Today we’d like to introduce you to Connor Evans.
Hi Connor, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I got involved in maintenance services at a young age during high school, working all day throughout the summers. I would typically work 40-50 hours a week almost every week during the summer for my family’s property management company. My pay was $8 an hour, and it increased $2 per summer. My dad purchased us a used 1989 Chevy Silverado for a few thousand dollars (which we still have to this day!) called the Beast. I would drive this along with 1-2 friends everyday performing an assortment of services like mowing, drainage issues, litter cleanup, plantings, scrap metal removal, etc. Whatever the various communities needed. I would also routinely make and pass out flyers in mailboxes for landscaping or snow services to see what additional work we can get on the side. This year, we will pass $1M in annual revenue.
I decided to then register and open a proper separate company of my own in 2014, during my time at college. While studying Economics and Entrepreneurship with a taste of Landscape Architecture, my summers and weekends mostly looked the same as in high school, with me returning home to work on the business. I also had hired friends who worked various days throughout the week while I was at school which I had to manage. Very quickly I had the responsibilities of payroll, insurance, overhead, rent, equipment issues, personnel hiring and all other aspects of owning a small business on my shoulders.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Its never smooth starting out a business from nothing. If people say it is, they are not being honest, or maybe a unicorn in their space. Many people will never understand the responsibility on the shoulders of a small business owner. Like most business owners, I had sleepless nights, worries of funding payroll, worries of jobs not being right, equipment challenges, planning challenges, insurance issues, trucks breaking down, losing money on countless jobs but having to finish them the right way, marketing costs, personnel issues, and much more.
We’ve been impressed with Faircut Services LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Our business specializes in commercial landscape, hardscape, and snow management. We take pride in our work, and are not just a “mow and go” company. We price ourselves on the higher end and certainly lose work because of it, but offering a maintenance package which is going to truly keep a place in great looking condition year round requires staff with experience, clean uniforms, well maintained trucks and equipment, supervisor walkthroughs, and much more behind the scenes. We never try to nickel and dime clients due to this, where if something is a little extra work but will make a difference, we will take care of it. We want to offer the one stop shop package, and when a client hires us, knows there will be no service issues on their property.
In the past few years, we have gotten into bamboo removal, which many clients are eager to get rid of. With many townships passing ordinances banning it, or requiring the outright removal of it on property lines, we have nearly a full time crew doing only this. Bamboo removal is extremely labor intensive, and requires the proper equipment to fully remove it, or install containment.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I want to reiterate that most people, even close friends and family, will never understand what it is like to own a growing small business, especially a service business which can only scale by hiring more people. The responsibility and mental burden is immense and unrelenting, but it is the price we pay for the freedom it gives us. What’s surprising is that entrepreneurs, including myself, kind of love and thrive in that burden, and cannot function with out a life of doing 100 things at once.
For example, if my day is not filled with problem solving, invoicing, estimates, dealing with job site issues, all while simultaneously training for my black belt in BJJ, spending time with a growing family, paying bills, fitting in a round of golf during the week, and playing competitive basketball at night, I do not feel fulfilled and feel like I left something on the table that day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.faircutservices.com
- Instagram: @faircutservices
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@faircutservicesllc
