Angel Ridge
Living Blueprint was given the opportunity to take one of Vancouver’s best-kept secrets and present it to the rest of the world. That secret was Alan Kostiuk’s Angel Ridge Landscaping, a company specializing in high-end landscape development for an exclusive clientele. Alan’s deep knowledge of horticulture and strict attention to detail and steadfast dedication to excellent service has led to an enviable client list that reads like a who’s who of the Vancouver area. Robert H. Lee, founder of The Prospero Group; Lulu Lemon’s Chip and Shannon Wilson; and Peter Hough of True Religion Brand Jeans are just a few of Alan’s high-profile clients.
After promoting his business strictly through word of mouth for 20 years, and generating annual revenues of up to $900,000, Alan approached Living Blueprint to assist him in creating a corporate identity and strategy that would further cement his presence in Vancouver’s high-end landscaping marketplace.
Using the concept of Create – Maintain Living Blueprint created for us we have been able to steadily grow our company to the point where our revenue has more than doubled and we are becoming increasingly more busy. The insight they have given us has helped define our company and we would gladly recommend them.
- Alan Kostiuk
Living Blueprint identified two immediate obstacles:
1. Angel Ridge had no brand or marketing materials.
2. Many clients had come to view Alan ‘as’ Angel Ridge and would insist that he be on-site for all work, despite his highly qualified workforce.
The first phase of Living Blueprint’s strategy was to take the emphasis off of Alan himself and place it onto the corporation. Living Blueprint accomplished this by splitting Angel Ridge into distinct entities: Create and Maintain, and Group. Group was created to be the core company, which Create and Maintain would operate under. Create was positioned towards architects and Maintain was positioned towards strata councils.
The next priority was creating a brand image and marketing materials. Based on the Visual Identity and Marketing Strategy, the following tools were created: logo, website, power point presentations, proposal templates, signage, letterhead, brochures, business cards, envelopes, vehicle sticker wraps, and branded staff clothing.
The key to the ongoing success of the new Angel Ridge company was the creation of a self-sufficient marketing strategy that they could implement and control themselves using the created materials. Create packages were sent to every architectural firm within Angel Ridge’s area of operation. Next, strata councils were approached on a person-to-person basis and presented with a Maintain package targeted directly to their needs.
Living Blueprint has been working with Angel Ridge since 2006. Since the beginning of that relationship, Angel Ridge have established their own office and warehouse, and also managed to double their staff and their income within a two-year period.
As the company grew, the new challenge was not a lack of work, but the ability to attract, retain, and train the number of people needed to facilitate the amount of work. No company can grow faster than its ability to attract and retain great people. Because of staff shortages, Angel Ridge was forced to refuse contracts that could have pushed revenues over the $5 million mark. To
avoid this problem in the future, Angel Ridge is improving its infrastructure to be better able to manage increasing levels of work. The next phase is to create a comprehensive Brand Standards Guide and Operations Manual for Angel Ridge, which will help them manage their growth as they expand and franchise throughout the Lower Mainland. The secret is out.
