Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to BJ Barnes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, BJ thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

Here at Barnes & Co. Landscaping, we treat our clients like family. In our eyes, they ARE family! We try to go above and beyond thru our customer service to ensure every client feels important and valued. From the first communication and on, we always try to understand their needs, let them know arrival times, thank them when we are finished and always let them know we look forward to serving them again next time. I think most companies miss the mark with these valued practices. We try to set ourselves apart, which so far has shown thru feedback that it is very much appreciated.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Our company, Barnes & Co. Landscaping, is a small family owned Lawn Care/ Landscaping company that serves Middle TN residents and business owners. We have really taken off in the last year and we owe it to our community and clients for their continued support!

Our services include mowing, shrub trimming, planting, mulching, aerating, fertilizing, over-seeding, flower bed maintenance, weed control, deck and fence staining, pressure washing as well as other projects- just ask!

What started as a side hustle quickly grew into a full time business, leaving behind a long-lived career in the auto repair industry to persue my passion for landscaping. It has always been something I have enjoyed doing, but never thought I could make a career change to. It was a huge risk for me to take, but I knew I wanted more for my family…I wanted more freedom one day to spend with my 2 daughters. The moment that changed it all and had me and my wife saying, “We are ALL IN!” is hearing my daughter tell my wife in a conversation that “what did it matter, daddy is always working anyways…” That was like a knife in my chest and I knew then and there I had to make a change! I had to give everything I had in me to make this work so that I could be there for my girls more!

Along with my passion, experience and work ethic, my wife and I knew we wanted to be unlike the other landscaping companies out there. We made sure that we could bring the customer service, reliability and quality to back up our name! All of our qualities have brought us to where we are now in our business and have grown our family of clients exponentially over the last year!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

You could say we are really the underdogs. I couldn’t tell you the amount of times in my life that I have been told by multiple people that I couldn’t do something or I’ll never be anything. You would think hearing that as many times as I have, I would start to believe it, right? NO. I have never once let myself believe those nay-sayers! I have always been a strong willed, hard working, never give up mentality type of person. Always striving to prove them all wrong.

In order to do that, I can tell you, it has never been easy. The road has never been paved for me with ease. I have always had to prove myself and work my way to the top thru many obstacles in my life. But, I have never given up.

This year, our company made a huge accomplishment that I am so very proud of and was told by many that we would never be able to achieve. But, these underdogs DID! We were voted by our community as Favorite Lawn Care/Landscaping Company of 2023 in the Ruthie’s Choice Awards! To tell you we were honored is a complete understatement! We were and still are beyond honored to have won this award!

All of our hard work, long days (and nights), sacrifices to be where we are now, I am just so proud! We love what we do, appreciate our family of clients who we serve and can’t thank our community enough for supporting us!

For anyone else out there who may be struggling to stick to their dream or goals with all of the nay-sayers in the way, I challenge you to keep going, don’t give up! You are capable of so much more than others think you are!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Building a business is more than just marketing your products or services. It is honestly more important to connect with your community. What is important to them? What qualities in a company are they looking for?

I think now-a-days most companies in general have lost touch with building relationships with their customers and have become more transactional than anything. This is something we knew we wanted to address in our industry and set our company apart from. Our services are important, but our relationships with our clients is our priority.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/barnesandcolandscaping?igshid=MzMyNGUyNmU2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084490265991&mibextid=9R9pXO

Image Credits
N/A – All taken by our company.