"I need to make a profit, but I don't need to get any bigger." Sound familiar? It should. That's a tune many small and medium-size contractors play over and over again as they work to keep the lid on both growth and the jar that holds the profit.
In this case, Mark Byrne is the composer of the lyrics. And his business, Mar's Pro Services in Dayton, Minnesota (a Minneapolis suburb), is the band. Three of the key instruments just happen to be Walker Mowers.
This contractor's reason for not growing is straightforward. As he puts it, he "doesn't want to have the headaches." So he works with only two employees most of the growing season and adds two more when the cycle gets real busy. With their help, he maintains more than a dozen commercial properties and one large association for a total of 215 customers.
For a small operation, he doesn't do badly, although he prefers not to divulge his actual earnings. The revenue comes primarily from maintenance, including mowing, trimming, pruning (trees 20 feet high or less), and some installation of shrubs and flower beds.
He subcontracts fertilizing, major landscaping, irrigation and snow removal, which means he can promote full service without supporting the overhead.
He has worked with many of the contractors for years; two from day one.
Byrne started his business in 1986 after receiving a two-year associate of arts degree in sales and marketing, and spending two years in the Army. After getting out of the Army, an association asked him to do some mowing. He's been mowing ever since.
"I liked the idea of being outside; no suit, no tie," he remembers. "So I decided to do this full time, thinking I would last probably two years."
That first year, he purchased a lawn and garden tractor and hauled it around with a pickup and trailer. "Nothing fancy," he says. The modest rig helped generate between $25,000 to $30,000.
Two years later, he went to a home and garden show and saw his first Walker. At the time, there weren't many Walkers around Minneapolis, he recalls. He took it for a ride, and despite not being used to the responsive steering, thought the mower would help him out. To find out for sure, he used the mower for a half day at one of his sites. That convinced him this was the machine for him.
Today, Mark's Pro Services employs three Walker Mowers, two 20- and one 25-hp models, all with Kohler engines. Each is equipped with a 54-inch side-discharge deck and a 48-inch GHS deck. His lineup also includes two Toro intermediate walk-behinds for hill work, a John Deere lawn and garden tractor for larger field areas and a few 21-inch mowers.
"If I didn't have the Walkers, I wouldn't be where I am today," Byrne relates. "For what I do, this machine is the answer. My properties are smaller so maneuverability is a big thing. And you really can't beat the cut you get when using the collection system. And you can back right in the trailer, dump and pull right out.'' Just the ticket for a small operation that needs to get a lot of work done, he adds.
Byrne says he has looked at a lot of equipment over the years and nothing really matches up to the Walker. He shudders to think about the intermediate equipped with a collection system he tried out. "I would work at Home Depot before I would wrestle with that setup," he says. "I wouldn't have a choice because I wouldn't be able to get anyone to work for me."
Price vs. Value
Owning three Walkers may seem like a lot of expense for a small operator, yet Byrne emphasizes there is a difference between what a machine costs and what its value is to a business.
"Four or five years ago, a friend of mine purchased a mower based on price. I told him at the time, the Walker was the machine he needed. But he was convinced the less expensive machine would get the job done. Well, it didn't. And worse yet, he couldn't sell it. He just bought a 25-hp Walker and couldn't be happier."
Again, it's the value a machine delivers and not the original price, he re-emphasizes. Where does the Walker Mower's value come in for this operator?
"I like its simplicity, its cut and its comfort," he tells. "Its compact size also means there is no problem getting it on a trailer." Byrne says he likes the warranty. And if a unit happens to go down, his dealer, Midwest Specialty Sales, gives him a demo, not to mention overall good service. The Walkers also cut down on the trimming he does with the 21-inch mowers. That saves on both labor and expense.
There is another factor about operating a Walker, Byrne adds. "It's hard to document, but I truly believe the mowers generate sales. Property managers see the striping effect left by a Walker and they want their properties to look the same way. For smaller properties, he adds, a Walker Mower is less obtrusive than many of the bigger riding mowers.
For little instruments, Mark's Pro Services' Walkers appear to make a lot of noise. But they're only part of the band and part of the reason for Byrne's success.
Bigger Picture Outlook
There's no question, Byrne is in business to make a profit. Who isn't? But he tempers the temptation to make more money by an overall satisfaction with his current size. He says, for example, that being small allows him to deliver superior service to his customers; he can respond quickly and he usually does within 10 minutes of a message on his digital beeper.
Being a smaller operator also allows him to get closer to employees and their families. In fact, he says he literally grows his employees by getting to know their families, and hiring their brothers and sisters when they get old enough to work. To keep employees happy on the job he does something unusual; he takes turns using the equipment. One day, for example, he'll use a Walker and another day he may operate a walk-behind.
Being small isn't about lacking professionalism, either. Byrne says he takes pride in being very service-oriented. His equipment always looks good; he blows the mowers off at the end of every workday and power washes them every month. And employees are always in uniform.
He also does his civic duty by volunteering his maintenance services. From time to time you'll see his crew cleaning up a city park, trimming a curb, mowing a boulevard or pruning a hedge. The action makes for good public relations. It also makes, a statement that although he's a businessman, he's also a member of the community and takes pride in the way it looks.
So Byrne wonders why a small operator like himself would ever be profiled in Walker Talk. The answer is simple. Yes, many small operators don't have the same challenges that big ones do, but all operators need to make a profit, need to operate good equipment and need to operate professionally to be successful. And even big operators were small once upon a time.
Reading about one today may serve to not only bring back memories, but to remind them that big isn't better if the little things that allowed them to grow get swept away with the growth tide.
Site Search
