How do you grow big enough to become the official landscape company of the Dallas Cowboys? Shawn Clayton, owner of Carrollton-based Superscapes, says it comes down to the basic principles of doing what you say you’re going to do, hiring good people, and doing the work at the highest quality. “Quality is the difference.”
Shawn started in the landscape business as a one-man operation in the mid-1990s, and built a successful company which he sold in 2003. In 2005 he joined forces with the then owner of Superscapes, which was at that time based in Prosper, Texas. In a tragic turn of events, his partner died in an accident the following year, and Shawn has been leading the company since.
At that time, Superscapes focused solely on residential work, but in 2008 Shawn made the decision to start pushing into commercial work. From there, things really took off as Superscapes expanded into more and more commercial contracts, partnering with many leading general contractors to install irrigation and landscaping at new construction projects, and provide maintenance services after the initial work. Under Shawn’s leadership, the company doubled its revenue each year through 2012 and has grown at least 30% per year since then.
By 2015, given the Company’s business across the Metroplex and the increasing cost of the fleet travelling to jobs from Prosper, Shawn made the decision to start the process of moving their base of operations down to Carrollton. This started with the purchase of a piece of land that they used in the interim for storage and project staging as they worked towards a full move.
A First Bank customer since 2013, Shawn began working with Lance Lair, President of First Bank Frisco, on a construction loan for a new headquarters that would eventually be rolled into permanent financing. In 2017, Superscapes opened the doors of their gracious new building, which according to Shawn allowed them to move right into the hub of where they do business.
When Shawn purchased the land in Carrollton, Superscapes was a $12M a year company, and Shawn expects to do between $25M and $30M in revenue in 2018. Shawn credits First Bank in helping get his business to the next level through the financing of their new headquarters. “The new building really gave us the ability to grow.”