Rumaldo Flores of Flores Artscape Landscaping gives us insight into the business he and his family are building together. How listening in communication is key whether it’s working with family or interacting with clients, and how our yards can improve our lives.
Full Podcast Transcript
Revivify Podcast S02 E05 Flores Artscape
Grace Mase 00:04
Hello, and welcome to the Revivify podcast. I'm your host Grace Mase. Today, I'm here with Rumaldo Flores, the owner and executive director of Flores Artscape Incorporated. He's a landscape contractor with over 20 years of experience in the field, starting his own landscape company in 2004. Their specialization in irrigation systems, concrete and paver installation as well as sod installation. And landscape is an area that I've always been interested in but have limited knowledge. And I'm very excited to talk with Rumaldo today and to learn from him here on Revivify. Thank you Rumaldo.
Rumaldo Flores 00:51
You're very welcome. It was an honor, it's a pleasure to have the opportunity of sharing this. I use experience and knowledge with others and hopefully that’s good for somebody. And it's always good, you know because you're valuable, you can help others. So, I would like to do that.
Grace Mase 01:08
Thank you for being here. I understand your father introduced you to landscape? Can you tell us a little about yourself and your company?
Rumaldo Flores 01:15
Yeah, coming to this country, of course, there's the dream of succeed, flourish and get ahead in life. And a lot of times when you have, you don't have the big education with the big university and all the certificates, you still gotta make it go right. Inside of each of us, there's dreams, whether we have education or not, that's what we live for to accomplish them one way or the other. And to me, it was to succeed but then like in education, it's like the question is how? But having a purpose and a dream I think is the gasoline, is the power and I have that. My dad started doing maintenance, gardening and landscaping and we started it and he always said, “Give a good service to people and an honest service.” And of course, when I was a teenager, I was like I don't want to do this. I don't even want to work in gardening. I don't like it. But as we went on, I was paying the rent, I started getting into it and doing the trimming of trees and I loved it and just started getting in contact in communication with the plants and the water and the bird and going, hmm, there's something to it. And then seeing our customers happy after we did work, seeing them created an effect on me. I'm like wow, like a mother, you know, when she serves food for the kids and they all say mom, it was great. And even if the mother doesn’t eat, she feels happy because she did something for them. I think that goes for any business. So, I kind of got the viewpoint, if I have my customers happy, they'll pay for it and I build it on that. And it was a good thing for my dad that I got those values and basics in.
Grace Mase 02:58
I love it. And for us, we think about how we touch every home, whether it is the landscape, hardscape, the homes itself, is how it impacts the family. And when the parents achieve something meaningful and could be an extremely powerful experience for the children. For them ultimately as role models they look after and realizing “hey, I can do this too.”
Rumaldo Flores 03:22
Yes, very important. I think we got to have dreamers. We got to have the kids dreaming and allow them to dream. Parents, they got to dream and allow them to dream. People have dreams of even their home, their house, the kids, the dog, to retired, to sell the house. They bought the house; they want to change the house. There's always a purpose. And I think understanding the purpose and the reason why somebody wants to do something and you help them accomplish it, we all win. And that's where the organizing skills come in that I had to learn to run the business, helping people achieve their goals with their landscape. I noticed that it takes good communication and respecting your customer and understanding the customer and back and forth communication. But you build that trust and when there's trust, it's easier to communicate back and forth because you're not cutting corners or no, you're just honest, straight and people love that. And that's how I've been building my business from scratch now to what I have. And I love it because as a family, we're still doing this. We keep those values. It pays off.
Grace Mase 04:35
That's beautiful. And I'm getting a little personal now. Most people would trust, enjoy and spend time with their family. But starting a business together is a whole different thing. I understand Flores in Spanish means flower and it feels like you're really destined to start Flores Artscape as a family owned business. So, share with us a little bit about how you are creating incredible experience for people, families at the same time you start your own family business relationship.
