Blog
Raise Your Quality Standard
A few years ago, I came across a collapsed retaining wall. A huge section had fallen away, so that the prep work and build were completely exposed. As a hardscape professional, I recognized in an instant that the reason for the collapse was a completely improper installation. This retaining wall was built on slag sand—an…
Learning to Grow: Weaving Continuous Education into Your Business
I started my hardscaping business, Decra-Scape, back in 1990. I had no industry experience. In fact, I didn’t even know what a brick paver was at the time. So in the first year of business, I was learning a LOT: At the same time, I was renovating the home I had just purchased—a total burnout—and…
Business Planning for Landscaping and Hardscaping Companies
When it comes to planning for your home-services business, I have a 6-Ps philosophy that I’ll convert to 5-Ps here, to skip the expletive: Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance It’s time to embrace this truth and start planning today! But many business leaders fall into one of these camps: Let’s explore these 3 planning challenges—and…
Who vs. How
If your home-services business operates largely outdoors—as we do at Decra-Scape, and as all of the Rooted Leadership Board of Advisors members do—then you know what it’s like to lead a business that is heavily impacted by environmental factors. In Michigan, our business is highly seasonal, which means that at certain times, we are extremely…
Knowledge, Empowerment, and Growth
There is an invisible chain of knowledge that propels your team forward. It’s made up of 3 interconnected links: Great leaders understand how these elements are connected. And they know how to strengthen the chain. Let’s break it down: Knowledge > Empowerment Knowledgeable people feel empowered and get empowered. Well-informed, well-trained people do their jobs…
In the Trenches with You: Meet Matt Caruso
I’m a firm believer in the power of experience. So it’s essential that you have some background on where I come from and what I’ve done. Here’s the short version: I’m not some trained life coach who has studied the home-services industry. I’m an experienced business leader and the founder and owner of a well-established…