The Highest Profit Landscaping: Ponds & Water Features with Jeff Michaels
Do you want to start a business in the aquascape industry, doing ponds and water features, Or maybe add this to your existing services, but you don’t know how to?
Today’s guest was once just like you—a typical guy that got into the business without actually knowing the business. He was a machine builder 25 years ago and just happened to get into aquascape through a spark of interest he felt upon having his pond in his backyard. But through his passion, he was able to be in the industry of the highest profit in the landscaping business.
Join us as we discuss how he was able to take a step into this industry and learn how you can make high profits with ponds and water features!
Jeff Michaels owns Pondering Waters, an indoor and outdoor design, installation, and maintenance company that has been installing for 25 years with a unique understanding of the wants and needs of both residential and commercial customers. More than just your typical pond company, they are extremely passionate and have unique ideas for water feature designs. Pondering Waters maintains the delicate ecosystems that make up a biological environment while ensuring clients' enjoyment.
“Keep it simple stupid. Don’t go into this industry thinking, ‘Okay, I’m going to get a dump trailer. I’m going to go buy an excavator. I started out with my pickup truck, wheelbarrow, shovels, and all that. As long as you have that, you can get a business started doing water features.”
– Jeff Michaels
Topics Covered
00:00 – “What we actually do is we get hired by friends of ours. At other pond companies, we hire each other out to do large projects because it’s those large projects that, if you don’t have a good team around you, things can go bad really quickly. We just help each other out on large-scale projects, and it just makes the project go really smoothly.”
Keith introduces today’s awesome guest, Jeff Michaels, as they talk about Jeff’s experience of traveling to nine different states to do various aquascape work over the past couple of years, like installing a water feature at a zoo.
05:52 – “The more money you’re gonna make is basically on smaller scale jobs. It’s not always the bigger jobs.”
What are the profit margins that somebody can see versus general property maintenance of trimming people’s bushes, installing mulch, and cutting grass? How’s the money made in the aquascape industry?
09:10 – “If a customer wants me to really get artistic using bigger boulders and really take our time on doing these jobs, it’s going to cost a little bit more because you’re spending more time on it.”
Jeff gives a cookie-cutter recommendation as he shares how he was able to do nine grand works in a day and how you can do the same.
13:54 – “When I got done with that job, and she looked at it, she had nothing to say…She ended up being one of the best customers I’ve ever had.”
Talking about Jeff’s first pond job, highlighting how he could do it even when he had no experience in the business as he was a machine builder 25 years ago.
15:56 – “There’s always money to be made on just this one customer alone. It’s a revolving money-making business.”
What do the terms pond clean out, shut down, and start-up mean? How do Jeff and his team do it under certain circumstances?
21:13 – “Now that I know what I know now and we’ve got all the processes in place, that really doesn’t happen.”
Discussion about doing the right things when taking care of your ponds and fishes.
24:05 – “Keep it simple stupid. Don’t go into this industry thinking, ‘Okay, I’m going to get a dump trailer. I’m going to go buy an excavator. I started out with my pickup truck, wheelbarrow, shovels, and all that. As long as you have that, you can get a business started doing water features.”
The first step and first pieces of equipment you would need if you want to dive into this industry
28:28 – “It’s a passion. When you’re passionate about something, you get excited about it, and you want to do more.”
Does Jeff’s whole life revolve around ponds? What’s the dopest thing he’s ever done regarding a pond?
33:01 – Serious about getting into this industry? Pondering Waters is doing some massive hiring right now!
Key Takeaways
“On the smallest stock, smaller scale, I tried to focus on a 50% profit margin; that’s my profit margin. Larger scale, you can try to get that 50%, but it’s really tricky because one thing goes wrong on a large project, there goes your profit margin.”
“The biggest thing when you’re doing projects like this is knowing your numbers. If a company does not know your numbers, you can really go down south pretty quick.”
“It all goes back to tracking and knowing your numbers. You get to know what your operational costs are. I think that’s where a lot of contractor kind of mess up a little bit.”
“You got to have something and experiment with it. You got to know what you’re talking about. You can take all the classes you want, but what happens if you experience something at your own pond that you haven’t experienced because, basically, you’re doing it through books and videos? Sometimes, something might come up that you don’t know about. You need to know how to handle it. That’s where having your own pond actually comes into play.”
Connect with Jeff Michaels
Website: https://ponderingwaters.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PonderingWaters
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ponderingwaters/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PonderingWaters/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thepondotter
Connect with Keith
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thelandscapingemployeetrap
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keithkalfas/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@keith-kalfas
Website: https://www.keithkalfas.com/
Resources/People Mentioned:
Eternal Tattoos Koi Pond: Our Favorite Koi Pond Rebuild: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhRqfwv4QaA
Jill’s Office: www.jillsoffice.com/
Ballard: https://www.ballard-inc.com/
Jobber: https://www.keithkalfas.com/blog/jobber
