Their crews keep our Westchester and Fairfield streets looking neat and trim, but do we take the landscape trucks that trundle through our leafy streets for granted, part and parcel of our suburban topography? With the weather finally warming, spring fast approaching and yard cleanup time just around the corner, this week Eye on Small Business lifts the veil on local landscaping, where behind its jaunty logo each truck tells a story, often one of challenges, resilience and ultimate success.
Here’s N. Joel Landscaping LLC’s.
Born in Guatemala, owner Nery Joel Juárez Chavez worked with his father planting corn, sesame, rice and beans until immigrating to the United States in 2005, “looking for a better future,” as he told the Westfair Business Journal in a recent exchange. His application was supported by an older brother who already lived here and with whom he settled in Stamford on his arrival.
Juárez Chavez then worked in restaurants for more than a decade, at first washing dishes but moving up through various kitchen positions until eventually becoming a cook in 2017.
Two years later, and by this time a father, Juárez Chavez, decided to go out on his own, “to give his children a better future.” He explained to the Journal how he established the business with some savings and the help of a “small” credit card he had had and nurtured for 10 years. “By the grace of God,” he said, “I didn’t need any loans.”
While Connecticut doesn’t license landscapers, the Department of Consumer Protection does require a certificate of registration for home improvements contractors above a certain threshold and, as the business started to grow, Juárez Chavez registered N. Joel Landscaping LLC (https://www.njoellandscapingllc.com) with the secretary of state for Connecticut.
Other requirements for starting a landscaping business? Beyond the agricultural and lawn-mowing skills he already possessed, Juárez Chavez commented, “just enthusiasm and the desire to succeed and get ahead.”
Asked how he found his first client, Juárez Chavez said it came about through a friend who was already a contractor and recommended him for the job. One client led to another. “Then I built a website, designed business cards and that’s how we (built and) maintained the business.” He began offering his services through Google, Instagram, Facebook and Nextdoor, and new business started to come in through online reviews and recommendations.
Besides general lawn maintenance, those services include planting, tree care, masonry, mailbox repair and junk removal, costs for the last category calculated by volume, with rates that include the disposal fee.
Over the winter months, work shifts to gutter cleaning, tree-pruning and removal, fence installation and repair and, of course, snow removal.
Juárez Chavez works with a regular crew of three, who between them look after around 50 properties across Fairfield County – an ideal ratio, he said. With labor costs typically running at 40 to 50% of revenue for any landscaping business, margins are invariably tight and aspects such as route density must be constantly refined and reviewed.
While official figures are hard to come by, most owner-operators like Juárez Chavez begin with a single, reliable pickup truck to transport tools, mowers and debris and many – especially those who can avoid debt on equipment – can expect to turn over $90,000 to $130,000 per year after the first three or four years.
While many local operators go on to expand with a second or third truck, Juárez said he is happy with where he is now. The scale of the business is manageable and, apart from financial security, pride in his work brings its own reward.
“We love seeing properties in great condition for the homeowners,” he added.
Juárez Chavez and his crew generally work a six-day week, taking Sundays off, and while he doesn’t take vacations as such, he seems like a contented man, a man who has found a happy work-life balance.
“If we do go out,” he wrapped up our conversation, “it’s only on weekends. We like hiking trails in the mountains of northern Connecticut.”
