Entrepreneur discovers thrill of the grass

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This article was published 16/04/2018 (2941 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

From a pair of broken down lawn mowers, Simon Rosas-Leon has created a small empire.

“I started off when I was 13 years old, and I found a few lawnmowers on Free Day,” explains Rosas-Leon.

With a little help from his father, Rosas-Leon fixed up the lawn mowers and hit the streets.
“I was so happy that I’d fixed them that I pushed them around the neighbourhood, knocking on doors asking people if I could cut their grass for free,” said Rosas-Leon, who is now 19. “I probably did a few week of that before thinking, Hey, I could do this as a business.”

When he was 16 and attending Miles Macdonell Collegiate, Rosas-Leon decided to get serious about his lawn care business, which up to that point he’d called, simply, Simon’s Lawn Care.
“I was just a little guy, but I had to go to the business office, get the registration and insurance,” he said. “They don’t really teach you that stuff at school.”

Now, Top Notch Yard Care is a city wide venture that offers commercial and residential lawn care, small landscaping and vegetation control. In the winter, they do snow removal. And it’s still very much a family business.

“My dad did partner up when I was 16 to help me get started,” Rosas-Leon said. “My younger brothers, in the summer when they’re not in school, they help me.”

As a Grade 12 student at Miles Mac, Rosas-Leon took part in the high school apprenticeship program, as an apprentice with ABC Power Tools (201 Regent Ave. W).

“They taught me a lot, and you meet a lot of people, which is the best thing ever,” Rosas-Leon said. “I love talking to people and getting to know them, and I do like the physical labour.”

Rosas-Leon spent his Grade 12 year taking the Manitoba Arborists’ training and licensing course on Monday nights at the University of Manitoba.

“A lot of people would ask if I could do their trees,” he said. “So I became an arborist.  I learned a lot about trees and soil and water management.”

That can-do attitude exemplifies what Rosas-Leon has aimed to achieve since he started Simon’s Lawn Care back in 2012. He said it’s his customers that are driving the growth of his business, alongside his desire to learn.

“I like to know everyone’s name and talk to them, get to know them,” he said. “And I love learning things. There’s so much here to learn. I’ve only just scratched the surface.”

For more information, visit www.topnotchenterprises.ca