In this episode, we welcome Pier-Luc Beaulne, who shares his entrepreneurial journey, from his beginnings in the excavation field to the creation of his company, Hydro Pro, specialized in hydroseeding. Pier-Luc tells us about the challenges he encountered, the crucial importance of customer satisfaction and the influence of the weather on his activities.
He also sheds light on the evolution of his company and the constant adaptation of its services to the needs of the market. Throughout this conversation, we explore themes such as communication and customer satisfaction, collaboration with suppliers, market evolution and competition, as well as growth plans.
Pier-Luc also shares valuable advice for entrepreneurs, highlighting the impact of references on long-term success and the importance of effective communication in business. Together, we discuss market challenges, the key role of innovation and collaboration, as well as future franchising and expansion prospects.
00:00 Introduction and background of Pierre-Luc Beaulne
03:23 The beginnings of PLB Landscaping
06:17 The evolution towards HydroPro and hydroseeding
09:08 Awareness and the importance of customer service
11:53 The challenges of business management
14:57 Thoughts on Entrepreneurship and the Future
17:18 The Intense Beginnings of Entrepreneurship
18:03 The Evolution of Services Offered
54:13 Growth projects and advice for young entrepreneurs
01:00:55 Content creation, collaborations and memorable anecdotes
Marc-Antoine Rioux (00:22)
Welcome to episode number 2 of Déclic with Pier-Luc Beaulne of Hydro Pro seeding. Pier-Luc, thank you for accepting our invitation.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (00:31)
It's a pleasure, Marc and Max, thank you for giving us the platform and giving us the chance to talk about our journey, it's really cool.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (00:39)
our audience, if you want to introduce yourself a little, give your background, your journey a little, then tell us a little more about C'est Qui, Pier-Luc. Well yes!
Pier-Luc Beaulne (00:47)
No! No, it's cool! Pier-Luc Beaulne, I am a young entrepreneur who started his company in my early twenties. Not having a huge education, I chose to go with the family business which was exslavery, development, land, machinery, like all the little guys, we are machine guts. Huh?
Maxime Sincerny (00:48)
...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (01:12)
Get out of the stable body. Get out of the sandbox and into a real big truck.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (01:18)
Not the little one, but the real big sand body that's a little cooler. That's it, I finished high school. I had little struggles in math which wasn't my best subject. I finished as an adult. After that, I started construction. I had a carpentry apprenticeship for, I would say, a year and two years. I really fell for that job. I thought that's what I wanted to do, honestly. I was like...
I became a carpenter, I always loved the smell of wood, I liked building little things, I thought it was cool. In the end, it was a very difficult job. Then, I saw drugs being passed around in the street all the time, and I was like "no, no, no, me, now I'm going into that." And I was lucky enough to be a seasonal worker in a municipality, I was a blue collar worker. I was a young blue collar worker, I joined there, I became a permanent worker, I...
I really enjoyed it. Every day, it was different things to take. At 23, I was at the top of the pay scale. I was a union representative. I negotiated a collective agreement before I left. And now, I was sitting at the table, I was looking at everyone around me. I was like... I'm 23 now. This is the rest of my life. It sure does.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (02:31)
When you look at your watch at 23 for your job and you say to yourself, I have 9800 days left before I retire...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (02:36)
Yeah! Yeah, that was it. You, I have a lot of respect for those guys. It was really cool. And it was really fun. And negotiating a convention, it was really an opportunity that was really fun. But you know, there, you had the guys' comebacks, you were going to see, let's say, the counter by your arial, you were talking, you were saying, OK, well, well there, we'll drop that, we want that. You had a third. What kind of life experience do I have to negotiate a convention, there? You know, it's...
It wasn't good! I don't know if it was the worst they had, but the day I left, I signed the agreement. It was like, sort it out! But I really liked it for them. I really enjoyed it, it was a great moment. Then after that, my father and my family, even my maternal grandfather, have always been entrepreneurs. I think that in me, with the daughter of entrepreneurship, there was one in the morning where I said to my father, Dad, I have...
I'm going into business. I'm leaving the city where I'm like, you know, permanent, pension fund, all that. Then I'm like, it's over, I'm starting my own company. He was like... No. You're not taking that, you know, he thought, there. But finally, I decided to start my first development company at the beginning of the 20th, there, 23... 22, 23rd from memory. But now, I'm 37, so I'll tell you that we've been rolling our boss for a few years, you but...
Maxime Sincerny (03:33)
...
What are young people, no?
Marc-Antoine Rioux (03:46)
to the little...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (03:54)
It's really a bit
Maxime Sincerny (03:55)
Were you already PLB development at that time or was it another company name that you had started at the very beginning?
Pier-Luc Beaulne (04:01)
No, my very beginning was PLB landscaping. You see I didn't have a huge... I didn't have a lot of inspiration at the time. PLB for my name, but I had... No, it was PLB that I founded. Listen, in the early days, I cut grass, we made open closures under the field. It was really not what we are today. You know, when you take off at 23, you have no experience. You take your experience on the point a little with the world who trust you. You will thank all my life, the first ones. I remember it. You will negotiate projects.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (04:11)
...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (04:29)
with entrepreneurs who are experienced and qualified, and you know nothing, I made my first paving stone, I googled it on YouTube, men, how to make some paving stone, I had no idea how to do that, it was square.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (04:38)
...
Maxime Sincerny (04:40)
...
can create their first invoice.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (04:45)
I don't have to start with a lawnmower, buy gas, then maybe a small trailer or whatever, it's still accessible, but as soon as you get into the paving jobs, well, that's where you have to take a little trigger.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (04:57)
yes, but listen, I had... you I had the opportunity to have my father in the inscalation, so that... I remember, I had... Because at the same time that I went into business, I bought a snow removal company, you I bought 50% of the savings of a snow removal company. That's what was my gateway to the business world. I knew that I had a good green income, it was a nice company that was established. So I already had the truck that came with the snow company, and I had, well, all the tools from my father, so that I remember, the mornings, like... Well, but today, I'm going to do that. So that there,
In the garage, I was stealing the six, years. I was stealing, so to speak. Since I got that, I was leaving with the daseur, the transit. I said to myself "Well, dad, come on, then me!" That allowed the buyer, over time, to buy you things. But when you're a first year, I mean, you don't have the budget to buy yourself thousands and thousands of bottles.
Maxime Sincerny (05:48)
I that
Pier-Luc Beaulne (05:50)
Do this, life.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (05:52)
Exactly.
Maxime Sincerny (05:52)
It's still interesting, for example, because from the beginning, you were an intrapreneur, if you will, in the city. You had already started to develop beyond the framework of your work. It's just that you quickly realized that you had a ceiling and you decided to take the leap precisely to something that potentially had no ceiling and that was perhaps a little broader in terms of the range of different jobs, services, etc. that you could provide. And after that, it developed precisely with everything it has.
that you just mentioned in terms of snow removal and everything, which are nice leaps, if you will, precisely, for the apprenticeship, then the type of job and everything, there, I think you jump... At least, you seem to have jumped from the beginning. Don't I know your whole story? It's still, I think, a little more than seven years, there, that we've been doing business together. If I put since the very beginning with Marc, there, who had referred me... who had referred you to me, I think that at the time, he was at Plomberie, Nanny Potvin.
He referred me because I needed Google Ads, Continuation at that level.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (06:49)
and I'm wrong, you realized, you made my first website, well at most, give me, you have... or you have... me, I had done it, but you had reworked it, I know, yeah.
Maxime Sincerny (06:54)
Yeah, think that's because Marc had started it at that time. Then I think it was a little bit failing, something like that. Then there, finally, I just arrived, I redid your website for...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (07:02)
Yes, it was Marc who did it.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (07:04)
Just for the benefit of our listeners, I am not that Marc.
