Getting Started

When Anthony Wisniewski graduated from college, he intended to use his bachelor’s degree in health administration to secure a job at a hospital. But the prospects in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, were slim, so he took a job selling insurance on the promise that it would be lucrative. “The prospect of all that money motivates you, but a lot of things they push that gets you the big commission isn’t always in the best interest of the clients,” Wisniewski lamented.

So, when he saw how much his landscape contractor clients were making running their own businesses, he thought he’d give it try. “I decided to start my own business because there were no opportunities for anything I was interested in in the Cleveland area,” Wisniewski related, adding that he enjoyed working outdoors and wanted to have a career where he could educate and help clients. “So, I sat down with a friend and we started our company.”

Thus, Millennium Lawn Care, Parma, Ohio, was born in June 2001. It’s a full-service company, but Wisniewski acknowledges that there are some jobs he and his partner, Rodney Wallace, haven’t yet learned how to handle. In those cases they use subcontractors.

One of the services the company hasn’t been able to take on is pesticide application, since neither Wisniewski nor Wallace are certified in the task. But, Wisniewski is working to change that in time for the busy spring season. “Most homeowners won’t do their own fertilization or pesticide application because they don’t know what’s best for their lawn,” Wisniewski explained. “When I sent out flyers and advertised, most of the calls we got back were for fertilization, so I wanted to tap into that instead of having a subcontractor do it.”

Wisniewski plans to sit for the pesticide and fertilization certification exam in early April. But, obtaining the materials he needs to be able to take the test hasn’t been easy. After getting a little bit of a runaround at the Department of Agriculture, Wisniewski finally got in touch with someone who could send him the application and study guide and schedule him for the test. It took Wisniewski two weeks to receive the study guide, which is a several-hundred page booklet.  “I've started to take a look at some of the material," he said. "So far it's mostly definition and memorization, basic math problems, identification and becoming familiar with hazards."

As far as the exam is concerned, Wisniewski expects the bulk of the test to focus on laws related to pesticide and fertilizer application. “I assume it’s going to deal with the amounts that are supposed to be applied, what types of materials I can apply and the damage it can cause if applied incorrectly,” he said. “I plan to learn all the information I can so I can do this correctly.”

As far as the rest of the business is concerned, Wisniewski related that he and his partner would like to add snow plowing to their service offerings soon. But, the biggest goal they both have for 2002 is to be able to quit their full-time jobs and devote all of their time to their new business. “Right now one of the biggest obstacles in growing our business is time,” Wisniewski stated. Wisniewski currently works as a night manager at Walgreens and his partner works as a second-shift credit manager at Sears.

With the recent addition of a few new accounts totaling about $400 more in monthly business, Wisniewski is planning to quit his full-time job in a few weeks so he can dedicate his full attention to landscaping. “I’m quitting in two weeks – no doubt about it,” he emphasized. “I think there are going to be a few more accounts coming through that will put us in a great position for me to be able to quit and focus solely on the business.”

OUT OF THE GATE. Because neither Wisniewski nor Wallace had any experience running their own landscaping business, they got off to a rough start in 2001. “We started in mid-June last year just to get a couple of accounts and to get our feet wet – to get familiar with the equipment and how to set up everything and get bonded in the cities we wanted to service clients in,” Wisniewski remarked. “The biggest problem was starting in a drought. We didn’t get any accounts at the very beginning.”

Wisniewski added that he and Wallace were able to pick up some solid accounts in the fall as the weather became more favorable. But the help they hoped would come from friends who owned established landscaping businesses wasn’t there because they were now competitors, so Wallace and Wisniewski had to look elsewhere for guidance on starting a new company. “Our friends considered us to be competition,” Wisniewski noted. “I’ve gotten more help from landscapers I don’t know. Now, I basically just learn as I go. I spend more time on figuring out ways to make the business efficient. A lot is trial and error, but some is suggestion and research.”

That summer they worked on getting some equipment, such as a mower, trimmer and edger and some other small items like shovels and a wheelbarrow. But they also ran into some challenges because they couldn’t secure a small business loan for these purchases. “The horrible thing is that unless you’re in business for two years, you’re almost guaranteed to get declined by the Small Business Administration for a loan,” he remarked. “We just put most of it on credit cards. It’s strange that the Small Business Administration doesn’t help businesses starting out as much as they help businesses that have been operating for a few years.”

So, Wisniewski and Wallace have learned to take risks. They spent $8,000 right off the bat, which was money they didn’t have. But, it is a risk they both are glad they took and, in fact, they are planning to spend more money this year on a spreader, aerator, trailer and blower. “You might start off with a negative cash flow, but the profit margin is fairly good in landscaping,” Wisniewski advised. “Once you get past the start-up costs and you get enough business, it gets easier.”

Check back with Lawn & Landscape Online to follow Wisniewski through the pesticide and fertilization certification process.