Recently, Grunder Landscaping Co. based in Miamisburg, Ohio, announced their expansion into Cincinnati.
After 40 years of business, Grunder is making this move because of their team. This location will start with 12 to 16 team members, but their goal is to have 80 team members based out of their Cincinnati location in five years.
“Our organization made a strategic initiative to provide more opportunities for our team to grow and succeed,” says Seth Pflum, president & COO of Grunder Landscaping Co. based in Miamisburg, Ohio. “We have great team members who want more and are willing to take on more, and to fuel that drive, we need to expand. Dayton, Ohio, is a great city and one to be very proud of, but the market is only so large, and to live up to our mission, we have to look at other markets to grow continually.”
Pflum says they selected Cincinnati for its market size, potential, and geographical location. He says the city is just far enough away to constitute another location’s additional expenses and complexity.
Lessons Learned
While their branch is not fully open yet, Pflum says they’ve learned a lot so far. One lesson has been that growth is not linear. He says they had identified the need to move to a new market a few years ago, but the path they’ve taken was not what they planned.
“We originally had another location picked out, but due to zoning issues, we had to cancel that location and start looking again,” Pflum says. “The original plan was to have a branch open in 2024, which we thought meant 1/1/24, but now we’re happy to have it open by 11/15/24, which is still technically 2024.”
He says that renovations to the building and modifications to the exterior land/lot are projected to be completed by Nov. 15.
Another lesson they’ve learned is that organizational growth excites the team. He says the main benefit of opening a new branch is providing additional opportunities to the team.
“Multiple team members have stepped up and asked for more,” Pflum says. “This part is exciting!”
Pflum says it is their goal to promote from within. If team members do not what certain positions, then they will hire externally.
He says you also have to trust the process of the organization’s vision.
“I get asked a lot about the ‘plan,’ and I always respond that we know where we want to go and that we, the team, will figure it out together,” Pflum says.
Successfully Launching a Second Branch
There’s no specific milestone that will make launching a second branch the right time, but there are some steps to take to launch a branch successfully.
Pflum says a great team needs to be in place first.
“After a great team, processes and technology are defined,” Pflum says. “Both process and technology allow scaling to be efficient and effective.”
Grunder Landscaping also established a client base after determining they wanted to expand into Cincinnati a few years ago. Pflum says they started developing relationships and acquiring contracts with residential, commercial, and municipality clients. He notes that they’ll become more efficient servicing those contracts from day one of opening.
“To keep quality and service consistent between locations, current team members will be moving to that location, and we’ve made a strategic initiative to utilize standardized technology to keep teaching standardized and consistent between the locations,” Pflum says.
Corporate and backend processes will still be handled through their main location in Miamisburg. Pflum says the second location also presents a chance for them to develop additional processes and technology to keep consistency and quality in culture.
Pflum recommends only launching a second location if you have a team that wants to grow and needs the expansion.
“Do not just expand because,” he says. “Only expand if you have the team, processes, and technology in place to handle the organization’s scaling. It’s all about providing opportunities to the team…nothing more.”
