I consider there to be 3 major turning points in my career as a professional landscape designer.

The first was when I decided to leave my family's design/build company in northern Michigan so I could pursue a design career. I was tired of doing everything (estimating, sales, design, installation, marketing), I just wanted to be a designer. I also wanted to be part of a larger and more progressive market.

The second turning point came two years later working for another design/build company. I acquired a new client who's primary home is near Chicago and their second home is near me in Holland Michigan. Dave and Linda had been through the design/build process many times before and had worked with some well-respected design professionals. The person who designed the gardens for their Chicago area home was Tim Thoelecke of Garden Concepts.

The turning point occurred when Dave and Linda described Tim's company and how he handled the entire design and construction process. They described how Tim treated the design process as separate from the installation and how he charged a fair design fee. For the installation, they explained that Tim acted as a general contractor and hired subcontractors for each part of the project.

THEY LOVED HIS PROCESS.

I was totally blown away by Tim's logical and "design driven" process. Call me sheltered or naive, but I had never heard of operating this way. I was only familiar with the design/build business model. This is what I was taught in school and it's all I had seen in the real world.

After hearing this from Dave and Linda, I knew I had to meet Tim. I always knew that there had to be a better approach to creating gardens--a design-driven approach instead of a sales-driven approach typical of many design/build companies.

So I contacted Tim and asked if I could visit with him and learn from him. Lucky for me, he was gracious with his time and was willing to share his knowledge, experiences and business strategies with me. Over the next couple of years I met with Tim 3 or 4 times. I always picked up something new and came away a better designer AND entrepreneur.

Now Tim continues teaching design professionals through the American Academy of Landscape Design, which he founded. I know many of you have been fortunate enough to participate in some of Tim's courses through the AALD. Meeting Tim and learning his process completely changed my career as a professional landscape designer. Luckily, I met Tim before he started the AALD and didn't have to pay for his advice :-)

If you also want some "free advice" from Tim, you can download his new e-book "The 10 Step Design Process". This is the exact same stuff he taught me 8 years ago and that I've been implementing successfully in my own business ever since.

Dave and Linda loved Tim's design process, now my clients love my same process!

You can download Tim's free e-book here:

http://www.landscapeleadership.com/public/203.cfm

I guarantee you will find some gems in here. His Budget Study and Pre-Contract Agreement are brilliant and will save you time and money.

And the 3rd turning point for me? I got fired from the design/build company a few months after meeting Tim. It didnt' seem like such a great thing at the time, but now I realize it was one of the best things to ever happen to me. I think everyone should get fired at least once :-) I'll have to share that story some other time.

Here's the link again to Tim's free e-book:

http://www.landscapeleadership.com/public/203.cfm

All the best,

Chris Heiler, Editor

Visit my blog- http://www.fountainheadgardens.com/blog

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