#67 CHOOSING THE MANAGER * (revised 6/4) breaking barriers

Choosing our manager


There is no person more important to a garden store business than the on-site working manager. We say this because, too often, the owners or accountants or buyers are given more attention, more incentives and more recognition. No one gets paid; No one has a job unless products move out the door. It is the responsibility of that manager keep turning the wheel every minute, every hour. If that does not happen, failure will happen, guaranteed.


At green garden gates, we have developed guidelines for the hiring of managers at our stores. While not any one of the guidelines eliminates prospects from this position, the composite is very important.

Male or Female?

“They laughed at me. They said it was a store for biker guys and we did not need any fru fru. Well, I fought them all the way. I tricked out those dungeon biker stores and the ladies started to walk in and buy and boy did they buy, and so did the men who were lawyers and doctors.

Sarah Lindsey-Banks
Managing the upgrading of the Harley-Davidson Stores

It has been automatic to think of a manager of a garden store to be a man. This business seems to demand that physical strength and stamina are paramount. After all, who is left unloading a semi of heavy trees when there is no one else around? Who moves loaded plant carts, or fills an order for twenty bales of frozen peat moss into an enclosed van? It is all tough and muscle straining day after day. Absolutely, it takes a man. Well, not so fast. If the only real reason for a excluding a woman for manager is strength, muscle, height and weight, let’s set that argument aside for the moment.

Seventy percent of the gardening customers who come to green garden gates are women. More than that a larger percentage of the buying decisions are made by women. Doesn’t it stand to reason that, without question, the look, the products, the atmosphere, the presentation, the approach to customers is directed primarily to those women shoppers? Would not a both a male or female be qualified to direct the store operations? We, at green garden gates, are not a feed store; we do not make parts for radiators. Many of our customers arrive in heels, they arrive in their Lexus. They want the feel or they will not freely purchase.



Ok, let’s simply solve the muscle thing. We will make available the tools and the human resources at any time to get the job done for our female or male managers.



A male or a female both possess sometimes different but equally important skills for green garden gates. We welcome both men and women as our managers.

#1 Managers for green garden gates can be either male or female




Young or not so young?

Here are some myths that We have to avoid when making choices for our managers Young workers have more energy, spirit and stamina for the long haul. Young managers are trained more easily. Young managers have more hunger and thirst for success. Young managers have “fire in their belly”. Young workers are the last into work and the first to leave. Young workers will stay long enough to add a job to their resume. Young workers have to be rewarded all the time or they will get discouraged. Older workers are more resistant to change, more hesitant. Older managers are likely to be “set in their ways”, following patterns learned and not able to adapt. Older managers do not have the stamina for the long haul, their interests are elsewhere. Older managers have been “burned” and are cautious, taking the easy road, avoiding difficult choices that may endanger their positions. Older managers cannot relate to their young employees. Older workers value a job well done. Older workers relate to customers more easily. Older workers will stick with a task no matter how tough it is

Both the young and not so young managers and employees bring equal talents to green garden gates.

#2 Managers can be of any age



A higher formal education or the “school of hard knocks”?

“They turned me down for the job because I did not have a college degree. That was it. I had been doing that job for months and always was at the very top of performance. They dead ended me at that level. They said I was the best person ever to be in that job.


Sammy
Applying the business manager position of his company

So many bright and talented employees have been passed over when applying for the job of a manager because they did not have a college degree. It is tragic and a waste of talent. Not possessing college work, beyond a high school diploma or its equivalency will absolutely not exclude their selection. We want our managers to have been exposed to the real world as well as the classroom world. Of course, there will be standards of proper speech and decorum that needs to be closely aligned with the customers of green garden gates, but that does not translate to the necessity of having a college educational background to have gained these social skills and decorum.

#3 Managers are to possess a basic formal education as well as experience in the workplace.

Gardener, haberdasher or gravedigger?

