Case Study

Mr. Stumpgrinder

Mr. Stumpgrinder, aka, Steve O’Dell, had been a pastor for 30+ years. He has always had an entrepreneurial bent having been involved with two church plants, once as a staff member and once as the lead pastor. Recently he had a vision for starting micro-churches or house churches, but he needed to find a way to support himself in the process.

Enter Mr. Stumpgrinder. A friend (who was also a former pastor) had built a successful business grinding stumps. He was willing to sell Steve a used stump grinder, train him, and let him use the name to grow his own business in a new area of the state.

The Problem

The original Mr. Stumpgrinder had never invested much in branding or advertising, but relied on word of mouth and leaving estimates at homes where he noticed stumps. Because he is a hard-working, friendly professional, his business grew well over time, and he enjoyed the benefits of a healthy brand, even without a professional logo or aggressive marketing strategy.

When Steve started, however, he didn’t have time to grow the business as a side gig. He needed a full schedule of paying customers right away so he could support his family and minister to people through the house churches without having to worry about raising support.

He knew he needed to convey professionalism at a glance in order to quickly build a reputation as the go-to service provider when you need to get rid of stumps.

He came to Maxim Design Group because we had helped him with design and marketing for his churches in the past… and as his sister, he knew how to get ahold of me!

How do you convey credibility to grow an organization from scratch quickly?

Start with a clear brand strategy that helps you communicate what you do and how you help people. Then create eye-catching visuals that help you grab attention and convey your trustworthiness until you’ve had a chance to build relationships and prove it.

The Solution

We developed a tough but approachable mascot logo using a beaver in a hard hat who says, “I eat ugly stumps for lunch!” Mascot logos work well because they are memorable and people instantly associate character traits that are traditionally tied to the animal with the business. In this case, the beaver mascot conveys that Mr. Stumpgrinder is hard working and gets the job done.

We developed a core message that focuses on the results people are looking for when they take down a tree: “We help you clear the way for a gorgeous lawn.” This core message finds its way into all the marketing efforts. We have helped him focus on facebook to zero in on his audience and get the word out about his services.

Scope of Work

Brand Strategy, Survey
Logo & Visual Identity System
Key Messages, brand maxim
Brand Guidelines
Social Media Page Theming
Production Management
Marketing & Communication Design
Website design

One of the pain points people have when dealing with a service company is the hassle of scheduling an estimate and then the work. Steve works hard to respond quickly to estimate requests and often has his stump grinder with him so he can take care of smaller jobs on the spot.

One of the first things we did was help Steve create a “mobile billboard” by wrapping his truck with eye-catching graphics.

Conveying Trust

Listen to Steve share a story about when it hit home to him the important role visuals play in conveying credibility for his new business.