forgotten after the job is completed. Our motto is “Let me know how I can help”, and
we are sincere about that. One of the benefits establishing a long term
relationship with our customer is new and referral business, opportunities to
build out the next phase, or up-sell improvements that were out of the budget
at the time of initial construction.
Our relationship with our vendors is equally important. Loyalty is a long term commitment. Because we develop long term relationships,
our vendors are familiar with our repeat purchases and keep these items in
stock. We never wait for a shipment
unless it’s something we haven’t ordered in the past. Our vendors know us, know our style, and know
what to expect. As a result, vendors are
proactive with our account. Long term
vendor relationship reduce our construction timeline because we don’t wait for materials. If there ever is an issue, I can guarantee
our vendors expeditiously solve the challenge so our timeline is not delayed.
Continuing Education and Research and Development (R&D)
must be a long term commitment in order for us to stay ahead of the curve. Our team takes a minimum of one hour
semimonthly to increase their knowledge and experiment with new product,
design, etc.
A successful company supports the community that supports
them. Repeat contributions, whether they
are volunteer or a monetary contribution are highly respected in the community.
It takes years to become known within a community and a company must have consistent
exposure to show their commitment. A
well known company runs more efficient through referral and recognition than
the time required for an advertising campaign.
I’m not saying that advertising isn’t important, we do this
consistently, however we are able to back off a portion of paid advertising and
the time spent on a campaign due to our long term recognition in the community.
Every design, every build-out is based on the greatest
sustainability we can procure. All of
our products are recycled or up-cycled. We are efficient with the use of our
machinery to keep our goal of lowering our carbon footprint. We look toward the future on every project,
protect Mother Earth, and complete the project knowing it will be useful and
uncontaminated for the next generation.
Our company mission to look at all aspects of business as a
“Long Term View” has been instrumental in our success. The greatest benefit of this mission is the time
efficiencies that naturally develop as we practice our policies over a period
of time. Our customers and vendors are for
life. Workforce retention, sustainability for future generations, education and
research to stay on the cutting edge, and commitment to community is the underlying
basis of our three word Mission Statement; “Long Term View”.
