Most people dread having to mow and maintain their yards. Since people in the area live more in the country, the plots of land are typically bigger, meaning that yard work is even more of a day killer than a half an acre of land would be.
“When we have to mow yards that are an acre and a half it takes us about 3 hours,” senior Logan Stevens said.
3 years ago, Stevens, sophomore Sam Mimms, and freshmen Mac Metzler became owners and operators of MMS Mowing Service.
“We mow yards, do bed work, other odd jobs, and really just anything they want done with the yard,” Mimms said.
Initially, these three boys did not intend to start a business.
“At first, it was just the three of us mowing around 3 yards,” Stevens said. “Eventually, we decided to branch out and create more business and employees to make more money.”
In order to create a successful business, the boys had to start with the nuts and bolts and then work their way up.
“We used to put 8 hours a day into the business just with creating business plans and some other basic stuff, but now that that’s all created we only put in the hours it takes to mow the yards,” Stevens said.
Without the help of their parents or anyone else, the boys created their own functioning, prosperous business.
“They developed their own business plan, employee training days, employees of the month, and everything all by themselves,” mother Audrey Stevens said. “The only thing we helped with was at the beginning, as mothers, and since none of the boys could drive we had to drive them to the houses and tow their equipment.”
While the boys have made an ample amount of money with their business, it has its downfalls, as well.
“It’s hurt our social life, because we have to work on Friday nights and Saturday mornings,” Stevens said.
Even though Stevens is not always able to hang out with his friends on Friday nights, the business will be a huge asset for him going into college.
“He wants to go into entrepreneurial business and so he would major in accounting, just to have a solid major, and minor in entrepreneurialship,” his mother Audrey said. “I think it’s going to afford him the opportunity to be able to sit in class and actually have a practical understanding of what he’s being taught. With the teachers up there lecturing about a specific aspect of business, he’s going to be able to relate that to his own experience, which will really help him grasp the concepts easily.”
Right now though, the boys find ways to make their business enjoyable.
“I love making money and being able to hang out with friends after we finish for the day,” Mimms said.
Fun and games aside, the boys have really grown through this endeavor.
“This has been a really great learning experience for Logan and the other partners,” Audrey said. “At first they had a naïve approach to it, but now they have a real practical approach. They understand that things break down and people don’t always show up.”
