posted on February 14, 2012 14:57
Jon Peterson speaks positively about the past, present and the future. He is clearly a guy who finds the silver lining—which makes the role disasters have played in his business all the more remarkable.
There was a disastrous tornado in St. Peter, Minn., in 1997 that required cleanup, created demand for his equipment and essentially launched his business.
Later, Peterson refocused his business during the financial disaster of 2008. And earlier this year, he had to decide whether to continue his business or close the doors when another disaster—this time a fire—destroyed his entire office and shop.
Peterson admits the most recent disaster almost did his business in. "I lost sleep deciding if I should rebuild," he said. "Everything was gone." Equipment, documents—it was all up in smoke.
But a funny thing happened. As Peterson lay awake, his employees went to work. Within 24 hours of the fire, computers were back up and running in a temporary office the staff had found. Customers were being contacted and, even more impressive, being served as if nothing had happened.
"I am fortunate to have two brothers and a management team that thrive on nothing but forward momentum and that never showed more than the days and weeks after that fire," said Peterson, president and CEO of the company that bears his name."
"Another disaster overcome."
"I am fortunate to have two brothers and a management team that thrive on nothing but forward momentum."
What has Peterson learned from the disasters, as well as the more routine days in the office?
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What I like About CAT® Equipment:
"Cat equipment flat out lasts longer. our parts and service costs are dramatically less with Cat machines. sometimes the parts might cost more, but we buy fewer of them. we save on Cat parts in the long run, no doubt about it."
"I buy used Cat machines with complete faith, whether i go to auction or pick one up somewhere else."
What I Like About my CAT Dealer:
"Ziegler Cat and Caterpillar have been absolutely outstanding. they've been huge contributors to our success."
"My downtime virtually doesn't exist due to parts availability with Ziegler. they know and track all the pieces of equipment i have. when we call for parts or service, they ask what piece it is, or ask for the iD number or serial number. they punch it into the computer and it's taken care of. if they don't have the part on the shelf, they'll have it the next day—even if it's the most oddball part. i don't care what it is, they get it."
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Seize an opportunity.
Peterson was delivering sod for his father's trucking company when a contractor asked him for extra help installing. Peterson said sure.
Then that contractor wanted to know if Peterson could help with snow removal. He could.
Soon after, that same contractor was hired to remove debris after a tornado struck a city a few hours away. They needed help and requested Peterson's snow removal equipment and crew.
"That's what gave us a jumpstart," Peterson said. "We made some decent money, and thought about how to transition when we got back home."
It wasn't too difficult. The economy was going strong, and Peterson had equipment—he had accumulated more than 15 machines—as well as operators who had honed their skills during the tornado cleanup. His brothers, Curt and Steve, joined forces and the crew and equipment went to work. "That was the start of our major climb," Peterson said.
There are always opportunities, even during bad times.
Boom times don't last forever. "When the housing market was going crazy, we would put an ad in the paper or on door knobs of new houses that needed landscaping and we would get business," he said.
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TWO KEYS TO BIG PROJECTS
Jon Peterson diversified his business to take on both smaller projects, such as single-family home lawn installations, and much larger projects, too. Two key factors helped him gain that diversity.
- He worked to gain the trust of developers and architects, and had them do the selling. "A lot of our big jobs, particularly the athletic fields, are out- of-state. While we do a lot of the actual installation, developers are the ones pushing the larger projects to the owners. If you are aligned with the developers, they will do the selling for you."
- He rents much of his equipment. "We rent 20-40 percent of our equipment," he said. "It makes a big difference on the larger projects. Rental has been especially beneficial to us from a bonding standpoint. Some of the projects are bigger than what we could be bidding on if we owned all the equipment and had to take on debt to do so."
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Peterson said that changed "when there were no new doorknobs."
But he has found other business. "When housing construction slowed, many people decided to stay in existing homes and they wanted to renovate them, expand or improve them somehow. There have been a lot of 'redo' landscaping jobs, instead of work on new homes."
Your current conversation is also a job interview.
Peterson's business grew from his initial work delivering sod with a sod contractor. Other contractors who were also on the receiving end of his on-time, professional deliveries back then continue to do business with him to this day. And they, in turn, have pointed friends and others his way—people who need sod, sprinkler systems and retaining walls.
Take time to do some thinking.
The business is built around more than relationships built years ago. Peterson and his managers continually brainstorm about opportunities and goal setting.
One key company focus: "Look for projects where we can do 90 percent of the work," he said. Peterson's business card lists a range of specialties including traditional landscape skills in addition to excavation, sprinkler systems, asphalt, concrete and many other specialties.
About five years ago, management thought about how to expand and came up with athletic facility and park development. Peterson started calling on school districts, municipalities and engineers who specialize in such projects and now has developed a solid business in that area as well. In fact, the company has developed such facilities in five states.
It has evolved into a thriving division of the company, and there isn't the hint of a disaster around it.