Rumaldo Flores 05:07
Really interesting because you're right. Sometimes it's really hard like I remember, when I asked my two sons. I have two sons and I said you want to do landscaping they said “no, I don't want to do landscaping.” I was like okay. But to me the business was paying for their education and keeping the family together. My dad always like, he allowed me to be, afterwards he says if you don't like it, you don't have to do it. If you do, okay. And I thought that was very powerful having freedom of choice and given to me whether yes or not to do it. And I thought wow, okay that feels good because I already was doing it. I liked it. It felt good to make money, winning money and exchanging your time and creativity for money. It was a good feeling and I said “wow okay.” So then when I got married my wife was also like really, gardening? I said yeah so, she got into it and we both study creating. Then I kind of took the field in the construction part of it and then she took the administrative part of it and that made it very strong as owners and managers running it. Because a lot of times, you're right, you can have a disagreement between you and your wife like “what do you mean landscaping?” I don't even like it and you got like okay. But we always have had good communication as a family and one of my sons is one of my managers today now to learn administration and he's applying it in the business. And he does other things but I think it's the communication and having a purpose and a goal for something. And we all in the family like to be of service of others and in this case for us, is landscaping services that we can offer but then having that concept then being able to organize it. Because I think that's the hardest part to organize it and getting agreement in a family for business is a little bit hard because they all have different viewpoints. But I think as a dad, as a husband, as a manager, as an owner, putting it all together and still respecting each one of us with their own goals but having a common purpose. It was key and for this whole family, we still deal with the things that we want to do, like to do and now we have employees and we kind of line them up to that purpose and they like it. And we want them and their families to also learn those basics and be a good family and that's valuable to us. They love the company, they work there. Sometimes they get offered even more money to go and work other places and they say “no, you know I'm happy here” and that's very valuable to us as a family.
Grace Mase 07:57
It's beautiful the way you have laid out for us is respect and building relationship and being there for each other and respect other people's ideas and collaborate effectively. That is really fundamental of how you build a great company not only just have a wonderful family but that itself is very important.
Rumaldo Flores 08:18
Yeah because you got to combine them. I see a lot of times people go into the business and they spend all their time and then their family time is not in. You got to be able to balance it out. And for us, we work together and we still go off and have good dinners and stuff but yeah, I think the basic of that, having a family is communication, communicating on purpose, always asking them how did they like it or do they like it. And then I think for me one thing I learned is like you know you got to have a goal, a purpose and communicate it. And say for us is to have satisfied customers with high quality products and they're going to give us exchange which is money and tolerance. And I do ask the employees kind of how do you like that? Oh, that sounds great. Okay, well let's do it. Then you'll develop your policies and based on that purpose and it's pretty powerful. It’s very simple yet it gives it together and it keeps going, it keeps growing.
Grace Mase 09:22
That's awesome. Now, there's one thing I'm always curious is business name. How the word Artscape came about?
Rumaldo Flores 09:29
When you're creating, when you're making something, you're creating it out of nothing. Like and for us we're creating with different elements: plants, soil, decomposed granite rocks, concrete, brick, flax and kind of painting canvas like writing a song, it has all these different components and it's creative. And you got to be able to think in sequences and put all those elements together so they communicate that song or that message or that something that's in.
So, I thought Artscape because then it is the creation and the plants, they are so good communicators. You talk to a plant that you treated well and that plant talks to you and it has different colors. The plants just feel alive and happy and you are like yeah, that's what we want. And so, you when you paint a picture with different plants in a yard, is it like a message. It is like they communicating something. So, I thought Flores Artscape. I said yeah because that's what we do. We're putting these elements together and we’re creating. Therefore, it's like a song or a painting that you put together for somebody to enjoy. And I say yeah, that sounds like a good thing. Artscape; the ability to create and communicate. So I say yeah. Now that's how it kind of came about.
Grace Mase 10:51
And it’s like you look at the soil or people's soil as your canvas. And every stroke as a brush for you is every plant or any flowers whatnot, when you put into the soil that becomes a painting and artwork that all of us could enjoy, not just the homeowners but also neighbors and pedestrians.
