A drive through Holmes County, Ohio, about 1-1/2 hours south of Cleveland, will turn up all sorts of interesting sights. This Mecca of tourism will introduce visitors to one of the largest Amish settlements in the country and an attendant array of shops and restaurants, enough to keep even the most avid visitors busy all day. What the locals can't provide is bestowed by Mother Nature, a geography of beautifully rolling hills and steep valleys.
The county is at once serene and frenetic. While the countryside offers tranquility, the small communities provide ample energy. The setting also provides a unique backdrop for Grasshopper Property Maintenance, Millersburg, Ohio, owned and operated by Kim and Char Kellogg.
When they started their business six years ago, few if any of the local maintenance companies striped and edged lawns, and sidewalks were harbingers of leftover grass clippings. All that has changed for the properties maintained by Grasshopper, and for other properties as well. Although they are hesitant to take the credit, when the Kelloggs hung their shingle in 1991, they brought with them a level of professionalism that has since literally raised the standard of lawn maintenance in the area.
No, the Kelloggs didn't wave a magic wand. Nor did they bring years of horticultural experience and education to the table. They just started their business by maintaining seven properties and grew according to the desires and wishes of their customers and according to their own high expectations. When customers wanted cleaning services performed, the Kelloggs added janitorial work to their resume. When customers wanted pesticide control, the company added chemical application to their repertoire of services. When customers wanted color, Grasshopper delivered with installation services. The company also removes snow.
Six short years later, Grasshopper has grown from a dream into a full-service business that today grosses somewhere in the neighborhood of$350,000. In addition to Kim and Char, the company employs two full-time year-round employees for outside maintenance, two part-time janitorial employees and three to four seasonal employees.
"If the business has done one thing for us over the years, it has helped unify our family," tells Char. "Before going into this business, Kim was a marketing director for a local radio station and spent many evenings away from the family. His traveling took a toll on the family unit." That's taken a 180 degree turn now, she adds. The entire family spends more time together than ever before and they are pulling toward the same goal. That goal is simply to provide the best landscaping and lawn maintenance service humanly possible.
Kim quickly made up for his lack of experience in horticulture by attending classes at a local college. Now all regular employees take advantage of courses offered by the Ohio Extension Service. Char found that she enjoyed landscaping, too, and had an eye for detail. Their older son Chad has stepped in to work full-time now with friend Brian Rafferty. Even Matthew, only 14, is thinking about having a larger role in the company in the not-too-distant future.
The family approach paid big dividends as has the drive toward excellence. Seven properties have multiplied to 87 full-care properties and 200 chemical application accounts. In addition, Grasshopper performs janitorial service on four commercial accounts.
Hard Lesson
The growth has been so fast that, last year, it almost toppled the proverbial apple cart. When a large local maintenance company folded up its tent, the work came to Grasshopper and the Kelloggs couldn't say no. They found out quickly that more isn't necessarily better. The company struggled through a tough year trying to maintain its high quality standards. This year, they've slowed their growth a bit, already turning down 20 additional properties, thus helping out some of their competitors.
"We think we've raised the standard in Millersburg and the surrounding area a bit," tells Kim. "But in doing so, we've also had a tendency to take on more than we can do. One of our biggest struggles has been controlling the business and not letting the business control us."
The Kelloggs have looked to control the business by finding efficiencies that allow them to do more with fewer people. They recently added two-way radios for faster communication. They've made a serious effort toward consolidating properties and losing other properties that are no longer profitable or fall outside their driving radius. Although their business is currently 50/50 residential/commercial by number of accounts, by dollar volume it leans heavily toward the commercial side. As Char relates, "commercial properties are less competitive and you can grow them by offering customers many different services."
Grasshopper has looked to find efficiencies in its equipment lineup, too. "We were walk-behind believers all the way," explains Kim, "especially because of the hills around here. But a friend of ours had seen a Walker mower in Florida and thought we might be interested."
Kim was impressed after he saw one, but Char played a different tune. "Pay that much for a mower! Ha, Ha," she told Kim. "You can walk a lot of properties for the extra $6,000." It was two years before the couple finally decided the Walker made good financial sense.
"The Walker was so adaptable to big hills and small hills alike," tells Kim. ''And it was versatile for working wide areas with the big deck, and small areas with the GHS deck. It makes cleanup a breeze and makes large scale mowing manageable."
The Kelloggs say the Walkers (they bought a second one in 1996) have made them at least 30 percent more efficient. Their accounts have doubled with the Walkers without having to hire new people and they now can cut in nearly all conditions when others can't. And their workers don't get tired. But there are a couple of disadvantages to owning the machines. Some of their customers think that crews don't work hard enough on their properties anymore and, adds Char, glancing at Kim's mid-section, "Kim doesn't get nearly the exercise he once did."
Grasshopper Property Maintenance has two 20-hp Walkers with one GHS deck and two 62-inch side discharge decks. Two crews, each with a Walker and an intermediate walk-behind (for the steep hills), tackle the properties daily. A landscaping detail crew follows up. Kim manages the application end and Char helps out where she is needed; that's just about everywhere, including supervising the cleaning service in the evenings.
Together the couple puts in an additional 15 hours each week performing janitorial work. They could grow that business, too. It's a natural complement to maintaining commercial properties. And the business can help keep employees busy in the off season.
But right now, the Kelloggs have their hands full. The good news is they could grow in several different directions. The bad news? There are only so many hours in a day. But the fact that they have several options from which to choose is a luxury generated by doing quality work.
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