What would you do if you were six months from celebrating your 60th birthday and your boss walked into your office and said, “The company has been sold and you are not part of the sale”?
For Harry Stokes, owner of Yard Perfect Lawn Care and Landscaping, LLC in Hampton Coves, Alabama, the choice came down to pursuing one of his two favorite hobbies: finish carpentry or yard work. The latter won out because, in Stokes’ words, “I’ve been a salesman my entire life, and I didn’t want to complete one carpentry project only to try to sell another.”
Stokes, a former vice president of operations for an electronic component manufacturers’ rep firm, remembers the day of his early retirement all too well. “My boss for 15 years and friend for 30 just walked into my office and said I was done; no vacation pay, no severance pay. I had a mortgage and other financial obligations, but didn’t want to jump through all the ‘Mickey Mouse’ hoops recruiters make you jump through today. When asked what my long-range plans were at an interview, I would have been tempted to say, ‘To still be living in 10 years!’ So I decided to become an independent contractor and take care of my neighbors’ yards with the same dedication and attention I give my own.”
For the past six years, that’s exactly what Stokes has been doing. It wasn’t easy going, though. Having been laidoff right after the first of the year, it was not the best time for him to start a lawn mowing business. Initially, Stokes pressure-washed homes, decks and drives—all the time promoting his new lawn care business on the side of his truck. He was also scrambling to equip his new business, purchasing a trailer, Toro zero-turn mower and Stihl handheld equipment to complement a used Dodge 1500 pickup.
“I later purchased a Toro midsize walk-behind mower with Jungle Wheels (Jungle Jim’s brand sulky) from my dealer, Hill’s Outdoor Power in nearby Huntsville,” Stokes recalls. “A few of my properties had small gates that I couldn’t negotiate with the rider.”
As for starting out with a Walker, which Hill’s also sells, Stokes says it was just too expensive for his startup operation. “I couldn’t see spending that much money for a machine that I couldn’t drive to Atlanta,” he quips with a grin.
By the end of the first mowing season, Stokes realized that Atlanta wasn’t that far away. Mulching the Bermuda/Fescue yards wasn’t cutting it, because the results didn’t line up with his company mission statement: “We treat your yard as if it were our own.”
“During the summer months, you can almost hear the grass grow in north Alabama,” Stokes relates. “In fact, on some properties, I would have to double or even triple-cut the grass. I needed a mower that would collect the clippings, be maneuverable, and leave the manicured look my customers wanted, all with one pass. Since my dealer sold Walker, and nearly every reputable mowing company seemingly had a Walker on its trailer, the decision was an easy one.”
Willing Customers
This affable southerner is testimony that it’s never too late to follow a dream. Neighbors quickly flocked to Stokes’ new vocation because they realized he was true to his word—that he would make their lawns perfect—and the word spread. “One day I noticed that a lady in a Mercedes was following me to my next job,” says Stokes. “When I stopped to unload my trailer, she pulled up and asked if I could make her yard look perfect. I told her I could certainly try, and she’s still a customer to this day.”
Getting and satisfying customers were not the biggest challenges for Stokes. No, he had to find a place to store and maintain his equipment, which he found at a nearby RV storage facility. He leases two bays and a couple of outside parking spaces, which is enough room to accommodate his growing equipment lineup that now includes two Walker Mowers. His first purchase was a 42-inch GHS model with hydraulic dump. The second one was a 48-inch deck powered by a 24-hp Kubota diesel. “I like the power and the mower’s ability to handle the heavy, wet grass,” Stokes explains.
Among other initial challenges, Stokes lists three that quickly come to mind: finding and keeping employees, equipment maintenance and paperwork. He solved the first one with loyal employee Matt Lichtner, who has been working with him for five years. Hill’s Outdoor Power, who Stokes says does a “bang up” job, takes care of his maintenance needs (except for blade sharpening and preventive care). For the third one, he’s on his own.
Wife Barbara is a first-grade school teacher and doesn’t have time to help with paperwork. “It’s the life of an owner/operator,” says Stokes. “This is not easy. You work all day in the field and then spend hours at night wrestling with paperwork, getting invoices out, and so forth. I’m blessed, though—and I’m thankful for the opportunity to do this kind of work, even though it’s not for the faint of heart.”
Tricks of the Trade
Looking back over his first six years in business, Stokes has a few thoughts about what he would have done differently, and what his advice would be to young start-up entrepreneurs.
“First, work out a business plan,” Stokes says. “I didn’t have one, so I struggled with cost issues and knowing how much to charge my customers. In fact, I’m still not totally comfortable with the business side of operating a small company.” Although he’s a graduate of the University of Alabama with a bachelor of science degree in business, Stokes says he had just been out of school too long to even remember some of those skills.
“Before buying mowing equipment and trailers, figure out what you want to do,” Stokes goes on to say. “Having the right equipment for the application is critical. Also, buy quality equipment and quickly establish a relationship with people who can help you.” Here again, Stokes refers to his dealer as a true business partner, along with his banker, Scott Seeley, president of Bryant Bank. “You need help with equipment and help buying it,” Stokes relates. “The two go hand-in-hand.”
“Investigate state and local requirements for starting a business,” Stokes adds. “Be legal. I have obtained all the necessary licenses to run my operation, except one. I can’t seem to pass the test needed to get my chemical applicator’s license. Until I do, I can’t even spot spray to kill a few weeds.”
“You need to continually look for efficiencies,” Stokes concludes. One of the challenges Stokes overcame after purchasing his first Walker Mower was how to handle all the grass clippings. He has since devised a simple solution. Stokes slips a garbage bag over the outside of a 30-gallon plastic garbage container (the bottom of which has been cut out). He fills the container and just lifts it out of the bag.
“It’s pretty slick,” says Stokes, “but it can still be a lot of work. On one property last year, we collected 62 bags of clippings using this method.” Prior to this, he would use a tarp to dump the clippings into his dump trailer and take it to the city landfill. One year Stokes took over 200,000 pounds, with 1,400 pounds coming out of one yard.
No wonder Stokes is caught eyeing that Walker Mower in Hill’s showroom, the one with the Hi-Dump option. “This could be just the ticket for handling clippings,” he exclaims. “It should nicely complement my hydraulic-dump trailer. Hmm, I better get my trailer over here and give it a try.”
In the meantime, it’s business as usual. Stokes jumps in his pickup and heads to another property, but not before adding a few more words of wisdom. “You know, I feel great. I enjoy what I’m doing and I’m having fun. There are worse ways to spend an early retirement.”
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