We get hung up on this gardener thing. Some garden store owners insist that the mangers and key employees need to have some sort of degree in horticulture, botany, or landscape architecture. Nonsense. And to add insult to injury, those employees are regarded as very important employees. Nonsense again.

Some of finest most knowledgeable employees in the store have never stepped foot in a place of higher learning, let along getting a degree in these fields. Some of the worst employees post these diplomas proudly on the wall. There has yet to come a decent number of graduate landscape architecture majors who can tell the difference between crepe myrtle and crepe paper. And the master gardeners? Forget it. Most have just enough information to make them dangerous in the retail garden store. If you want your customers to have a tour of your plants and learn about the stages of plant life, leaf color, and flower characteristics or if you want your customers to have a pretty picture with little tree symbols, property boundaries, these are the people to send on that mission. If you want your plants purchased, skip this group!

Now, that is being a little rough on these graduates and degree holders. Some have made the change for the retail store. Together with their knowledge and their newly acquired “street smarts” on plants, they can very fine and valuable employees. Just be careful that the staff is not loaded with a bunch of plant snobs. Garden stores are not botanical gardens. We sell things.

The first quality of the manager is that he or she knows how to sell; to have a basic understand of the gardening products, give honest advice, and close the deal. The best plant a garden store has is the one that left the parking lot in the customer’s car. Experience in a garden store retail setting is great. More importantly, however, is experience in a fast moving, high product turnover retail environment, where movement is the key. Some of the best employees of garden stores come form the cosmetic and clothing industry. Those employees know how to display and sell, leaving only dust on the shelves. Likewise a manager from these businesses knows how to motivate and how to promote. Like the haberdasher, the object is to get the suit on the man and satisfy him so he will never want to take it off ever again!

The manager needs to be part gravedigger, sweating away during the long hours of the spring planting season, digging those holes one after another from dawn to dusk endlessly until the season draws to a close.

#4 The manager has to have a basic understanding of gardening, experienced in selling and moving products and be willing to put in the long difficult and demanding hours of a garden store.

#66 CHOOSING THE LAND * (revised 6/4) "signing day"

Signing day



The four gathered around the big table for the final completion of the checklist. The property scored high for the best place in Tulsa for a green garden gates. They were eager and ready to move ahead with this land.

Signing day for the land was set for May 1st. The start of construction was scheduled for September 15th. During the last several months, anticipating the acquisition, the process of formalizing the companies was completed. The financial investors brought together by Sarah Bank’s husband, John were registered in the state of Oregon under the name of Mt. Hood Investment Group. The four partners of green garden gates formed a Sub-Chapter S corporation named GGG National. It was agreed, and accepted by the seller of the land that Mt. Hood Investment group would lease the land and sign the contract. The land would be then sub-leased to GGG national for the development of green garden gates.

Everyone was invited to the land for dinner the evening before the signing; the accountants, attorneys, real estate agents, consultants, and the local media. The children played in the newly mowed green field of the land. A long table with a white table cloth and matching chairs was set. Blooming red geraniums in clay pots were placed on the table near where the they would be on display for their customers this time next year. The evening was warm with a light breeze.

Sarah Lindsey-Banks rose to offer the first toast. The evening sun picked up the vivid auburn of her hair and face.

“To Sammy, what an adventure you signed up for! To Twyla, it’s finally time to break out the hammers and to Nick, my dear friend; we are riding your dream with you. Now let’s get started and have some fun making it all come true!

Sarah picked up the Champaigne bottle that she had saved for these many months. With one wild swing, she thrust and smashed it on a nearby wooden fence post.



“I christen thee green garden gates, the first.
The flagship of our crazy, wonderful journey”

#65 CHOOSING THE LAND * (revised 6/4) "working down the checklist"

Access to overflow parking

The ability to grow and prosper in the garden store business is directly related to the amount of customer vehicles that can be accommodated at one time. Sure, it’s the selection and the service and the “buzz”, but getting gardeners parked to shop is the key. Springtime can bring huge parking problems for garden stores.

