When Jeb Barber returned to Baton Rouge in 2009, he set out to use the experience he’d gained working in large landscape architecture firms around the county to build a different type of business.
With an entrepreneurial instinct, Barber wanted to be the one to bring his designs to life, as he tells Business Report in its latest Entrepreneur feature. His independent drawing work slowly developed into installation work.
Today, his business, Makaira Landscape + Pools, operates with a unique business model as the only one-stop shop in Baton Rouge for designing and building outdoor landscapes. Instead of charging clients for designs and sending them on their way, he takes his customers much farther.
“The homeowner doesn’t have to worry about going to find an irrigation guy, a drainage guy, find a pool guy,” Barber explains. “We handle all of that.”
Operating a small business allows him to utilize his employees to fill versatile roles, Barber says. Designers are groomed into project managers that handle drawing, pricing and working with clients. He’s also maneuvered to fill the shifting needs of his industry by expanding to maintenance and pool services.
Barber started incorporating maintenance work into Makaira’s offerings with just a truck and one crew using one trailer, a lawn mower and three weed eaters. It has slowly grown into a fleet of trucks and 27 employees managing more than 100 maintenance clients.
Barber’s business partner, Chris Graham, has been landscaping since he was 18, and acts as the eyes and ears for the operation in the field. Also with the incorporation of pool design and installation to his business model, he’s seen his workload double over the past year.
“But in a good way,” Barber adds.
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