Weed-whacking Service - How it Started

I did small things to make money starting from a very young age. I sold things I made, resold things I found for cheap, or did chores for the landlord. I decided to try making real money when I was fifteen. I found out quickly that you had to be sixteen to work and even then the options were very limited. It had been a dream to be independent for basically my entire life. What I wanted to do changed but it basically always involved some form of self-employment whether it was a side gig or full time employment.

Because of that dream and my lack of ability to get formal work, I decided to try weed-whacking using a cheap weed-eater and gas can that I bought from my Dad for twenty-five dollars. The weed-eater was amazing for the cost and outperformed more expensive models. I went door to door asking neighbors if they needed any weed-whacking done. I've never really liked door to door sales but I did get business. After I turned sixteen, I got my GED and driver's license then bought a 1976 Chevrolet long bed pickup for six hundred fifty dollars. Using my new freedom I started branching out.

Mowing a church property as a teen.

The name of my business was "Jonathon A. Edeliant's Weed-Whacking And Mowing." Using my full name made it unnecessary to register the business name with the Secretary of State's office. The name later changed to Yard Squad LLC. I purchased business liability insurance and obtained business licenses with the city of Rogue River and the city of Grants Pass. As the name implies I bought a push mower. Over time, I accumulated tools as people asked me to do different things.

Weed-whacking as a teen.

There was a huge problem with my business. It made almost no profit even when I tried field mowing. I tried raising prices but I lost customers and barely managed to get new ones at the new prices. I decided to get a full-time job working at Walmart and did so.

A little over a year after starting my Walmart job, I decided to leave and try again. I thought I could make it more profitable but I was wrong and I left southern Oregon for another job only about six months later.

About four and a half years before I started Medford's Best, I started a residential roofing company which eventually went by the name of Divergent Roofing. Nearly all my customers were very happy with my work and none of the new roofs I installed leaked. As far as I know, that is still true to this day as I put my still current cell number on the warranty paperwork. I know it sounds like "no leaks" should go without saying but it is considered standard practice to have a fairly significant budget for going back and fixing leaks on new roofs. Roofing was both fun and stressful. I failed to make that profitable either, only making an average yearly profit of around twelve thousand dollars. I finally decided it was time to change what I did again.

The outside sales guy for my roofing supplier (who is also my friend now) asked me to come work for their company. I had already worked for them at a different branch before I started roofing. He said that a position would be opening up soon that I would be good for. That job however, did not work out for me like I (and he) had hoped, so I left and decided to try out computer scripting. I started taking classes and even though it was fun, I was failing to remember everything as quickly as I needed to so I quit those classes.

I decided to start weed-whacking again mostly because I wasn't sure what to do. I decided to focus solely on weed-whacking instead of branching out to other things and here is why in no particular order:

• People like mowing so if I did lawn mowing I would have too much competition.

• It seemed like homeowners who would never pay for mowing might still gladly pay for string trimming.

• Expenses would be lower if I didn't need to buy a truck and lots of equipment. This increased the odds I could make a profit.

Years ago, I thought the reason I failed was mostly because of the abundance of competition which didn't pay taxes, didn't have insurance, and intentionally undercharged. Since then I have learned so much more about business and here are some reasons I now think I failed:

• Offering a general service category instead of a niche that people are searching for

• Doing things "everyone" was offering (people generally don't like weed-eating but they don't mind mowing and pruning)

• A rudimentary understanding of marketing

• Sub-par non-commercial grade equipment

• Trying to compete against competition that didn't have insurance, business licenses, or pay taxes

I may have had skill, a can do attitude, and actually showed up when I said I would but those things are not enough. I have learned from my mistakes. Less than a year in Medford's Best is showing real promise. What was supposed to be temporary to help pay the bills for a bit is now something more promising than I expected. I hope you will become yet another happy customer!