When Teamwork Works

Principals: Robert Zucca and Pieter Rossi

Reprinted from Ventures - Summer 2001

Landscaping is a sometimes messy business, but you'd never know it to look at crews from BP Landscapes, Inc., of Grass Valley, California. Each morning, crews arrive at work sites in clean uniforms, driving freshly washed trucks. They don't smoke or swear, they don't blare radios, and they clean the site before leaving each night, even if the job will continue the next day. 

That may sound like a scene from the era of Ozzie and Harriet, but for Card member Pieter Rossi and his business partner, Robert Zucca, it just makes good business sense. A professional demeanor instills pride among employees and confidence among customers, who are willing to pay more for reliable, premium service. 

Rossi and Zucca are no less disciplined with their own work habits, which is one reason they've been able to maintain steady growth since they started business in 1990. Their $10,000 initial investment translated into $80,000 in sales in their first year. Revenue broke $ I million for the first time in 1996 and hit $3.6 million in 2000. With 55 employees serving 1,000 clients, the company expects to top $5 mil- lion in sales by next year. 

The owners have always clocked regular 12-hour days. If one partner leaves early on a given day, those hours count against vacation time. With their success, they've scaled back to four days per week instead of five, but the 12-hour rule still holds. 

Though structure and planning have been the company's hallmarks, Rossi says he fell into the landscaping business more or less by chance. In 1990, Rossi started his business career selling dental supplies. The sudden failure of a major client left Rossi $70,000 in the hole-hardly an auspicious professional launch. 

Rossi was looking for a new start. He hooked up with Zucca, a friend he'd known since fourth grade. Zucca had started a small landscaping business in their home town of Grass Valley; located between Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. Rossi worked for Zucca for three months; manual labor during the day; designing marketing strategies at night. After three months he offered to match Zucca's initial $5,000 investment in equipment, and the partnership was born. 

"It wasn't the love of landscaping" that attracted him, Rossi concedes. "We just loved working together." 

From the beginning, the pair forced themselves to think big, shooting for 30 percent growth each year-a pace they've faithfully maintained. In 1992 the pair obtained a contractor's license, allowing them to take on projects larger and more involved than routine yard work. They added a couple of employees. 

In 1993, Rossi and Zucca hired an attorney and formalized what had always been an informal partnership. The next year they landed their first major assignment, a $250,000 contract to design and install landscaping for an expensive new home. The project set the tone for years to come. Today more than two thirds of their business is for new structures. 

To prevent themselves from growing complacent and losing their edge, Rossi and Zucca have made brainstorming a formal part of their schedule. One day per month is set aside as "BP day" for Bob and Pete. It's strictly devoted to devising new ideas and strategies. 

The brainstorming days highlight two keys to the company's success and to entrepreneurial success in general, structured creativity and communication. "We've always had very open communication," Rossi says. "There are so many diversions over the years. You've got to stay focused. And don't be afraid of change. Implement new things. When a question of change came up, we always went for it."