Maxime Sincerny (07:08)
I will...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (07:11)
am in of
Maxime Sincerny (07:11)
...
Yes, I think that's it. I had redone the 7M, it was still development, landscaping, PLB. And then, we started. But from the beginning, you had several other services that you had in terms of landscaping. And in fact, more turnkey, things like that that you still have. But there was less perhaps a focus on rights in the process, which is the continuation of things. Or at least in your story, it ends up being something that really takes the du.
if we want a big ratio of the company and a big focus that you had. that's it, we were pretty good at the beginning, I think we may have tested a couple of keywords, etc. It was really hydroseeding that at that time, the shot was really ridiculous for the cutter.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (07:57)
Well yes, yes. I remember, it was crazy. The first years, we were tailors. Then it was extremely new at that time. It still is relatively new today. There are lots of people who don't know about this hydraulic massing yet. That's what I find cool about sharing, then talking about it, then putting a good advertising budget, is to make it known. Because people thought it was only accessible at the side of the road, at the ministry, at the gynecological or legislative office. But to make it known to...
or anyone in the residence. I think it's super cool. then, you were talking to me about Google Ad, and even today, you were talking to me about terms that I absolutely don't know. I'm like, yeah, Google Ad, it's cool. But that's what makes a big difference, having entered the market with you guys. I still remember, my dad, when he came home every year with his bib of yellow pales, and we were looking for Martin Beaulne excavation yellow pales. We were like, dad, he's here!
Marc-Antoine Rioux (08:26)
...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (08:51)
You know, today, DROPRO, there, when you look, there, it's crazy. There are some who tell me, "Hey, are you aware, are you meditating? You know, all the places that are on the gogoads, let's say, we are everywhere. And I am really sick to see, you know, I hope that one day my children will be like Hey, dad, he's here!" You know, it's cool.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (09:08)
What were you telling me this week that people recognized you? Like, "Hey, it's him, it's Pier-Luc Diderot in his"
Pier-Luc Beaulne (09:12)
Yeah that's it, then you say you talk with other companies or other people, they're like, they see the logo, you're like, you're Pier-Luc Beaulne, Hydro Pro, I'm like, yeah, I'm clearly not a rock star here, but it's just cool to see. That's it when I said, like, I don't know, I'm not dressed but yeah, I think it's cool. Yeah the reference, one day I'm going to be the reference, I'm going to be there already.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (09:32)
The hydro guy while seeding.
Maxime Sincerny (09:38)
You're already pretty good in my opinion.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (09:40)
Well,
Marc-Antoine Rioux (10:03)
Exact.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (10:08)
On the residential side, I remember, in my early years, there weren't many people doing that. It was even super hard to find us on the Internet. It was hard to make ourselves more popular. But we were lucky to have started this in the early days of technology in this hydraulic massing, the residential telesurface.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (10:19)
Exact.
Exactly, there are a lot fewer competitors and as you say, it was a different era in terms of acquisition and competitiveness, but the fact remains that today, it still has a really great industry too. I think you have the expertise that you are developing, both at the consumer level and at the commercial or institutional level, to work with cities and everything you do, in addition to working with your suppliers to perfect your mixes according to the type of terrain, according to...
We'll discuss a little later who makes the hydro expertise that you have. think that precisely because of all that, because you also decided to take your place and your market share in terms of marketing, make a name for yourself in the field in Quebec. There are leads coming in from Chicoutimi, Saguenay and Quebec City. A mané the world, does not have 60,000 options either. I think that the fact that there are leads coming in everywhere in Quebec also shows you that...
In terms of expertise, there may be a little extra on your side too.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (11:29)
Well, then you know, I notice it with everything that is, let's say, Google reviews, and these things, you have super good ratings, good codes, and we really know, at DROPRO, a... it's really important for us that the client is happy, there. You know, we're not machines, there, it sometimes happens that it doesn't work well, but we still do it until the end of the project. The client really has to be delighted, happy, and that he has had this experience
It's really about adapting, let's say, according to each client, the needs, and let's say until they're happy and everything, but I've had clients talk to me in the regions, you I don't remember, but for me, it was like a two-hour drive, and then the guy is like, "Hey, you're the one I want!" It's really you, it's your type of entrepreneur, you're you, your person, your values, the reviews that I see on you and everything.
You're too far away, I could never give you the after-sales service I want to give my customers around here. I don't have a helicopter yet to fly three hours away on the fly like that for a little afternoon dinner, like.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (12:23)
Exactly. That's the joy and sadness of SEO. It's a lead that comes in, but sometimes we can't serve them all precisely because the fact that you've acquired this notoriety, precisely you have people completely eager for your service area who are trying to solicit your services.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (12:26)
Well yes!
Yeah, but what's cool is that we might be repairing some around you, but the franchise project that I wanted to do was really that, to go and fill other regions elsewhere, and then one day become. Because right now, at Hydro Pro, I'm the technician in seeding. I'm the one who does the land, I'm the one who does the... So let's say, I'll tell you that I have long weeks, long days. It's even difficult because I do turnkey project solutions.
You I have a shovel operator, and he's a super talented person. I have my assistant, Jess, who really does an incredible job. But I bid. I do jobs at that time. I do follow-ups when it's problematic. I'm going to, you know, go see someone three hours away who wants a lawn that's different from their neighbor. Unfortunately, I don't have time to do that at that time. It'll come.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (13:26)
That's understandable. Yeah, right. With the team eventually growing, we'll get there, but one thing at a time.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (13:32)
Well yes, it was like you guys in the Buffus days, we would see each other once a year, we would go eat Mexican. It's cool!
Maxime Sincerny (13:37)
...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (13:38)
...
Maxime Sincerny (13:41)
Yes, it's fun. At that time, we didn't pay ourselves either. That was our only pay, it was the restaurants with our clients. We allowed ourselves to spend money that we didn't have because we didn't take a salary and we had almost nothing except our personal belongings to work with.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (13:57)
incredible, the first years in the company, I mean, it's crazy how we are ready to put energy, involvement in something that... You paid yourself... I'll say, you didn't pay. You were lucky to have a job on the side, something, but still, the energy that you put in, I remember, we were super present, then we became a little... I'll say, chum, because we have a closeness that I find super fun, super easy to have with you guys. We are real, we are sincere, and I find that cool.
You, it's like reassuring the little annual, to see a little Mexican, a little guy, we jose, there, we... And for me, to have confidence like that towards you, it's incredible, because I remember the first time we approached the subject, and let's say, OK, well, but you know, it's a single trip, it's a business, you're like, "Ouch, me with, there, that you go back my first years, there, I remember, there, it wasn't easy, there, you know. When I told you I took the tools from my father, there, I still had an employee.
I was making a paycheck for him, but I couldn't afford to make a paycheck for myself. You see, your first years in business, you don't want the guy to leave, you don't want him to work like a homo, he doesn't pay me. So now, these are your first years. So now, to get jobs, you don't have to be the most expensive, because you look like a kid with a belly button. So you stand out a little. So your first jobs aren't that well paid. So now, it's...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (14:57)
Mm-hmm.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (15:18)
That's it, it's with the staggering and then let's say, increase the years of notoriety, the visibility which ensures that you have good growth, you have a good trigger.
Maxime Sincerny (15:26)
Ha!
Marc-Antoine Rioux (15:27)
Exactly. No, that's good. If I come back a little more, you told us a little bit about what you do at Hydro Pro basically. And multiple hats. We went through them because in the end, all the accounting hats, etc. It still comes back to you at the end of the year.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (15:28)
...
Well, I would tell you that the accounting side, that hat doesn't come to me. I have no knowledge... No, I'm not good. Could, I tell them, but my assistant is incredible. Then, I have a... deal with an accounting firm, a CPA who are super good. fact that, on that side, but it's been maybe, let's say, you could say, like two, three years that we've been there because before that, yes, I invoiced, I did my horrors in the morning on a lined sheet at the...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (15:49)
no, i...
