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Matt Plaskoff Construction Inc.
Year Founded: 1988
Core Business: Custom homebuilding and remodeling
Revenues in 1988: $1 million
Revenues in 1993: $3 million
Revenues in 1999 (projected): $8 million
Employees in 1988: 3
Employees in 1993: 9
Employees in 1999: 15
Goal: To keep growing and bring professionalism to what has traditionally been a blue-collar business
Driving Force: A tight housing market that has led to more remodeling, and an economic resurgence that has fueled the residential sector
By ELIZABETH HAYES
Staff Reporter
El Ni & #324;o taketh and El Ni & #324;o giveth back, at least in the case of one Sherman Oaks homebuilder.
Revenues for Matt Plaskoff Construction Inc. are expected to hit $8 million in the current fiscal year, double last year’s level. That surge is primarily due to the weather: Many L.A.-area homeowners were hesitant to begin major work until El Ni & #324;o passed, and now that it has, they’re inundating Matt Plaskoff with orders.
“We were forced to take on many small projects instead of fewer large projects,” said Plaskoff. “The volume didn’t necessarily suffer. But smaller projects take more resources; they’re not as profitable.”
This year, there’s no shortage of demand for big projects, including remodels approaching $1 million. In fact, Plaskoff said, he is booked into April and turning down jobs.
“When (El Ni & #324;o) blew over, the market went insane,” Plaskoff said.
While the $8 million revenue projection would mark an eight-fold increase from the company’s initial year in 1988, most of the increase has been deliberate.
“I make a point of not being spread too thin by limiting the amount of business I take,” Plaskoff said.
Plaskoff, 37, didn’t initially set out to be a homebuilder. He graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in marine biology, but found limited opportunities in that field. So he worked for a time in the restaurant business, including a two-year stint as manager of Gladstone’s 4 Fish.
He was always good with his hands “a fix-it type of guy” who had done some freelance carpentry so he went to work for general contractors, learning how to perform every trade, from painting to plumbing.
At Del Rey Construction, he was promoted to lead carpenter, then got more involved in management at Fischer Construction.
One day, Gordon and Janet Cunningham happened upon a job site and watched as Plaskoff supervised construction of several homes near where they planned to build in Westchester.
The meeting was a turning point for Plaskoff, who soon thereafter formed his own business and built the Cunninghams’ 6,000-square-foot Cape Cod-style custom home on a bluff. Since then, he has gone on to build dozens of homes in a variety of styles, along with numerous remodels.
“They were a catalyst for me,” Plaskoff said.
Gordon Cunningham said he took a major risk, but it paid off. “He did a marvelous job,” Cunningham said. “It gives me pleasure to see how well he’s done. I’ve watched him grow the business.”
Plaskoff also took a risk in going out on his own, but with no mortgage or kids, he figured the timing was right. He had read magazines and books about the business, set up an office in a Marina del Rey building that Cunningham owned and hired two project managers. His first few jobs came through word-of-mouth referrals.
Much of his work the first few years was in the Marina del Rey/Westchester area, where older neighborhoods provided ample remodel opportunities. “People would walk by this home and see what we were doing and ask us to look at their projects,” he said.
Plaskoff also credits his reputation with bringing new work.
“The reason people hire us is because they’ve heard the horror stories and don’t have time to micro-manage their contractor. They may be two working parents and they don’t have time to make sure the contractor is looking out for their best interests. And they want value for their money and the job to be completed on time,” he said.
Bruce Paez, a vice president at Gibson Construction Inc., said the custom homebuilding business has gotten more competitive, especially because customers are warier today than during the building frenzy of the late ’80s.
Back then, “everything was over the top and there was less concern about resale. Now, people are being more realistic and more prudent with their money,” Paez said.
Plaskoff said he doesn’t have time to beat the bushes for business. Instead, he tries to maintain relationships with his pre-existing customers by sending them his newsletter and offering restaurant gift certificates to those who refer customers. Plaskoff’s projects have ranged in size from $25,000 decks to $5 million custom homes in areas from Santa Barbara to Manhattan Beach.
All his employees have laptop computers, which they can use at job sites to access subcontractor phone numbers, forms or information on a particular kind of job. “We developed a system where employees can go in and share their failures or successes,” Plaskoff said. Scheduling is also computerized.
What he likes most about his business is the satisfaction of solving problems on a project and then seeing the finished product. Still, the process can present its share of headaches.
“You are involved with what is potentially the most important investment of a person’s life their home. Oftentimes, you have to interface with families, while you’re trying to coordinate in some cases over 50 different tradespeople and cost-effectively complete the project,” he said. “It’s a very emotional, intense process. When it’s over, everyone’s happy and it looks great, but when you’re going through it, a lot of decisions need to be made
