Ryan Janecek, Matt Retzer and Jay Beckman founded Northern Ground, based in Milwaukee, in 2012. They offer strategy, design and code for mid to large clients globally. Northern Ground is centered around building custom digital platforms and products for clients that need them to perform at a high level.
With the need to expand their facility to meet the demand of their customers, Northern Ground utilized a SBA 504 loan to purchase a building to call their very own. Owner and partner of Northern Ground, Ryan Janecek, recently offered to provide some background of his business, their expansion plans, industry trends and experience working with WBD. Great stuff, thanks Ryan!
WBD: What products or services does your business offer?
"As mentioned above, we build custom digital platforms and products. From software development for advanced healthcare companies to interactive retail experiences for automotive OEMs, we’re often asked to take on tricky work. Experience design and complex code leads our practice."
WBD: What were/are your business growth/expansion goals?
"When we began, we planned to just be a 3-4 person shop staying very close to the work. Some agencies want to be big, we just wanted to get really good. After leasing space for the first seven years and slowly (reluctantly?) adding staff to support an increasing workload, we needed a new environment that worked harder. We’re still small and agile but with ~15 of us, larger space with dedicated work zones were things on our shopping list. Pre-COVID we stumbled across a church built in 1882 in the heart of Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood. We had a pending offer when the pandemic hit and we made the call to keep going forward and take the risk. A full renovation later and with the pandemic subsiding (fingers crossed!) we’re thrilled to have our team back together in our new home."
WBD: What did you find challenging or difficult about figuring out how to finance your expansion/purchase?
"Our entire deal came down to the push and pull that occurred between the sale price, build-out and appraisal. Those three pieces, plus the fact that our building is a historic property, along with construction starting at the beginning of a global pandemic made for lots of negotiation, and new gray hair! But, like most small business owners, we’re not risk averse. It was the right decision and years later it’s played out to our advantage."
WBD: What is unique about your business and what makes you different than your competitors?
"Leanness + balance + experience. The three founders of Northern Ground have discrete backgrounds that offer our clients balance and experience. Ryan Janecek runs Strategy and has a business development orientation. Matt Retzer runs our code development team and has been a programmer for 30+ years. Jay Beckman leads our design practice and is an artist, illustrator and animator. We then wrap an evenly distributed team around the three of us, offering direct work from the owners of Northern Ground plus the support of an experienced staff that all pulls in the same direction. Being lean and balanced with a broad base of experience offers our advanced clients direct value."
WBD: What are the trends and changes that affect your industry and how have you adjusted to them?
"Internally, we’re enjoying two interrelated trends in a post-COVID era; extreme flexibility in how and where our staff works, and more prioritization of a healthy work/life balance. From a client perspective, we’re building tools for them to communicate, collaborate and onboard new remote staff in smarter ways. We’re also working on touchless retail experiences so as consumers head back to stores, they can have safe yet immersive interactions with brands at point of sale."
WBD: Did WBD and our banking partner make the process easy to understand?
"WBD and our bank were both open and honest. The process is lengthy and intensive in terms of paperwork and lead time. COVID increased the burden but understanding that up front helped us prep both internally and with our seller. The outcome was more than worth it. WBD remained communicative throughout the various stages so we always knew where we were."
WBD: From the time you started the process until your loan was funded, were you confident that WBD was taking care of you so you could focus more on your business than financing details?
"Prepare for some disruption but it’s manageable. These transactions are large and complex, so it’s somewhat expected. But we have an advantage - Jenni Madson, Partner, runs Operations and did the heavy lifting. She finds plowing through paperwork and checklists to be oddly satisfying! Plan for it, give yourself lead time, and the pieces will fall into place. And, have a Jenni."
WBD: Did WBD help to solve your financial challenges for you to reach your business growth objectives?
"Without WBD our building purchase and expansion would not have been possible. Period. Based on the service, communication and results from WBD we have and will continue to recommend them to others looking for financing options. Thank you to everyone at WBD!
WBD: Now that you are through the expansion/purchase process, what will be the benefits to your company/employees?
"We had three primary goals when purchasing our building and all were achieved. 1) Add stability and long-term investment value to the business instead of enriching landlords that didn’t have our best interest in mind. 2) To build a compelling space that simultaneously fosters deep independent work and group collaboration for our teams to produce the best possible product. 3) To design a creative environment that invites our customers in, allowing us to co-create with them in meaningful ways, while standing out in the market and creating a competitive advantage."
WBD: You've shared so much here, thank you! Anything else you'd like to pass along to our readers?
"There is a reason you don’t see many small businesses stick their necks out and make large investments like this. Navigating complex financial products is intimidating so it’s important to build a smart team. Our banking partner and WBD truly helped us realize a vision that we thought was out of reach, and we’ve never looked back."
Congratulations and thank you to Ryan Janecek, Matt Retzer and Jay Beckman for their partnership in working with WBD and Old National Bank. We wish you the best of luck and thank you for sharing your experience with us. For our readers, please visit Northern Ground for more information. And remember to support your local small businesses.
