Today we’d like to introduce you to Fermin “Berger” Bergouignan.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Fermin. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I graduated from Miami Coral Park in 99. Went to the Marine Corps and served my 4 years honorably. After I got off the military, I started working in the banking industry and developed a strong banking background in finance and lending.
After the market / banking industry collapsed, I was forced to look for other areas to focus on as real estate was shot and no recovery was in sight. That lead me to a job with the Miami new times selling newspaper adds. I caught the company at an interesting time because they were in the middle to transitioning into a digital marketing company which lead me to acquire some very good experience managing and interacting with social media accounts and search.
Getting companies with no market presence to rank on page 1 of all major search engines. Doing this, I realized my calling, growing small business. I thought why not do this for my own… Once I developed a strong back ground in marketing and banking I decided to launch into the growing world of astro turf. Monster Grass was created as a side business while I was going door to door selling newspaper ads. I realized the need for the product and the demand while studying upcoming niche businesses. Only a handful existed at the time and realized the opening. Fast forward 5 years and business couldn’t be better. We have been able to keep up with 200% growth year after year since inception, we have over 20 full time employees and another 5 part time.
Our brand is becoming the go to source in the market because of our quality product, customer service and price. In addition, we are not your typical land scape company. We focus on exterior design as a whole… So basically, what started as an artificial grass company has led to become an exterior design company. After Partnering with General Contractor to become Monster Patio, we facilitate paver and concrete designs leading to a really high demand for our driveways and patios. It’s become like Art for your home and people want the right Artist. Monster Grass and Patio is actively on average in between 7-10 homes per day. The bulk of our business is the residential market.
Although we have done several projects with hotels and names like Ritz and Hilton and currently work with several builders are developers… Our strength is working directly with the individual home owner.
When we get to that level / face to face, by getting to know the client and the needs, we then can facilitate what no other company can. A design within a budget you can afford… Other competing firms stick to a set price per sq. ft. model. We don’t do that, we treat each project different and work with what you have.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We have had several competitors stem off from us and open rival companies. Over 4 to be exact. I wouldn’t really refer to them as competitors because we offer different products and solutions and we sell a whole lot more but it is a struggle to see that about half of the companies in the market of artificial turf here in south Florida stem back to us somehow, someway. Either worked for us or under us somehow at one point. We have had good installer retention rates but middle level foremen, they learn the business and then decide to go on their own quickly, it’s been really weird and hard, we have mid-level guys we are paying salary and commission to, they learn the business and instead of growing with the company. They jump ship. It’s like they get the entrepreneur bug once they see how we operate. We use a lean and mean model which is low overhead model, this allows us to control pricing while not sacrificing customer service or quality.
I would compare it to working at a Starbucks for a year and then quitting and starting your own coffee shop. Sure, you do and sell coffee but you’re really not competing with Starbucks. That’s honestly what has been happening to us.
Other struggles have been growth. Dealing with so many clients at one time in such a short period of time has been crazy. Keeping up with demand without losing on customer service has been super hard.
This particular summer season which is supposed to be slow season has been one of our busiest quarters to date.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Monster Grass and Turf – what should we know?
Other companies don’t offer as many services as we do.
We are not just artificial grass. We have a patio and driveway division. We tackle entire scopes of work from front to back of the house.
We have our grass in retail locations all throughout South Florida. We are in ace hardware, shell lumber, wasser furniture Hallandale, r and r nursery, just to name a few. So, we actually sell material to do it your selfers out of retail locations.
We do driveways that look like art with turf. Our transparency is the best in the business. We document the majority of our work on social media and YouTube. This lets clients get a good feel for us before they even meet us. Most of the times these days I get to the potential job and they already know all about us, I feel like a celebrity sometimes, lol. It’s fun.
Also, patios. We do green walls with artificial ivy.
We are extremely, extremely price competitive, I will do projects at cost without making money just to take the project from a potential competitor, I will do a project in essence for the relationship. For example, if I feel you are a good contact or potential relationship, I will do the project at cost to win over the client and the client network.
This has opened so many doors for us that it’s not even funny, you do one project at cost. Flex your muscle by doing a good job and from then out you get all the family and friends, neighbors, etc. at profit. It’s like planting seeds for the future harvest.
We actually honor our warranties, we go back if you call. I know this sounds standard but in Miami it’s not. Stuff happens, if it does we honor our promises. Every time.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My wife Jesabel – She has been vital – Graduated with a master’s degree from FIU in psychology, she left her job with Mercy Hospital when she saw how busy we got, she never returned.
Our partnership with our manufacturer has been huge, they have been very instrumental as we have our own product line and private label. Our retail locations have been big for brand awareness, we are in the middle of growing that side of the business as a big emphasis to end the year.
Pricing:
- Average price per sq. ft. installed $6.50 for turf, concrete or pavers.
Contact Info:
- Address: 13210 SW 132 Avenue,
Unit 10, Miami, FL 33186 - Phone: 305-967-7557
- Website: http://www.monstergrass.com/
- Email: fermin@monstergrass.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monstergrass/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/monster.grass.1
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/monster-grass-and-turf-miami-2
- Other: https://www.houzz.com/pro/sales6419/monster-grass-artificial-turf-and-ivy
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