Deep Roots_Andrew & Matt
Deep Roots was begun by South Africa expatriate Andrew Pederson and his Canadian pal Matt Smith. The two were working together for another larger landscaping company in the region when they realized that, A) they both wanted to own their own business and B) wanted to create a company that valued excellence in the finished work.
So just before the start of the Spring landscaping season of 2017, Deep Roots began operation.
“It was sort of a long-term goal of mine to start something here in Canada and he had been thinking about it for a while too. When we saw what was going on in the area in terms of growth and development and a lot of new people coming in, it just seemed like it was the right time to make a move,” said Pederson.
And Trenval played an important role in helping translate those goals and their enthusiasm into a cogent and successful business, especially in terms of helping with start-up funding.
“A truck and a trailer are two key things you need in this kind of business. We were working with a business counsellor who was helping us with our business plan and putting everything together and was recommended Trenval as an avenue for financing. I spoke to Amber Darling to see what Trenval financing was about,” he explained.
“I was still waiting for my permanent residence statues, which didn’t come until December of 2017. So technically I was still just a landed immigrant – a temporary resident on a work permit. So, we couldn’t find any bank that would offer any package that both of us fit the criteria for. But Trenval stepped in and we got a loan through them and that helped us get rolling right as the season was beginning; any dealings that we have had have been fantastic.”
Deep Roots’ roster of clients over their short history is already impressively diverse and expanding geographically, according to Pederson. The bulk of the business is coming from the Trenton, Brighton and Belleville communities, but more and more is coming from Prince Edward County.
“We get a lot of Baby Boomer couples who are very house proud and want to have a great garden and lawns and other features. In terms of building things like patios, walkways and even gardens from scratch, we do have some younger families that buy a house and are looking to add those features or fix the existing ones,” he said.
“And we also have some commercial work too, with smaller companies, especially bed and breakfasts, who want to have good landscaping features, but they are so busy with running the B&B they hire us to take care of that for them.”
What makes Deep Roots Landscaping unique is that both Pederson and Smith consider what they do to be as skilled and specialized as traditional trades – such as plumbing or electrical – and infuse the same kind of care, attention to detail and level of ability as those professions.
“I come from a greens keeping background and both Matt and I are very much interested in the horticultural aspects of things. Honestly, though, we thought that would fill up our diary and we would be doing garden work all day, every day, but it didn’t end up that way. We ended up doing a lot of ‘hardscaping’ like building walkways, patios and other stone work jobs. And we’ve become excellent at that as well,” Pederson explained.
“We do offer most landscaping services, apart from the woodworking aspect. So, there’s regular garden and lawn maintenance, cutting, weeding and pruning, to building gardens from scratch, renovating gardens and that’s where we feel our strength is.”
Ultimately, Pederson said that being a smaller company allows them to be more flexible and adaptable, and to take on clients that fit their strengths and areas of expertise. It also means Deep Roots can give true, demonstrable value for the dollar and individualize service.
“We treat what we do like a trade. You’re not going to hire an electrician who doesn’t know what they’re doing or a carpenter who doesn’t know what they’re doing. You should be thinking the same way when you’re hiring and landscaper,” he said.
Long-term, both Pederson and Smith would like to see the company grow to the point where they can step back and focus their time and energies running and building the company from a managerial and administrative point of view.
“At the moment, we are doing everything and that’s great, but it’s hard and a lot of work and we want to generate the revenue and the resources to be able to bring in enough employees and get enough equipment to free up our time to do more on the business end of Deep Roots.”
For more information, visit www.deeprootslandscaping.ca.