Mmh.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (16:13)
to tell Sam, eh, well, but you have to buy two bags of seeds from Lorraine. It was crazy, there, you but at this hour, I don't do that anymore. And lucky because we have too much, because of you guys, we have way too many phones, way too many leads you know, on a good day, it's 60, 70 phones a day, plus emails, messengers.
Maxime Sincerny (16:18)
...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (16:19)
That's right.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (16:33)
I remember a few years ago, I was in the shovel with my headphones on, there, you're like that, warming up the shovel, there, it's stirring, and I forgot so much! It was incredible! So there, I decided to make the green leap. It takes someone in the office who manages this, because I'm not going to give the reference, put the reference to a guy who doesn't answer the phone, for us, it will be... No, it won't be good!
Marc-Antoine Rioux (16:36)
...
not better there. I remember the year of COVID precisely. It's the year that everyone decided to work on our courses, we have external projects etc. I think our conversion costs had returned a little more to what we had at the beginning. I think we were paying like two or three coins for the Messenger conversation lead that came in. We had days with like a hundred leads there, it was completely stupid.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (17:00)
Yeah !
Marc-Antoine Rioux (17:18)
I remember that like it was yesterday.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (17:18)
and I thought... it was crazy and I thought anyway year you told me, and up in the air that the same year the only limit will be your ability to answer the phone and I was like, I will not see the day of that! I saw it in the first year! I thought I was at a trigger on the phone but it's because there you are talking to Monique or Jacques who will tell you their problems, their lives, why he white verbs, it's a lawn, his neighbor who doesn't pay attention to his powerful in bed, means that the same year you speak during...
15-20 minutes, during that time, you miss 5-6 calls on the other side. was like "yo, what is this?" You're getting a pile of heat trying to get past 1000 guys next to you with your boot. So... Yeah, it was still... It was... The first few years, it gets a little intense, there, to put the structure in place for the company to manage all that.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (18:03)
Mmh.
Maxime Sincerny (18:04)
I would even say at that level, that year, you had still narrowed down your service work quite a bit. He still had a big, big focus where everything went by hydraulic launch, but it becomes interesting too. I find it as a topic of discussion because often people don't know what I should do, what I should start with, what is the best idea. The reality, think, honestly, of your whole journey that I have now been able to see over the years, what is interesting is that you started in...
Eh, I'm going to try something I know. "Then, you know maybe that's what I'm going to do, maybe that's not what I'm going to do. Maybe I'll develop it." Then finally, well that's it, you know, you tested a lot of things, you tried a bit of everything, then at a certain point you said "Eh, hydroseeding works well. We have leads for not too much money." Then you were just, as you were talking about, lucky enough to be there at the beginning, but you might not have been there at the beginning without starting all the other things that, basically, that you were starting and which were more on the landscaping side in general.
except that as soon as you saw that, saw the interest with hydroseeding, after that you were already ready, you already had clients deep down, you knew how to make invoices, you knew how to do a lot of stuff, you and then you just decided to say, guys we focus on hydroseeding, we redo the entire site of the development, then we will rebrand to Hydro Proseeding. The focus was really limited.
Then that's also where everything fell into place. Phones came in at a cost of 70 per day. Over the years, you grew, your market grew, then you had the code, I imagine, some peat too which may have slowed down or at least which became more and more expensive. So you know, you became an equally interesting service for this whole market which was becoming a little too expensive for a lot of people. Then the realization of this person in the residential sector which is even more niche. You know, you're a competitor in the past, it was a lot of municipal, big scale, stuff like that, you know.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (19:55)
Mmh.
Maxime Sincerny (19:57)
And you come up with the residential solution, your enthusiasm and everything. You just take off on that. You have a service in a niche, in a market segment of that service, in Quebec, in French, and in the Laurentians region, the ring of yesterday. It's still crazy. You tried everything to finally do something very specific and increase your revenues.
facilitate team management, etc. I think that like any employer, often ups and downs in terms of teams, seasonal workers, replacing everyone, teaching them everything. And you, you have become an expert in the field with your seeds, all your mixtures, then knowing, here, this is what you need as a mixture, then it fades.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (20:45)
Yeah, but you can honestly, having decided to target the seeding rights, it's... was a pretty difficult decision because as you say, we were at At-Large, I was doing grass tenting, I was doing a little bit of paving, I was doing you know, I was renting a shovel, I was doing a little bit of landscaping, you know, we were doing a little bit of everything. We were doing peat at the beginning, we were still digging a lot for big companies. I did projects at the Académie de la Fontaine for many years, we had peated.
for the city of Saint-Colombans, Community Center. We made a lot of peat. Then the contractor for whom we worked a lot, he told me, this is the future, the seeding rights. Honestly, it's coming really strong. The cities don't really want to peat anymore. It's become too expensive, it's too demanding. It's a monoculture of pasture. I'm there the biodiversity that it brings. Let's put the funny seeding. Done there, I was like, me? This is the future? Then there, he told me, he told me jokingly, the guy, you should try this. And it didn't fall on deaf ears. I quickly realized that...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (21:35)
...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (21:36)
a latos, it's still quite physical there. It was physical, it was demanding, we didn't find much. Let's say when you had done 12-13,000 square feet in a day, there were three or four guys, you wore yourself out. There, at the moment, we do days of 50-60,000 feet in seeding, you per day. So it's really different. But having decided, I had bought this company with a small machine to sell, I bought it, it was my first machine, we have like...
finish our blends our early years, finish our speeches through time, because our first recommendations were not good. You know, go with what you know, you you... "Hey, no need to water it down, it's cool, it's magic! No, not so much. But you know, with time, you take experience, you know, advise the name, but having decided to target it was also the fact, as you Max, a little the difficulty of having decided on the workforce, peaty.
You know, it took several teams, it was difficult. It was... listen, it was... I find that I do more. Now, peat, I really don't do it, except for a few people I know who will ask me for it. Because it's such a beautiful evolution that, let's say at that time, towards that, it's a... you say as I was saying, it's that peat, it's a monoculture of bluegrass, it's mainly turf, it's Kentucky bluegrass, that's what you have, it's fertilized during...
18 months to have a roll of tower that is evening primrose. It takes a lot of water, a lot of fertilizer to have that. We, others, come up with a mixture that will be, as you say, adapted to all types of that, to the terrain, to the sunshine. The person wants... Come on, let's say, to surrender to the "un struggle" of the planet, but let's say biodiversity, colonizing insects, all those things. We will take mixtures of pre-flowers, we will take mixtures with clover, ecological mixtures, we will have a mixture that will be different for everyone, less maintenance, more maintenance. There are still some, there...
Mr. Mirabel, who wants a lawn stronger than the neighbor, we are able to give it the same, you It's super correct, there. Everyone wants what they want, but the week in week, allowed us to find that it was really like cool, like evolution, then less egg-handed. I feel more like helping the economy a little, the economy of the planet with a little...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (23:38)
Well yes. It's a win-win-win. There are advantages for you, there are advantages for the customer, and then there are advantages for the environment versus the traditional method. It can't be better positioned as a product. And then, it's the economical option. Basically, so many big requests, it's fine. And basically, so many recessions, it's fine because it's the option that costs less.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (23:54)
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah. Yeah, yes, well yes. And you know, since we talked so much about the crisis, let's say, COVID, that everyone was going through on their land, for us, it was the year that made us grow incredibly anyway because we had a boom. The price was really... You know, we're talking about around a third of the price of the tower. You know, it's half or a third of the price. And it's about thirty days of days. So for 30 days, you're ready to pay. There was a gentleman who called me, I think it was $20,000. It's over $20,000 to put down grass.
