BLC's 20th Year

{photography by kayeileenphotography}

This is Josh's 20th season in business.

What in the actual.

He's 31 and he's owned his own company for 20 years. This SAME company in this exact industry. To say this is rare would be an understatement...to say it's unheard of would be more accurate.

When we meet people for the first time and they ask what Josh does, he'll casually answer that he owns a lawn care + property maintenance company...his reply includes nothing flashy because Josh is not a "flashy guy." The company name is just our last name...which is kind of basic and boring. Lots of people own companies in the service industry, the conversation continues...

...until I speak up to say that he's actually owned and operated his company SINCE HE WAS TEN. This is what makes him special and interesting and awesome. He's been incorporated since he was 14 or 15 (his parents can't remember). He owned equipment before he was legally allowed to drive it to each job. But this is my very favorite...HE STILL HAS HIS FIRST CUSTOMER. 

I can't with that.

So I felt like Year 20 should be a big deal for BLC. And to kick off our 20th season in business, I thought taking it back to the beginning might be helpful for some of our newer friends and customers...people know he's the 'Grass' part of 'Glitter and Grass' but maybe aren't really sure how we ended up owning a lawn care company.

Let me set the scene for you. The year is 1999. Josh is in the midst of an All-American summer...jumping on the trampoline with his brothers; orchestrating water gun fights; riding his bike to the nearest Casey's to buy donuts and Mt. Dew with friends...oh, and also becoming a legitimate business owner at the ripe old age of 10.

Most 10-year-olds just save their birthday money to pay for candy at Bible Camp, but not Josh Boersma. He'd been an entrepreneur for years at this point...authoring books to market and sell to friends...catching snakes to travel door-to-door 'selling' to the neighbors. His little entrepreneurial spirit was so obvious at such a young age, and it wasn't something he was taught (though it was encouraged!). 

He's never filled out a timesheet...never had a 'boss' in the traditional sense of the word...to my knowledge he's never filled out any kind of legal employee paperwork. Sometimes when he's had a hard day I try and picture him finishing his degree and entering the workforce and it's laughable...because I just cannot picture him putting on nice clothes, leaving for work at 7:30 in the morning and getting home at 5:30, while someone else tells him what to do (and how to do it) for the hours in between.

*Disclaimer* There is absolutely nothing laughable about the scenario I just described. It's honorable, hard work to provide for a family this way...however, after 20 years of being his own boss, I'm not sure it's in Josh's nature to ever work for anyone besides his own customers.

Until Josh was able to drive himself, his mom helped load his push-mower into the back of her 1996 maroon Ford Windstar (which was the family's main mode of transportation now permanently smelled like gasoline) for the mowing route each week. He pushed his mower to accounts within walking distance. Bills were written on notebook paper and slipped inside mailboxes or front doors. Josh kept meticulous notes about each lawn he cared for...how long it took, what he should do differently next time, etc. Bookkeeping was accomplished using a green, wide-ruled, spiral-bound notebook. 

Simpler times. 

All while his mom waited for him inside the van...in the middle of an Iowa summer. Windows cranked, foot stuck outside, novel in hand. The more mom's I tell this story to, the more I hear say, 'I don't think I could do that for my kid.' This business was (and still is!) a family affair.

With a few seasons under his belt, Josh had made enough money to cover his expenses, his giving, and even extras like skydiving and as many snacks as he wanted at Bible Camp. He started hiring his friends and his brothers as his employees so he could take on more work. Once he was 16 he no longer needed mom to drive him to accounts, so he bought the Windstar from his parents; purchased a small trailer (which he still uses!); and added his first zero-turn mower to the growing fleet, a Gravely 152Z. I don't think I've ever known anyone to love a piece of equipment more. He had his senior pictures taken with this mower. When he sold it a couple years ago because he'd upgraded (twice) and we didn't have room to keep it just for sentimental reasons, he was weirdly sad to let it go. It was kind of his first baby.

By this time, his mom's adorable backyard gardening shed had been completely taken over for use as "BLC Headquarters," and this is the part of the story where I know Patti Boersma is an actual saint. This is also why I spent the better part of last summer transforming it back to its former glory, the only way I could offer my retroactive apology.