Rumaldo Flores 11:10
There you go. Yeah, it always has a purpose. Why you're doing what you're doing is an investment for the customer yet, it is for you to enjoy it. We have all kinds of different situations. Some people they buy the house, they just want to sell it, flip it. So, they just clean it and blah, blah, blah. There are people who they're going to live there. They want to enjoy it, sometime in a long time and now they want to just come home from work and have their paradise or oasis and have a relaxing area. Or some people that have kids, the dog and it's important for them to be safe and have their space and stuff. So, there's all kinds of different scenarios. People want to save water. They don't want to have all the trimming and the blowing and the grass cutting. They just want to keep it simple aesthetic, clean, a few drought tolerant plants and then that's that. So, we got to be able to think okay, what is going to make the person feel good and enjoy? Because that's what we live for, to enjoy what we have and what we have supposed to make us happy. So, it goes a little bit of communication you build together but it works. We know how to do that.
Grace Mase 12:19
That's awesome. Flores Artscape offers both hardscape and softscape. When it comes to homeowners, how do you help them go through the design process of their outdoor space?
Rumaldo Flores 12:30
We have a set of questions to find out what they like and don't like. What do they really need and what do they want, and what's important, what's not important? And we get all that information from them. So, we can actually then provide or help them with what they really need and want. And it takes like I say good communication and back and forth, pictures or questions and then we'll help them do that. So, then a lot of times they ask us what about this, if we do this and we kind of tell them and advise them, you know, that's not a good idea, this is a good idea, what you think and that kind of stuff. So, we go over that on our first initial consultation. So, we just kind of go over back and forth. “Oh, this is a shady area, so, we're going to need this type of plant. So over here, it's sunny.” and all those little points, we take into consideration so we can actually come up at the end with what they need and want and make sure that their investment is correct.
Grace Mase 13:30
That's really good. I'm sure you guys encounter clients who may not have a strong vision mainly because they don't know what they don't know. And they may have some picture on Pinterest somewhere and they say hey, I like this picture. But they have different images not related to each other and may not seem coherent in terms of how that will come together. How do you help them to get to the place where the vision really comes together?
Rumaldo Flores 13:54
A couple of things. We ask them what is the purpose? What are they trying to achieve? And they go okay, and then clearing that up, then it's easier to kind of develop something for them. Or what is it that they hate about their yard that they just don't feel comfortable or good? Then okay and then we can offer okay well, what would you like to have? With that questions and surveys, they kind of give us an idea and then we'll come up with something and go well, we can do ABC and then what do you think? And then they either say yes or no or sometimes they ask for design. Okay well, this is the design. Go and see how it looks and paper and stuff so they can actually get a feeling for it. Because you're right. There are some guys they have a hard time envisioning anything. And as much as you explain it to them, they can’t see it. That's part of our process and to understand that and then also then how do we fulfill that lack of vision so that you have an idea so we can help them at least have a pre vision of what is it going to look like and why. And then once we extract that then we'll be signing and then most of the times it ends up well.
Grace Mase 15:06
That's great. Now due to COVID, many homeowners are interested in expanding their home space with their outdoor living space. So, what are some trends that you're seeing now?
Rumaldo Flores 15:15
Now with this COVID 19, a lot of people I guess realized that they had a backyard and patio and they needed some help. But I think trending a lot of fences. We've been doing a lot of fences because they wanted privacy and a lot of hedges to create some privacy. Patios, a lot of concrete patios, the barbecue, and a lot of plantings. Other people are doing plantings. I think plants makes you relax and it adds life to your curb, to your backyard. We've been doing a lot of plantings. Now, you know, whole species of like water called drought tolerant plants are coming out and they're beautiful and those being on a good trend on drought tolerant planting. Plants that attract nature, butterflies and sometimes people like bees or plants you feel like they're drought tolerant plants. California native plants; you plant them in there, they're beautiful, gorgeous, they don't need a lot of maintenance. But training wise, it's been like hedges, privacy, curb appeal and then just making it nice for the dog and the kids. We've been doing a lot of hardscape on patios and decks. Seems like a new something that they're building decks in front of the house and the back then they set up the coffee table and it looks great. They can bring in the inside out to that house, extending another living room. But in this case, they put the fire pit, the barbecue, or the wooden deck. And then they mostly is like drought tolerant plants. So, they still have the aesthetics and the value of the house with minimal maintenance. That's kind of been like the trending thing that has been going on right now.