It's still a lawn there. You know, there, it's...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (24:32)
And we agree that in the first 30 days, your peat rolls, they are peat rolls, they are not garage soil.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (24:36)
If you have a line dance party on that, it all gets piled up. It's not ideal. It's the same as hydro. No sieve party on that for 30 days. After that, it's chill. You can go.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (24:49)
Exactly. No, no, it's good. you know, even I think that it can lead us to talk a little bit more really about like hydro-seeding, hydro-pro-seeding, excuse me, and then really about...
of your evolution of the company as such. We talked a little more about the differentiator, what he does with it, etc. But if you want to tell us a little about the evolution of year 1 Hydro Pro just coming today. Max was talking about it a little earlier also the difference between the services that you offered to say, well yes, we do not focus on hydro in seeding, but as we progressed, the turnkey developed. The small services around that you offered with your teams that grew, the machines that grew too.
level of availability and your inventory, has opened more doors for you. If you can talk a little bit about the progress of the company.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (25:40)
Well yes, well yes, you know, basically, Hydro Pro, honestly, it saw the light of day, and I'm so proud, and you know, it was one of the times, could, super difficult, but I'm just happy with the way it happened. For me, let's say PLB Landscaping, I had hit a bit of a wall by telling myself that I found it difficult to break through, there were people, you know, could so talented in landscaping, and in everything, and then, I was still searching for myself quite a bit through all that, and it was years, super harsh winters, and then, you end up 7 and 16 years old in winter, you know.
It wasn't easy. I was lucky enough to join a big landscaper in Laurentide who was also a garden center in Saint-Anne-des-Lacs, then someone who was very well-known, a master landscaper, who did super incredible projects. I joined as a subcontractor, but with one of my employees, like, say, the project manager or I did his developments. But I had my little sideline with my two guys who did my hydraulics training on my side, who continued to do that all the time.
So there, the landscaper that I worked with was like, isn't it true that you're going to be called because I was going to do projects for him in launch at the moment. I don't want you to be called Aménagement Paysager PLB, then you're going to do landscaping for another company. I decided to find a branding with a name that was totally dissociated from landscaping because we talked about it, but I really wanted to focus on teaching at the moment. The two texts that I had, they're really guys... They didn't do landscaping. really like au chaud du gordon, chaud du gordon, it's perfect. He was super good there.
So I really pushed myself, I have brainstorming evenings to say, what are the cool names, you know, and then find logos. But it's so much fun, in fact, I find, finding a company name, of... So there, it became too professional, at the moment. Then after that, with Benoît, I did two years. Then after, let's say, when it ended, I had so many phones coming in. He was starting to find it relatively boring on his side, to see that unfortunately, I was on the phone all the time. But you know...
We always said to each other, I'm going to be my partner on my side, and after that, you, yes, I'm with you. So that's when Hydropro started to take up quite a bit of space in my life, after the second year, by treating itself. So that's when I decided that after the second year, that was enough. That's when we got in touch, and then we said, OK, let's open the valves, let's say, and then we start to drive a lot. I bought my first mechanical call, which was a good investment at the time, because you rent all the time, but you realize that with more rent, it becomes more advantageous.
I had techs who were running launch-start, I had myself who was doing the layout. At the beginning, we filled our days left and right pretty well. It wasn't completely incredible, but it was still going well. In fact, in needle, we acquired several machines. When I returned with Benoît, he had his launch-start machine, but I bought it again because it was more efficient than the one I had. I did a year or two with that one. After that, I got bigger. I am like always someone who eats a card, a small bite to my liver. I'm not a guy who goes all-in. I like it, I can walk it.
And after that, take more and more efficient machines. If we talk about today, I have a 12-wheeler, I have a shovel, I have two launch machines, two farm trucks with dumper boxes, let's say small pick-ups, two other trucks for going for walks like here we do everything that is that. So let's say starting from the early years with a pick-up from the 2000s with a V10 that sloshes when it takes off from the top, to today trucks of...
I think our journey is still super fun. It's not to suck up to me, it's really not that. But to have held on during the years when it's difficult and then you pass close, I become in straitence for someone all the time, that's my life, or to hang on and say no, let's continue, what good awaits us, you But I'm happy because now, it's not, for the last five years, it's completely incredible.
the volume that we went to get, then let's put the percentage of turnover that has changed, there. You for real, since the last five years, there, I think, if I'm not mistaken, it's 108% increase in five years. You know, it's still...
Maxime Sincerny (29:41)
This is excellent.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (29:41)
It's still well taken knowing also the challenges that you had also on the side of the teams employed, workforce, on the side of the nature also that of the seasons that even if you would like to work 24-7, the reality is that you are also dependent on the rain and the temperature of when the season starts, when the season ends also. Maybe you want to talk to us a little bit about that because yes it's good to throw flowers at yourself also from time to time because it's not easy and it puts a good stress.
Maxime Sincerny (30:08)
...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (30:08)
It's good, but how do you say, watch out for the pot! But yes, but you know, as you said, we work with nature. As much as the products that we can raise, it's seed. So I can't say, I grow it by watching it on my dogs. I'm like Nesmer. It's not quite that.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (30:11)
it's for sure!
Bruce the Almighty
Pier-Luc Beaulne (30:34)
We have... and I'm lucky to have... to have developed a close relationship with our Salon supplier, who is an authority. Daniel is someone who is incredible. And let's say year after year, problem after problem, to communicate. there, to say, what happened? We had problems on the ground, drought, a lack of water. Because precisely, the advice we had at the beginning was like, "Hey, don't water that, the hydro, it goes with nature! You know how? It's fantastic. It's true when it rains.
When you have heat waves and no rain, it's not a great magic. It's about adapting our vocabularies or our recolorations, each type of terrain, the shade, the sunshine, the dry soil, poor, each region too, Montreal versus more at the whole hour, so not the same period of start of germination, end of soil temperature.
We learned that the earth, well, let's say that, it has to reach a certain degree before being able to germinate a seed. Then let's say that it is dormant, it has to be below a certain degree. So nature is incredibly important. And we're going to see it with the last few years that we've had with, let's say, a tomb of the Flèves Saint-Laurent in 15 minutes on the ground, that the roads go there, and then, you have the customers typing in saying "but but that makes me pregnant!"
Yeah, the boulevard too, there! That's not to accompany, to know if they're going to come, to make them the sphere. The fact that nature, as much with the snow, was the same. Snow removal, you have no control over anything. My life was spent with something that I couldn't control. But it's more and more capricious, the weather. I'll tell you, it's become quite difficult. But that is to say, we had a good year, well, we had a lot of rain. had some pipotes, we had a few big glasses of rain, but we were still lucky here with a nice temperature.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (31:53)
I did this.
Maxime Sincerny (31:53)
...
Yeah, that's how it goes.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (32:20)
and maybe I can touch you quickly quickly in relation to your service work, something that we have talked about less and which bridges the two a little bit, but you still offer a guarantee in terms of the jobs that you do. I think that this is one of the aspects that makes people much less reluctant to say to themselves, yes they have to water it, yes they have to contribute and help the seed grow within themselves, but if ever there is a corner that does not grow or it does not matter.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (32:36)
Well yes!
Marc-Antoine Rioux (32:44)
you don't have to reshoot once or twice to get close to not having a satisfied customer.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (32:50)
No, exactly. Then I think that what differentiates me a lot is that I care much more about the result than the profit on a job. You, I've already returned, honestly, and I don't hide it. You return to do a job and you lose your profit because you want the client to be happy, and it's always going to be like that. Generally, it's rare that you return more than twice. It happened two, three times, because to err is human or whatever. Yeah, or you know, yeah, water damage afterwards or things like that.
