First Post

Here goes - the inaugural post. My good friend Brian gets the credit for encouraging me to share my opinions, ideas and thoughts on topics from gardening and landscaping to running and growing a small business.

Lawn Lad is the business name that I have used since I was a young teenager while mowing lawns and maintaining yards in the Heights area. The business continues to grow year in and year out - bringing about welcomed challenges and good "problems" to have. I am an entrepreneur first - I love the challenge of building a business. I'm fortunate too in that I love the service we provide - creating and maintaining beautiful yards.

When I was in school I used to refer to my business as a learning laboratory - where I would try out new concepts learned in the classroom. Looking back I realize that I wasn't far off the mark when considering the business a learning laboratory - we are continuously improving, learning and growing as the process is never over.

One of the more valuable lessons I've learned is that if something is worth doing then a plan should be in place to make the initiative sustainable. The ability to sustain and commit resources is dependent on the capacity of the individual or organization. While I've always had a decent grasp of our company's production capacity and what we could accomplish in a given period of time, I’ve more recently come to understand and realize my own capacity and limitations. For a small business owner and an entrepreneur like myself, there are new ideas every day providing endless opportunity for distraction – and only so many can and should get my attention.

A good idea often fails due to failure to follow through, or quite simply execution. To be effective at running and growing this business I have to make sure I remain focused on the top priorities. While writing a blog is not necessarily at the top of my priority list, writing is a great way to organize and gel ideas into cohesive concepts. I learn from the writing process.

I’m in the business of solving problems, both externally for our customers on their properties, but also in the company solving operations and other business related challenges. It is my goal to learn from blogging and become better at what I do so that I may provide a better business and product to my customers, employees and the families that have come to depend on and benefit from Lawn Lad.

Thank you to our customers, suppliers and employees, past and present, which have helped us to grow and become better at what we do. I welcome your comments and feedback so that we may continue to learn and grow.