How would you answer this question: “I would spend more time in my yard if…” Would the answer have something to do with an outdoor kitchen? What if you had a nice bench under a big tree? What if you had a relaxing patio surrounded by fragrant flowers? Eddie Koterba, owner of VIP Outdoor Living, can make any of those possibilities a reality, he says.

VIP Outdoor Living is also known as VIP Lawn and Landscape. Eddie started the business about 12 years ago after gaining some initial landscaping experience while working for a local golf course. He did a number of different jobs there, including irrigation, landscape building, planting, installing retaining walls, and maintence. During their downtime, Eddie and some of his co-workers often talked about opening their own landscaping companies. “I saw things I could do as a business,” Eddie explains, “and I knew I could get it started for a low initial investment.” He left the golf course several years later and started doing landscape installation and maintenance on his own.

For a while, Eddie says he ran the business on the side while working at a health club. He used the experience he gained at the health club in management and sales to grow his landscaping business. Soon Eddie was able to devote himself to VIP Outdoor Living on a full-time basis.

In the beginning, Eddie found clients through word-of-mouth. He would do small installation jobs, and clients would ask for modification of other parts of their landscaping. “I began to plant the seeds to grow my business,” Eddie tells me. By word-of-mouth advertising and customer referrals, more and more projects came in. He tells me that he soon had clients in different parts of town, and by talking with neighbors and passing out fliers he quickly had several jobs in each area.

“I am a small- to mid-sized business,” Eddie says. Over the years, he says his business has evolved, and it is a balancing act to have the right number of people employed in order to meet customer demand. One thing has remained the same, however: Eddie is still very much involved in every project his company takes on. Although he has a designer on staff, every plan is still collaborative, he says. Eddie works on sales, meets with each customer, writes proposals, and manages nearly every job. “I know every detail of each yard and project,” Eddie says.

He also spends time on-site talking with the client and overseeing the work. “I know what they want and what they don’t want.” His customers know he is on-site and that they can make modifications as the project goes along, he shares. This reduces unhappy calls and time spent making major corrections after the work is complete. It also keeps clients satisfied with the process and the end result, Eddie says.

Eddie’s attention to detail is a quality that he requires of his employees, and he also encourages it in his customers. He tells me he trains each of his employees, making sure that they know the proper way to do everything from planting a tree to installing a boulder. Even if they have come from another company and have previous landscaping experience, he says they may not have ever been properly trained.

If a customer tells Eddie that he or she doesn’t want a drawing or a design or if they just want a few simple plants, VIP Outdoor Living can certainly accommodate them. However, Eddie says that he still takes the time to talk with them and to walk through their yard so he can envision how to meet the client’s needs.

Do they like plants with fragrance? Do they have a special memory of time spent outdoors that can be translated to their yard today? How are they using the space now, and how will they use it in the future? Someone who just wants a nice place to drink coffee and read the paper every morning wants a very different space than someone who wants to entertain and have barbecues for large groups of friends and family, Eddie says. Are there children or pets to consider? He also takes note of how the yard is situated (to determine sun and shade), access to the space, and other variables that might affect installation. All of these things come into play when Eddie and the designer create an outdoor space for a client, he says.

It helps immensely if a client has a predetermined budget, Eddie recommends. Although some customers are reluctant to identify it, Eddie tells me that he can pack in more details for the client, and he can also be sure to make every penny count. Once the client receives the proposal, they will then have a detailed breakdown of where each dollar is going.

While some customers want to complete their entire yard all at once, Eddie says that most projects are done in stages. Perhaps the front yard is done first, then the backyard, and then a water feature is added. VIP Outdoor Living can build an outdoor kitchen, install raised garden beds, or create a sand pit for the kids, for example. Large or small, Eddie shares that every project is treated with the same care and respect.

Eddie tells me he is an “info guy,” and packs lots of information and details into every proposal. This way the client can see exactly what they are going to get. He provides photographs of every plant so the customer can envision what they will look like at maturity. Drawings and detailed plans, along with the cost of each item, don’t necessarily make his projects more expensive, but they do ensure that the customer understands the value of what VIP Outdoor Living has to offer, he says. “There is a way to do it right,” Eddie explains, and that often means putting more manpower into the job and not taking any shortcuts. “We want our clients to get a greater value than they might receive from other companies.”

He adds, “I really like that I have met a lot of people in town, and when I see them again, even after a long time, they remember me. It’s nice,” Eddie says.

For more information about VIP Outdoor Living, visit the Web site at www.vipoutdoorliving.com. You can also call Eddie at 558-0170 to schedule your own private consultation.