But we're really always going to do it, and that's going to be all the time. I'm like that. Really, my priority is that the customers are happy. But the advantage we have is that over the years, we've been doing this Messe Médéorolic for 10, 12 years now, we know what's in it. And, let's say, the only thing our guarantee has given us is to be this baki. Experience, let's say, we know that it takes water to never make a seed. I was sleeping at the customers' houses, they were like, I swear I watered! So now, you go around the house.
they don't have hoses, and then there are spider webs after all the rises. You're like, yeah, did you water that? You're like, yeah, but I was taking my neighbor's rise. It's the spiders. You water the house, like you know. That's where the warranty, sometimes, you have to be a little careful, but 100%, for me, the important thing is that a customer is happy, that we talk about it, that he is happy to have done business with us.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (33:56)
I had a glass of water, I dipped my fingers in it and pitched some.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (34:14)
We are not at the brie sometimes of a bad communication, of a bad understanding between two people. We are all human and then I can not please everyone. Well, I please everyone, but I mean ... No, but you can not ... You it happens sometimes that we do not get along well or that there are people who do not understand the product or whatever, you know. But I think that the strength that we have is really to make a priority on the satisfaction of the people. It really sounds cliché, but that is really it.
Maxime Sincerny (34:42)
No, but it's cliché, but on the other hand, it's such an interesting mentality, but ultimately profitable. When you think about it a little, mention 12 years. When you think about all the people who served you well, the people who corrected you, etc. over the course of 12 years. Yes, you may have lost profit on that job, on that day, and that makes you lose time from another job. But over 12 years, the number of client references who did business with you...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (34:52)
Mmh.
Maxime Sincerny (35:10)
well, still, it becomes quite huge to say, you did business with a lady, then finally, find that the service was crazy, you came back twice, but after that, it's your children, after 12 years, probably at some point too, they have their house, they are probably close to home, so you are, well, you start with the lady, finally, you have the sister, you have the son, you have the daughter, you have close family, then at some point, yes, you become the reference, because everyone ends up, or at least the majority of people...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (35:18)
...
Mh-hm.
Maxime Sincerny (35:37)
are happy to have done business with you. Then when it's not profitable, well probably after 12 years of reference, when you've come back three times and the person feels almost bad, well probably they didn't hesitate to refer you when someone said that or someone talked about the tower, and "I did rights in seeding and I did it with this guy", and it catches on, you know. He came back three times, he fixed everything, and I highly recommend you go see him. So in the end, it still pays off because you have recurrence at the level
Pier-Luc Beaulne (35:58)
Mmh.
Maxime Sincerny (36:07)
not of the customer, but of the whole family around. Then we, well, with marketing, sometimes, what people don't understand is that we can show ourselves in front of lots of people at a certain point. Your first sale is the most expensive to acquire. And if you don't have a product and a quality service that makes people want to refer you, well, it's a lot harder to be profitable as a company than, like you, after 12 years, but probably you spoke to 99% of your old customers and they would say yes, I would refer you anytime, you
Pier-Luc Beaulne (36:37)
Yeah, exactly! It's true what you say, honestly. We still have a lot of clients that are good, let's say, their children, their brothers, their sisters, their aunts, their neighbors. We do one, a couple of months later, we're going to do the neighbor because, I'm not alone, there. There are plenty who have tried other entrepreneurs who see the results next door. He came back, he stopped, he guaranteed that. Yeah, it's cool! And as I was telling you earlier, the advantage we have with...
the representatives I deal with, now with Daniel, it doesn't matter, if I had situations on a job that it doesn't go well, and the second year, in my first years, you're limited with your knowledge and I never wanted to say bullshit to anyone, you know, like, and... I say when I don't know, I don't know, honestly, and I think that what is also a strength is that I will go and find out, I won't tell you anything to make you swallow a pill and after that, I'll give you an in-aute, there, you know I already went with Sam Hans' rep at Gloco and...
Maxime Sincerny (37:24)
...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (37:26)
what's going on there, you have to make me understand and even learn at the same time. But it gives the customer confidence, to see that you have references, you have people to, let's say, to come and help you, to support you, they will advise you, both me and the customer, on what to do, on what to do. It differentiates me from the fact that I'm not a repairman who says, I'll give you this and I'll leave, I'll really satisfy you. Satisfy you? I didn't know if I could go there, no, but yeah!
Maxime Sincerny (37:48)
...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (37:52)
But I think you touched on that a couple of times too, but I think another one of the advantages and another one of the places where you get heavily involved, well we're talking a little bit about your marketing, about those things in relation to an external supplier which is us, but your supplier of seeds and raw materials, I think that your link is special with your supplier, and I think that the collaboration that you have with them also to help them in the development of formulas, products, and etc., you could literally, I think, almost have your own personalized range.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (38:22)
Well, you know, I've already thought about a lot of things because Glucose has a multitude of products, for real, it's incredible. You have a thousand and one, five million seeds. But for us, what's cool is that, at some point, you when we realize that you buy more than garden trees, let's say, there, you know, he has a big business, and then we hear, we have feedback from customers. There are some who want us to personalize their mix a little more, business. We are, we tried a mix of seeds last year.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (38:22)
And to rub the cool chiglo, is that?
Pier-Luc Beaulne (38:51)
It was a bit of a pain, but it ended well, there. But let's say they had to adapt it on their side. I won't go into details, but let's say they were pushing things that weren't supposed to push. It wasn't coming from my side, but we took care of it. Every customer was still... It was weeded, everything was super correct, but it was a product...
a bit of a prototype to put in the residential that we were trying. There's not many people other than us who used it. So after that, you say to yourself, are you going to take it again? Or I won't touch it? But it's one of the biggest sellers today. It's a mixture that has become super popular. There, the recipe is incredible. Then I think... You know, it's not thanks to us, but I think that... know, let's say, they saw that in the residential, it had potential. I don't know how much more than we sell, but it's a product that we sell a lot at Star Chemie.
which is a slow release, a mixture that does not grow quickly, is maintenance-free or practically not. I am always asked by customers, when is it a mixture that does not grow? It will never happen, there, it is... I mean, it is... you know, putting synthetic, but that, it is a product that is of an interesting range because it grew a certain height not too high, and you can let it go anyway not. That, it is a request that we have had often and that unfortunately...
could never do a week that doesn't grow. think that if it ever happens, guys, I'll bring you all down south. If I ever develop a mix that doesn't have a mower anymore, I can't do anything. Yeah, there, I'm going to roll in other things that matter.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (40:20)
A mixture that doesn't grow will never get to the point where you won't want to cut it.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (40:28)
A mayor who doesn't push will remain in the big stage of his life. That's not going to be a good idea.
Maxime Sincerny (40:31)
And it's good.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (40:31)
Exactly. You won't have more lawns. It's not a question of length, you don't save.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (40:35)
That's it. That means they don't shoot me with mulch with nothing down, that's all. ha! Ha ha ha! Maybe the paint... I had comments that came out on the Internet, but sometimes, it's... That's the beauty of the Internet, there. But on a publication that we had made, the guy, had commented... "Don't do business with the hydro-seeding enclosure, they put paint on your land, guys!" Well yes!
Marc-Antoine Rioux (40:40)
Exactly. The country is already moistened.
Maxime Sincerny (41:03)
It's going to be barely bad.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (41:05)
Well yeah, we're painting, man! That's cool! We're in business, we're functioning, I'm still alive, I'm not getting tri-killed by anyone, but I'm painting. You know, it's a jelio.
