Introducing Shade's Lawn Care

www.ShadesLawnCare.com

Sometimes the best gifts come in the ugliest packages. Since my last post, much has happened. We went through a VERY discouraging February, applying to multiple positions and getting nothing but rejections. Plus, every time we would put on the t.v., there was another headline about how unemployment is predicted to get worse and there were more layoffs scheduled...blah, blah, blah. For those of you who know me well, patience is not one of my best qualities. In fact, I REALLY struggle with it. haha! So, this whole 'apply and wait' game got really old, really quick. Doug and I got to the point where we either sit on our butts and wait for a job to come to us, or we go get the job. Obviously, given the title of this post, we chose the later. To explain all the thought that went into the creation of this endeavor would be extremely time consuming, not to mention probably pretty boring to read. So I'll give you the reader-friendly version.
Doug and I have been doing little odd jobs here and there to bring in extra money to continue to add to our savings and to pay our bills. For those of you who have been unemployed before, you understand the sleep-less nights that accompany unemployment. Well, it was one of those nights (or, I should say, early mornings). I was going over our bills in my head and calculating our finances and I started thinking about how we could earn extra money. A few years ago, my Mom bought a property with a little over 2 acres of land. Being a single parent nurse who happens to work night shift, she has very little time for property maintenance. When she purchased the home, she was given some nice machinery from the original owners to take care of the property. In the end, she decided it would just be easier (and less time consuming) to hire a company to manage her property. When Doug was laid off, she offered this job to him. As this situation entered my thoughts, the wheels started turning. My Grandparents are also in a similar situation-quite a bit of land that they pay to have managed and maintained. We have the equipment...why not start our own lawn care business? Doug has experience with this from working with THP and from when he was younger and we both have always wanted to own our own business. So, 3:00 am on a Saturday morning, the concept of Shade's Lawn Care was formed.

It's been about a month since that early Saturday morning and we have come quite a long way. Our biggest expenses were buying a truck and buying a trailer. God really opened doors for us and answered prayers in this regard because we were able to buy a good, reliable truck from an old friend for a great price. We also found out that a friend from Church was looking to sell his landscape trailer. He agreed on a PHENOMENAL price and Doug has plans to buy that this weekend.

We have close to 6 seasonal contracts signed and are bidding for a large retirement community this Saturday. We're really excited at the direction our lives are headed as far as work is concerned and we both completely believe in this business! We know we can make it successful and believing in (and loving) what you do is the most important thing.

It is going to be a LOOOONG and painful summer but could quite possibly be the best summer we have ever had!