While pursuing his finance degree from the University of Connecticut, which he received in 1991, Shayne Newman’s father, Glenn, asked him, “What are you going to do about a job?”
“I’m going to mow some lawns,” was Newman’s reply, since he had spent some time on the family property mowing the 5-acre grounds while he was in high school.
Though it was just a simple answer to a simple question, Newman’s father took his son seriously. He took out a loan and bought a truck and a lawn mower. “He told me, ‘You have a $400 a month loan payment so you better go cut some lawns,’” Newman recalls, adding that he made up some fliers, copied them and spread them around local neighborhoods to get his business started and make the loan payments.
“I really liked numbers but I’m not the type of person who can work behind a desk, so choosing to work outside was an easy decision for me,” Newman says.
Once Newman got his business going, he took horticulture courses at Naugatuck Valley Community College to build his landscape knowledge.
The name for his business was inspired by his niece and nephew who would run around the lawn while he worked outside like “yard apes,” as Newman would call them. His first year, he had 15 to 20 lawns to take care of. And he paid off his dad’s loan in four years.
Today, Newman says his finance background did help him better understand some business essentials, such as comprehending a profit-and-loss statement, knowing the value of compounded interest and grasping the importance of budgeting.