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From Backyard Pond
to Full-Blown Business
LESSONS FROM A SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEUR AND CONTRACTOR
Greg Wittstock turned his childhood fascination with pond-building into a successful water feature business — providing certifications for contractors around the world and working with high-profile clients that include former professional basketball players.
“When I was a 12-year-old kid, I built my first pond to house my pet turtles, and I just made every mistake possible,” Greg says. “That pond leaked, turned green and my prize turtle started migrating away. That became my classroom. I would go in the backyard and always mess with it in the summers.”
Here’s a quick look at how Greg turned his backyard turtle pond into a full-blown career:
Making the most of (social) media
In 1991, while still in college, Greg launched Aquascape in Chicago with a wheelbarrow and a shovel. His one-man company quickly turned into a successful operation, thanks in part to a 1992 write-up in the Chicago Tribune that showed Greg the power of public relations.
With the advent of social media, he knew he could take his business even further.
“We really launched with YouTube and Facebook and everything in the last 10 years,” Greg says. “But it all started from learning how Aquascape was successful by getting the word out there, back from that article in 1992 in the Chicago Tribune.”
Creating a community of experts
Today, Aquascape manufactures and distributes a full line of professional water feature products — with the end result focused on sustainability and a balanced ecosystem of filtration, plants, fish and more. The company also offers a certification program for other contractors interested in learning how to create aquascapes, providing the training and tools required to become an expert water-feature installer.
“We’ve got contractors all over the world who have gone through an online testing program, submitted project pictures and customer testimonials, and then become certified,” Greg says.
These “Certified Aquascape Contractors” are featured on Aquascape’s website to make it easy for customers to find an expert in their area. And only the best of the best is chosen annually as the Aquascape Artist of the Year.
Partnering with the pros — including Caterpillar
A group of these pros recently tackled a project for a big-name former professional basketball player. Greg connected with this client about a pond build for his home in Georgia and set to work with a crew of Aquascape Artist of the Year winners. The result is a stunning koi pond crafted with the help of Cat® equipment.
Greg first got in contact with Caterpillar in 2008 for a build at Pondemonium, and the relationship took off from there.
“We’ve always used Caterpillar on our construction job sites, but when we had the World’s Most Extreme Pond built at [Pondemonium], we reached out to corporate,” Greg says. “They came out and supported us with equipment from their local dealer in Chicago, and we had a really good relationship with a lot of the guys.”
So when the recent koi pond build came up, he knew who to call. He connected with Caterpillar again and got equipment to use on site. For Greg, it all boils down to this: “Caterpillar is the biggest and the best.”
