Episode Details
Back to EpisodesGROW Host Interview Series: The Early Days at Grunder Landscaping Co. with Marty Grunder and Emily Lindley
Description
Marty Grunder, founder of Grunder Landscaping Company and the Grow Group, sits down with his daughter Emily Lindley, the Grow Group's Content and Event Manager, to reflect on 30 years of the Grow Conference and the evolution of their $18 million landscaping company. From hosting the first Grow event with just 14 people in 1994 to today's conferences drawing over 1,000 attendees, Marty shares how staying stuck at $4.5 million for 12 years taught him the difference between being comfortable and truly scaling, why he once bought a racehorse with the dining room table money, and how his wife's unwavering support became as important to the business's success as any employee they've ever had.
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Episode Chapters:
00:30 - Introduction and Episode Overview
04:05 - Why Both Roles Feed Each Other (Not Harder to Balance)
06:45 - The Origins of Grow: Starting at Age 26 with 14 People
10:44 - “Say Yes to Get to $2M, Say No to Grow Beyond It”
18:42 - Dawn’s Rule: “Do One More Thing Before You Go Home”
19:40 - Cashflow Then and Now: “Paper Rich, Cash Poor”
22:47 - Peer Groups: Layering Best Practice on Best Practice
26:22 - “You Did Not Miss Big Things, You Were Always There”
32:55 - Stuck at $4.5M for 12 Years: The Wake-Up Call
36:59 - “Sometimes You Gotta Push, Sometimes You Gotta Trick ‘Em”
43:58 - “A Different Kind of Person Shows Up to Grow”
50:20 - Please Like, Share, and Subscribe!
Resources:
Virtual Sales Bootcamp
Grunder Landscaping Field Trips
The Grow Group
Key Learnings
Say Yes to Get to $2 Million, Say No to Grow Beyond It – What gets you to a million (adjusted to $2 million today) is saying yes. What gets you beyond that is saying no. I didn't know what the word "no" meant in the early days. We said yes to way more than we should have and didn't have the focus we have today on the right kinds of work.
The Basic Foundations Never Change – In many respects, it wasn't a whole lot different in the '90s than what we do today in terms of basic business strategies. I've always known you gotta have your clients happy. I've always