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DI V ER S I F I CAT ION Harriett's recently changed its logo to reflect its energy diversification fair-haired stepchild, but it's always been a complementary product line and it's definitely been a cross- selling opportunity." NEXT ROUNDS OF DIVERSIFICATION The acquisition in 2006 consumed considerable time and effort and then came the run up in oil prices fol- lowed by the impact of the recession. With flashbacks to the turmoil of the 1970s, Harriet went looking for advice, options and opportunities. "I went to a Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey strategic planning conference approximately 4 years ago that focused on diversification," said Harriett. "The concept was that you have these cus- tomers that trust you and you really need to do more services for them that they need and that they can't do themselves. It can be anything. What I took out of that is that we wanted to strengthen what we were already doing in areas other than direct oil. I can't say that we embarked on anything immediately follow- ing that, but it did give us the direction for the future." In the 2009-2010 timeframe, the company became involved in four new services: biofuels, geothermal, plumbing and BPI energy audits. Adding biofuels has primarily supported brand enhancement. "People want to be green if it doesn't cost them any more—it's funny how that goes," Harriett said. "I can't tell you we've gotten a lot of business out of it, but it has certainly helped and we rebranded around that decision." While still having a similar logo, the name was changed from Harriett's Oil Service to Harriett's Energy Solutions to reflect both the biofuels and natural gas service. The company has not become involved with propane yet, but it is under consideration. Harriett noted that while it is more capital intensive, the margins are good right now. The company currently partners with another company to fill out that area. The geothermal service was a natural extension of the compa- ny's HVAC service and a tie-in to the energy audits. The move to plumbing services offered similar opportunities. "The plumbing has been a very nice integration for us although we started it at a difficult time," said Harriett. "It's taken a while to get going, but it is a natural addition particularly with the water con- ditioning. So we're definitely getting some synergies there. If people need one, then they often need the other; so it's worked out well." The most challenging has been the Building Performance Institute, Inc. certified energy audits. "The audits have worked out really well, but the frustrating thing has been the funding," said Harriett. "And it has been inconsistent as well with the program changes and the various requirements. Honestly, the paperwork side of thing can be very onerous. You can't be half in this program half-way because it's unforgiving. So a lot of contractors that started into this never stayed with it. I'm happy to say we have three people certified—a technician and two sales- people—and we have really tried to dedicate ourselves to the BPI credo of looking at the whole house and not just the heater." 20 MAY 2012 | FUEL OIL NEWS | www.fueloilnews.com