Grace Mase 17:07
Do you expect to see the trend continue?
Rumaldo Flores 17:10
I think so. Yes, because a lot of people are working now from home. They need that safe relaxing space in it because it’s their house and it’s not the office. They want to have that feeling of is not an office but it is but then you can enjoy it at the same time. And I think is going to keep expanding on that. I think it's gonna be trending a lot still for 2021.
Grace Mase 17:39
When you mentioned earlier of when people begin to realize that they have deck, and I'm one of them. Most of us come home after work and you just go through the routine, spend time mostly indoors and on weekends, we tend to go elsewhere. But now, being at home, you do discover your home backyard. You do discover the beauty of the plants and the birds or butterflies coming in and enjoying the space just as much as you do and that's fantastic. This way, you mentioned that yeah, that's true and you mentioned how not only relaxes you but also provides the fresh air which we all need right now.
Rumaldo Flores 18:16
Oh, totally. Yeah, if you add a little water feature then you add a little bit of water sound to the picture, then you enjoy it. And then hopefully soon, we can gather together families coming over without breaking the protocol on sanitation and all these kinds of things. But I think until they're creating and making something new is very therapeutic to the mind, to the spirit, to the body, to not let any of these conditions kind of bring us down in any way emotionally.
So, I'll tell you if you have plants and you go and talk to them and water them, I mean they'll talk back to you. They're happy. And I think we can do that and we should do that. It's part of living nature. That's what we do in landscaping, you kind of get the nature part into the house with the drip systems to save water, the plants. Sometimes, you add a little bit of natural grass and the rest could be artificial grass or just very low maintenance groundcovers. And it’s still nature with a few stones in the middle and you enjoy it and the maintenance is minimal.
Grace Mase 19:32
That’s wonderful. Now, what's the best time for homeowners to start planning getting their landscape done?
Rumaldo Flores 19:38
Well things change. It used to be that people will spend more home like the holidays and then the spring will come and people will get ready in the spring too for the plantings and the new grass and the new plants and all everything starts growing again. But for us living in California is like summer all year round. So, you know we were busy year-round because it's not like the east coast where the cold comes and then nothing grows. Here is like it doesn't matter. In California, it just keeps going 24/7, 12 months around and it is like for us, we noticed that it's a matter of when do you want to start enjoying your house and then changing it and making it better? I think for that it's a matter of decision and saying okay, why wait? Life sometimes it's too short. Let me do the things that are going to make me feel good. And you know, use it as an investment because it’s an investment, improving your landscape is an investment to your house and you got to be able to think with that too, you're investing in it for the future.
Usually at planting, it's good to start again in the spring where everything starts growing. But there's so many plants, if you know how to plant them, you can plant them and have them ready. So, they develop in the spring and just blooming in the summer but there's plants that bloom in the winter. So, you got to know what kind of climate you're in, what type of soil you have, what is the effect you want to create and what are you going to use your space for? Yeah, but I think it's a matter of taking a look at your house doing a survey and going okay, what can I improve? If I do that okay, will that improve the value of the house? Is it going to make my family happy maintenance wise? What is it gonna do for me? And I think people should be able to do that on a monthly or yearly basis and go okay. We have customers, they do that. They call us every other year and now I have this and I have that and they love it. That's how you create life, you have to change it. So, you can go like, yeah, you know, I'm alive, I'm changing it and making it better. And I think we should all do that. Otherwise, you go the other way around, you go oh I’m dying, nervous, I don’t know what to do and blah blah blah and then you deteriorate your health, your emotions, everything. Same thing with the house. A house is like a person. You'd be in communication with it, clean it, caress it, improve it and you always will have life in it. And so that's our viewpoint though we kind of inject life to the landscaping so we can make happier people.
Grace Mase 22:24
I love it, inject life into landscape. You mentioned earlier about investment. My limited knowledge, I know landscaping can impact the property value. What is it about the landscape that is able to impact the property value?
