SPOONER, Wis. -- Now that summer is nearly over, it might be the right time to make a decision about your lawn. You know, mowing, trimming, weed whipping, blowing away the debris, raking the foot deep leaves, or even spreading lime.
And if you've decided that it's time to quit the hard work of yard maintenance, you can easily take care of the problem by calling Spooner's Noah Olson.
You might be interested to learn that Noah has two older sisters who have both chosen challenging careers, one as a Construction Project Manager, (who at one time worked for the company that recently completed the US Bank stadium) and the other sister works as a substance abuse counselor in Minnesota.
Already this guy has big shoes to fill, plus the fact that his parents, Dan and Pam Olson, raised him to spend lots of time outside and to be responsible, very responsible.
He took the responsible part to heart when his sisters were still home.
Being considerably younger he became the go-to guy when they needed something; money or favors. He called it “Brother's Loans” or Brother's whatever they needed. Now that he has his own business, he's named it Brother's Lawncare.
Remember this is no ordinary freshman at the Spooner High School. When he was the tender age of nine, he began his career in lawn care by helping his dad and his dad's friends with their mowing. His Grandma let him use her hand mower and he was off and running.
Wisely using his earnings to add more and better equipment, he's gone from his original equipment: Grandma's push mower, dad's weed whip and blower, and a used four wheeler to two newer zero-turn mowers, one with a 42 inch deck and the other a 60 inch deck, two new hand mowers, a new weed whip and a blower.
Not bad for a kid just entering high school.
He bought his original trailer from Farm and Fleet that was a 4x8 foot job, and upgraded it to a bigger custom made one in order to haul all of his equipment.
His clientele is up to twenty five and he covers a wide territory from Dunn Lake to Shell Lake and from Spooner Lake to Highway 70. He drives his 4-wheeler legally and if there is a job too far that requires other transportation, he's got a neighbor, Chuck Jockisch who helps out with the driving along with his dad helping in the same way. Business is good, but he's worked hard to make it that way. His goal is to leave every property he's in charge of, “looking sharp”.
When someone contacts him for information, he arranges to come out and not only give an estimate on how much it will cost, but will talk extensively with the property owner on matters of: what the owner wants done, how often they want it done and how much it will cost. He also lets people know that after the first time doing the lawn work, he'll sit down again and discuss the results and the rates adding that shrub trimming and downed tree removal if needed.
His goal is to not just to do a great job, but to keep in touch with the owner to make sure they are both on the same page.
Now that school has started, his mowing time has been reduced to starting at four o'clock after school is over and working until dark. He's a golfer and avid hunter, but nothing interferes with his lawn jobs.
Seventy five percent of his business is residential, but his business accounts, which supply twenty five percent of his bottom line and growing due to the number of rentals he tends, are increasing. His business as a whole is steadily growing by word of mouth, the best tried and true advertising system yet.
Despite his age, he's already learning the trials of management by trying to find the answer to the age old proverb that 'good help is hard to find'.
His goal in life is to become a US Coast Guard Pilot and either pilot a plane, a helicopter, or anything that flies. Right now he'd love to be in Texas helping the thousands of people who are stranded.
Despite the fact that he's already a success, he's humble and grateful for the people who got him started including his Grandma, Doris Olson and other larger lawn care businesses who have sent some of their smaller accounts his way along with referrals from established customers and businessmen alike.
He's done the math and the networking and he has enough raw energy and drive to attain his goal, customer satisfaction.
If you're interested in talking to Noah Olson, you can contact him by calling or texting him at 715-520-2114 or email him at Olson.npo@gmail.com .
Just think of it, never having to mow your lawn again, at least not for the next four years until he graduates.
Last Update: Aug 31, 2017 5:51 pm CDT
