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Intentional Diversification

Picture of Brooke Inzerella Brooke Inzerella : Jul 7, 2023 4:46:21 PM

Mid West North East South West

Brooke Inzerella on Choosing the Right Services for Your Team

When I started Horticare 14 years ago, I was basically offering one thing: landscaping. And during those first few years, that was the only service we provided. This was fine for a while, as I was fortunate enough to have plenty of business, but I became restless and wanted to do more and grow my business. During the next eight years or so, my itch, along with interest from talented personnel wanting to join our firm, led me to add irrigation, landscape design, lighting, horticultural maintenance, mowing, turf applications and hardscaping. Before I knew it, Horticare was a full-service landscaping company.

Horticare Paving Photos courtesy of ©Horitcare Landscape Company

Soon after, we pursued athletic field work and started building pools. There wasn’t much we didn’t do. But as I continued to diversify my service offerings, it was becoming obvious that we were being stretched too thin—a common pitfall of diversifying horizontally this way. Although it’s tempting to believe that it’s necessary to be all things to all people, this kind of chaotic growth is not strategic and usually not the most profitable. Smart business strategists will recommend diversifying vertically down a core competency. And although this can seem scary, I believe it to be true.

I realized that I had diversified so wide horizontally, it became hard to market my business, my team's abilities were challenged, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to manage. About three years ago, I decided that I needed to simplify my services and whittle them down to what we do best and what would be most valuable to the marketplace. So, together with my leadership team, we developed a vision for Horticare to be the trusted source for high-end outdoor living spaces in our region. We had a disciplined approach to pursue solely the type of work that I truly love and that we’re good at: design and installation of not only high-end landscapes but pools, hardscapes and outdoor kitchens for residential settings.

Horticare Pools

Photos courtesy of ©Horitcare Landscape Company

Creating these high-end outdoor living spaces with one general contractor became an attractive service in my area, and client referrals have brought me a continuous flow of great projects that fill this niche. And although I did not immediately eliminate the services that do not fall within this niche and are therefore unnecessary to fulfill my vision, this is on the short-term plan. Truthfully, I still struggle with wanting to be the go-to guy for everything my clients need, so letting go of some of the services that got us growing in the early years has been hard. But, I know these moves are what’s best for my company, and I believe that smart diversification is really the key to differentiating yourself from your competitors. It makes it easier to run the business, too. I’m seeing those rewards more and more each day.