Logan Sizemore, NFIB Young Entrepreneur Award winner, began his business at 14.
The seeds for a fruitful Johnson City, Tennessee-based business were planted back when its leader, Logan Sizemore, was a nine-year-old boy who learned how to mow the yard using his father’s lawn tractor.
“After learning the machine, I began mowing for my elderly neighbor,” he says. “He was my only client for a few years.”
He saw an opportunity to make some money and mowed lawns for other neighbors, earning enough to upgrade his equipment.
In 2012, Sizemore launched the business at age 14.
“I had five accounts in my neighborhood I serviced on a weekly basis,” he says. “When I turned 15 [that same year in August], I began to market my company more and picked up a few in surrounding areas.”
Today, Green Blade Lawn Care maintains more than 30 accounts from five cities on a weekly basis.
But earning your place and being recognized isn’t easy in the Tri-Cities area, where there are probably 100 lawn care providers, both large and small, he says.
Sizemore and his employees wear boots, jeans and logoed-shirts to work and take pride in “our professionalism, consistency and the relationships we build with our customers.”
Sizemore will further his education in business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville this fall.
Thanks to the two employees he counts on to get the job done, Sizemore says he’ll continue to run Green Blade in handling schedules, invoices and bookkeeping while he’s at school.
Organization is key, he says. And running Green Blade Lawn Care all these years has helped him hone his skills and build confidence.
“There are a lot of things you need to keep track of to ensure work is completed on time and appropriately,” he says. “My organization skills have definitely improved since I started my business.”