Maxime Sincerny (41:14)
He just saw the water jet. He saw the water jet go by and then he went back 30 days later, he saw the green grass and he said, OK, he's painting the grass, there.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (41:20)
That's it! In the end, it's liquid paint that doesn't have... There's a kind of world on the planet now. It's become...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (41:29)
Otherwise let's put in the time of the fame of the greens and apples that you heard on jobs, let's put a couple of examples.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (41:37)
But you on jobs, that was a good one in painting. I've already had people call us to know if we were stocking trout in lakes because, you hydraulic seeding is like "yes, I would like trout in my lake! No! That's not what we do here, you know. That's not it. Grass that doesn't grow. Yeah, you know, not bad. But let's say, the fish were still a solid deal there. Tomorrow, I don't have so many coming back to me, but it's sure that we have...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (42:02)
At least the fish, there was the stocking which is the word that designates both terms. The guy with his painting, he just wasn't there. Exactly.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (42:09)
No, he had dropped it there. He said he was good that morning, I think. But it's less... You know, honestly, there are plenty. It happens in customer service, then on 60, 110 phones a day. Honestly, I manage a lot less than before. I don't see all the requests that come in. But I know that sometimes, it's like me, there, him today, it's special, but you know, I don't remember it by heart. But he has some crazy requests, sometimes. We recently had...
Maxime Sincerny (42:16)
...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (42:34)
it stays there.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (42:36)
Unfortunately, we haven't agreed yet because it was a bit complex, but a green roof, we don't do that often, but let's really say a house with a green roof with the effect with... There was already one where there was a problem with the result that it gave, which was not a doubt that was made, but inside. It's a... I could already see myself climbing onto the roof with my hose, let's say. It's... me, how dizzying really, four legs so as not to fall down, tied after the chimney. I don't know how I'm going to do that, but... We're even going to put some on them in the spring, there, so that we recommend with, but it's...
Maxime Sincerny (43:00)
...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (43:05)
The more we could know, the more we have different ones, things that are out of the ordinary because the world is trying like a lot more that. Then, you know it's crazy, but they really invented also as mulch, not the salt, but as the mulch that is apart. There are incredible new technologies. You know, we can shoot on 0.75 to grow grass. You that before that, it's there, it takes soil, and everything. There, there are organic components with micro-organisms that make it recreate a bit like soil.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (43:14)
...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (43:33)
we can sow it in there. I did a job for the city of Prévost which was like the used snow disposal site. It was really like a screening machine. It wasn't earth, the bicrym, but the result, it's really incredible what it did. It's all the technological advances, as much in the lawn as in the mulch that come together in a sur-vouillet.
Maxime Sincerny (43:52)
It's still crazy how it continues to evolve. When there is a continuation to this day, you say to yourself, well, once you invented it, it ends there. But all the environments, and we talk to a lot of people who each have their own business, entrepreneurs, I find it crazy how each environment specializes year after year, and then precisely, when you are in it, you realize how complex it can become. At the beginning, it's shot one, two, three.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (43:53)
THANKS.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (43:55)
Well yes!
Marc-Antoine Rioux (43:56)
...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (44:07)
Mhmm.
Maxime Sincerny (44:19)
seed mix, and now all kinds, all terrain, all the stuff you just described. What do you think the market evolution looks like, or at least in your territory, or what do you hear around you in terms of other service providers, where there were certain periods where many were getting started, but then there were others who realized it was harder, who thought they had found the right mixes, etc., who gave up a little. What does it look like? Has it become easier for you?
of suppliers who offer the same kind of services or it remains as difficult, what is your pulse on the market for launch rights?
Pier-Luc Beaulne (44:58)
We still see a certain turnover. There are several companies that offer development or excavation services, who decide to try to buy their small machines, then do their job or get started in it. I find it, to be honest, I am very sincere, the sun shines for everyone. If there are people who want to do it, then they go in there, then they succeed, so much the better. It bothers me. I do not have misplaced competition. I am like, no, others belong! That's not it, go ahead.
In our times that you do not do shit, or that you do what you do good, I like it better I have people who will communicate with me, who will, you plan on Messenger and then to the other that you I have such a job to do, you new ones in the week week of Oléx, it will be nice, honestly, it will be nice to help them, to guide them through that so that they can realize, let's say, how it's really done. I like it better that you make a good reputation, that you make a healthy competition, that you make...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (45:29)
THANKS.
Exact.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (45:53)
bad reputation for what we do and we're still trying to make people discover it because there are a lot of people who are like, no, it's just peat! OK, but you know, if you really want to see the full potential of hydro-seeding because they've already had bad experiences, but you have to get good guidance, you have to get good advice on the potential. There are some who come, do a few years, they leave afterwards because it's still difficult. take... it's fun, but it takes several clients, if you want.
that it is relatively profitable. Then to have experience, it is not in 3, 4 fields that go, you do not become a specialist. We others, we do, I would say between 350 to 450 per year for 6, 7 years that the figure is quite good. At the beginning, it was perhaps 50, 60, but at this time, it has been a few years that we are at 350, 400, 450 customers at the moment. This year, in terms of turnkey with the PIN job, we are going to make some...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (46:30)
Exact.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (46:50)
30, 35. Do you do leveling, let's say, there, land, there, he has a bigger secret to know as much the evacuation, the sun, the silessa, as the gaussies, the seeds. So we had the chance to learn with the company to handle the two services, merge them together, then to have set up something. So for us, it is really a service that we offer in full. Because as I was saying, there are some who handle it, who want to try it. And there, you see that they realize that they do three, four jobs in their year.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (47:07)
Mm-hmm.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (47:19)
The machine, it is not profitable at all. The big machine, it is a machine that is worth a hundred thousand. It is sure that when you borrow smaller ones that are worth less, again, it takes the inventory of seeds, the inventory of mulches, it takes the cost of the machine. You see them go by, you see the machines for sale on the Internet, you see another one that comes back, you see others, you see the machine that leaves. I do not wish that anyone gets hurt.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (47:19)
...
especially since these are machines that also cost an arm and a leg to maintain and that break down relatively often.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (47:45)
Well, like any mechanics, you have machines that are more resistant than others, more efficient. You have maintenance that... Yes, you have maintenance to do on the machine. I would say that the biggest struggle in seeding is your hose that clogs. The hose, it comes like year, you know the material in it. It grips a motor, it was never there. It's between $15 and $16 a hose. So if you put one or two a year, it wears out the tires, it has bearings, the breaks, the machine, the engine, you know, like the mine, it's a diesel engine. That's maintenance, yes, it's...
That's all brothers connected to everything. When we said to specify ourselves in a summation, at least, it's a small team. Then you push on that, you're not diversified across a lot of things either. You're no longer able to have an interview on anything because your troop, like that, is useless. So, with that, we're really focused in our environment and in our business. We focus on that, versus the others who try. It doesn't happen.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (48:26)
Mhmm.
Yes, exactly. I think that even this year with big players in your field who have started to enter the service and offer services without mentioning names, see, or at least it is positive for your industry, for what you say, that we are still very much in education, trying to make consumers understand at the level, yes, economic, but also ecological in essence, that there are really many benefits to moving towards that, towards conventional peat, but you are also...
very involved in this process, even in your competition. We can see it even with the small Facebook group that you have, that you have competitors in it, then people in hydroseeding, a little bit in Quebec where you exchange, then the whole kit. But it's not a group that you joined, there, you created the group, there.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (49:14)
Mh-hm.
Well, yeah. Well yes, because, you know, I'm not immune to having good advice in town either. But let's say, the only group there was, it was in the United States, it was groups because, you know, mainly, they're machines, you they come from Texas, they come, know, from the Mush, the business, comes from the United States. So the majority of the groups were there. So you had questions, it's not relative, you know, it has nothing to do with the difficult climate, the adaptation that we have in Quebec.
Because there, I was like, crime, right. And the more it went on, the more I saw people in this beginning. I saw people with machines. It's like, crime, why did we do the grouping here, you in Quebec? And, you me, I repeat, but me, the competition, he has a competition scene, and he has a not good one. You I learned recently that there are some who go back, who say, "he's too big, I don't, what's he doing? You know, you're like, no!" You know, it doesn't give anything to do that in life.
