TELL US ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS AND WHAT SERVICES/PRODUCTS YOU OFFER? 

CareMore Landscaping is a landscape design, construction and property maintenance company that provides professional services in the Durham and Greater Toronto region. We provide our customers with high quality, creative landscape solutions that involve the client from the design stage right on through to completion.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR BUSINESS? 

Myself and my business partners thought of the idea while we were going through university. Together we felt that we had a good combination of business-related knowledge and technical know-how to run a successful landscaping company.

HOW DID THE HELP YOU GOT FROM BACD IMPACT YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS?

The BACD helped fund our initial equipment purchases and saved us considerably on equipment rentals in our first season. We were able to pass those savings along to our customers and ultimately helped us land more contracts and generate more business.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS? 

The idea of working for myself and being able to take the ultimate pride in my work.

WHAT WAS MORE DIFFICULT THAN YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD BE? 

The paperwork and administrative work associated with running a business is definitely the most difficult part of learning how to run a business.

HOW DO YOU MARKET YOUR BUSINESS?

Our main sources of marketing is social media and word of mouth. When we first started out, we tried several different marketing strategies; all of which did not work out well. We find now that most of our business comes from word of mouth and promotion through Facebook.

HOW ARE PEOPLE AWARE OF YOUR BUSINESS? 

People are mainly aware of our business through referrals from previous customers.

WHAT DO YOU DO TO KEEP ABREAST OF THE CHANGES IN YOUR BUSINESS AND IN YOUR INDUSTRY?

We regularly attend supplier seminars that provide us with quality market research results and tips on how to improve our quality of service and overall business strategy.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO START THEIR OWN BUSINESS? 

You need to know what your goals are and have a plan of action to achieve them. Running your own business is a 24/7 job and if you want to take your company to the next level, you need a very strong sense of commitment to your business and your customers. Be ready to work hard and live and breath your work.

WHAT IS IT THAT YOU DO THAT’S MADE YOU A SUCCESS? 

We have a strong support system at Caremore Landscaping. We have three partners in our Corporation; each with their own defined responsibilities for which we hold each other accountable. We hold each other to a high standard and constantly try look identify potential areas of improvement and encourage each other to be better.