2016 Dynamic Dozen No. 9: Pinnacle Sign Group Inc.

SBJ: What has been key to your recent growth?
Darren Pearce: We bought Pinnacle in January 2008, and the business was in distress. In my previous roles, I purchased lots of signs and almost all companies were difficult to deal with. They just didn’t have a service mindset in communication. We hit the ground running based on a service business model, yet we’re a full manufacturer. We started a culture of communication. One job led to another job and pretty soon, we developed a reputation as a company that really cares, and we’re going to do what we say we’re going to do. Today, we’re seven times larger than we were in 2008. It wasn’t through big, strategic goals. It was about doing a good job.

SBJ: What has the company’s growth enabled you to do?
Pearce: We’ve been able to grow outside of our market with our customers. We created a very nimble company to do that. With our customers that have been successful in this market, for rebranding or a new store, we go with them in those markets to get those stores open.

Running under a service business model, we looked at all the aspects of a job under our umbrella. Signs are in the top two needs for a business. It’s a big deal. We deal with the business owners and top executives. They don’t need to call different subcontractors. Instead of just producing signs, we do everything start to finish: from surveying the property to engineering to city permitting. By putting that under our umbrella, it increased our revenue potential. Instead of a $5,000 sign, it might be $20,000, for example.

SBJ: What are your top issues when it comes to managing growth?
Pearce: Getting people up to speed in our industry takes about a year. It’s a challenge when you’re growing fast and you need people. We’re hiring right now. That takes up a lot of interview and meeting time. We have really gone to a behavioral type focus on employee recruitment. We identified the three main business traits we want everybody in our company to have: customer focused, building trust and engagement readiness.

SBJ: Have your goals changed as business has taken off?
Pearce: Our goals haven’t changed, except physically. We own our property, and we just purchased an adjacent property that solidifies our campus. We’re looking at physically expanding in a way that will not increase our overhead.

SBJ: What is the worst business advice you’ve received?
Pearce: That you’re growing too fast. I disagree with that. It’s how you handle your growth. As soon as you say no, you may be a doomed company. You have to figure out ways to say yes and figure out ways for your customer to say yes.

SBJ: Where do you see the company headed in the next five years?
Pearce: We will continue to provide for our families the next five years and invest back in our company. At the rate we’re going, we will likely see between 20-40 percent growth.