Challenges & Success

Meg Lyman, VP of Human Resources & Customer Experience, shares that a decade in the industry did not come without its challenges.

“Learning from mistakes makes processes – if we could go back we would sit down and have it all figured out before we started. We thought we knew it all….boy, did we not!” Meg laughs. “We’ve learned so much from mistakes or situations that have allowed us to grow.”

Another challenge they faced was one quite common for businesses looking to grow; finding the right staff. Finding the right team with the right passion, drive, priorities and best interest of the company was difficult, both behind the scenes and in the field.

“We created the desired culture at work and benefits for working for our company when we found the right people, and have been thriving ever since,” Meg says. “We also learned how to focus on our own mental health. Being so involved in the business created an unhealthy work/life balance. We’ve since learned how to create that balance and live in the moment with our friends and family.”

Trenval Experience

Meg and her team were referred to Trenval by both a friend who works in the community, as well as a mortgage broker. At that time, their main goal was to purchase a building, expand and incorporate their sole proprietor business. Working with Trenval has undeniably brought a wealth of benefits to the business.

“Incorporating helped reduce the personal liability of owning a business, but we were also able to purchase the building we had been renting, which improved our monthly cost. As a result, it put more money in our business to focus on hiring and improving processes & procedures. We also saw significant growth as a result of working with Trenval. We were able to hire more employees, roll leases into owning our own assets, we improved sales and are now even better known in our community!”

One of their biggest recent successes occurred last year working with Loyalist College. It is important to the team at Lyman’s Landscape to share that landscaping is a rewarding and
meaningful career path.

On that partnership, Meg shares, “Last year we developed and implemented a course with the information side of Loyalist College to train those interested in the hardscape aspect of
landscaping so they would be job ready to apply to landscape job opportunities in our area.

Being that we love to give back, we worked with the Rotary Club of Stirling to create a hardscape project for them that they had been thinking of fundraising for. We had students in class as well as hands on to get a feel for what a job in the industry is really like, but also teach the skills necessary to do an excellent job with an emphasis on safety as well.”

Students were trained on the safe and appropriate use of equipment, tools, and safety on site. They were given the processes and procedures to carry out (up to/exceeding landscape ontario standards) a hardscape construction project.

Community Impact

“Our purpose has always been to create opportunities and build relationships. We love to give back to our community,” Meg shares. “We do a lot of sponsorships! Children’s sports and activities, Food for Learning, projects with Loyalist and the Rotary of Stirling to create a bench in their butterfly garden, Heart of Hospice, etc…we are always looking for ways to give back to the community that has given us so much!”

In their ten years in business, Lyman’s Landscaping has also created many job opportunities and provided their employees with many opportunities to learn and grow their skills. Pairing with Trenval also allowed the business to become a corporation, which provided more perks for employees: living wage, benefit and more time off, which has boosted employee morale and performance.

Looking into the future, Lyman’s Landscaping is hopeful that they will be able to branch into different cities and grow their brand awareness. Meg says their main focus is to continuing providing excellent customer service and perfecting the Lyman’s way. Check out Lyman’s Landscaping at lymanslandscaping.ca.

Final Thoughts on Working with Trenval