In high school Josh spent summers alternating between roofing with a crew of friends and mowing. He was up at 6am and worked six days a week, 8-14 hours a day depending on the weather, as both of those industries do (remember, this is a high school boy in the summer...'sleeping in' and 'video games' have never been part of Josh's lifestyle). Both track and cross country overlap mowing season in the spring and fall, so he'd go run five miles at practice, mow until dark, then go home to finish his homework. He somehow managed a perfect grade-point average + offers from multiple colleges to run. 

Despite better offers, he chose to come run at Iowa State (I think) because he wanted to continue running the business he'd spent the past eight years building. And this was still doable driving from Ames to Ankeny a couple days a week to keep his eye on things. His collegiate running career was short-lived due to injuries but this is the part of the story where I come in!

When I met Josh in August of 2007, I remember a couple of things...an insane farmer's tan from mowing in cutoffs all summer; the blondest hair I'd ever seen in my life, also from being outside all summer; and a work ethic that was almost maddening. His declared degree, Agricultural Systems Technology was the antithesis of mine (Art and Design), and his 'fashion-sense' was non-existent. It was not love at first sight. We spent a year telling friends we didn't like each other 'like that,' the subsequent year admitting to friends we actually did once we started dating, spent six months engaged...and then on June 19th, 2010 I became wife to this Titan of the Lawn Care Industry.

Josh's advisor encouraged him to do an internship with 'himself' and Boersma Lawn Care in the semester leading up to our wedding. He created a logo, a Google Business profile, ordered business cards from VistaPrint, and also planned a honeymoon. He was the first person I knew to get a smartphone, but unlike most people, its sole purpose was for tracking the weather to could keep mowing as long as possible leading up to a storm...always finding ways to be more and more efficient to provide the best service to his customer's. It was around this time that Josh took classes to become a certified chemical applicator to take steps toward making BLC a full-service lawn care company.

{photography by kayeileenphotography}

For the first time in more than a decade of owning Boersma Lawn Care, Josh was able to run his business on a full-time basis and as it turns out, wouldn't return to college. Many years the grass-growing season lasts through November...there wasn't really a way for him to do both, so we agreed running this business together would become our life's work. We created a Facebook page...printed door-hangers and fliers to canvas neighborhoods...and had shirts made with the phrase, 'Don't worry, it will grow back' printed on the back. We spent approximately one season 'marketing' and haven't done it since because too. many. people. want him.

Josh found even more ways to diversify BLC in the years that followed. He continued to perfect his work as an applicator, but also took classes to obtain his license as a certified backflow tester. This meant he was able to test backflow devices; start-up + shut-down irrigation systems; and fix any irrigation-related issues that came up for customers during the season. Josh found this to be work he enjoyed a bit more because it gave him the opportunity to connect with his customers on a more personal level. Josh also spent the past ten years gradually growing BLC's snow removal division...which is now a fairly large operation for us in the winter months. This spring Josh became a proud board member of the Iowa Professional Lawn Care Association (IPLCA) and plans to use that platform to educate his customers and further the support of the turf care industry.

And did I mention we flipped a couple properties in the middle of all of this? Please don't ask about it because we both have home renovation PTSD, but BLC owns a handful of rental properties as well.

{photography by kayeileenphotography}

Now BLC exists and grows strictly by customer referral...typically neighbors who spread the word about how much they like 'Josh their lawn guy.' We don't even have a website because we've never needed one, the people just keep calling. To quote Josh's favorite movie, "If you build it, they will come." We have the best customer's and our retention rate proves that the love affair goes both ways. To be able to say we've had many of the same customers for the past 15-20 years is something we take great pride in. 

Every year we turn away so much work in order to keep our loyal, current customers our #1 priority...our job is to take care of them first, company growth has always come second. Ten years ago when Josh went full-time with BLC, he knew if we grew faster than we could handle, it would mean trouble...so the name of the game has always been balance. It meant choosing our customer's wisely and taking on just enough to be able to sustain our high standards, while steadily achieving balanced growth, depending on how many qualified employees we've been able hire.

