After getting into landscaping by default, Tom Niermanâs business has blossomed into a successful company.
When Tom Nierman began work at a golf course in high school, he didnât anticipate it would set the seeds for his future career.
Jill and Tom NiermanâI never planned on opening my own landscaping business,â he says. âIt started as a fluke.â
His father told him he had to go to college. So, Nierman agreed to go and said he would one day be a superintendent managing a golf course.
He began taking classes at the community college and continued his studies at Southern Illinois University, where he received a degree in plant and soil science with an emphasis in turf grass management.
From the Ground Up
After college graduation, Nierman worked as assistant superintendent at a prestigious golf course, just as planned. But not long after, there was a âchange of the greensâ committeeâ for the golf course, and the new budget left Nierman without a job.
Yet, a friend/mentor assured him he had a future in landscaping. âHe said it was more stableâŚa big growth area,â Nierman says. âThat was about 25-plus years ago.â
âThere isnât a better feeling than when you get to a subdivision, start with one house and migrate through the neighborhood. It shows you are doing something right.â
Soon, Nierman began work for a large landscaper and moved between different operations as he worked his way up in management. But while working on a project in Chicagoâs affluent North Shore area, he wasnât seeing eye-to-eye on issues with the companyâs leadership, so he quit and bought a Chevy 1-ton dump truck on the way home.
âI came home and said to my wife, âGuess what? Weâre starting a business,ââ Nierman recalls. âI thought, âI can do this myself.ââ Thus, Nierman Landscape and Design (NLD) was born in Woodstock, Illinois.
Jill, Niermanâs wife, says she was âdumbfoundedâ when he showed up with the truck. âI thought, âHere we go. Weâre going to have to live on mac and cheese for a year.â But I knew he had the drive. Heâs stubborn â thatâs his personality.â
Jill, who was working as a teacher during the day, went to work for Tom in a makeshift garage office at night. âWe borrowed my sisterâs typewriter, and I eventually took a leave of absence from teaching to work full time with Tom,â she recalls.
âWe put flyers in peopleâs mailboxes, joined the local Chamber of Commerce and just tried to get our name out there.â
Today, Nierman has his own office and shop on five acres, a full staff and a fleet of equipment. He still has the trusty truck he used to start his business more than 20 years ago.
Why keep it? He says itâs a symbol of his success, which heâs achieved by working hard, treating customers and employees right, keeping his word and giving a quality product at a fair price. âOne of my mentors told me to always honor your word and do what you say,â Nierman says. âTreat others as you would want to be treated.â
The cut-drywall retaining wall ties the homeâs achitectural accents into the landscape.This simple advice is the foundation upon which NLD is built. Nierman says he wants customers to know they are important, and his company takes pride in its work. âOnce someone becomes a customer, we get to know the person,â Nierman says. âWe are adamant the customer is not just a number. Once you get a relationship going, trust is established.â
Building trust within his local community is also a priority for Nierman. His company sponsors or donates to several organizations. âFrom schools to little leagues to the Rotary Club, we sponsor just about every organization out there,â Nierman says. âI like this community a lot. Itâs home. Our kids went to school here. We like all the people here, so we want to give back.â
In 2010, Nierman received an award from the local chamber of commerce celebrating his many years of community service.
Autonomyâs Advantages
Through philanthropic endeavors, Nierman Landscape and Design not only shows it cares about the community but also uses it as a business-building tool. âIt works both ways,â he says. âWe get referrals from it, and we run our business on about 80 percent referral by word-of-mouth.
âThere isnât a better feeling than when you get to a subdivision, start with one house and migrate through the neighborhood. It shows you are doing something right.â
Niermanâs employee retention also shows his company is doing something right. Like the trusty Chevy truck, the company maintains loyal employees. One crew has had the same three crew members for 12 years. Nierman allows his crew foremen to recruit and hire his members.
âThey will be the ones managing them, and they know at the end of the day what the crew needs to produce,â Nierman says. âIf they donât produce the work, it falls back on the foreman.â
By allowing the foremen to choose who will work for them, it gives them a sense of ownership and helps them mold a team that works well together.
Jacob Trom, NLDâs CAD landscape designer, has been with the company since 2008, and describes it as âthe whole package.â Trom says not only are his fellow co-workers âgreat people with whom to work,â but he truly feels like part of a family at NLD. âI can sit here and start joking with Tom,â Trom says as he and Nierman playfully make jibes and shoot rubber bands at each other. âEveryone works hard, but we have fun doing it.â
Getting a serious look on his face, Trom then says, âI couldnât ask for a better boss or place to work. If something comes up with my kid, Tom is flexible about the family.â
Chris Crosen, construction supervisor/production manager, has worked for the company since the winter of 2000, and like Trom, he appreciates the the importance placed on the work-life balance.
âTom and Jill have always insisted if there is a school function or a doctorâs appointment that I be there for it,â Crosen says. âIt wasnât a question of if I could have the time off, but they told me, âGo take care of what you need to do with the family.ââ
Expanding Services
In the current poor economy, Nierman has become creative in expanding his business beyond traditional landscaping to include hardscaping and water feature installation, limited chemical applications, snow removal and even creating ice skating rinks.
With the purchase of a 20-foot pontoon boat and a mini hydraulic dredge, Nierman and a local contractor teamed up to add services to de-silt pond bottoms. âBetween us, we have most of the equipment. Itâs a learning curve, but I think itâs a promising market,â Nierman says.
However, Nierman isnât jumping into too many new forays. âIf we are going to do something, we are going to do it right,â he says. âIâve stayed out of irrigation because everyone does it. You need to be versed in it and do it well. There are too many guys who try too many things.â He doesnât want to be one of them.
Part of doing the job well is having equipment in good working order. The company has an equipment shop and two mechanics. Nierman emphasizes good equipment care because itâs a tool in getting a job done well.
âPreventive maintenance has paid off,â he says. âWe think long term and make sure we take care of the filters, grease and oil.
Niermanâs 20-year-old Chevy is proof of that. It started the business, and by taking care of it along with his customers and employees, it has kept NLD going strong and made the business a mainstay in his communityâs landscape.