As a person, it's like politics has gotten there. You watch two debates between police officers who insult each other over time, you know, that doesn't give you anything. I don't think it's a good competition.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (50:15)
Tell us about the benefits he has to put in that position to do it and not about why the other is not this or that.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (50:22)
No, but no, that's it. It's like I said, on the contrary, I'm going to create a Facebook group that will bring us closer together, and then it will allow us to exchange. Honestly, the response has been super good. A large majority of people who really see the advantage. And then, let's say, we exchange. We ask questions, we try products that come from other companies, the dosages we make of the machines, the fertilizers we take, a little bit of everything. The mechanical problem is the machines. I have films, my machines are films.
And then, we do it, let's say, it's a bit capricious. So there, I had a problem walking, a small depression on a machine. And there's a lot of people, we can see us. Afterwards, I made a post. "Hey, how do we fix this? People, we can see us, show how to attract it, how to adjust it, how to do it. Mutual aid is really cool. I don't know, you guys, how does it work in your environment, there? Is there any bashing or do you say...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (51:10)
Well, for us, it's more precisely that there are a lot of people who do it because they know they have to do it and that they may not necessarily know how to do it optimally. But it's certain that when we talk with other agencies and collaborate on other mandates with other professionals in the field, well you see a little bit of everyone's opinion, what everyone does, what people do best, then why they have such a contract, such a mandate, and then you understand what is their differentiator that makes them.
the business that they are, you realize a little bit the strengths of everyone, the whole team. Then I think that in our industry, there is so much competition that precisely, if you go into bashing and then focus on something other than your client, the services that you provide and the result that you provide, you can quickly lose track of what is very important.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (51:57)
Yeah. But you I am... Let's say, I could... talk about my company, but you I love you so much. I find it incredible to see the evolution that you have had. For real, it's sick. You know, just, let's say, at the beginning of the summer, in the spring, I received, you texts analyzed on your side. you know, I talk to a guy that... Me, reading a text for a long time, there, my eyes cross, and like, I lose bits of it, there. But I found it crazy to see, let's say, the compositions, the affairs, and let's say, where we are with the help of your company, precisely, of the people who work for you, who are all...
super sweet and friendly. They're people who... They take each of their customers to heart. I've always seen myself as a... grassy cabbage. I'm not a doctor. I don't have any... But I still find it crazy. We get taken seriously. We still get... I get as much follow-up from you and help as any other of your customers, in my opinion. And I find it... I find it incredible on your part. maybe has an ease in talking to each other. As much with anyone, you send an email, you get a response, you get a follow-up.
nice stats that he's going to mount. Then one, it's fun for us, to see the evolution that we have. Then, you increase the stats, it's stupid, there. It comes, on this one, from having growth too.
Maxime Sincerny (53:07)
THANKS.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (53:07)
Yes, exactly. Then I think that what you put in front of this also in relation to your customer service then that you will go above and beyond
Our primary interest is really the success of our client. Again, it may be a bit of a cliché, but I still say it relatively often, if it doesn't work for the client, it will never work for us in the long term. Our success depends enormously on the success of our client. The faster we are able to make it work for them, generally the more it will lead to retention of that client. A satisfied client, a business that is doing well, references like let's say
Pier-Luc Beaulne (53:25)
Yeah.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (53:44)
to be sure to maximize the satisfaction of the customer who brings you 12, it's a bit the same example with you on that side. We and we value it enormously. I think that when we do interviews, and we try to find new members of our team, it's sure that all our values and the way we deal with business is enormously put forward there because in the end, if there is no fit for the company, there will be no fit for our client, and in the end, it will not work.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (53:51)
But you will be
That's it.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (54:13)
the last point, discuss a little bit more about what are your growth plans, what are the ideas that you have had recently, where would you like to go versus where is it going. what would you have a little bit like...
as advice to a young person or to someone who would like to start a business in a service company, in the landscaping sector or in the sector of anything that involves development.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (54:41)
Well, you know, let's say, as for growth projects, we had already discussed them together a few times, and it's just, let's say, a little more time, because it's a demanding request, and we really want to be discovered in other more remote regions, but it's really a franchising project, franchising, franchising, I don't know, in any case that. I really want to have hydropro franchises everywhere, where I sent a few, to your anodière, to Tawé, to Laurentide, maybe even the South Shore.
I love the branding we created with Hydro Pro. I like the expertise we provided by advising people around us in other companies. I realize that we have expertise that can be profitable for people who would like to take off in this area. So at the same time, she says why not just continue my little baby through other regions. Then I am ready to, you may move, go see, offer training. We are still in this. I had inquired with a lawyer for the transfiguration contract. It is just really difficult to go and find...
another person that I will trust as much, who will be careful because I don't want them to become too much, in my name or in my name, less interesting in other municipalities, other sectors. And you, it's something that I created from scratch, by digging really hard and learning. So it's... Finding the right person, let's say. So there, I'm trying to expand a little. So there, let's say that the voices of people in other regions see...
the results that we give, to do the same. I want to graft a landscaper from an outside region to leave it to him who, let's say as I did as a landscaper when starting, you start to be an auditor by doing other things, then there, if there would have been a copy at this time at this time, you are able to go and look for, let's put the drop-ro in this kind of thing. It's one of the projects that we had. I also tried to become a mulch distributor. It didn't go as we would have liked.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (56:20)
THANKS.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (56:31)
That, for now, is ice. I have plans to... I want to be at trade shows, both with Hydro Pro, to do exhibitions, to do home shows. We have contacted a few places. I think that, in 2026, we will be at a trade show. I won't name it because I'm not sure yet. But we aim to be an exhibitor. I think that's super cool because honestly...
in the sense that we are nothing, but let's say, we have visibility, then we have like an attraction across people when we approach the place saying, we, with our website, offered an exhibitor's brush, we have a super nice response, people are motivated, are ready to do it, then it is, by being an increasingly popular technology, well it helps us, by being the first, in the trade fairs in addition, and there, to be discovered through other excavation companies, because we are referred a lot, we work in...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (57:17)
THANKS.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (57:23)
So, it's very tender for companies that hire us to do a matching project. It would be like a nice little door to go and get discovered, trade shows. I like my level, I like to joser, I love to speak, to do PR. For me, it's what I prefer the most.
In my clientels, in the enclosure during the week, we do 6, 7, 8 clients per day, but he keeps me. I agree with the lady and I am able to stay there until dinner. It doesn't stress me out. It goes to a burger where we are done. We finish it by the pool, it doesn't bother me. So you do the exhibition, then you talk and you introduce this environment. It's not bad that we are in there. To grow, I would like, I would like, I would like, but we are going to be cheated, it is to have a second machine. has all the complete set-up for a second...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (57:44)
...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (58:05)
full team. Currently, before going there, I'm the one who does a lot of hours per week because before... You have to understand that, let's say, it's 6, 7, 8 fields per day on a full-time basis. So, let's say, to say that we're running a second machine, it's starting to take a huge volume to run in the machine. So we're slowly going up over the years, we're going towards the second. I have all the equipment in progress to do it.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (58:07)
Mm-hmm.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (58:33)
really to go for visibility and then let's put it there, the amount of to get there. And finally, for a piece of advice, for a young me, honestly, cliché, but for real, trust yourself. know, it's stupid there, but the number of times you meet people who question you, companies bigger than you who take a step back, and then you're nervous, you're not sure of... Trust yourself and then go for it, go for it, listen to yourself, do...
