Mike Brito, owner and general manager of Brito’s Landscaping Services LLC, believes in letting a higher power guide his future.
So when he discovered he had somewhat of a gift for landscape design, after years spent working in heavier construction, he went with it and developed a small business that has brought him success, even in challenging times.
“We had our best year ever last year. I don’t know how to explain it but we answer to a higher authority,” Brito said. “[Landscaping] just seemed like an obvious fit for me. I was kind of guided to it, I guess.”
Growing up in Bristol, he had a front-row seat to the development of C. Brito Construction Co., the still-standing company his grandfather, Cesar Brito, began in the 1950s after he emigrated from the Cape Verdean island of Saint Vincent, with gas-main installations and expanded in the 1960s with municipal sewer and water systems.
Mike Brito’s father, Joseph Brito Sr., eventually took the company over and expanded to include underground utility work. As a result, C.B. Utility Co. was incorporated in 1989 and now is run by Mike’s brother, Joseph Brito Jr.
“That’s where I get my background in construction from,” Mike Brito said. “I never really had any formal training. Life brings me down different roads and I followed the one that was in front of me. I came up the ranks and learned that way.”
After graduating high school, Brito, 55, worked for his family’s company and some others before meeting his wife, Sally, and settling down in East Greenwich about 12 years ago.
At that point he felt himself facing a now-or-never situation when it came to starting his own business and he decided to take the plunge.
“I felt I better do something on my own if I [was] ever going to and we started this little show,” Brito said. “It’s developed into a pretty passionate thing.”
The Britos established Brito’s Landscaping Services LLC in 2005.
In the beginning it was just Brito designing and constructing a few walkways. Once he realized he had a talent for the design aspect of the business he expanded to include what now has become full patio design, including fire pits, stone work, kitchen work and entryways for residential clients.
The company also performs commercial work through R.I. Department of Transportation contracts for bridge demolitions and closures, including the demolition of the Anthony Road Bridge in Foster last year.
He brought his son Jonathan Brito onboard a couple years after starting the company to handle project managements. Sally Brito, who is a certified public accountant, serves as administrator and bookkeeper.
A big part of the company’s success is due to the detailed and dedicated service it provides, said Mike Brito. He uses models, 3-D images and walkthrough videos to illustrate to clients his vision for their beautification project.
The rest he credits to the business model the Britos developed eight years ago.
“We are a Christian-based company. When I developed the business, I was very strict on doing it for the right reasons. I didn’t want to go in this just to make money. That would have been a horrible motive,” Brito said. “We look at how we’re going to enhance clients’ lives. We don’t just put a fire pit in. We build living rooms that happen to be outside with a fire pit, where families get together and roast a marshmallow. Places where they are going to gather and share joy.”
He’s also used a Christian philosophy in building the company’s workforce by recruiting down-on-their-luck individuals and helping them develop a marketable skill, then encouraging them to move on to larger companies where they could further their careers.
The Britos also incorporate a strong charitable element to their business, recently donating services to install memorial bricks at St. Peter’s and St. Andrew’s Church in Providence, when the diocese used the bricks to fundraise for a $30,000 fire alarm system.
They’ve also donated landscaping services through Green Care for Troops, a nationwide program.
Brito would like to expand the business to perhaps include a maintenance division and to focus on growing his residential-customer base.
And, “If the business was a little bigger, I’d be able to help a lot more people,” Brito said. •
COMPANY PROFILE
Brito’s Landscaping Services LLC
Owners: Mike and Sally Brito
Type of Business: Landscaping firm
Location: 1070 Frenchtown Road, East Greenwich
Employees: 7
Year Established: 2005
Annual Sales: WND