Rumaldo Flores 22:38
Well, if we are able to install an irrigation system that you do have an irrigation system that is going to save you water and you still have all your plants healthy, very valuable. If you have plants that require not as much maintenance and trimming but they still look live and beautiful, it's great. If you have lighting, safety or just aesthetics, it's important then you can appreciate also your landscape at night. And of course, you have healthy plants, healthy grass, you're going to sell your house then you have all those in perfect conditions. Of course, the value is there an additional 10 to 15% of the value of the property, the landscape. So, if it's in place and its functional, it’s aesthetic then of course, it maintains a better value or it doesn't decrease. So, it's important.
Grace Mase 23:38
That's good to know. You mentioned earlier about the drought resistance and as more homeowners are looking at ways to lower their water consumption for the yards, how did they started having that conversation with you?
Rumaldo Flores 23:51
Well, we can always do like a little analysis like they all homes, they have the regular sprinkler system and those systems, they waste a lot of water, you know. Once you turn those sprinklers on is like wasting a lot of gallons of water. Now we're getting people to use drip systems. And it is a whole new system that you install with your automatic timer. There's a dripper there like a one gallon to two an hour or there are all kinds of different little measurements to install. And then some areas don't even need water because some plants once they are established, they don't need water. So, you got to know which ones are already established or when or you can set up your timer in such a way to water at certain like winter comes people should be able to go to their timer and turn it off. They forget so it just goes and keeps watering. And there are a few basics on water conservation that you can change in some of the plants, the irrigation from regular to a drip irrigation system, adjusting the timer. There are a few grasses that need less water than other grasses.
So, there are different things you can do to save water but you definitely can. And I think we should have move into water conservation without losing value or the aesthetics of the landscape.
Grace Mase 25:20
That makes sense. Thank you. I do some gardening at home. And I've been reading about gardening. Is there trend with edible yards that people are planning edible plant vegetation so they can be more in touch with how they consume food in general?
Rumaldo Flores 25:40
We've been building a lot of planters in the back yards. Absolutely! And I think that's great. If you have your organic vegetables. Yeah, we've been doing a lot of backyard vegetable planters with irrigation. I think people should have them. They have their fresh mint in oregano and cilantro plus the tomatoes and stuff like that. And I tell if people did that, it will help them in many ways. Once you are getting organic food too, it kind of ranges stress level down when you go there and work and look at the soil and plants and you pull out the few weeds and we get to see the fruits and the vegetables, it’s such a feeling.
It's such a feeling when you plant a seed and you see it coming out and you know you did it and then it has a purpose. I think people should do that more. We're doing a lot of planters. Now the backyards with the irrigation systems are great because they get to cultivate and get their own produce and it’s such a good feeling. And then the kids get involved in it too because they want to go and see the little tomato plant. They get connected to nature from that regard and is very therapeutic besides, you having healthy food.
Grace Mase 27:02
Absolutely! Growing up, my parents always have some sort of fruit trees in our backyard. I always volunteered to water the plants so I can just rip off the fruit and start eating it. And I just love that feeling of how fresh, how natural it is and able to nourish such a credible way.
Rumaldo Flores 27:20
Totally! I will recommend people to do that. And they will probably handle 30% of their stress just by having a problem of going out and seeing the plant and watering it and then being able to reap the benefits by having fresh vegetables in there on the table.
Grace Mase 27:38
Yeah, absolutely. Well, these days I'm competing with our neighbors’ squirrels who comes and eat our vegetation much quicker than I can consume them.
Rumaldo Flores 27:48
Yeah, I know. Yeah, I love that. You know, they do nets. We have to do a lot of times for the raccoons and squirrels.
Grace Mase 27:55
They're part of the community. So, what are the top five things to think about when they're embarking on renovating their landscape?
Rumaldo Flores 28:08
Now we have so many ways to do research on a company or business. And I will call one or two or take a look at their web pages. Do they have a license? Are they insured? Do they have an office? Just because it's an investment so it's important to know who you're dealing with. It’s your money so it's good to be dealing with me as the insurance, the license. Customers are very important and communication is one of our key ingredients. If you call a business and you don't get a call back or you get it in a week, then especially nowadays, the speed it's important because we're all busy doing things. So, I think if somebody values their customers, they will be communication with them right away and answering their questions. So that would be another point to take into consideration.
