Jeff Grantham, CGR, CAPS, GMB, CGP

Owner, Grantham Building and Remodeling
Petoskey, Mich.

Jeff Grantham’s story of how he entered the building and remodeling business is somewhat unusual. “When I was in college,” he recalls, “my management class counseled a local contractor. He was diversified and although his business volume was excellent, he couldn’t understand why he wasn’t making much profit. We reviewed his business and recommended that he specialize in roofing and establish a market niche.”

That contractor chose to not take the advice and ended up closing his business. Later, Grantham bumped into a man who had bought the former contractor’s roofing equipment at an auction. After a long conversation, Grantham, who was just getting out of college, suggested that the two of them go into business together. “Following our class’s recommendation, we started out doing roofing only,” he recounts, “which was also my new partner’s specialty.” Their target market was roofing for new, custom-built upscale homes and they eventually developed a customer base of about 10 builders in the Kalamazoo market. It was during that phase of his career that Grantham started building a network of trusted professionals in the various sub-trades.

In 1993, Grantham explains, he got his own builder’s license. A few years later, he started Grantham Building and Design and built his first house on spec, using those tradesmen he met during his years as a roofing subcontractor. “That’s when I really got the building bug,” he recalls. Shortly afterward, he decided to move upstate to the town of Petoskey on Lake Michigan. “Petoskey offered a little more of an exclusive market of vacation and second homes, besides being a beautiful area and a great place to live.”

Moving North

After he relocated, Grantham joined his local remodelers council with Little Traverse Association of Home Builders  where, until the last few years, his involvement was primarily attending events. “Originally, I joined the association simply to be part of a group,” he says. “The longer I’ve been in it, however, the more professional I’ve become about my membership.” Grantham is currently secretary of the group’s board of directors, has chaired several committees and task forces at the local and state levels, and for the last two years has been a national director. “By getting involved, you get the chance to learn best practices from men and women who are achievers in the industry. It’s been incredibly helpful to my professional development. I look forward to IBS and state functions to keep in touch with friends I’ve made along the way.”

Grantham is philosophical about his role in the HBA, and the need to plan ahead as an organization. “I think that we need to start doing things to attract and retain builders in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40's who are going to be the next generation of leaders, and help them remain proficient. Previously, builders came up through generational companies where they learned from their elders, but now we don’t see that as much any more. Many guys coming into the trades simply don’t have the experience, and often don’t have the same kind of work ethic either. The association leadership needs to be aware of this and offer help in a variety of ways. NAHB University of Housing is a start, but mentorship and business management counseling are two examples of seriously undeveloped programs.”

Grantham has become a big proponent of hiring only HBA members as subcontractors. In his current project, for example, a 14,000-square-foot home, that policy has already helped him attract nearly a dozen new members to his HBA. What’s more, he adds, as members they subscribe to a code of ethics, which gives them an advantage over their competition.

Keys to Success

When he started working on his first home, Grantham was a hands-on builder, doing much of the work himself with the exception of trades that required their own permitting. Today, Grantham and his wife, Sandy, run their design/build business, using their select group of trade partners. As projects and their scope have increased, Grantham realized that one of the keys to success was building a trusted team of subcontractors who could handle all the various trades with a level of quality and attention to detail that matched his own.

Geography also plays a role in their business plan. “Northern Michigan,” he notes, “has a lot of lakes and waterfront homes with discriminating owners.” Another key was establishing a niche market. To that end, Grantham recalls, “A few years ago, we began to concentrate on extreme makeovers, which tend to come with higher margins.” In 2004, Grantham changed his business name to reflect a focus on remodeling.

Grantham has continued to differentiate himself by developing his certifications and knowledge of the industry. “Currently, I’m the only Graduate Master Builder in my market, and for a while I was the only one with a CAPS designation,” he observes. “Now there are more builders who have earned that designation, and I’m trying to stay ahead of the pack by capitalizing on my newest designation, CGP.”