BlackSheep Landscapes | Application Preview
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General Information
Business Registration Number: 92-0682350
Location: Surprise, AZ, United States
Length of Operation: 1-5
Number of Employees: 1-10 Employees
Annual Gross Income: Less than $100k
Annual Gross Expense: Less than $100k
Open to Loans: NO
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Funding Usage
The funding we receive would mainly go to advertising. We have seen in this last year that the shear cost of advertising has risen and it has made it very difficult for a small business like ourselves to get any serious business from advertising. We plan to break the $20,000 loan into three large chunks over three months ($5,000, $3,000, and $2,000) to bump up our customer base. The remaining $10,000 will be used for any repairs or new equipment we may need but if it is not needed after one year we will instead donate that $10,000 to one of local charities we participate in such the ALS association, Phoenix children's hospital, or the MS society.
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Business Plan
Over the next five years we plan to grow our business in two parts. Within 1-2 years we would like to expand our company to have at least two work trucks, two dump trailers, and a total of 6-8 employees. This would allow us to service more clients in the West valley and at the same time increase our revenue and community presence. Once we are in a place where we can afford two crews, most likely at the end of year two going into year three, we will then purchase a piece of property in order to give or business a more permeant home base and allowing us to consider gaining more equipment and employees. After we have a solid set up in the West Valley, most likely on year five if not sooner, we have plans to break into the market in Northern Arizona specifically areas like Payson and Prescott. This would be a good market to get into as we could work longer days in the summer when we have to cut hours down in the Valley due to the excessive heat. In addition to that we can add snow removal to our service up North in order to keep a steady cash flow in the winter so we can keep our staff gainfully employed. Our company is a good investment because even though our company is only a year old our team has been working together for years. John Sagrillo and his partner Ben Sergeant we enlisted in the Marines together from 2016-2020. The both deployed together on their first combat deployment in 2019 and were able to bring everyone on their team home alive. They have years of experiencing leading other, managing reports, and being accountable for millions of dollars in government assets. Outside of the military they both have experience in horticulture. Ben spent 2 years with he Montana Conservation core before enlisting with the Marines conducting work such as building trails, identifying invasive plants, tree removals, and more. John on the other hand used gardening as a tool to help with his PTSD and other traumas from the Marines. Over the next three years he remodeled two backyards alone, has grown over 24 exotic fruit trees, and has built several small urban farm gardens. He also works at a local nursery to continue his knowledge for plants in the Phoenix area. He is also certified by "INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONS CAREER COLLEGE" to be a landscape company owner.
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Self Identified Competition
Our company doesn't have three main competitors but instead two main threats. We have large commercial companies who always beat out the smaller companies in price and availability to handle large projects, larger HOAs, government contracts, etc. We will be able to compete with these companies with 2-3 years as our company grows but for now they operate a scale we just cannot get on at this time. The other major threat is being price cut by the dozens of non legitimate landscaping businesses we have in Arizona. Many of these "companies" do not to pay their employees proper or even minimum wages. They also do not have to pay for other major business costs like insurances or taxes. Most of our competitors are not actually landscapers but we like to call "cut and blow guys" where all these companies do is show up at a clients home. Cut their plants incorrectly whether be with dirty or infected tools, at the wrong time of year, or with the wrong technique due to a lack of knowledge. Many of the smaller are not very reliable because they rarely return their customers phone calls, show up to the job on time, or offer future assistance to clients if something is to go wrong in the yard. Finally most of our competitors do not care about the environment. They used commercial grade highly toxic weed controlling chemicals, use only gas powered tools, and have little to no knowledge of proper water management. At Blacksheep Landscapes we pride ourselves on up holding all three of these major client concerns. We always show up on time because of our shared military experience. We love what we do and are always learning about new plants, new disease, new landscaping techniques through our own company training. Finally we take our environmental needs seriously and show that through our company with new all electric tools, we use environmentally safe weed control chemicals, recommend desert friendly plants, and we practice proper water management so that no excess water is wasted.
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