When most business leaders think about growth, they imagine more clients, more crews, more equipment, etc.

But Chick-fil-A reminds us that if you want to get bigger, start by getting better.

I just read an article that in 2024, Chick-fil-A racked up an impressive 22 Billion in revenue with only 3,109 locations.

While Chick-fil-A has far fewer stores than McDonald’s (13k+) and Starbucks (17K), their average store revenue—7.5M per store—leaves their competitors in the dust!

The lesson?  You don’t need to be everywhere—you just need to execute exceptionally well where you are.

So what does it mean for you and your growth plans?

While it helps to have a unique niche, with unique marketing, not every landscape firm can can do that. But you can certainly implement the following strategies:

1. Focus on Operational Excellence

Chick-fil-A is obsessive about consistency, quality, and hospitality.

Instead of expanding at breakneck speed, they prioritize leadership training, systems, and the customer experience.

They don’t open a new store until the team, leadership, and logistics are rock solid. For any growing business, the takeaway is clear: don’t scale chaos.

Nail your service model and make excellence replicatable before you multiply locations or teams.

2. Select the Right Leaders

Chick-fil-A’s franchise selection process is famously rigorous.

Out of tens of thousands of applicants, only a few hundred are chosen annually. Why?  Because they’re not looking for landlords—they want mission-driven leaders.

These operators live the brand, serve their people, and build community loyalty.

If you want your business to scale successfully, don’t settle for warm bodies.

Reframe your mission as that of “leadership development”, not “landscape development”.

And then hire and train people who share your core values.

3. Build a Values-Driven Brand

Chick-fil-A’s loyal customer base isn’t just there for chicken. They return because of the brand’s values—service with kindness, consistency, and community involvement.

As your company grows, culture and values must scale along with it.

Create a brand that customers trust and employees are proud of. This is what builds the revenue per store that Chick-fil-A’s is famous for.

Your Challenge: Chase Internal Growth Before You Scale

In the words of Steve Pattie (the OG founder of the Pattie Group in Cleveland), “If you want more work, do better work.”

Fast growth can be exciting—but sustainable, profitable growth is smarter.

Chick-fil-A has the advantage of being a private company, they are not forced to make short term decisions, and it shows.

Take advantage of your situation – work strategically, pick your niche, develop your core values and culture, and put it all into action.

You can be both big AND profitable, by following Chick-fil-A’s motto of keeping it simple. Their menu is simple and consistent, which allows for operational excellence at scale.

Complexity kills margin.

Clarify your core offering. Simplify operations. Optimize a few things deeply rather than trying to be everything to everyone.

That’s the Chick-fil-A way. Make it your way too!

Regards, Jeffrey Scott

P.S. Schill Grounds Management has implemented these very strategies in their business, and it has helped them greatly.

Thursday is the final day for our Early Bird discount for our Summer Growth Summit, where you can a behind the scenes view into Schill.