This article is written in an “As Told To” format. Brad Leahy is the vice president of Blades of Green, a lawn care and pest control company based in Edgewater, Maryland. Blades of Green was acquired by Senske Services in 2023.
I often get asked what it’s really like going from a family-run business to being part of a much larger organization since Senske Services acquired my company, Blades of Green, last year.
This is an understandable question, as many of my peers are faced with acquisition offers on a regular basis. They don’t know what to expect beyond the veil of being acquired, and it’s easy to be suspicious of the unknown.
For me, not being able to provide opportunities for my team in the future was scarier than the process of being acquired. This is one of the top reasons I sold the business. My favorite part of being acquired is seeing my team have opportunities to grow and learn that I could not provide.
You need to know why you’re selling. If you’re selling just because you think you can cash out and get a bunch of money, that’s not a good enough reason.
Since being acquired, I’ve been able to collaborate with like-minded individuals and set our brands up for a promising future. One of our practices that is being integrated across the Senske brands is our style of monthly billing, which reduced our cancellation rate. It’s a great feeling seeing some of your processes working in other markets.
I’ve also been able to gather new ideas and new ways of doing things, and I have almost endless choices about where we could take the business.
Previously, I was involved in almost all areas of the business from marketing and sales to the back office and production. Now, we have subject matter experts who make those final decisions, freeing me up to focus on big-picture, nationwide tasks. As an owner, maybe 10-20% of my time was focused on the future. It’s amazing what you can do when those back-office processes are being handled by top-notch professionals. It’s like pouring gasoline onto a fire.
I will admit, when I first informed my team of the acquisition, there was some hesitation and concerns about being let go, which is why not much changed during the first 30 days post-acquisition. As they adjusted, it was nice to see the enthusiasm from the team members who were looking for new opportunities to grow and expand their careers.
Other positive changes include better benefits and an increased emphasis on safety and developing people. For those of you who are afraid being acquired will make your business all about profit, I can tell you that at Senske, they’re not trying to cut culture or training. Instead, the question is about which training is better for our people. Being safe, training your people and promoting from within are all profitable ideas.
Yet, not all the changes went smoothly. Changing our software from Google to Microsoft was challenging for the team. While we understood on a logical level why this software change was necessary, it still felt difficult in the moment.
Communication was the hardest part for us. When you’re not in the same building and you’re in different time zones, that definitely changes the work dynamic a little bit. It took some adjustment to get on the same page and utilize the same terminology.
The software Beekeeper has been helpful in improving our communication as well. It serves as our own internal company social media feed. It simplifies a lot of informational things, including job postings and fun culture-building activities like a Halloween costume contest.
If I had to do it all over again, I probably wouldn’t change much.
For those considering this path for your business, be prepared for the amount of energy and effort it takes to go through the diligence process and not forgetting that you still have a business to run at the same time. Make sure you have a great team around you so you can make the right decisions for your company.
You need a professional and a personal support network when going through an acquisition. There is a huge emotional aspect to this process that nobody talks about, but the opportunities I could provide my team through this acquisition were so worth it.
