Systems Paving Teams Up With GE to Increase Sales

(PDF Download) Larry Green’s account of realizing the “American dream” has a different twist from that of most entrepreneurs. For starters, his story didn’t begin in America — it began in South Africa, where he was born, raised and educated. As a young man of 20, he started his career in the interlocking paving business near Johannesburg, eventually opening his own successful company in the late 1970s.

With the paving industry blossoming throughout South Africa, his company grew quickly and achieved impressive annual sales. However, as political uncertainty began to brew in the country, Larry wanted to ensure a more “predictable” environment for his young children. In 1992, he immigrated to the U.S. with his family.

Almost immediately, 35-year-old Larry began exploring opportunities to start over again. That’s when he joined with business partner, Doug Lueck, to establish Systems Paving in Newport Beach, California. The two had a shared background in the industry, as well as a vision to build a successful paving business covering southern California.

Starting Over
“It just so happens that the trend toward interlocking paving stones in the U.S. was about 20 years behind that of South Africa,” Larry explained. “So the interest was just beginning to grow, and people were catching on to the benefits of using pavers instead of concrete. Doug and I saw the tremendous opportunity ahead of us and jumped in.”

An Unsaturated Market
Over the ensuing years, the team found an unsaturated market, thirsty for an attractive alternative to concrete for their driveways, patios and walkways. In addition, the shift toward “outdoor living” spaces increased demand even further for Systems Paving’s products.

“The people at GE have really dialed in with us. They’ve trained our sales force on how to use the programs, and they’ve definitely helped us increase our sales through their special customer incentives, such as six months deferred interest and payment programs.” – Larry Green

“It didn’t take long before we achieved our goal to cover southern California, so we expanded to the San Francisco Bay area, and then eventually added offices in Sacramento, Portland, Seattle, Denver and Dallas,” Larry said. “Currently, we’re working to establish our business in the East Coast, and we recently opened an office in Rockville, Maryland.”

Today, Systems Paving brings in annual revenues of more than $70 million, and the company has continued to increase sales between 20 and 30 percent each year.

A Great Team
“We’re doing about 4,600 jobs a year through our various offices,” Larry said. “And our average job size is around $15,000. Until we teamed up with GE Money last year, most of our customers were paying cash for their projects — just 10 percent were doing them with financing.”

When he first came to the U.S., Larry said he found it odd that most lenders lacked competitive financing programs for paving projects. After all, in South Africa, nearly 70 percent of his customers had financed their projects.

“When we finally got set up with GE, we found that we were a great team,” Larry said. “Not only did they have the financing programs to help make our customers’ projects more affordable, but they had the mindset that we were in business together. The people at GE have really dialed in with us. They’ve trained our sales force on how to use the programs, and they’ve definitely helped us increase our sales through their special customer incentives, such as six months deferred interest and payment programs.”

Doubling the Numbers
In just one year, the number of customers financing has climbed to more than 25 percent. And, just as Larry aims to double his business over the next five years, he also hopes to double the percentage of customers who finance their projects.

“When customers finance, we find that they tend to upgrade their projects by perhaps expanding the size or adding one of our outdoor fireplaces or barbeques,” he said. “In the long term, I’m looking forward to working with GE Money to help us capture more of the market with this strategy.”