Jim Martin, owner of James A. Martin Co. Inc. in Burlington, Massachusetts, is celebrating his 30th year in business. He makes no bones about it either. He attributes his success and longevity to people—from wife, Sue, and childhood friend, Steve Archibald, to each and every one of his 14 employees, not to mention his dealer, PRO Equipment.

Brad Pearson is a Chevy man, but Nick Tammaro drives Fords. Brad’s company, Pearson’s Anything Goes, mows and maintains primarily residential accounts, but Tammaro Landscaping provides full-service landscape management services to commercial customers. Pearson is 18 and Tammaro is 23. Are they as different as night and day? Hardly.

From 1993 to 1996, Tony Sposato taught health and physical education at a junior high school where he also coached three sports. In the summer of ’96, he traded in his whistle and blackboard for a full-time ride on his Walker Mower. Eleven years later, he finds himself running a multimillion dollar company that employs more than 150 people during the busy season.

Mel Taylor, owner of Mel’s Lawn Maintenance in Las Cruces, New Mexico, started mowing lawns part-time in 1984. At the time, he committed to this work until he found a better job. Twenty-three years later, he hasn’t found that elusive something that will give him as much pleasure and freedom as running his own business.

After being a Wal-Mart Supercenter co-manager for 10 years, Roger Krans wanted a change. “I wanted to do something different, but I just didn’t have the guts to leave the corporate life,” he recalls. “I had good benefits and was making a good wage, and starting your own business can be risky when you have a family.”

A first glance, the 25-acre campus at San Joaquin Gardens in Fresno, California, appears more like a display garden than a retirement community. It’s actually both.