Today marks the 4 year anniversary of my being laid-off as a higher education publishing sales professional in the wake of the OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard on Vaccines and Testing that required employees of businesses with 100 or more employees to be vaccinated by 6 January 2022 or undergo weekly testing. At the time, it stung of course, and in the subsequent months ahead, I learned that many doors that had once been open, were firmly shut.
Years prior to this, I had already decided that when the day arrived when my time in college publishing would end, that I would establish a gardening and landscaping business. To that end, I cashed in a significant chunk of what was left of my retirement and purchased a Ford 150 pickup truck, the essential tool of my new enterprise, preferring to start my business without incurring debt.
In 2024, my third year in business, I had built a clientele base allowing me to make a reasonable living, that is, enough to pay for food, utilities, business equipment & expenses, and local, state and federal taxes. In 2025, after 4 years, my business is firmly established as a quality provider of gardening and landscaping services for several towns in Northern Essex County. In 2025, I have expanded my geographical reach, adding repeat customers in Newton, New Hampshire AND Brookline, Massachusetts, near where my fiancé lives.
Business has grown through word-of-mouth referrals, and primarily, through direct sales, going door to door, selling the tried-and-true old-fashioned way.
My business thrives from the middle of March through the middle of December. In 2024, I even got an early start to the landscaping season on February 8, and worked steadily through that month! Nonetheless, the middle of December through the middle of March is expected to be a time of seasonally light sales volume.
For the winter months, I am the go-to person snow removal person for a handful of landscaping clients and I have also taken on part-time work at a regional super market chain, where I close a busy fish counter, and back up the deli operation.
For the winter of 2025-2026, I am expanding Chris Hyde Services LLC to include the service of sales contracting. I can handle every facet of the sales cycle from cold call to close to customer support, via phone, email, teleconferencing or direct outside channels.
Thus, I am available for contract sales opportunities whether it involves special projects or working open territories.
Please call me at 617-529-6835 to learn how I can help grow your business.
Thank you!
Chris Hyde