Reply To: Commercial Building Site/Grading Plans

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

One look at the landscape plan should tell you that the requirements are so simple that there is no reason to bring in anybody who specializing in the landscape if you are the developer. You always need a Certified Plot Plan for a building permit, so you have no choice other than needing a Professional Land Surveyor. You usually need a septic plan of some sort which is done by a Sanitarian which most CE’s have that endorsement. More often than not both these professionals work in the same office, or pair up professionally, or are the same person. It is one stop shopping. The developers start with who is required and don’t add more cooks in the soup unless absolutely necessary. If they start with an LA, they will have to get the other professionals whether they want them or not just because of stamping requirements – so they just don’t do that.

I’m an LA that works with CE/PLS on just about every project that I work on. It is custom residential work, so the need for a higher aesthetic than the CE is interested in doing is client driven. The last thing a CE or PLS wants to do is discuss plant choices with a trophy wife on her 6 million dollar summer home. I do what they don’t want to do and don’t have the experience, training, and disposition to do it.

My opinion is that your approach is 180 degrees from where it should be. It is not your fault. It is what we are all taught in school. You are focused on trying to do everything including what others are already doing. That means that you have to take work away from people who are more qualified and more established. You, or me, would be instantly disadvantaged with that approach and won’t get any help from the people who are already getting the work.

I learned that you if focus on what the people who are already very busy and successful are doing, you will be targeting an active market. I think you are already doing that. Your next step is not to try to do what the others are doing successfully. It should be to figure out what parts of their work that they really don’t want to deal with and see which parts you can do so that they don’t have to. If you can relieve them of stuff that you can do well and they really don’t want to do, they will refer you to their clients on every job that has those things. You won’t have to spend a dime on advertising and you’ll be busy.

Don’t chose a playing field that you can’t win on. Choose the place where you are the strongest. You’ll win every time.

When you try to take other people’s work, they won’t ever help you. When you make someone’s life easier, more profitable, or more efficient they will keep helping you. Never forget that.