Bill Harlow and John Harlow Jr. recall as kids, selling roses from the back of their dad’s truck in Bisbee, selling Christmas wreaths door-to-door from a little red wagon and watering lawns for customers.
“It wasn’t unusual for Mom to get a call from Dad at 1 p.m. asking her to send the boys down to do some watering,” Bill Harlow recalls.
  
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Eight years later, John Harlow was running a retail nursery, a landscaping business and florist shop when brother Bill joined the business. Bill Harlow had earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees, served in the Army, and was working in Phoenix in parks and recreation.
The way John Harlow figured it, in parks and recreation “there were many people at the bottom but few making it to the top. The family business would provide a much quicker path to the top.” He says he told Bill, “Either you come help me or I’m going to go crazy.”
Now, John Harlow manages the landscaping business and Bill Harlow manages the retail and the business end of things. At first they agreed that for two years Bill would “stay in the closet,” getting the business under control.
“Before that,” John Harlow says, “we were reacting to customers and nobody was watching the business. Bill helped us see what had to be done to make Harlow Gardens a flourishing business.”
John Harlow adds, though, “that for those two years Bill didn’t let anyone buy anything.”
Looking back, Bill Harlow concedes “Cash was critical and we probably ran way too tight, but it was a tough time.”
They still see Harlow Gardens as “a work in progress.
“We’ve invested to stay ahead of our competitors,” Bill Harlow says, referring to it as “stirring the sugar.”
“Today all plants are above ground,” he says. “We pioneered concrete sidewalks so customers don’t have to walk through the mud.”
The brothers agree; “Everything you see here makes us unique, and you don’t know it until you visit our competitors. It’s our ability to create an exceptional shopping experience within a nursery and landscape business.”
People provide their greatest fulfillment.
“We take care of them in special ways, including a company loan fund,” Bill Harlow said, his eyes confirming how much this mattered. “People have been able to buy and do things they would otherwise not have been able to do. We’ve helped people go on honeymoons, buy vehicles and walked some through the process of first time home buying.”
The Harlows’ are repaid with loyalty.
They see people as self-motivated and their jobs as simply working to remove obstacles to success.
“One of my primary responsibilities,” says Bill Harlow, “is to figure out how I can help employees do a better job. We encourage people to work to their highest potential. It’s unusual but one of our practices is to hire people, uncover their talents and arrange work to fit their talents. We hire good people and work to develop the right job around them.”
Bill Harlow values patience above all.
“People make mistakes. I can be impatient and fire them, or be patient and help them learn their job,” he said.
Harlow Gardens has routinely kept employees others might have fired and invariably it has worked out.
John Harlow’s biggest challenge is staffing. For Bill Harlow “cash flow is king.” Next to “stirring the sugar,” he says “paying attention to cash has always spurred me to be conscious of how we do business.”
Regarding the current economy John Harlow says, “In this market we are better positioned than our competitors. We have a name that is locally known, which gets us extra jobs to carry us over the valleys.”
Focusing on the homeowner means Harlow Gardens hasn’t suffered as much from the homebuilding industry’s slump.
For someone thinking of going into business Bill Harlow predictably advises, “Cash is more important than profit; you can’t run a business unless you have cash.” John Harlow adds, “If you’re going into business you need someone coaching you on the business end of things. Not everyone has the advantage of going into business with their brother.”
As Tucson has changed Harlow Gardens has evolved.
“We are much more than plants (although no one should miss a stroll through the beautiful selection). The majority of our sales is now in other products. We are also a gift shop selling pottery, statuary, outdoor living accessories and featuring outdoor artwork of 15 local artists that is truly unique. In fact, we were selected by interior designers as a ‘best place to buy outdoor art’,” John Harlow says.
In a few years, the “big spoon” will be turned over to Bill Harlow’s son John, who will have to learn to “stir the sugar.”
Contact Gary Hirsch at gary.hirsch@vistage.com or (520) 225-0373 to suggest a CEO or business owner for a future “Inner-view.” Hirsch is a group chair and executive coach with Vistage International - www.vistage.com - and leads a group of CEOs, company presidents and business owners who meet monthly. Inner-view appears the second and fourth week of each month in Inside Tucson Business.
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