John Saparito is the Founder and Owner of Greenside LawnCare offering landscaping solutions, lawn care and Landscaping services. John managing a team of landscaping experts with decades of experience in all things lawn care, from seeding and weed prevention, to professional, stadium-quality grass mowing and aeration.

John answered some questions about his business.

How did you get inspired to start your business? What drove you?

When I was 15 and I couldn’t find a job because I wasn’t 16 yet I put fliers on doors and street lights for lawn mowing services. It was slow at first but I never thought I would be doing it for a career, but it just got bigger and bigger and with the rising cost of a college education I decided that I would invest in my business rather than investing in college.

Having built your business during a tough economic period, how did you avoid giving up?

Lawn care seemed like it was always in demand even with the recession it seemed that home owners still did not like spending hours mowing the grass. Once we figured out that we needed to market our services online customers began to call, prior to that it was a struggle to acquire customers.

What do you think was the turning point for your business and how did you recognise/capitalise on it?

When I was laid off at my first job, they ended up closing the company down, I was able to do lawn care full time. I bought a website, renamed the company, and marketed our services online.

How did you manage the balance between investing in your business and making sure you didn’t overcapitalise?

I was only 19 still living at my parents’ house I was able to invest all the revenue back into the business. My parents allowed me to live at the house rent free so I was able to take a real chance on starting my own business.

How have you pivoted your business to find new customers in an increasingly ‘online’ world?

There is a lot of new homeowner verified serviced like Homeadvisor and Thumbtack. This are pay per lead companies and each company is background check and verified. It allowed us to have a fixed customer acquisition cost. This allowed us to gain clients rapidly

For those starting their own business from the ground up, what advice would you give them?

Expect not to make a lot of money at first, it is important to re-invest everything you possibly can to buy the most efficient equipment for your industry. This will allow you to maximize your time to get the most work done. I would defiantly suggest to market your business online and on Facebook.

Buying a website and creating good content and investing in search engine optimization will give you long term success without having to keep printing fliers and advertising in magazines and local papers