If you live in Auburn, AL, you know football and you know how important game day is. If you spend much time outdoors there, you’re also likely familiar with Cutting Edge Lawn Service, since its box trucks can be seen daily on their way to and from properties.
Owner Jamie Brady and his company are well-known throughout the city and in nearby Opelika for providing high-quality landscape maintenance and installation services. Since launching his company 14 years ago while a student at Auburn University, Brady has seen his company blossom from a startup mow-and-blow operation into a full-service landscape management company. His extensive client list includes high-end commercial and residential properties. The company also maintains 11 schools and does work for the City of Auburn.
“Growth can be tricky,” notes Brady. “You don’t want to overextend yourself financially, and labor is always a challenge, especially down here where hot, humid days can be brutal.” The owner has attempted to bridle growth for the last two years, but still admits it’s hard to turn down new work. Even while trying to hold steady, sales volume has grown 22 percent last year and is on track to grow nearly the same amount this year. He just added his fourth maintenance crew.
Double Time
Running a company and pursuing a degree in landscape design and horticulture is demanding, and there’s always the temptation to forgo the degree and grow the business. “I stayed in school for three reasons,” Brady explains. “I wanted to finish what I started. A college degree would give me a backup plan if my company failed, and I would leave knowing that much more about plants and landscape design.”
Being able to do both at the same time, however, would have been nearly impossible without some help, and it arrived in the form of Philippe Scheys, another Auburn University student. Brady’s first employee is now the company’s operations manager.
Brady recalls the days when he and Scheys essentially tag-teamed accounts while at school. “We tried to schedule our classes at different times of the day so one of us could be in the field working. Depending on the day, I might drop Phil (Scheys) off and then mow a yard or two and vice versa. We worked like that throughout school. By the time we were seniors, we had multiple crews and were maintaining close to 100 residential accounts. No, it wasn’t the traditional learning experience, texting crew leaders in class and sometimes messing up the halls with muddy shoes. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Neither would Scheys, who graduated with a degree in marketing. “At one time, I thought a degree in horticulture would be beneficial. But as it turns out, a marketing background can be useful as well. I talk to customers every day and try to help them. We’re always looking for ways to grow and develop our business. I believe the two degrees complement one another.”
Snowball Effect
In addition to four maintenance crews, Cutting Edge Lawn Service fields two installation crews, along with a spray technician. Mowing and other maintenance services account for approximately 50 percent of the company’s revenue. Installing new landscapes accounts for the other half. Crews operate out of a 3.5- acre headquarters facility. The company recently purchased what has become the 17th Walker Mower it has owned.
“The business snowballed pretty quickly after purchasing my first Walker Mower,” Brady says while reflecting back on the early days. “Before going to Auburn, I attended a junior college and worked part-time for another landscaping company. That job didn’t work out, but my parents loaned me the money to help set me up in business, including the purchase of the Walker Mower.
“I was familiar with the mower’s cut and knew it was for me. About that same time, I decided to change my focus from business to horticulture and transferred to Auburn where I met Philippe.”
After graduation, the business continued to grow and evolve. “It’s all about delivering top service to our customers,” Scheys emphasizes. “We’re not only very detail-oriented, but will also do virtually anything a customer asks. If we can’t do it in house, we will point them in the right direction.”
High-end homeowners are typical customers for both the company’s maintenance and installation divisions. The 11 schools it maintains in the city are also a nice fit, says Scheys, noting that the properties keep one crew busy full time. Less typical are so-called “game day” customers who return to Auburn to attend football games. The company maintains a dozen or so of these properties year-round even though the owners only show up on game day weekends and maybe a few other times throughout the year.
Helping Hand
Brady emphasizes how important having a good team is to sustain growth. “Philippe has been with me from the beginning and knows as much about running the company as I do. His handling of the maintenance operation allows me to focus on designing and installing landscapes.
“I don’t worry about my crews either. Our employees are hardworking and well-trained to do the job the way Philippe and I want it done. Maintenance crews work Monday through Thursday with Friday built in as a rain day. Our two installation crews work a normal five-day week.”
Two other very important partners include his wife, Calley, and the Walker Mower dealer in nearby Opelika. Calley is the company office manager. She worked full-time until the birth of the couple’s daughter, Lily, a little over a year ago.
Over the years, the company purchased 16 of its 17 Walker Mowers from Price Small Engines and owner Steve Price. “It would have been 17,” adds Scheys, “except Steve didn’t own the company when Jamie purchased his first mower; instead, he worked there as a technician.
“Not to say we still wouldn’t be Walker Mower users if Steve weren’t in business. But it sure helps to have a great dealer nearby, for the routine repairs and the unusual.”
The unusual occurred a few years ago when thieves cut through a fence and broke into the company’s three box trucks. “They took every piece of handheld equipment we had, essentially putting us out of business. The only reason they didn’t take our Walker Mowers is because they couldn’t throw them over the fence,” adds Brady. “We called Steve and in a few hours he had us up and running again.”
Today, Cutting Edge Lawn Service operates four Walker Mowers, all 23-hp models with 42-inch GHS decks. The mowers will either be traded in or sold outright somewhere between the 1,600-to 1,800-hour mark (when they’re around 2.5 years old). Brady prefers transporting them in box trucks because he believes they’re easier to maneuver than trailers, not to mention the trucks double as moving billboards.
Among current business challenges, he points to labor as the biggest one. “It gets hot and humid down here and even if people think they can work in this environment, many can’t handle it. There’s no question we could take on more business if we had the people.”
dThe other challenge he references is low-balling companies on the maintenance side. He views them as more of a threat, however, to potential new customers compared to long-time accounts that appreciate and expect good service.
Operating a business while in school gave Brady and Scheys a head start in more ways than one. Yes, they received their degrees, and unlike most of their classmates, they didn’t have to search for work upon graduation. Beyond that, however, the work experience taught them a valuable lesson they could never learn in class: the direct relationship between providing top service with quality people and equipment and the path to successful, long-term growth.
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