For nearly 30 years, cousins Scott Bieber and John Iott, with their wives Mindy Bieber and Patty Iott, have been nurturing and growing their business, Countryside Landscape & Excavating, 8400 West Sterns Rd, Ottawa Lake, Mich.
The nursery will be open seven days a week from 9 am to 6 pm starting the last weekend in April. “We are preparing the nursery and greenhouse for the opening. The last couple of seasons we have had to push back our opening until early May because of potential frost damage, however, we are optimistic this year because of the recent stretch of nice spring weather, which has been wonderful. We have a large assortment of beautiful trees, shrubs, and flowers, as well as mulch and topsoil and other landscaping necessities ready for the season,” Mindy Bieber said.
The cousins credit their business success to several factors. “This is a family affair. Patty does all of the bookkeeping and accounting and Mindy manages the nursery and greenhouse. John takes responsibility for the farm and handles farm drainage and a lot of the excavating while I focus on the nursery, and landscaping as well as estimating projects,” Bieber reported. In addition the children of both families have been helping run equipment and any day to day operations they can do since they could walk.  “I hate the idea of getting older, but it’s fun to see our kids mature and show interest in this type of work. Our second generation is stepping up and taking more responsibility for the business. That is a lot of fun,” Bieber pointed out.
“We all have a strong work ethic, taking after our parents and grandparents. Hard work was in their blood,” he said.
Bieber and Iott also credit their loyal customers for their business success. “It is a great feeling when past customers that we had when we were in our early 20s now have their children calling us to do landscaping or excavating projects at their new homes and businesses,” the two agreed.
Most importantly, the owners acknowledge the important role their employees play in the success and longevity of their business. “We are fortunate to have a very diverse and talented team, which contributes to the growing success of our business” Bieber and Iott said.
“Thanks to all of those factors we have developed into a well-diversified business, handling small projects to large developments, and everything in between, including commercial snow removal, farm drainage, landscaping, excavating, trucking, and a full nursery,” Bieber and Iott offered.
The Biebers and Iotts love this time of year, even though it is their busy season.
“We all are so happy to be helping our clients in their homes and at their businesses. We are so excited to see our customers at the greenhouse and the nursery, we are wetting our plants!”