Closing Our Doors

[TiedemanLLC]

Well after 12 years in business, and almost 20 years in the green industry, I have decided to close our doors.

This has been something we have talked about the last two years, and we had a great opportunity to sell off parts of the business and move on into consulting for lawn and landscaping companies instead.

We have helped companies in the past with cost cutting consulting strategies and we have been receiving such great feedback from it, we have decided to go into that full time instead. With our experience in the green industry and the same methods we have applied to our business, we are really looking forward to helping out other green industry businesses. We are still going through the process of setting up our website and social media presence. But we are open for business, so go ahead and send me a message if you are interested or to find out more details.

Back to the selling part. We have been going through the fine details of selling off part of the business for about six months now, and we finally reached an agreement about three weeks ago. It will be a phased process of where we shut down the majority of the business the end of 2012, and completely finish the entire process at the end of 2013. We do have one last contract until 2015 though. We are selling the pesticide and mowing to just one particular company, while the rest of the services will be dissolved. Most of our supplies will be put up for sale over the next year, while our pesticide spraying units have already been purchased.

The phase out actually starts this coming week with some pesticide clients. The process will involve first eliminating the pesticide service, and no longer subbing out the lawn mowing because we are eliminating that totally. Then we move on to other services and other service route areas. This has been a planned out process we have been working hard on.

We are really looking forward to this and what we can bring to the table to help out other green industry businesses.

[jymie]

Good luck in the new venture!

[Sprinkler Buddy]

Sounds like the transition has been well thought out. Hope it goes smoothly with just minor bumps.

[TiedemanLLC]

Sounds like the transition has been well thought out. Hope it goes smoothly with just minor bumps.

Thanks. We are really looking forward to it.

[Steve]

Troy,

Do you feel there was a tipping point where you just felt enough was enough and made this decision? Do you have any advice for others who are looking to get out of the business and want to maximize what they can monetarily out of it?

[TiedemanLLC]

Troy,

Do you feel there was a tipping point where you just felt enough was enough and made this decision? Do you have any advice for others who are looking to get out of the business and want to maximize what they can monetarily out of it?

This has been a family decision going on since about July of last year. 2010 was an amazing year (our best year to date), but we were starting to get burnt out. Last summer we were starting to give some serious consideration of moving on. We had two options, either keep on growing more and more, or just move on to something else. I personally had already felt like I have accomplished so much, and that I wanted out. It's one of those things you want to feel like you are going out on top. We have completed some awesome projects, got featured in some of the trade magazines, and we were ready to move on.

In regards to selling off the business it's not an easy task. I am lucky enough that one of my subs was really interested. He was actually making more of a move from mowing into the pesticide area. So it was just a perfect timing. We talked about everything for a while, and finally worked out a deal.

I have had experience before in the past of almost being bought out (about 8 years ago), and trying to buy out another guy (about 4 years ago). So I knew already what to expect, and what I could offer that was reasonable.

[Steve]

Do you have any advice for the lawn care business owner who is sitting there and starting to get the feeling of being burnt out.

[TiedemanLLC]

Do you have any advice for the lawn care business owner who is sitting there and starting to get the feeling of being burnt out.

I think everyone has went through that burnt out feeling every year. I know that every year, normally it seemed around July, I was ready for a break. It's good to schedule some vacation and get away from things. Take a step back and look at the business again. Perhaps the burnt out feeling is not necessarily you are tired from this "type" of work, but just tired in general. Look into hire some office staff or another part time guy to take some of the work load off.

[Steve]

Do you feel one of the keys to finding success and longevity in this or any other industry is pacing yourself? At times do you feel entrepreneurs just take on too much and it overwhelms them, which leads to burn out?

Where maybe if they kept an eye on this and realized the importance of pacing themselves, they could stay in the game and enjoy it a lot longer?

[TiedemanLLC]

Do you feel one of the keys to finding success and longevity in this or any other industry is pacing yourself? At times do you feel entrepreneurs just take on too much and it overwhelms them, which leads to burn out?

Where maybe if they kept an eye on this and realized the importance of pacing themselves, they could stay in the game and enjoy it a lot longer?


I have always been the type of working my butt off, charge top dollar, and then move on to the next project. Why take four hours to do a job, when if you bust your butt you can have it done in 2 hrs. So I have not been one to pace myself. However, I have been picky of the type of services and type of jobs that we took on over the years.

I think that you need to look at what is working and not working. Take a long hard look at the area, the competition, your pricing, etc. If your market is a lower income area, then perhaps it's time to move the operation to a different city or different county. Really do the research and find out your demographics.

[ringahding1]

Good luck man!
For me personally,the love & passion I have for simply mowing lawns puts the burnt-out feeling to the side. Also the reasons I started my own business has never escaped my mind.

The expectations I have for myself to succeed is the only option. This is the only income for my household, so failure or hanging it up is not an option.

I will continue to grow the business at a manageable pace and when I cannot physically mow anymore, pass the business along to my oldest son to run.

[TiedemanLLC]

Good luck man!
For me personally,the love & passion I have for simply mowing lawns puts the burnt-out feeling to the side. Also the reasons I started my own business has never escaped my mind.

The expectations I have for myself to succeed is the only option. This is the only income for my household, so failure or hanging it up is not an option.

I will continue to grow the business at a manageable pace and when I cannot physically mow anymore, pass the business along to my oldest son to run.

That's great to hear.

You should like how I was too. I grew it at a manageable pace for years, and I am the only income for my family. I thought for years that I was going to pass it on to my only son as well.