While many companies are handed down within a family and others are bought or sold, some start with a seedling of an idea, followed by careful nurturing by the owner to flourish into a thriving business.
Eighteen years ago, 14-year-old Todd Pugh bought his first lawn mower and got his first customer. Today, Todd’s Enviroscapes Inc. has become a $3 million-plus design-build and landscape management company with more than 60 peak-season employees.
The company, which Pugh ran with his brother throughout their college careers at The Ohio State University, expanded from mowing and small landscape projects to creative landscape solutions. Enviroscapes soon outgrew its space on Pugh’s father’s farm, and they purchased a 27-acre lot to accommodate expansion.
To increase sales and broaden their client base, Pugh bought Sunshine Landscaping in 2000. A year later, the company built a 14,000-square-foot landscape, maintenance and garden center facility, and as of press time, Pugh was expecting $3.45 million in revenue to complete Enviroscape’s fiscal year 2003.
“We are always looking for ways to mechanize to reduce labor and increase production,” Pugh says. ” … The most effective tool we have is the Mulch Mule … a joint venture (75 percent Enviroscapes and 25 percent Hoppel Fabrication). … The conventional method to install mulch would be one yard of mulch per man-hour, but with the Mulch Mule, you can do three yards of mulch per man-hour.”
Three years ago, Pugh founded Green Industry Innovators to manufacture and market the machines. The Mule recently was named to Landscape Management Magazine‘s Top Ten Labor Saving and Profit Making Tools of 2003. How to reach: Todd’s Enviroscapes Inc., (330) 875-0768 or www.enviroscapesgroup.com