Some stores have employed parking attendants to ease the congestion. Some have valet customer service, moving the cars on and off site at peak business hours and days. ‘the lucky garden store owners have had adjacent or near their land, an overflow parking area. This may be a church parking lot, a school lot or a vacant piece of property.

The owner will pay a fee or contribute in some way to the organization, insure against liability and damage, and take care of the maintenance of the property. This valuable asset may only be used during the busy spring months but this overflow parking can be worth its weight in gold.

Is there the possibility for overflow customer parking near the land?

Yes, there are several possibilities for this. The neighboring land is occupied by a meg-church with a huge parking area. Although they are active each day with gatherings, there is an abundance of parking remaining on the weekdays and Saturday. Sundays are out of the question for use by our store. We have had some preliminary conversations with the church board of directors and they are very interested in providing this overflow. Further negotiations will continue if we take possession of this parcel of land. There are a number of rural pieces of non producing farmland in the area that could be used as overflow parking. Although possible, the cost of minimal improvement to accommodate vehicles may be prohibitive

Utilities on the site

There can be a prohibitive expense to bringing utilities to an undeveloped piece of property, especially in a rural area. That cheap land is not cheap anymore when all the bills are paid for bringing in these services. Gas companies are not interested in running a line unless they can be assured that the usage will be large profitable for them. Connecting to a local sewer district often requires that landowner to pay a “capitalization fee” as much as 20,000.00 and pay for all the hookups and piping into the land. Water also may require a cap fee and hookup expenses. Electrical companies may have to sink a new pole and run new lines to the property, often all charged to the landowner. Those costs have to be seriously examined when weighing this “cheap land” against a property equipped already with the utilities. Oh yes, one more thing. Don’t forget the fire hydrants. Most municipalities want hydrants installed with frequency along a commercial area. The cost to put in these babies is pricey and you will pay the freight for them.

Does this land have all the utilities necessary for a green garden gates?

With one exception, the land is fully ready with the utilities. Fortunately, the nearby mega-church has brought most services to the area. Gas lines, underground power lines, and water lines were installed when the frontage road was built. In addition, a fiber optic transmission line was bundled with these services. We will incur the normal cost of piping the utilities once it reaches the property lines, which is normal. We will however, have to pay for the cost of installation of at least two fire hydrants for the land, with an estimated total expense of about 10,000.00.

What’s that fire truck doing in the azaleas?

As the planning for the building construction begins, all governmental agencies get involved. Sometimes there is a little sleeper restriction by the fire department about the land that could catch you flat footed and really pissed off.

The firemen get nervous about getting onto the property for an emergency. If the land is fenced with locked gates, they will most likely insist on a “Knox Box”, a steel lock box containing keys to the fence and business door locks. The fire department will only have the key to this Knox Box, enabling them to open the gate and doors rapidly. The cost for this box is about 300 bucks, a good investment to save breaking down doors and fence gates

That one is easy. This one can make you very angry.

Fire Departments want more than one way to get into the property to get to a fire or emergency. If your land is on a road that dead ends and the entrance to that road is blocked off for any reason, They may determine that they cannot get the water hoses and equipment to the site. They may require another access off a nearby road for an alternate pathway. It Sounds reasonable doesn’t it? Just put a locked gate on your fence line bordering that another road. But that is the easy part.

Then the fire department will probably have to drive from that emergency entrance into your property to the buildings. That means that FOREVER a pathway large enough for a fire truck will have to be clear and unobstructed AT ALL TIMES, leaving a big swath of land unusable for display and sales of garden store products. That is a lot of land that cannot be used for anything.

When choosing land for a garden store, look closely at roadways for emergency entrances. You may be buying land that can never be used.

Employee commuting

Rural businesses, far away from employee living areas can be difficult for everyone. The commute can be long and rural areas can have many obstructions such as railroad crossings and narrow crowded sometimes unimproved roads. The employee can come to work exasperated and tired of the commute and not in a positive frame of mind for customer service. Also, the services of day care and medical help are far from the location causing additional stress on the employee. The difficulty of the commute may mean the loss of excellent employees over a period of time. When considering land that requires a long commute, understand the sacrifice an employee must make to get to your workplace. Again, that cheap land may not be so cheap after all.

