Garth

Services Offered

• Lawn mowing

• Hedge trimming

• Gardening

• Landscaping

• Turfing

• Paving

• Tree work

Service Areas

• Ngongotaha

• Okawa Bay

• Okere

• Western Heights

• Fairy Springs

Garth is primarily based in Ngongotaha, though he also provides his services in Okawa Bay, Okere, Western Heights, and Fairy Springs. He uses a Walker ride on, mulcher mower, a sprayer for the front of the Walker, hedge trimmer, chainsaw, and smaller hand tools. For the majority of his hand gear, he uses Stihl equipment. His ride on services are perfect for bigger sections and his push mowing can look after the smaller lawns. He also can do a bit of gardening for his clients, he’s even upgraded a few gardens for some commercial clients.

For 30 years before Crewcut, he worked in the corporate world which included all the emailing, phone calls, and travelling, so Crewcut for him was a lifestyle change. When he first started looking for a business, he found the Crewcut listing and became interested. So when he saw the operator who was selling up the road, he went and had a chat with him about the business. He then went on to meet with the regional managers and got along with them. He got introduced to the computing system and the cost structure and was impressed by them too. Now that he's grown the business from a part-time run to full-time, his main goals are to maintain his clients and a certain level of sales. If he can find that balance between summer and winter work that would be ideal too.

He now spends his free time with his family and grandkids, renovating his house, and getting away on holiday when he gets the chance. He much prefers this lifestyle over the corporate hustle. His wife Karen helps out with the emailing and invoicing every couple of nights by going through Garth’s diary and sorting out the admin. He feels very appreciative to have such a strong and reliable client base who he gets to deliver his service to. His strong communication skills come in handy when chatting with a wide range of people that make up his customer base. He also feels his skills in keeping the business balanced has come from his corporate background. He also analyses the trends in terms of income to level it all out.

A big plus with this business, however, is when you get back from a long day there is never the stress you get from a corporate role. With Crewcut’s outstanding reputation in Rotorua, he feels he gets great value from a brand that is well respected by the public. The weather has been a big thing to work around, together with the understanding that you can’t mow wet grass. The business does revolve around the weather but that’s just when you have to plan ahead. You can’t over-promise with this business by saying you’ll be there at a certain time. But as long as you over-deliver with the service it will keep your clients happy. His advice to those looking to join a franchise system like Crewcut is to talk to the experienced guys. There are a lot of little things you can learn from them. Ask all the questions, and just have a chat.