Starting a business can be challenging, and starting one young can be even harder. Aiden Griffis is 18 and didn’t let age get in the way of his lawn business
“We both had football, so it’s kind of hard to, like, have a strict schedule with an actual job,” Griffis said. “We applied to places like Tropical Smoothie, and it just never like it never ended up working out with the scheduling, especially with football. So, we kind of had our own schedule. So landscaping kind of just works perfectly because we can make our own schedule.”
Griffis began his journey as an entrepreneur when he was 17. He calls his business Griffis Landscaping.
“It was like my first job, actually, I worked in Tennessee for my uncle because he did landscape,” Griffis said. “And I worked for him, and I mowed lawns for him when I was seven years old. And then I started my own at my house after that. And it just kind of was fun.”
You just get to be outside all day, put headphones on, mow lawns. I mean, it doesn’t really get much better than that.
Now with a growing list of clients, Griffis has evolved his business beyond just mowing.
“We have a good number of mowing clients this year, but we also started doing like more of landscaping,” Griffis said. “Projects, like flower beds, rock and storm drains. We are doing kind of like larger, like higher ticket sales basically. Like just bigger projects.”
And becoming rooted in the community through his landscaping business. He’s been able to make lasting relationships.
“It feels great to be honest. Especially when you see old people. I get a lot of older people that say hey I can’t mow my lawn anymore or I’m physically not capable to bend over and pick weeds all day. So, it honestly, it just feels good to like, be able to go out there and just help people like that.
“I’ve met, this one lady in particular. We have this kind of relationship. She’s really nice. I help her out. We go to her house weekly, and we help her with weeding. We help her with mowing, and, it just feels great because she always comes outside and she gives us some fresca and water. So it’s nice to be honest.”
But starting your own business doesn’t come out without its challenges and Griffis has faced some.
“It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be, for sure,” Griffis said. “With the scheduling making sure clients are happy and just keeping up with communication. I feel like communicating was the biggest thing I had to learn and get good at staying in touch with all the people.
“I would say to younger people who want to start a business a lot of the big services that are the bigger services here in town, I’m not going to say any names, but you talk to the owner once. I see a lot of complaints all the time about people not showing up, or they meet the owner once and then you’re going to have somebody that you never know who’s doing your lawn every week.”