Will there be a difficult employee commute to this site?

The employee commute will be very easy and hassle free. Two major highways leading from the urban core are available from all directions. There are a number of medical and day care facilities near the land. The employees, like our customers, will have not obstructions to get to green garden gates

Taking possession of the land

The time between purchasing the land and taking possession of the land can become very important. Sometimes the owner wants or needs a period of months to vacate the property. There may be buildings and equipment on the site or destruction and removal needed of some facilities. If this lag time occurs during the prime building months of the spring and summer, the garden store business cannot be ready for the planting season. Also, getting possession of land in the dead of winter, with no possibility of construction, can cause a strain on cash flow to no advantage.

Can we take possession of the property at an optimal time for the business?

We have indicated that we would like possession of the property in the early fall of this year. That will give the seller four months lead time to vacate the premises, move all the farming equipment and needed structures, and re-fence his farming property. If we decide on the land, we will sign the contract immediately. Since there is an advantage to this lead time for both buyer and seller, our contract for payment will begin at the time of possession rather than at the time of signing of the contract.

#64 CHOOSING THE LAND * (revised 6/4) "the dirt and the dips"

Topography and soil


The topography and the condition of the dirt on the site can be extremely important in locating a new garden store.


The first and most important lesson:

NEVER DEVELOP A GARDEN STORE BUSINESS ON ANYTHNG BUT FLAT GROUND.

There are horror stories out there about owners who disregarded this advice. They are spending the rest of their days pushing and shoving carts up and down hills and blocking customers shopping wagons with little rocks so they don’t end up rolling all the way to the bottom. They are running back and forth up and down terraces to retrieve plants for the many customers who simply refuse to walk up even the slightest grade, no matter how easy you make it for them. The slight dips and rises in the land can get ignored so easily when choosing the property. It all seems so simple when you look over the land with that uneven topography; a cute little bridge, a pretty English cobblestone set of steps leading to the upper tier overlooking the whole outdoor nursery. Sounds so quaint doesn’t it? Well, it ain’t nothing but a huge headache. Not to mention the huge cost of leveling and filling the land when you find yourself in this fix. Mark my words; it will be a big mistake.

The condition of the soils can also give you trouble. Fortunately, there are real property laws in effect that forces the previous owners to disclose what has been on the property and what is or could be in the soils. Demand this disclosure. Examine carefully what could lay jut beneath the surface of the property. It is pretty hard to build and develop the land if there are 15 old junk Fords poking up in that pretty field. Although most garden stores will not be planting much if anything in the retail operations, chemical deposits of rancid gas left over from a chrome plating company could spell the end to those fresh geraniums that are sitting on your display bench, not to mention the child who starts to wheeze and cough. Make sure you don’t have trouble lurking just under that ground.

Another concern is the type of soils on the land. If the area has heavy clay soils that do not percolate properly, there may be substantial expense getting water away from the surface of the display areas of the garden store This will have to be done as customers will not walk around looking for plants in pools and puddles of water.

Are the topography and the condition of soils acceptable for a green garden gates facility?

The property, although generally flat, has a sight elevation in the topography near the back of the land. The area will have to be graded with special attention given to bringing that elevation down with the rest of the property. We project a moderate expense to get this accomplished.

The condition of the soils is generally excellent, with a sandy loam consistency that drains well with no runoff outside the boundaries of the land. Towards the rear of the property, there is a small portion with a heavy clay pocket on the surface. After the land is leveled and inspected it may be necessary to “tile” that problem area (placing perforated piping under the surface and directing the excess water away from that site)

The area has been a family farm for several generations. The historical farming chemical dump and equipment storage area from the farming operations is a great distance away from this portion of the land. There is no evidence in the signed disclosure document to indicate any degradation of the soil or objects under the soil.