Case Study - Easy Care Landscapes
Currently the only landscaping company in the ACT region owned and operated by a woman and horticulturist, Easycare Landscapes was established by Vicki Berry in 1999.
Her vision was to create low maintenance garden sanctuaries for Canberrans. The business’ target markets are baby boomers close to retirement with discretionary income, and ‘dinks’ – double income, no kids – who have a busy lifestyle with little time to garden.
Since Easycare’s inception, Vicki has faced many challenges in her business. Namely maintaining a work/life balance, managing and retaining staff, maintaining the business when absent herself, and remaining passionate about her job and the landscaping industry after eleven years in business.
Seeking assistance to address some of these challenges, Vicki and Easycare Landscapes sought involvement with Canberra BusinessPoint in 2008. Vicki has since used Canberra BusinessPoint for advisory services to help run her business more effectively.
Canberra BusinessPoint has been a valuable program for Vicki’s business as it has helped her with mentoring, provided the opportunity to network with like-minded people and share new information and resources.
The networking and workshops have been most effective for me as I learn something new every time I attend. Learning new things helps me to get excited, to renew my energy and passion and to start me thinking laterally.
Over the years Vicki has achieved much success in her business. She was named the Australian and ACT Horticulturist of the Year, 2005 and 2006 respectively, the 2008 winner of the NSW and ACT Best First Generation Business for Family Business Australia and the ACT winner in the Telstra Commonwealth Bank Business Owner’s Award in 2009. She also won the Chamber of Women in Business Environment and Outstanding Community Spirit Awards in 2008.
The future is looking bright for Easycare Landscapes and for the industry. Although money is tight, people are still prepared to spend on improving their lifestyle and being more sustainable. This means making their gardens easier to maintain, reducing the use of water and materials such as fertiliser, growing produce and planting more trees. Vicki and her staff enjoy helping the people of Canberra and surrounding regions do just that!
My advice to businesses is to come along to a Canberra BusinessPoint networking session or a workshop. Both are non-threatening with lots of people willing to talk to you and share their knowledge