Editor's note: This is one in a weekly series of profiles on locally owned and operated businesses in Southern Oregon.

What do you do and how long have you been doing it?

We are a fully licensed landscape company. We started the company around 10 years ago. We specialize in high-end maintenance; design and installations; irrigation; theme landscapes; container plantings; and outside living environments. John is a landscape contractor and I (Jani) am the designer and public relations person.

How long have you lived in the valley?

We've been here 13 years. John was originally from the Bay Area and I was raised in Florence.

Advertisement

What inspired you to go into this line of work?

Basically, it was the desire to work with each other. John was a contractor in California before living here. He also owned several natural food stores and a restaurant. I previously was a free-lance interior designer. I also designed for theater, fashion shows, musicals and pageants. I also work a lot with graphic design, which is something that has been very helpful in creating our designs and presentations and for all our publicity information we put out to the public. We saw a need for specialized installations that were not your typical cookie-cutter type landscape, so we do Mediterranean, traditional, tropical, zen, coastal, Victorian designs. We also design landscapes to attract wildlife, such as butterflies and hummingbirds. We like revamping commercial landscapes so that people are attracted to it.

What decision or action would you change if you could do it again?

Everything we did was a natural progression. We attended school for several years to educate ourselves and that was a very good decision. After that, we just took one step at a time and have enjoyed every minute of it. The true learning experience was hands-on application, along with the education. We feel that combining the two is very essential for what we do.

What's the toughest business decision you've made?

The only thing that we would have considered tough, would be turning down certain jobs. After a while, you get a feel for potential clients. When you sense that you may not be compatible or money is too much of an issue, it may be time to recommend someone else for the job. In the beginning, we practically gave our services for free at times, and for any business, that is not a good route to take. We will always be sensitive towards any cost issue, but if a person is looking for the least expensive person to do the job, we are not who they want.

Who are your competitors?

For what we do, there are only a handful of companies in the valley. Carol's Colors in Phoenix for design work and Pro Landscape and Construction of Medford, which does installation, come to mind.

How do you define success for your business?

To walk away from a job and have your client be pleased, loving their new landscape or outdoor living space — it is priceless. For commercial accounts, it is nice to see owners and managers take pride in their establishment. They choose to provide their customers with not only a great environment and service inside, but outside as well.

What are your goals?

We're going to do this as long as the atmosphere is correct for it, until we drop. I'm not planning on retiring. Eventually we may do so, but maybe in 15 years or so we'd plan on selling the business. But we don't foresee any changes in the next decade.

What training or education did you need?

We needed to learn how to care for plants and trees, from watering and soil needs, to the best-growing environment along with avoiding pests and diseases as well as designing a great-looking landscape.

We went to school for three years at the University of California-Davis and later took landscaping classes at Rogue Community College. We read numerous books and articles concerning plant care, landscape design and hardscapes. We took design and computer classes in order to operate intelligently with our landscape design program.

John's previous experience was as a contractor, creating his own landscapes, and his business knowledge has been very instrumental to our success.

My previous experience came from working with my dad who was also a building contractor. I would help work on the landscaping after the homes were built and had a lot of fun experimenting with different themes and tying in the landscape to coordinate with the look and feel of the home.

What is your advice for budding entrepreneurs?

Don't just plunge right into it, be methodical. Go through the process of learning step by step. Get involved in something you enjoy. If not, you'll end up hating it. Do something that comes natural to you and do your homework.

To suggest an idea for this column, contact reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4463 or e-mail business@mailtribune.com