Lori Miller has a story to tell you about her son, Mark. “When he was nine years old, he walked into the house one day and told me he saw a trailer down the road that he wanted us to buy for him. Well, to make a long story short, my husband, Glenn, and I purchased the trailer and gave it to Mark as a Christmas present. He wanted the trailer to haul around our lawn mower because, even back then, mowing was his passion.” It’s a passion that’s never waned.
At the tender age of 13, Mark had another discussion with his parents. He told them that if could have a Walker Mower, he would never ask for anything again. A year later, for his birthday present, he simply wanted “to demo a Walker Mower”. A week later, his parents agreed to allow their son, who had been mowing lawns after school and throughout the summer with long-time friend and business partner, Mike Mastrocola, to spend his savings on a new Walker Mower. He purchased a spanking new 20-hp GHS Walker with a 48-inch deck later that summer.
For the next 2-1/2 years, Mark and Mike turned their passion into profits. Lori drove them around to accounts after work (and school) until they were old enough to get a driver’s license. This past year, Mark purchased a used Dodge pick-up to trailer their Walker, two Echo backpack blowers and two Echo string trimmers. “The Dodge is only two-wheel drive,” Mark laments. “If it were four-wheel drive, we would put a blade on it and plow snow in the winter.”
As if the two friends don’t have enough to do. Both are only 17 years old and have just completed their junior year of high school. During the school year, their 25 mowing accounts are as much as they can handle. Their complete customer list, however, totals 60 homeowners who have a variety of requests, from spring and summer cleanup to helping out with odd jobs around their hometown of Reading, Massachusetts.
“I can’t stand just standing around,” says Mark, who plays football and indoor and outdoor track in his spare time. In fact, the day before the Walker Talk editor visited, he had just returned from football camp at Penn State. His friend, Mike, has a similar work ethic, although his plans for the future are slightly different. “Our landscaping business is the best job Mark and I could have right now,” says Mike. “I eventually want to go to college and study business and Spanish.”
Mark has different plans. His goal is to attend a school with a solid landscaping program, possibly intern with a couple of companies, and then continue on with his dream and start a landscape construction/maintenance company.
Teamwork
If there was any question about how long Mark and Mike have worked together, it was quickly dispelled when they pulled up to a job site. Mark jumps on the Walker at the first two homes and quickly dispatches the lawns. While he’s mowing, Mike edges and trims, and then waits for his friend to finish before blowing the property clean. At the next stop, they switch responsibilities. Mike mows and Mark performs the handheld duties.
The two are a little reticent about putting profit margins and revenue in print, but suffice it to say, they’ve learned a lot about owning and operating a business.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned is how to manage time and costs,” Mark says. “You know, when we first started mowing, we leaned pretty heavily on my parents and never concerned ourselves too much with fuel costs, repair bills and so forth. Now we know how much it costs us to operate and how much money we have to bring in to make a decent profit.”
Mike agrees, adding, “We have learned how to manage the cost of running a business, not to mention how to manage cash flow. Some customers prefer to be billed at the end of the month, while others like to receive an invoice immediately after each job.”
Now that summer is here and school is out, the young entrepreneurs can mow most of their properties in two days, in part thanks to their Walker. The mower has only 370 hours on it, which means it has a lot of life left.
“I wouldn’t mind having a high-lift attachment or possibly a snow blower,” says Mark. Mike sees life a little differently, and says he and Mark can continue to lift tarps full of grass clippings for the price of the high-lift. In the meantime, their two best supporters, Lori and Glenn, continue to be amazed by their work ethic and, yes, passion.
“They are good kids who work hard and stay out of trouble,” says Lori. Their reputation to their customers is important to them. That pretty much says it all and reaffirms our decision to support them in any way we can. Glenn has been very helpful along the way, and I know their dealer, Pro Equipment Service, gives them the same high level of service it gives all its customers.”
But when it’s all said and done, she says Mark and Mike have done it on their own and have been successful because they absolutely enjoy what they’re doing.
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