Growing like gangbusters

Like most things in life, growth for a landscaping business is not always linear. It takes several elements in order to boost your bottom line effectively.

Four green industry leaders who’ve seemed to figure out the secrets behind growing not only fast and furiously, but also slow and steady, sat down during the Lawn & Landscape Business Builders Summit to share their insights on growth.

They were Austin Ashmore, CEO of Sunrise Landscape; Justin Martin, president of Granite Hills Group; Justin White, CEO of K&D Landscaping; and Jerry Schill, CEO of Schill Grounds Management.

Find your own fit

Each of the companies have had their own strategy when it comes to taking things to the next level.

Schill says his first step was shifting gears to commercial maintenance back in 2012. This led him to eventually take on private equity backing for his company.

Granite Hills Group is also private equity backed, but Martin notes they decided to partner with a smaller, boutique investment group.

And for White, he says K&D Landscaping is still growing as a family-owned and operated business. He serves as the second-generation leader after taking over for his father.

“Our take to growth is grow as fast as possible at almost any cost,” White says. “There are certain non-negotiables that must be maintained but other than that we’re going to push the boundaries of our team.”

To fuel that growth, White says he’s always painting the big picture for the team and getting them to hone in on that.

“I try to paint the picture of where we’re going to be in 2035 and coach from there,” he says. ‘The vision is really key to growth.

“Something else that’s also underutilized is a world class sales team — we’re working our hardest to build one,” White adds.

But that team that gets you over that first $1 million hurdle may not be the same team that’ll allow you to reach $5, $10 or even $20 million. That’s why White says K&D is always evolving internally.

“We’ve turned over our leadership team three times,” he says. “You’ve got to be scrappy — you can get lazy during that time.”

While Granite Hills is PE-backed, Martin says that doesn’t mean the company doesn’t prioritize organic growth as well.

“We take a people first approach,” Martin says of growth. “It’s a mix of organic and M&A. If we attract good people…and we invest in our culture and provide clear career path for those people — growth just naturally follows…on the M&A side, we’re very particular about the types of businesses we’re looking to partner with. We’ve got to have cultural alignment with the team.”

Martin says there’s a few key questions that need to be firm “yeses” for the company to go forward with an acquisition.

“Are we going to be a benefit of the employees of the business? Will we improve their lives? If we check all those boxes — we do the deal,” Martin says.

One tool in the toolbox

Ashmore adds his approach to growth is far more philosophical than most.

“We think about growth as it being existential,” he says. “It’s about being able to create opportunities for people to grow within your business.”

He notes, as a self-proclaimed industry outsider, there’s no one strategy that leads to tremendous growth.

“I think of it as the right tools in the toolbox and there’s a lot of different tools to get you there,” Ashmore says. “We’ve grown $100 million over the past three years. About two-thirds of that has been through M&A but about a third of that has been organic growth. With the tools in the toolbox — there are the traditional ones, like adding a business development resource or team, and the other side of that is having the talent and recruitment side.”

Making sure you have the bodies to back up the work is critical during any growth phase Ashmore notes.

“The last thing any of us want to do is out kick our coverage,” he quips.

That’s why Ashmore says acquisitions are great, but it’s not the only avenue to securing growth or a high-performing team.

“M&A is just one tool in the toolbox,” he adds. “It’s a great tool, but it’s not the only tool. You can’t be a one-trick pony.”

Schill agrees — saying making several big acquisitions isn’t the only factor to his company’s success story.

“I have a hybrid approach,” Schill says of growth. “We started with three key principles — talent, embracing technology and the last, but most important, is a culture of excellence. We’ve stayed really true to that and really focused on those.”

Tech should be top of mind

All of the panelists agree that technology isn’t just a “nice to have” anymore — it’s become a necessity to scaling effectively.

“In the next five years, if you’re not leveraging technology at a certain level, you just won’t be competitive,” White warns.

White says his company is all in on technology. They’ve partnered with countless start-ups and are always open to new ideas to improve productivity.

“We try to do as many demos as possible and take as many meetings as possible,” he says.

But, White adds that it’s about selecting the right tech that the entire team can get onboard with.

“We’ve gone a little too far in some areas and our crews and our teams have kind of pushed back so it’s about finding that balance,” he adds.

White notes he expects technology to continuously progress within the green industry as M&A also continues to heat up.

“Technology follows the money,” he says.

Schill says he’s got someone within his leadership team who’s focused on scouting the best new technology and implementing it with ease.

“We have a chief transformation officer who does explore a lot of the technology,” Schill notes. “They’re crunching all the numbers.”

Ashmore adds that technology is great for growth as it allows leadership teams to have a more comprehensive view of the business as it expands.

“It’s about better data faster,” he notes. “How do we keep them informed as quickly and accurately as possible? You just can’t be everywhere all the time.”

Get out of your own way

Though even with the best and most innovative software and technology — there are still struggles along the way.

For White, he says his biggest challenges lie within himself and it’s all about pushing past those self-limiting beliefs.

That can be especially tough for a non-PE-backed business, White says as there may not be as much vocalized demands to grow.

“Remove the self-limiting beliefs for your team and you will become the leader you want to become,” White says. “You have to rip that out actively and often… even when there’s seemingly no external pressure to grow.”

Even after achieving $133 million in revenue, Schill says the struggles remain relatively the same.

“A lot of the challenges we have are the same challenges we had at one location,” Schill notes. “It’s just across 30 locations now. Keeping your arms around 30 locations across six states is a lot trickier… it’s about trusting but verifying.

“You have to be an excellent communicator and the authoritarian to hold people accountable,” he adds.

Schill notes that taking risks is also a super important part of the process.

He admits feeling imposter syndrome early on — “If you’re thinking the right way you should be scared. There should be some fear in the decision to execute. Otherwise, you’re just managing activity day-to-day.”

Ashmore adds that for him, the biggest challenges can sometimes be having blinders on and not thinking of the bigger picture.

“Where I’ve fallen short at times is not thinking big enough,” Ashmore admits. “It’s not about what we need today, but what we’ll need three or five years from now.”

To achieve that, it all comes back to people — Ashmore says.

“Getting the right people on the bus is the most important thing,” he says. “There’s a lot of people who look at growth as a four-letter word, and that doesn’t make them bad people but it’s just not a fit for an entrepreneurial organization.”

The author is senior editor with Lawn & Landscape magazine.