And it's a known fact that our biggest struggle has always been finding employees to help carry the BLC workload. Josh's standard is perfection. His work ethic is unmatched. He is faster and more efficient than any employee will ever be because he's simply been doing it longer than anyone else (we hear this is a common struggle for almost everyone who owns a business, specifically in the service industry). This year we have a full-time, licensed chemical applicator, along with two mowing crews and for the first time in 20 years Josh is sitting in the management seat...something he has a love-hate relationship with. He's been able to send out more quotes to new customers; communicate more effectively with his current customer's; and coordinate jobs BLC was never able to take on in the past. It became impossible for Josh to be the owner/operator AND the only full-time employee, though somehow he managed to pull it off for nearly a decade.

Because there's no 'off switch' to his entrepreneur brain, Josh purchased a skid loader this spring so BLC would be equipped to take on more landscaping work than ever before. Three semi-loads of mulch later tells us that this was apparently something our customer's were craving. We're thrilled to be able to offer more landscaping, brush clearing, tree work, and snow removal services to the people we love serving.

My part of this business is what I like to call 'Chaos Coordinator.' Since we had Mav, I became a stay-at-home-mom who also manages the day-to-day crazy at 'BLC HQ'...this means invoicing/bookkeeping; stocking the fridge with plenty of Monster and breakfast sandwiches; cleaning out the trucks; and replenishing first aid, bug spray, and sunscreen supplies for Josh + employees. I run Josh's errands and return voicemails during naptime. I post to our social media platforms when Josh sends me interesting pictures and I handled our new logo/branding project + the very little 'marketing' we do with signs, truck decals, and small chemical signs. I frequently place Amazon Prime orders for things like multi-tools, snow stakes, and rain gauges. As a 'creative' this work is not really in my wheelhouse, and many of you know the bookkeeping part of my job description has come with a learning curve. I'd like to simultaneously apologize and offer my thanks for kindly pointing out little mistakes when I make them and graciously allowing me the change to fix them. Like I said...we know our customers are the best.

20 years in this business hasn't been easy. It's meant more 90+ hour weeks than we care to admit; an insane amount of determination; and pure hustle (if you've seen Josh 'walk' while he's out working, you know he gives a new definition to the word hustle). Josh has missed countless holiday's, weddings, birthday/bachelor parties...he's generally been unable to attend social engagements from March through November. Because this is the hustle and drive that got us to his end goal...running his company from his office while at home enjoying his family.

Hiring, then training new employees, starting irrigation systems, testing and filing backflow information, and navigating the spring rain always creates a perfect storm for us, but this year has been a slightly different story. Though he's working, Josh has been HOME so much more, giving us some semblance of what a healthy work-life balance might look like. We've spent actual weekends together as a family; taken more trips than we did in the first eight years of our marriage combined; and had some time to enjoy our busy Maverick while he tears around our acreage on his Gator.

So this is our story. This is how Boersma Lawn Care began. It's not exciting and glamorous...there were no big investors or start-up campaigns or 'network marketing' incentives...no social media posts or sponsored Google/Facebook/Instagram ads to get people to hire Josh. He started when he was ten and he's just so darn good at what he does, it 'stuck.' 

Of course ten-year-old Josh probably didn't have the foresight to imagine this business would grow to something so big that one day it would support his family...the families of his employees...college kids paying for school...donations to excellent nonprofit organizations. He was just a kid who wanted to make some money to buy a new bike. Ever since I've known Josh all he's ever wanted was to take care of his family and make enough to give more away. He's so unwavering, focused, and driven, most don't get to see his unbelievably kind and generous side. 

Sometimes I forget that this is my very favorite story to tell. And that's why I wanted to share it here.

{photography by kayeileenphotography}

If you've been a customer in the past, are a customer in this present season, or are interested in being added to Josh's quote (waiting) list for the future...we are so grateful for your support of our small business. We appreciate you hiring a small, family-owned business over a large business or a franchise-chain. Every time someone shares our name with their friend or neighbor, it tells me you see how hard Josh works...it says you care about hiring a company that directly supports a family. I'm literally moved to tears thinking about the amazing life we get to live because you like us enough to hire us for your lawn care + property maintenance services. 

Clearly I came up with a few, but there really aren't enough words to express our gratitude.

If you see Josh in your yard this year, would you go pat him on the back and tell him congratulations on his 20th season in business?

Thanks for celebrating with us,
Josh, Mollie, & Maverick Boersma

{photography by kayeileenphotography}