And then also, you have things in writing. It's important because a lot of times you're going to contract and then if you don't put it in writing, they're going to be “I thought you said . . . and that was not what I asked for. I thought it was going to be the other one not this one.” It's important to have things in writing and agreed upon. Sometimes there are certain hiccups that come up that you got to be able to work out too. But I think if you're a professional yes, let's have a license, let's promote, let's communicate, let's put it in writing.
And then fourth thing is like let's make sure that we are all clear on what we're going to do. A lot of them say people should do sketches even if it's not a big plan then do a sketch with some notes and stuff and both agree on it best as you can and that erases a lot of confusion.
And towards the end, it will be important to also once you finish a project, do a walkthrough of everything and make sure the customer is happy and satisfied. So, they can release the last payment based on satisfaction in the person's happy.
I think those are five things I will recommend customers to keep in mind. Test the company on their communication back. If they can’t answer an email in 24 hours or 72 hours then that project is going to be the production, the delivery and execution of the project is also going to probably have the same kind of problems. I think is very important because customers are important and really what matters. It is their home, is their investment and we're here to make it better and help them
Grace Mase 30:53
I really appreciate how customer centric you are and looking for ways to help them to enjoy their space. And thinking from their view and their perspective, their lifestyle, how they want to live their space.
Rumaldo Flores 31:06
We sometimes run into customers; the company came and they were trying to enforce their own viewpoint and not taking into consideration your viewpoint. And of course, it could be a technical point on why it's not gonna work that way you have it but it should be explained to them. But a lot of times it’s just like lacking the ability to communicate. It just generates so many problems because then they're like, you're not understanding me? Yes, I did. No, you didn't. I said this and then.
And I think businesses should be able to communicate and understand the customer because that's the business. You earn trust because you can communicate and you got to be honest about it and communicate that things come up. But if you're honest, you can always work it out. But if you don't then you're always going to be cutting corners or hiding things and then you end up like a lot of contractors and owners end up in such a problem and it doesn't need to be that way. We have so many good reviews because at the end, that's part of one of our things. We make sure that the customer is happy and satisfied with their high-quality product and then they want to give us reviews and I say sure. I mean that's how we keep finding good people.
Grace Mase 32:32
When good people work together, they are bound to have good results and that cycle continues. That's how it's supposed to be. Now, I'm sure there are young people who are interested to go into the landscape business. What would you advise them?
Rumaldo Flores 32:46
That's great because nature is amazing. And if you can work to make it better and organize it, which is what we do. We reorganize elements. I think is great because like it or not, we're expanding into new territories, into the mountains, into the desert, into this and into that and we need artistic people like being responsible for that part of life. So yeah, to dream and dream to have nature integrated into our expansion. And of course, communication is such a key ingredient for every reason in any business. And it's important to have the ability to give and receive communication and bring about understanding which is possible and then organize.
You got to be organized because a lot of times when you're lacking your organizing skills, you end up so overwhelmed and then it's hard to produce because everything's in your head and everything's under desk and everything is back logging. Organizing and that just means putting things in sequence to accomplish something. It goes for every project because we realize that goes for your career. But if we're going to have people coming into that, I think is great because you're dealing with plants, you're dealing with hardscape materials, organizing them. And then the main thing would be what are they doing is they are creating something to people to see or enjoy and it has to have a purpose why you're doing it. And if you can think with that, the rest is secondary. Then you can always work it in whatever way.
And then of course, there's finances and legal stuff. That's important to get the basics of it. Because no matter where you are especially in LA, there's a lot of legal stuff in finances that it's important to have to run the business and keep running it. Otherwise you're going to feel sad that you failed just because you were so good at your creativity but then you were lacking your organizational skills and then you feel like you fail. I'm not good. No, you are good. Maybe you need to expand on your organizing and communication skills.
Grace Mase 35:04
Also, people are being trained. They focus on the artistic part but that the business operation never been taught unless you go specifically to business school like your son did. But that itself is so important to have balance of artistic but also operations.
