Growing BP

Reprinted from the Nevada County Business News
November/December 1997

Left to right: Michael Ford, maintenance manager, BP partners, Bobby Zucca and Pieter Rossi. Photo by Paula C. Collins

What do you do when you are in your late 20s, early 30s and your business has reached the peak of its potential?

The answer for one enterprising pair is quite simply to move on to the next level, which is exactly what Bobby Zucca and Pieter Rossi, owners of BP Landscapes, intend to do in the coming year.

Implementing the next level according to Rossi means beefing up sales, creating a new management position and adding to the work force currently at 26, and expected to reach 35 during the 1998 peak season.

Formed seven years ago, the company, involved in landscape design, construction and maintenance, grew 30% in 1996. In 1997, additional growth was BP's primary focus with an aggressive 30% goal. As the year comes to an end, Rossi is optimistic they will exceed their goal and reach 40% plus. Dollar figures will also exceed the company's goal of $1.2 million and should reach $1.4 million plus.

BP Landscapes had a rather casual beginning. Bobby Zucca, now 30, had turned a job he had as a youngster into a business in 1989. Pieter Rossi, now 29 had been commuting to Sacramento to sell dental supplies, had left his job with an established firm to broker supplies on his own, then realized he was under capitalized.

It was June 1990; Rossi was about to get married, was just about broke and needed a job. He approached Zucca, a good friend since grade school, and offered to work for him by the hour.

Not too long down the road, Rossi suggested that he invest the same amount that Zucca had put into the business and that the two become partners. They did with a handshake.

The pair worked 12 to 14 hour days, which is still not unheard of. When they did not have landscape work, they handed out business cards, knocked on doors and distributed flyers. An employee was added in 1991, and they have been growing the company ever since.

Today, Zucca manages the supervisors and handles the human resources side of the business. Rossi is involved with general management, is the designer, and to date has been the only sales person. In 1993, they formed a legal partnership dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's, and in 1996, they formed a corporation.

New landscape installations account for 70% of BP's business and can include design work, irrigation, lighting, lawns, planting, erosion control, hardscapes (waterfalls, steps, retaining walls), and site amenities like benches and statuary. Landscape management or maintenance represents 28% of revenues, and service repair and rodent repair 2%.

The company has a local source for unusual plants, but uses wholesale growers in the valley for most plant material. Plumbing supplies, a costly part of a new installation, are purchased locally, and BP has local equipment purchase and maintenance agreements.

With a client base of 650, 75% are residential, but the company also has large commercial clients like Bitney Springs/Tektronics Real Estate, NVision, Brighton Greens and the Fowler Center.

The company has always had out of town clients from such places as Auburn and Sacramento, and at present, BP is doing a $107,000 installation in the East Bay with three quarters of the crew coming from Nevada County Such jobs are generally referrals from people the company has worked with.

Recently BP added benefits like health care and an employer contribution pension plan designed to attract career-orientated employees. BP has a strong focus on professionalism, according to Rossi, who feels they are creating an industry standard for professionalism in this area. Focus is put on image, both vehicle and employee, as well as on customer service.

Young and enthusiastic, Zucca and Rossi are looking to the future. Short term will bring a building of their own on a recently purchased Grass Valley site. Long term, they want to grow BP into a $5 to $10 million company. PCC.