Change is good. It’s a trite sentiment, but true nonetheless. The owners of both companies profiled in this issue made big changes in forming their businesses, and they never looked back.

Aside from basic business operations, running a small restaurant shares little in common with running a pipeline inspection, cleaning and rehabilitation company. But that’s exactly the change Jeff and Denice Healy made when they bought Great Lakes TV Seal in 1984. It was a steep learning curve, but Jeff Healy was a quick study and the equipment of the day wasn’t as complex to operate as it is today.

Perhaps the biggest contributor to the company’s growth was Healy’s risk-taking mentality — his willingness to invest in new, productivity-enhancing equipment that differentiated his company from competitors and helped technicians do more work in less time.

Today, the Healys’ sons, Brett and Greg Healy, own and operate Great Lakes TV Seal. The company has grown to 20 employees and serves all of Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It’s a far cry from running a small restaurant in tiny Barron, Wisconsin, and if Jeff and Denice Healy hadn’t been open to change, none of it would have happened.

I’ve made some significant changes over the course of my career, and I have a good sense of the positives that can come from it. I started out doing marketing work when I graduated from college. My desire to write pushed me into freelancing, and that led to a job as editor of a weekly newspaper. From there I made the unlikely jump to running a family business. I eventually got back into journalism as editor of a daily newspaper, then photographer, and eventually found my way here.

Every step taught me something new and set me up for the next step. It wasn’t always comfortable and there was no guarantee of success, but every change brought growth.

The owners of Clog Squad, the other company featured in this month’s issue, made some changes of their own to make the company what it is today. Mike Phillips was a plumbing contractor in Iraq and Ken Beyer was doing plumbing in new home construction. He eventually moved into service work, and from there went into business with Phillips, specializing in full-service plumbing, tackling projects other contractors didn’t want.

Eventually the company shifted into drain cleaning, a change that initially suited Phillips better than Beyer, who left to focus on developing an assisted hygiene product for the medical industry. Five years later, he came back full time and embraced drain cleaning. The business became more successful than it had been in its early plumbing days, and the move led to the duo’s development of their own line of drain cleaning equipment, also a success.

None of these successes would have come to be had Phillips and Beyer, or the Healys, not been willing to step out and makes some changes. I hope your business model is exceeding your expectations and all is good, but if it’s not, don’t be afraid to make some changes. It could make all the difference.

Enjoy this month’s issue.