It's easy to do to put down, but it's to lose...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (59:05)
finally demoralized if you want or uh...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (59:06)
Yeah, that's it, you're demoralized and then you say "I wouldn't be able to do that, I was born for a small loaf, but I don't want to be here". If you had told me when I took off, he had a 25-year card, that one day we would chat together, then a company growth that has a super nice figure of offers of 4-500 clients in his teaching per year.
we would be... you I don't think I would have believed it possible, but really, I didn't stop. You me, we entered stupid head, you know, stupid head in the top. a... year after year, we continue to evolve. Then it's always... for example, to do as I do there, it's small butcher at times. You send sometimes, to start a business, there, it's all-in, let's say, the first year, there, you know. For me, the all-in came at the moment of the click, there. When I said, OK, there, it's difficult, there, we have to go for it. It's been a couple of years since we got there. But I think that, it's important. It's really...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (59:53)
Mmh.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (59:57)
to go butcher it though. Yes. Yes, I knew he had potential. Yes, that's it.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (59:57)
This is a calculated all-in there. This is an all-in that you had already tested your offer, that you knew that it worked. Exactly. You had already done your tests, knowing where it was, the potential pitfalls, and where I could really fail. Then when you know the risk precisely, it allows you to evaluate and say, ok, yeah, I'm going for it. I'm going for it with my head down, and I know exactly what can happen, positive or negative, but I'm waiting for you, or whatever happens there, you
Pier-Luc Beaulne (1:00:21)
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. And that's it, it's really about trusting yourself. It's really the most cliché thing, but I think that when you think about it, that's really it, because the day that you doubt yourself, is felt through the customers, through the employees, through everyone around you. When you doubt, you become much less efficient, you become more insecure, you make blunders, affairs, bad choices. We are not immune to a bad choice in business, and that's precisely what makes it a little difficult, is that...
a little question of investment, a buyer of something that you are not sure of in the end who puts you in the hole, it is to trust yourself and to plug yourself at the same time.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (1:00:55)
Me it's... I'm still laughing at your video of precisely... you come out of the machine. Huh it's already past noon!
Pier-Luc Beaulne (1:01:02)
Hey! That video was so crazy! But you know, I didn't have anything steered there. Like, Saturday, hangover with one of my buddies, we're doing a big road to... I think it was for Filio, the Norden, in Saint-Sylvain. case, it was a big project. And we're tired, man! And then, I drop my exacto in the shade, there. I'm like, are you serious, man? Because there, I go down to get it. And then, I just say to Gab, I said, hey, film this, it'll be funny. I say like, what are you filming? On the cover.
I do this but I didn't expect you to see a stupid video that I feel... Hey, look, there's 220,000 views even! I didn't expect that at all!
Marc-Antoine Rioux (1:01:35)
Come on !
But it's not going well with our first advertising video, the old video that I took with my salt, that we saw the mixture with the kit, I think we did something like 500,000 views on that video.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (1:01:48)
Yeah and that too was... it was like a little... it was sick but I expected... you know I expected... probably I walk like I'm 92, you watch that video, I'm like... That's... that was stupid there, it was a really good video.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (1:01:59)
Hey, but without realizing it, that video must have generated like half a million in sales.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (1:02:07)
well, right! But we still see it. We saw it rolling for a really long time, until we made the new video.
And the long one, still goes online enough, you know, lots of videos, lots of stuff. I think it's cool, seeing it go. Honestly, you know, then there's even a kind of new trend, I don't know what, on the Internet, where you see lots of people making videos of themselves, companies, doing lots of little things. I'm like, are you getting into this? I'm like, not sure, but like Marc, thinks he does... But not Marc, but Eric really does videos where he doesn't put himself forward. I think it's cool, there. Just go and put in the evolution of a job. Let's say, you have a little clip of a couple of seconds, a couple of minutes. There, you doll up and it goes away. I think it's super cool to see.
Maxime Sincerny (1:02:38)
But you've been doing it pretty well for a long time. You may not be in photo format anymore, but you've been posing for a long time and then we've been reusing them, and it has a nice effect, it humanizes it, and you know, we're in such and such a corner, we're in such and such a corner, here it is, here it is. I mean, it still gives a nice, a nice, a nice commitment, and you know, since you're present, and you've been present for years, you know.
Marc-Antoine Rioux (1:02:41)
Yes.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (1:02:47)
Well yes!
Well yes!
But... and I think it comes from you guys, because personally, I wouldn't have found the point in doing it, but I think it comes from you guys really saying, "Hey, Pier-Luc, it's important that the world sees you, and go ahead with videos of yourself, you with photos that you put up, you pose, it makes for good turnover." It's one of your wonderful pieces of advice,
But that's what I find cool about you guys. Honestly, you see the potential in nonsense, in things that I see... No, but that I don't see at all. We chat to play. You know, Marc, like, OK, but that's going to be super interesting. This thing is good. We've gotten to... You have a follow-up that's super good. You have an easy approach. You have a team of furs from the world of writers. Could, it was disgusting. I find it super fun. And my best move, honestly, of my career...
and I'm not saying it because you're here, but if you trusted me, it's stupid, huh! But it's really true. It's... So, I think you were giving me three months free at that No, but it's... was a decision that... You know, I would have said quickly, right? But we still got over 100% increase. We were able to do... As a business manager, we were able to do with you guys. It's not for nothing.
You have... you are able to, let's say Google Ads, SEO, the business there, I have no idea, what it is, there, but you ok, it's so much that they work the most, it's the business that we do. You know, I see things, look on the Internet, I see things, then I'm like... write, is that me? You know, there are ads that come out everywhere non-stop, and I find it stupid the visibility that you have managed to give us, you know, it's super interesting, and there, I don't know, guys, you are really...
Marc-Antoine Rioux (1:04:33)
think that's the fun beyond that too, is that yes, you see the result, you see the effect, and you're able to measure it, but I think we're also able to popularize it for you so that even when we talk about SEO, you don't need to understand all the elements of SEO to see what your impressions are on Google, what are the clicks we get in relation to such a keyword, in relation to your services, in relation to what people are looking for, and so on, and you're able, year after year, to say, "Hey Marc, where are we versus the season, versus the demand, versus last year?
Pier-Luc Beaulne (1:04:59)
Well yes!
Marc-Antoine Rioux (1:05:01)
organically versus ads, etc. You already ask like all the good questions too, it's fun because we, our work, we don't necessarily go into the void. Not that it goes into the void, but by wanting to say that you are interested in what we do and that you have at heart that we succeed in helping you too. It is these collaborative relationships that make the result the best because you have at heart your own interest too. Often, there are clients who, like you, want us to do
like almost all of them, 100% subcontracted for them, but who don't even have the benefit of approving or looking at the visual that was done, but eight months later it's like "why was that visual there?" We sent it to you for approval, it's just that if you don't care, well now we don't want any more than the company there.
Pier-Luc Beaulne (1:05:40)
Yeah. Yeah.
Well yes
But... yes. But I think we developed a bond, and that's what's easy, is that really, we're like a bit of a trochum, even if we don't see each other outside of, let's say that, it's an ease, a proximity. So, you hold a grudge against us, for me, it's still less respectful to go see what you've done, and, let's say, to look at that. even if it's difficult for me to concentrate and then to read texts, well, I do it. But there, to see, the impact that it has, afterwards, I find that...
It's really stupid, and then you listen to each of the changes that I could make. Or let's say to see the company profile that I have or to see exactly what I want to go. You have to adapt here each time, and I find that stupid. You know, as much when I say like, OK, well, but there we make more adjustments. like, OK, we remove that there, until I come back. OK, we do it. OK, we put that back in. And there precisely, we have new things in the next ones. We really want to try to lift the bulk transport.
Maxime Sincerny (1:06:35)
...
Pier-Luc Beaulne (1:06:41)
But it's all of a... and that's it, but I think that the proximity that we have, helps a lot with the growth of a company. It's sure that yes.
Maxime Sincerny (1:06:47)
THANKS.
Bofu AI Marketing Agency (1:06:50)
Thanks for listening and see you next time for episode 3.
