Real curb appeal
Perhaps one of the main characteristics that successful small businesses share is the ability to remain flexible when meeting the needs of their customers.
Certainly skill, creativity, uniqueness of product or service and solid customer service skills are vital to building customer continuity. But having the ability to adapt to a continuous stream of change has kept many businesses from sinking.
Especially now, during the ups and downs of a still struggling commercial economy, adaptation is key.
Kyle Wietecha has a firm grip on the foundations that build smart small businesses. His company, All Around Inside/Out LLC, was the result of a creative imagination and an ability to adapt his skills to meet a viable need.
In 2005 he started All Around Inside/Out LLC, a landscape curbing company that is dedicated to solid craftsmanship and customer service.
Prior to starting his curbing business, Wietecha was a wood craftsman by trade, doing curbing as a hobby. With grounded experience in landscaping, he recognized that curbing could be a viable business option. It became his main focus and woodworking his passionate hobby.
A creative soul by design, Wietecha extrudes landscape curbing, the decorative concrete pieces that border yards, driveways, plants and flower gardens.
In fact, All Around Inside/Out LLC’s curbing is often the decorative yet functional touch that distinguishes one home from the next. His work isn’t just beautiful, capturing some unique designs and color schemes, but also is practical in keeping landscaping accents, like mulch, stone or pine bark, from scattering.
Reasons for the curbing vary. “Some customers want their plants strategically placed,” Wietecha said. “Some customers don’t care. They just want a border to keep their grass from growing into their flowerbed or to keep the mulch from flying out every time the mower drives by.”
Many of his customers, he said, begin with curbing as a functional necessity. But once they see how the curbing can enhance the look of the property, they often hire All Around to extend the curbing into other areas.
Pete and Darlene Denaro, residents of the Wellington in Spring Hill, hired All Around Inside/Out to do curbing around their house, walkways, trees and flowerbed.
“Kyle does good work,” Pete Denaro said. “I like the way he handles himself.”
Wietecha even repaired some curbing that had been destroyed by a neighbor’s car. “He came out and fixed it,” Darlene Denaro said. “He knows how to put it back together.”
The Denaros chose Wietecha’s own design for their curbing, an almost Classic Greek pattern, with a deep terracotta feel. “This was Kyle’s own mix,” Darlene said. “It was his design.”
All Around Inside/Out LLC actually offers several designs and colors customers can choose from. He blends the color directly into the mix and builds the curbing at each job.
The process is involved, requiring site prep and time for the cement mix to dry. But the result is amazing.
Wietecha leaves no stone unturned and remains with the job until it is completed to his very high level of standards. And he is adamant about complete cleanup.
He doesn’t skimp on quality or customer service and is determined to keep his solid reputation in tact by fulfilling his commitment to customers long after the initial job is complete.
He takes pride in his business, demonstrated in how he cares for his equipment. “If a company takes pride in keeping their equipment maintained and clean, they will take pride in each job,” he said.
Wietecha backed up his statement with a quick story about a recent experience he had while working in a neighborhood near a competing company.
A neighbor of his customer approached Wietecha and complimented him. “He noticed a difference in the condition of the equipment and the setup work area,” Wietecha said.
Wietecha is a young, eager, inspired entrepreneur who obtained his work ethic from old fashioned methods. He said his Uncle Bill was his mentor growing up.
“He had an excavating business and I used to hang out with him,” Wietecha said. “I got to tag along with him, going to look at some of his jobs and I picked up some of the dos and don’ts in the business. Basically I learned how to treat customers.”
Wietecha hadn’t realized at the time how much the experience would influence how he operates in the future. “I remember him telling me, ‘You’ve got to learn how to make your own money.'”
He also learned that putting many of your creative assets into one basket isn’t a bad idea when it comes to extending his list of services. Curbing is his main gig. But All Around Inside/Out LLC also does concrete resurfacing, decorative stone overlay, decorative concrete rain gutter splashes, small concrete walkways and slabs, countertop overlays, stone and mulching, and pressure washing.
His company has an A+ rating on Angie’s List.
Creativity often presents itself in many ways, spiraling into other unique skills. Wietecha creates amazing things from wood, including bookshelves, cabinets, picture frames and even drink coasters.
His hobbies help paint the picture of an enthusiastic, well-rounded, approachable business man with an impressive resume of skill.
“Kyle is amazing,” said Darlene Denaro. The couple was so impressed with his curbing that they brought him back to fix their driveway, which had been resurfaced by another company.
Wietecha did a concrete overlay and repaired the issues.
The Denaros have told many of their neighbors about All Around Inside/Out LLC, and some have also hired Wietecha to do their work.
Others have taken pictures of the Denaros’ yard, hoping to duplicate the curbing.
“It’s worth trying to emulate,” Darlene Denaro said with a laugh. “But Kyle has his own technique. He is an artist and the consummate businessman.”
Biz at a Glance
Name: All Around Inside/Out LLC
Telephone: (352) 686-4170
Website: www.allaroundinsideout.com
