Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Prescher.
Joshua, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
So, I run Arise Outdoor Services with my brothers-in-law Caleb and Philip Couwenhoven. Our story actually starts with their family and specifically my father-in-law, Russ. For 20+ years, Russ was a pastor of a church on the north side of Minneapolis. Being a visionary, he was always looking to start new ministries and care for his community. He started a non-profit call Pure-Life Builders, which provided sober housing and jobs for men getting out of prison and looking for a new start. This ministry ran from 2004-2014. Russ saw a huge need for mentorship and discipleship to happen through hard work, and the importance of these men learning tangible skills. Different churches partnered with this non-profit in order to provide work for the men, hiring them out for janitorial, building maintenance, and landscaping/snow services, with the latter becoming most popular among the three. With this need, eventually, a Bobcat skid steer was bought, some trucks, trailer, and other landscaping tools.
Moving forward in time, as Pure-Life Builders was coming to an end, there were still a few churches contracted with Russ, and now a young Philip, who was old enough to help his dad snow plow and mow lawns, something he absolutely loved. Russ eventually got to a point with other responsibilities where he needed to exit the manual labor side of things. Still owning some equipment, and having some landscaping/snow contracts, Caleb stepped in and took over Russ’ role in 2017. I (Josh) had recently left my job in corporate sales, came on as owner/operator with Caleb and Philip in 2019, and after a business name change, Arise Outdoor Services was officially started.
Those early days were not particularly glamorous. We were just laughing earlier this week, reminiscing on those early days, shoveling dirt out of the bed of a rusty pickup truck, using less-than-ideal equipment, digging almost everything by hand with a shovel (which is way harder than it looks!), and taking any work we could get. Starting and growing a company took way more effort than we anticipated, but it has been the most rewarding work we’ve done. Each year we focused on customer satisfaction, truly caring about each project, leaving the job site each day better than when we found it, integrity, honesty, humility, and working to the best of our ability. Each year brought new company growth, referrals, new equipment, continued client satisfaction, and new service offerings. Over 6 years, we have turned into a full-service landscaping & hardscaping company, specializing in patios, retaining walls, water management, grading, plantings, and more. We really love what we do, and are so thankful to all our clients who hired and have referred us throughout the years!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. There’s been a lot of long days, a lot of second-guessing, and honestly just figuring things out as we go. Landscaping itself is just hard work. When you hit the middle of summer, with no shade, removing rock, or digging something out by hand, it definitely wears on you. And in our early years, we didn’t always have the right equipment, so everything took longer and was more manual labor it can be now. I remember one job where we were completely spent; we were laying a patio in basically 100% humidity at 90+ degrees. We were sweating so much, it looked like we had all just jumped into a lake with our clothes on, but we still had to finish strong because at the end of the day, it’s someone’s home and you want to do it right.
What surprised me more, though, was how much comes with actually running a business. You don’t always clock out when the job is done. You’re going home, answering emails, sending quotes, trying to keep schedules on time, learning how to build a website, post on social media, and more. There were a lot of late nights and early mornings where it felt like we were just keeping up. We’ve definitely made mistakes along the way, too. Took on jobs we probably shouldn’t have, charged too little on others, and learned some things the hard way. There were seasons where everything felt stretched, especially with family time, which is incredibly important to Caleb and me, both being married and both having a son. But, at the same time, this really did shape us. You learn quick when you’re in it every day and it’s a trial-by-fire type situation. It forced us to get better, to be more intentional, to communicate better, and to figure out who we want to be as a company.
As you know, we’re big fans of Arise Outdoor Services. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
At our core, we’re a full-service landscaping and hardscaping company. We design and build outdoor spaces: everything from patios and retaining walls to grading, drainage solutions, plantings, and more. A lot of what we do is helping homeowners take a space that isn’t working for them and turn it into something they actually enjoy being in and start spending more time outside. We also want to empower ownership and education of someone’s personal outdoor space, so they’re not reliant on others for more maintenance-type tasks, such as pruning, watering, and seasonal maintenance.
Over time, we’ve really found a niche in hardscaping and water management. Patios and retaining walls are a big part of what we do, but also solving drainage issues, such as yards holding water, improper grading, burying downspouts, and things like that. Some projects aren’t always the most exciting on the surface, but they make a huge difference for homeowners, and we take a lot of pride in doing them right.
I think what sets us apart is how much we genuinely care about the work and the people we’re working for. We’re not just trying to get in and out of a job. We want it done the right way, even if that means more time and effort. We try to communicate well, be honest, and treat every project like it’s our own.
We’re also still hands-on as owners. We’ve been owners/operators since the beginning, and although we hire more employees now, we are still out there on the jobs. I think that shows in the final product, because there’s a level of ownership and accountability that comes with that, and that has been a consistent point of praise from our clients.
Brand-wise, I’m most proud of the reputation we’ve built. We currently have only 5-star reviews on Google, which is so cool to see the positive feedback from all our clients. Lots of our work has come from referrals or repeat clients, which means a ton to us. We didn’t build this through really any marketing spend, our company grew organically by showing up, working hard, and treating others as we’d want to be treated. At the end of the day, we want to be known as a company that does what it says it’s going to do, takes pride in the work, and leaves a space better off than when we started.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The easiest way to get in touch with us is to fill out the “Contact Us” form on our website: https://www.ariseoutdoor.com/contact
We offer free, preliminary consultations to talk through someone’s goals and vision for their outdoor spaces. We encourage people to reach out early, as larger projects can take some serious planning, and we like having as much time for the creative design process before an installation date is finalized.
Other than that, we are always interested in getting to know other industry partners, such as: property managers, HOA boards, real estate agents, landscape architects/designers, nurseries, and more!
Pricing:
- Per Project Based
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ariseoutdoor.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ariseoutdoorservices/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ariseoutdoorservices
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuaprescher/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AriseOutdoorServices
