Why Bilmar Landscape Saw 25% Growth in Its First Year with Aspire

Landscaping companies in Las Vegas don’t have it easy. Between water restrictions and challenging soil conditions, coaxing plants to grow in the desert is a tall order. 

But Bilmar Landscape Industries has beaten the odds and carved out a niche, according to the company’s president, Jeff Liston. 

“We had the idea of creating the assembly-line process out in the field for janitorial work, for landscape maintenance,” Liston said. “So, we put 15 men in a van, we transport (them) to a job site, and (they) attack every square inch of the property.”

But despite its success in commercial maintenance, Liston said nailing down job costs was a struggle.

“When it came time for renewal, (customers asked), ‘Are we going to get an increase?’” Liston recalled. “Well, I don't know because I don't know how much to increase (the price).”

That’s why, in early 2023, Bilmar upgraded its landscape management software to Aspire in the hopes of better tracking labor hours, materials, and equipment costs. 

“(Aspire) has allowed us great visibility to see exactly what we're spending on jobs,” Liston said. “The renewal process becomes that much easier. Aspire has really enabled us to look inside at what we're actually doing on the job sites.”

With new insight came new success: In its first year of using Aspire, Bilmar grew 25%, a figure that translates to an extra $1.5 million in revenue.

Digging deeper

Liston firmly believes that Aspire has been his key to success. “Aspire is your ticket to financial freedom and knowledge of your business,” he explained.

Here’s why.

• Like a well-oiled machine: Equipment management is no longer a struggle for Bilmar. Aspire automatically tracks mileage from scheduled jobs, hosts a log of when vehicles have been serviced, and even alerts managers when equipment is due for a maintenance check. 

• Measure once: When he learned about PropertyIntel, Aspire’s measuring tool that streamlines estimates and takeoffs, he was “blown away,” Liston said. It’s one of the features he’s most excited to dig into to help plan projects and maintenance work.

• Worth the work: When Bilmar implemented Aspire, it was also joining several other software systems at the same time. That made for a stressful few months, but it was “all worth it because now we're reaping the benefits of the program,” Liston said. “We see it as a never-ending supply of knowledge and information.”

A route to efficiency

Liston said managers at Bilmar used to pass out route sheets for each crew. Those sheets carefully detailed the properties each crew would visit that day and how many hours each job should take. 

Thankfully, Bilmar abandoned this practice—and the art of juggling ten spreadsheets for different routes, crews, and dates—when it joined Aspire.

Aspire’s routing tool, on the Aspire Mobile app, provides crews with efficient routes to all of their jobs in a given day. Instead of manually adding up crew hours and troubleshooting the logistics of scheduling, Aspire churns out routes for an entire week in an instant. 

“That's been, like everything else, just unbelievable,” Liston said. “Just so easy and efficient, and allows us to see how many hours we're putting on our jobs with our guys. You can look at it as man-hours versus crew hours. It's phenomenal.”

This year, Bilmar is on track to pull in $8 million in revenue. For Liston, Aspire is an important factor in hitting new revenue goals and expanding business—and he’s not afraid to share the secrets of his success with others. 

“I want people to understand what (Aspire has) done for us,” Liston said. “Because I wonder how people run a landscape business without Aspire or some type of software program like this. 

“It's amazing and has been a great experience for us so far.”