Yard-Nique

Aspirations

Brian DuMont started Yard-Nique in 1997 when he was a 21-year-old student at North Carolina State. DuMont, now Yard-Nique’s president and CEO, wanted to build his own landscaping business after working for an employer who treated his crews badly.

“When I started Yard-Nique, I swore to myself that I would always treat others like I wanted to be treated and never give someone the experience I had,” says DuMont.

When Yard-Nique first launched, DuMont hoped to grow the company to at least five employees. Twenty-three years later, Yard-Nique boasts a team of 450 with seven locations across the Southeast including North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

The company’s business is 80 percent commercial maintenance with 20 percent installation design-build work. However, DuMont believes his company’s niche is in providing an exceptional customer experience. “I’ve always told our team that we’re in the customer service industry—we just happen to do landscaping,” he says.

Streamlined and scalable

When Yard-Nique decided to upgrade its systems and processes back in 2018, DuMont tasked Regional Director Adam Boyette with finding the best solution for a business management platform.

“Before Aspire, we had to enter the same data in many different places at different times,” Boyette says. “We had a different person or program for CRM management, work orders, contracts and purchase orders and a whole other department for invoicing. None of our systems or processes spoke to each other.”

After completing his research, Boyette chose to implement Aspire because he saw how the platform could facilitate growth by streamlining operations. “When we found Aspire, we couldn’t believe something like it existed. It’s web-based, easy to manage, has great customer service, and it’s completely customizable.”

The results

The Aspire platform did not disappoint. Two years on, Boyette reports that it is easier than ever for individuals across departments and branches to coordinate efforts, a benefit that directly contributes to Yard-Nique’s growth.

“Aspire brings all the pieces together,” says Boyette. “From the time a lead comes in to the time an invoice goes out, we found that Aspire offers a seamless, customizable, and scalable solution that fits a company of our size.”

The ramifications of using the system have been wide reaching, as every department interacts with the software in some way. The business development staff uses it to track sales; office administrators use it for invoicing; crew members use it to clock in; HR uses it for payroll. At the executive level, Brian Dumont uses Aspire to maintain access to updated and accurate reports about the company’s performance, at any time, from anywhere.

“I no longer need to be in the day-to-day minutia, but I can use Aspire as a tracking tool to make sure our team is staying on point throughout the month,” DuMont says. “With the custom dashboards I’ve set up in the platform, it takes me less than ten minutes to get a great pulse on the company.”

A partner in growth

One reason Boyette chose Aspire is that he recognized the platform’s ability to adapt to any business size and he wanted a solution that could grow with the company. Now, as the company continues hiring and opening new offices, Boyette is looking forward to doubling down on Aspire and leaning on the product to support Yard-Nique’s growth.

Boyette also looks forward to the platform's upcoming updates and new integrations. “It’s not just a static program that sees an update every now and then. Additional features become available all the time that not only allow your business to become even more efficient but also make your life easier as you continue to grow.”

One size actually does fit all

Both DuMont and Boyette are quick to recommend Aspire to others in the industry. “There aren’t a lot of programs specific to the landscaping industry. Many of them are antiquated and don’t give us the freedom to add our custom touches,” Boyette explains. “As far as we can tell, Aspire is really the best option.”

DuMont adds that the platform isn’t necessary just for large businesses. “When I think about justifying the cost of Aspire and the value we derive from it, it would be hard for me to conceive of a certain minimum size you need to be to benefit from using the system,” he says.

DuMont says the program pays for itself by allowing users to actively monitor business performance in real time, at any time. “Half the battle is knowing if you’re winning or losing. No matter what size company you are, you’ve got to know if you’re winning or losing. And Aspire provides a clear path to that visibility.”