Student Mows Grass To Make Cash

Mowing lawns has been a staple summer job for teenagers for centuries, a push mower and an edger and a few hours on the weekend is all it used to take to support a teen looking for extra cash. Senior Alden Hall has always had a love for working outside and took his love for helping neighbors with lawn care and random projects and turned it into his own small business.

Hall has always been a “handy-man”, working for neighbors doing anything from building, landscaping to small construction products since before he could drive.

“Working for my neighbors on our private road is something that I have always loved, ever since I could pick up a chainsaw or reach the pedals on a mower,” Hall said. “Working on as many projects as I could get involved in around our neighborhood taught me a lot at a young age, and got me interested in what I’m doing today.”

Hall always thought about starting his own business, he was fascinated with entrepreneurship and small business ownership. When he turned 16 and got his license and truck, Hall began borrowing trailers to complete projects and new jobs.

Alden Hall Landscaping was born after Hall realized how serious he was about starting a business and how possible it was for him to do this. The first thing he did was buy the biggest trailer he could afford to move equipment and supplies.

“It has been one of my best purchases, and I put over 5,000 miles on it last year. Right before the mowing season started last year, I bought a new mower to really get my business going,” Hall said. “I started working for people that I know, and it quickly took off from there. I got an advertisement in the big Madison HOA pages and that is when I really got a lot of work to tackle.”

Hall officially became a business owner on Aug. 10, 2020. He had to get his Madison City license and business insurance and by doing so he was making his small business a reality.

“It felt great to finally be official, it opened many doors to new opportunities,” Hall said. “Trying to build a business as a teenager has been a lot of work. Making my business official was probably the hardest part. Many adults do not take people my age seriously, getting answers to my questions about establishing a business was tough.”

Hall has had nothing but support from family, especially his grandparents. His friends as well have been there along the way, helping with big jobs or coming over to help load materials. Hall is grateful for the amount of support and love he has seen since starting his business.

“My business has grown quite a bit since I started. I went from having a few yards to cut and steady building orders to a rotation of 15 yards a week and a waiting list for landscaping and deck jobs. Since the beginning of last summer, I have had a steady increase in work,” Hall said. “I have been tackling bigger and bigger jobs. There is never a time when I have no work to do and I have been blessed to be able to recently expand with new commercial equipment.”

While he has come a long way since his neighborhood projects, Hall still knows he has a lot of room to grow. He currently has his truck and trailer, an entry-level commercial Cub Cadet Ztx4 zero turn mower, a triple bagger, a Hustler Fastrak, a Cub Cadet Xt1, a John Deere Walk Behind Mower, a Husqvarna backpack blower, push mowers and gas edgers and string trimmers. He also rents equipment from tractors to mini excavators frequently for bigger jobs.

“I hope to continue to grow this business, and possibly expand into an LLC eventually. I am an entrepreneur at heart, so I would love to see Alden Hall Landscaping tackling large jobs with multiple crews someday,” Hall said. “I do not picture myself being a day to day worker forever, but I would love to manage this business on the side of my actual career.”