Backyard Eats
Mike Bennett discovered the benefits of backyard growing organically. While touring with his band, Apple Juice Jones, Bennett dined on homegrown vegetables cultivated on a California family’s farm.
Upon returning to his Chestnut Hill abode, Bennett, of Ambler, began working for Chris Mattingly of Backyard Eats, a Flourtown-based edible garden designer and builder, whose “foodscaping” staff creates and maintains backyard habitats throughout the greater Philadelphia area.
“Right when COVID started I was looking to start my business doing something like this and found (Mattingly) and decided to take a job with him and keep the momentum,” Bennett said. “There’s a network of people who do this throughout the country and in the world.”
For now, Backyard Eats is cornering the market of this “emerging industry” in Montgomery County and beyond.
Since joining the company about five years ago, Bennett, who was employee No. 3, is now co-owner with Mattingly. Backyard Eats now employs a staff of 10.
Bennett pulls from his finance background, as well as his more recent construction and customer service experience gained from working in the home foundation and drainage industry.
“I don’t think anything can prepare you for actually running a small business, but my previous experience made me familiar with the sales process and how customers interact with the business,” he said.
About a year ago, he began meeting with SCORE Bucks County mentor Willard Moran, who helped streamline the company’s financials, secure financing and refine Backyards Eats’ pricing strategy, which ultimately led to an improved cash flow.
“With SCORE’s support, Backyard Eats increased revenue, improved employee and customer experiences, and laid a foundation for long-term success,” Moran said.
Bennett credits Moran with helping to restructure team roles, simplify employee onboarding and lend his expertise as a sounding board for the business.
“I just don’t think people - significant others and peers - if they don’t run a business, It’s very hard to understand what keeps you up at night,” said Bennett, who before beginning SCORE’s no-cost mentoring, had paid for “expensive” business coaching. “I’m getting a high-level professional support that could literally cost tens of thousands of dollars … I’m hugely impressed with the whole SCORE organization.”
SCORE has helped the company establish systems that could make scaling feasible. For now, Backyard Eats is focused on staying true to its local roots in scaling the company’s mission of sharing the “transformative” experience of growing one’s food.
“There’s a ton of people still in the Philadelphia area who don’t know who we are and that this exists,” he said. “We want to share the magic of homegrown food.”
Backyard Eats staff typically work in customers’ gardens from March through December, doing as much or as little as the client prefers to build, grow and maintain a backyard garden. Surprisingly, not much space is needed. The average garden footprint occupies an area less than 150 square feet. Tomatoes are the most popular, along with peppers, cucumbers, eggplant and string beans. In all, the company works with 75 different crop varieties.
"We have built systems of vegetable gardening that translate to consistent success for our customers."
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