Entrepreneur Chris Borrelli, senior at West Morris Central, operates and owns Clementine’s Maintenance and Services which is a small maintenance and lawn care business founded and operated in Long Valley, New Jersey.
In 2019, Chris Borrelli started Clementine’s because he wanted to earn money but was too young for a traditional job. Instead of working for someone else, he decided to create his own business. “Clementine” was the name of Borrelli’s cat at the time he started the business, so he decided to market the business under that name.
Clementine’s specializes in lawn care. This includes everything from mowing, mulching, weed whacking, edging and the use of herbicides to kill weeds.“We show up once a week. Usually it will be myself and one other employee and we do those [jobs] on a weekly or biweekly basis based on my recommendation” Borrelli said. “My secondary service over this summer is a little bit of auto detailing jobs.”
“The biggest challenge [for Clementine’s] is definitely marketing.” Borrelli said. “When I started, I would go door to door which really is not a bad strategy, because you figure every ten doors you knock on, you’re bound to get one customer.” Borrelli says that he advertises using lawn signs which he sometimes can place on a property of a client if they allow it .Borrelli explained that balancing how much he is buying ads like lawn signs versus getting jobs is a difficult skill he has to learn. Borrelli says that another main way of advertisement is simply word of mouth recommendations from one person to another after seeing the job well done.
In an age of media and online ads, Borrelli knew that he would need to build his platform online to grow his presence. “I run some Google ad campaigns, which are basically a short snippet about what we’re all about, what sets us apart and three photos that will catch the customer’s eye.” Borrelli said. He adds that another way they run online campaigns is through Facebook groups, which he has resorted to because of the oversaturation of bigger companies paying for online ads. “Online marketing is becoming more competitive and expensive, which makes it really difficult.” Borrelli said. “Advertising is really hard in a smaller town, which makes word of mouth really the best option. It’s important you get good reviews.”
As far as competitors, Borrelli says that Long Valley has a saturated market for lawn care.“There’s just too much of us,” Borrelli said. To overcome this, he teams up with some local landscapers and lawn care companies to avoid competition. “You kind of give business back and forth to each other with the bigger landscapers.” Borrelli said. “If I have a bigger job that I can’t handle, say it was a three plus acre property,I’ll say, look, you should really go to Kroger landscaping for this.” By doing this, he also gets recommendations from the larger companies as well. “If Kroger landscaping gets a smaller job he will maybe recommend me and say, this guy is more detail oriented, you may want to go with him for this job.”
Borrelli and his team stay updated on the newest industry trends by implementing new tools and methods every once in a while to increase efficiency. “Everyone wants the newest and latest equipment.” Borrelli said. Although, he highlighted that the job getting done well is more important than the latest tools. “New mowers allow us to move a much greater volume of leaves and grass or whatever the property might need us to accomplish.” Borrelli said. This strategy is beneficial for his company as well as his customers, because he says they get a better cut and higher quality job. These tools help Clementine’s to increase efficiency and increase their profit margin.
Borrelli explains that owning a business at such a young age has taught him volumes about communication, leadership, and assertive leadership. “There’s always a perfect number to work with, if I have four guys on a job, they’re all gonna count on each other,” Borrelli explains. He also explains that his business has taught his employees accountability since they are part of a team. Borelli has learned how to manage a team of people and hold them accountable and responsible, while still not being rude or aggressive towards them. Additionally, Borrelli says that operating this business has built his confidence, which will help him in the future and help his employees as well.
Being a small business among professional LCCs in the Long Valley area can be difficult because some clients may not have the confidence that they can do a high level of work. However, Borrelli is confident that his work is sure to alleviate any fears of unprofessionalism. “The price factor is what the customers see, so we may have to offer a slightly lower price for some people to hire us,” Borrelli explains. “We want to meet in the middle of those two higher [price ranges] to beat out the bigger companies and set us apart.”
Looking to the future, Borrelli plans to do everything he can in order to continue running a successful business.“I’m going to major in business entrepreneurship, so…even if this business doesn’t continue to survive, hopefully it will have the opportunity to morph into something else,” Borrelli said. He encourages clients to follow him and Clementine’s no matter what path he takes. He plans to work summers as well as encourage his employees to keep the business running smoothly while he studies business at a college.
Contact Information
The best way to contact Clementine’s is via Chris’s phone number: (908) 809-8315
Or you can check out his website linked here.