Rumaldo Flores 35:19
Yeah, I invite people to my office at Glassell Park but I have something called an organizing board. And that organizing board gives all the functions and the things that you need to do to end up with a good product and I have it on the wall. And I usually invite people to see it because I like to share the knowledge. I invited them off and said, “take a look at how I am organized.” And it's 21 departments and each department are into a division. So, there are seven divisions and each division has three departments. And like for example, division seven is in charge of setting the goals and making sure all the legal stuff is in and then the expansion of it going. And then I have the next division is division one, that's in charge of HR and Communications and all that kind of stuff. Then I have the next division which is Marketing and Sales. So, I have people for that. Then I have a division called Treasury that handles all the invoicing and the receipt and collecting, paying and all that kind of stuff. Then I have a division called Technical Division. That division is in charge of delivering the project, that's where all the production happens. All the crews and the materials, supervision. And then I have the division called Quality Control and they made sure that the customer is happy. If one of my guys doesn't know how to do something to get trained, so he knows how to handle the irrigation or whatever he's going to be in charge of. And the last division is how do you get new customers? And that's just new public relations and different things that go with that division. So, that's been helping me to kind of run, you know. I used to do everything myself but now I have people in those divisions that I managed for them to do and then compare that to a personal life, you know, like if a person doesn't have goals, well same thing if businesses don’t have goals, he's gonna have a hard time. If he doesn't know his legal things and he's gonna get into trouble. They charge personnel. Personally, if he doesn't know how to make new friends then he's going to be lacking some power in the future guess he's going to end up by himself. Personally, if a person doesn't know how to sell himself, same thing, if the business doesn't know how to sell, it would not go too long. Treasury division; a person needs to know how to manage his money or he'll end up like with so many bills and then it's going to be not easy to handle. So that personally, you got to be able to do that. And a person needs to be able to produce a product or service and exchange it with life with others so you can earn some money. And that's my production division and the person needs to produce. And quality to me like, you got to be able to correct yourself and learn new things yourself as a person every day. Is not because you went to school, now you're educated, that's awesome. But it's a continual learning as you go because life demands out of you that you better learn or you're gonna fall behind.
And I learned all those basics and then how to get new customers. I learned those basics and I've been applying them to the business and it's been working. That's why I recommend that people learn communication skills. And then a lot of times you don't find places where you can learn them because a lot of times, well, what does that mean? Do I just talk? Well, I've been talking and nobody listens. So, they think I'm crazy, or they disagree with what I said. Well, communication has three parts that I learned. It's called components of understanding. And I learned that and it's very powerful because then it helps you to bring about understanding. And that's been helping me on my sales, dealing with my employees and with everything. And it's been empowering me just to being able to bring a better understanding and it feels good because you can respect people, you can understand them. You can help them. That's valuable. But yeah, basically those three things, the technical stuff, the license, the communication and organizing, then anybody can accomplish anything.
Grace Mase 39:51
Wow, you're so impressive. I learned just so much from you in this short conversation.
Rumaldo Flores 39:57
Oh good, Grace that's awesome. Learning is par but you got to be able to listen like you did and then I'll talk and then yeah and I think having the ability to exchange those ideas, anybody can learn anything. I have helped many different business owners not only in landscaping but in different fields with the same. Now, it just applies differently to what they do.
Grace Mase 40:28
Thank you! Well, it's been incredible speaking with you and learning from you. I know people probably want to learn more so how would they get in touch with you?
Rumaldo Flores 40:37
We have our webpage and we have the social media www.floresartscape.com they can go through that. We have a phone number there. We are on Facebook, Instagram. We're on all the social media but Flores Artscape Incorporated then you punch it in, it’ll lead you to the web page or Facebook and then you can contact us. People would like to come and I always welcome them and show them and say yeah you can use it, you can learn. Because like I said at the beginning of the interview, you're only valuable as you can help others.
Grace Mase 41:12
Absolutely! Well, Rumaldo thank you so much for joining us on this episode of Revivify podcast and I truly enjoy enormously from you. And I hope for the listeners, you enjoyed hearing from Rumaldo Flores of Flores Artscape.
Rumaldo Flores 41:27
Thank you very much Grace, it's an honor.
Grace Mase 41:30
And thanks again for listening and we'll see you next time