Our Strategic Planning Analyst, Jordan Saukaitis, recently shared on LinkedIn:
A full circle moment yesterday at Foster Lake & Pond Management. Watching my son scoop fish from the fish tanks with the same little pink net I used as a kid brought back so many memories. I used to love visiting with my dad, listening as he explained each fish and the role it plays in a pond’s ecosystem. Now, 30 years later, I’m so grateful he gets to experience it too. The legacy of this place means so much to our family, and I’m thankful to Bland Landscaping Company for keeping it alive and thriving for the next generation.
Bland Landscaping Co.’ CEO, Kurt Bland, had the following to say in response:
Mergers and Acquisitions are funny things that are so often misunderstood. Sidelined critics sometimes like to question the decision of a seller to sell a company they founded, which is understandable given the fact that most people have never lived through such a decision and very few ever will. I’ve been in the shoes of both the seller and the buyer and I learn from every partnership we create.
Some owners make the decision to sell at an age when it makes sense for them to reinvest and continue as part of the go forward team. Others have reached a point in their career where they are looking for an opportunity to step away and enjoy other more important things in their life. I have learned through experience how to navigate both of these avenues, and they both have their own nuanced things to consider.
The act of buying someone’s business is one of the greatest responsibilities I have ever undertaken in my career. Uninformed people may consider it a cold process, but I assure you there is nothing cold about buying a small business from a founder. It is very personal! I take it very seriously, and I feel personally responsible to ensure that we steward the team and the founder’s legacy. When that founder has family in the business, it makes the stakes all the more important.
I have been very fortunate to have led several of such multi-generation deals, and I am happy to say that we are very lucky to have been able to employ these founder’s family members. If you work with somebody long enough, they feel like family sometimes, but it doesn’t quite have the same effect. As someone who grew up in a family business myself, in tow from a young age around the office and job site, I can hear Johnny talking in my mind as I read his words, and I can imagine my father explaining landscaping in a similar fashion at a similar age. I am reminded of the importance of what we are doing and why it is imperative to keep it personal.
Thank you so much to our dedicated teams. I am so proud of our work, and how our teams go into uncharted waters with confidence instilled in them from current leadership and the example set by Johnny for 42 years.
We will always welcome that pink net in the fish tank anytime!