first five minutes of meeting someone, she’s gained their respect. She notes that there are fewer young female entrepre- neurs for a number of reasons, including not feeling qualified and starting a family first before taking a risk. “I was like, ‘What’s the worst that hap- pens if I try this and it fails?’” McGonagle says. “I think most women don’t ask that question until they’ve already done enough to check the boxes to say, ‘Okay, if the worst thing happens, I’ll be okay.’” The challenges these entrepreneurs


have dealt with vary from person to person. McGonagle says her biggest challenge has been figuring out to balance the job so it’s not all-consuming. She says she often finds herself on a hamster wheel of perfection and high expectations of her own making. McGonagle says she’s learned it’s


better to try something and learn from it rather than ending up with analysis paralysis and not doing anything. “You can always change what you’re


doing,” she says. “You can always edit it. You can always tweak it, so doing a little bit in the right direction is what matters.” Meanwhile, Zeppa says staying fo- cused has been his greatest struggle, as he has multiple businesses requiring his attention. He says they’ve learned to dial in on their sole purpose to avoid getting bogged down with jobs they shouldn’t be doing.


Thompson’s challenge has been seek- ing people who have the same vision and will get behind that. He often sees contractors give up when they can’t find people who can support their vision. “If you’re going to be an entrepreneur,


you need to study leadership at an in- depth level because without leadership and without understanding what it takes to get people to follow you, you


won’t get anywhere,” Thompson says. Kampf says


learning everything about the landscape business, from running a zero-turn mower to managing pay- roll and people, has been his main hurdle. As he’s run the business, he’s learned to adapt to changes and is working not to micromanage his people. Kampf says he’s also learned you can create the best system in the world, but it doesn’t do anything if people aren’t trained to implement it properly. “I spend tens of thousands of dollars on the best equipment and if you don’t train people even on the best equip- ment out there, it just sits and becomes an expensive paperweight,” Kampf says.


PREDICTIONS FOR THE INDUSTRY All four entrepreneurs are optimistic about the future of the industry as consumer demand remains high. “People as a whole, as a society, want


to be outside more,” Thompson says. “They want to enjoy their yards more. You’re seeing water features getting super popular right now, koi ponds and all that stuff. I see nothing but growth in the future.”


They also predict increased technol- ogy acceptance and utilization from robotic mowers to AI. This shift to using more technology will be driven by a finite employee pool and a need to save time and labor. “We won’t make it if we do what we’ve


always done,” McGonagle says. “It’s just not going to work. So the nice thing is that the younger generation of business owners aren’t attached to the old way of doing things,” she says. As for what they’d like to see change in the industry, both Zeppa


and Kampf would like to see an increase in training where those entering the industry already have a level of skill they can pro- vide. “We’re making


Antonio Zeppa


a really strong ini- tiative to focus on training videos, and not just for ourselves,


but we think that there’s an opportunity on a national level,” Zeppa says.


Thompson says he wants fewer companies low-balling and producing poor quality work, as it detracts from the professional landscape businesses that are committed to high standards. “They’re coming in so low, it makes it


hard to support an actual company that actually pays living wages and bonuses and health care and has these branded trucks and warranties all of their work like we do,” Thompson says. McGonagle would like to see the land- scape industry optimize its processes and systems so it can be 20 years ahead of other fields rather than behind. She adds she also wants to see more compa- nies shake up the status quo and be innovative and think differently.


STANDING OUT FROM OTHERS


Each of these companies opts to do things a little bit differently when it comes to their culture or operations. While Landscaping Ninjas does monthly or quarterly team outings like other landscape companies, Thompson says they also host an annual landscape Olympics at their shop where the


Leigh McGonagle


McGonagle says she has faced people who are apprehensive based on her age and gender, but once she’s gets past the first five minutes of meeting someone, she’s gained their respect. She notes that there are fewer young female entrepreneurs for a number of reasons including not feeling qualified and starting a family first before taking a risk.


National Association of Landscape Professionals 21


Daniel Thompson


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