Your small business may not be run by your family, but you can still learn many good lessons from a business that is. Hillenmeyer Landscaping has been around for over 160 years and survived the Great Depression as well as several natural disasters and family disputes. That’s almost six generations of successful Hillenmeyer family members running the business.

So what can you learn from the Hillenmeyers? What makes them so successful that they continue to persist through the ages?

Constant Expansion and Adaptation

When times got tough, instead of backing down, the Hillenmeyer family upped the ante. They would find out what was working for other people and use that new idea with a twist, like offering a free service or customer testimonials to support their claim of excellent customer service. Recently, the current president at Hillenmeyer Landscaping decided it was time to expand and bought a Weed Man franchise. Since the family has extensive knowledge of lawn care, they were able to profit off of the franchise in less than a year.

Pay Your Employees Fairly

Even though everyone that works at Hillenmeyer is a family member, everyone gets paid fairly. Employees that do more work or have been around longer get paid more than the employees who slack off or just started last week. Along the same line of reasoning, your company needs to pay its employees fairly. Without fair payment, employees can become bitter, resulting in poor work and an unhappy work environment. Since your employees are the backbone of your company, it’s important to make them happy in any way possible.

Prepare for Hotheaded Employees

Not every employee is going to be quiet when they feel something was done unjustly. Instead of handling these cases by ear, make sure you’ve prepared your neutral scripts and attitude when an employee complains. The Hillenmeyer family has often had family issues among the years, but they always handle them in the same way to guarantee satisfactory solutions on all ends. The SBA suggests a “no-play” attitude – sides should never be taken in a dispute so that all feel like they are being heard.