Our story begins 10 years ago. Sami Chaiban, the owner of Emerald Landscape - a full service residential landscape contractor in San Diego, CA - wanted to get his business organized and implement the right technology to help his business grow. Sami is a big dreamer of ideas, a born go-getter. His savvy business intuition saw how technological advancements were influencing all aspects of commerce, especially in its ability to increase communication and productivity. But using these tools was foreign to him, hindering the possibility to effectively apply the right technologies. That’s where I came into the picture.

My name is Ken Paddock. I met Sami while running my own landscape contracting business. Our business approach has always been much the same, so we naturally maintained a strong business relationship as colleagues in our industry. When I came to work with Sami 10 years ago, much of it was due to my desire to be innovative in our work. We constantly strive to meet the needs of our clients. Included with our shared passion and expertise, I brought my extensive knowledge of computer technology. In order for Sami’s business to reach optimal performance and capitalize on its momentum, I knew that my ideas of technology were needed to make our dream a reality.

It all began in November of 2002. Sami had 60 estimates that month and sold none. He felt like a bidding service, not a contractor. We sat down one late afternoon and brain stormed on what had happened. The stalemate blocking our growth was not about to keep us from being humble in scrutinizing our approach. Objectivity presented that he failed to establish a strong working relationship with the customer and lack of trust cast challenges when bidding on the value of his reputable work.

We both knew the importance in having a relationship with our clients and that we also be inviting to those we wish to attract. Simple to do, easy to ignore, yet vital to cultivating success – this simple realization has become the foundation in how we do business. In defining its basic purpose, we identified four factors pertinent to our purposed success:

1. Who are our customers and what do they want
2. Establish trust, accountability, and cultivate integrity
3. Posture the company as a credible source
4. Decrease overhead and increase productivity

Much of Emerald Landscape’s calculated value took into account the company’s ability to deliver quality workmanship that boasts a fine investment. Skill and finesse is evident throughout each projects detail. Careful planning and execution allows us to achieve our goal in completing projects within acceptable estimated timelines, a characteristic rare in the contracting industry. These characteristics became the forefront in how Emerald does business.

My knowledge and Sami’s desire could only tell us what we wanted, but how were we going to get it? Implementing computer and internet technology gave us the ability to establish the collaborative working relationship we needed to satisfy our client standards. This marked our first success, more exciting challenges arose and Elandia.com began to take on a life of its own, eventually superseding its original vision and purpose. Elandia.com was unique from its spark as an idea even until now. In order for it to serve the specific needs of contractors and their clients, it will always be viewed from this unique perspective. Only someone with our seasoned expertise in the industry could ever create this, but it was our desire and resources that drove us to make it happen.

After much trial and error, and realizing our limits with the available computer technology at the time, our search brought us someone possessing a rare talent in computer software engineering. The engine driving Elandia.com is Mike Lamb. Luckily, he didn’t need to understand being a landscape contractor. But what he did know is how to build the tool we needed to carry out the rest of our vision – one that was not yet technologically available for our specific needs. Our dream perfectly matched his, benefiting us all exponentially. Harnessing innovation was our heart-beat. Adding Mike only granted us all the priceless ability to compete on the cutting edge of growing technology. Mike’s saturated knowledge in developing internet technology, fluent with the ability to understand the engineering and application of computer software languages, adorns an increased value of how we operate, promoting Elandia’s capabilities as the business backbone of our landscape contracting business today. Unique to the contracting industry, its debut is also the beginning of a computer programming legacy.

We have now evolved to become The Elandia Network. Our vision and business approach reveals the benefits from our own commitment and dedication to our primary business. Over the years, our client relationships have become unique, memorable, and long lasting. It has directly gifted Emerald Landscape with a spectacular county-wide client referral database – comments continue to relay the profound impact in its ability to leave memorable impressions with prospective clients. Elandia has grown into something so unique, our contracting business could not survive as a small local business without it. Even today with a rough economy, we are continuously growing our client base in all areas we offer service. And because we seek to achieve flawless standards in continued effective performance with Elandia’s operations, we have the tools and preparation to grow at the rapid rate our contracting business demands.

Our understanding and value in personalized customization lives in our products and services. After 8 years – spent on trial and error, strategic development, and real-world testing – the benefits of The Elandia Network are now available to you and your clients. Popular products range from office management tools, automated e-mail response systems, text message notifications and custom websites. While choosing the right tools to operate your business, The Elandia Network’s foundation to take pride in achieving each customer’s unique satisfaction will be prevalent as we work to customize a system for your own specific business needs and that of your client base. We will educate you on each product and be available to help you maximize your tools, products, and services for as long as you use them. Because our goal is to help others achieve optimal performance, we provide access to training, technical support, glimpse at new ideas and possibilities, and association with all Elandia Members.

Our goal is for you to share the experience of our continuing confidence from using the most powerful tool a contractor will ever need. Come visit Elandia – built by contractors, for contractors!

Thanks,
The Elandia Network Team

P.S. After we implemented our plan we sold jobs, a lot of jobs.