Ep096: Learning from Mistakes with Gregg Thompson

Building successful businesses often requires embracing opportunities that find you rather than forcing predetermined plans.In this episode of Building Texas Business, I sit down with Gregg Thompson, who runs multiple ventures with his brothers including landscape operations, nurseries, and the beloved Tiny Boxwoods and Milk & Cookies restaurants. We talk about how their family business evolved from a high school lawn mowing operation into a diversified enterprise spanning Houston and Austin.Gregg shares how their restaurant concept emerged accidentally when customers kept lingering at their West Alabama nursery, leading to an "accidental" expansion into hospitality. He explains their approach to hiring entrepreneurial people and giving them autonomy, plus how they've built robust back-office systems that support everything from landscape project management to baking croissants. The conversation reveals how measuring margins and sharing financial data across divisions creates a culture where creative people start thinking about gross margins.His philosophy centers on being in the "yes business" rather than automatically rejecting new ideas, combined with the belief that there's no limit to what you can accomplish when you don't know what you're doing. This mindset helped them navigate from municipal bonds to nurseries to restaurants without getting paralyzed by industry expertise they didn't possess.SHOW HIGHLIGHTSSometimes the best business opportunities come from customers eating sandwiches in your nursery at lunchtime, leading to "accidental" restaurant concepts that nobody planned.Giving employees autonomy to try new things without permission first creates innovation - even when it occasionally surprises leadership with what they're attempting.The difference between a good business and a bad business is the back office - if you can't measure it, you can't fix it.Being in the "yes business" means not automatically saying no to employee ideas, since people bringing suggestions are stepping outside their comfort zones.There's no limit to what you can do when you don't know what you're doing, because you don't see the barriers that "experts" assume exist.Family businesses work when siblings have completely different skill sets that complement rather than compete - finance, construction, and wholesale trading each requiring distinct talents.LINKSShow NotesPrevious EpisodesAbout BoyarMillerAbout Thompson+HansonGUESTS | Gregg ThompsonAbout Gregg