St. Cloud, Minn. – Mike Sharratt, co-owner of Emerald Lawn Care, has always recognized the power of helping other people. In fact, it was a simple conversation with his grandmother that served as the inspiration to enter the green industry. “I started targeting the idea of helping out the elderly,” he related. Soon, he was mowing lawns for elderly individuals in his area, and a business was born. “From there it exploded,” he said.
And this past March, when Sharratt met another business owner, Joel Wollum, who specialized in commercial properties, he concluded that a joint venture would help balance service offerings for Wollum, as well as for himself. “This is the first year that we’re together, and it’s still exploding.” Clearly, Sharratt and Wollum lent helping hands to each other, and, as the winner of Lawn & Landscape’s April online sweepstakes, Sharratt will be sharing his prize – a set of STIHL hand tools – with his new partner in business.
With five full-time employees and $250,000 in revenue last year, Sharratt expects the combined forces of himself and Wollum will continue to grow the company. “Right now it’s more than we can handle,” he admitted. “We’re targeting about $300,000 right now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we hit $350,000.”
Although Emerald Lawn Care flourished from the Sharratt-Wollum alliance, merging has not occurred without hitting a few obstacles, Sharratt explained. “The biggest challenge has been deciding who is in charge of what in the company,” he said. “He was doing it all himself in his company, and it was the same with me, so it’s hard to split it up.” So far, Wollum has taken on much of the sales responsibilities because of his “gift for gab,” Sharratt noted, while Sharratt has tackled training issues and the continuing education of the company.
In addition, as Emerald Lawn Care expands, Sharratt hopes to fine-tune scheduling processes so the company can better maintain increasing business. “We can handle the business with the crew we have, but we just need to be more efficient at scheduling,” he said.
Of course, new equipment always assists with company expansion, and Sharratt said the STIHL hand tools will come in handy as the season accelerates. “We can always use some new hand tools,” he remarked. – Kristin Mohn
Click here to enter the Lawn & Landscape May online sweepstakes.
The author is Assistant Editor – Internet of Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at kmohn@lawnandlandscape.com.