DeKalb High School teen’s lawn care business celebrates 1 year

CORTLAND – Fifteen-year-old Justin Harley is putting in the work when he isn’t busy with his studies. So much so that he’s already seeing the return on investment in his lawn care business.

The Cortland resident and DeKalb High School student said business, Justin’s Lawn Service, is faring well.

“This year, I’ve probably grown 50, 60%,” Harley said. “I got almost double the bookings I had last year. There’s really good word of mouth through Facebook and Whatnot. This is real exciting for me. So, I’m happy.”

On Tuesday, Harley was joined by his family, Sycamore Chamber members and community members to mark his business’ one-year anniversary of serving DeKalb County with a ribbon-cutting.

Harley also is as a member of the Genoa Chamber of Commerce and is planning to become a member of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce.

The idea behind starting Justin’s Lawn Service was conceived about this time last year.

Harley credited his family for helping him to get the experience he needed to start his own business.

“When I was younger, I started mowing my grandmother’s yard and her neighbor’s yard,” Harley said. “I learned doing that [over] the years with my grandfather. I just dove head in getting experience as I went in. I like to say I’m pretty knowledgeable in what I do now.”

Harley said people generally have nice things to say about his lawn service.

“A lot of people have positive reviews,” Harley said. “I’ve had very few calls saying, ‘Hey, can you come back and fix this?’ Other than that, I have pretty good reviews. If something doesn’t go right to the customer’s satisfaction, I go back and fix it for free.”

Harley said his stable of equipment has come a long way over the past year. He started out with a 21-inch Toro push lawnmower, then moved to a 48-inch garden tractor. Now, he said he uses a John Deere 48-inch zero-turn riding lawnmower for his clients.

Justin’s Lawn Service will be expanding to include snow removal in the winter months.

“We’re going to start that this year,” Harley said. “I did it somewhat last year. This winter we’re going to really do it.”