Eat, sleep, mow. It is the motto of 18 year old Steven Crandall, who started a lawn service with his younger brother 4 years ago. Not exactly by choice.
Steven Crandall says, "My mom, brother and I were eating dinner one night and she told us we needed to start earning our own money." The boys took it seriously. Steven eventually took over.
This year, Crandall Brothers Lawn Service should rake in about $50,000 dollars. It's money their single mother says goes a long way. Deborah Crandall says, "They're able to do things that I would have had to say, 'You know we don't have the money to do that', so now they can do that."
So can their friends, who make up Steven's 10 person staff. Steven cuts them in on the wealth, paying each about 15 bucks an hour. Matt Crandall says, "Here's guys making $6 an hour, having to work everyday after school and we work Friday, Saturday and we make double what they do." Employee Bobby Schneider says, "All the friends who don't get to work for Steven are definitely jealous and they're trying to call him everyday and they're trying to get on."
For the lucky ones, hitting paydirt means contributing to the college fund...and other, more fun things. Employee Tyler Hanberry says, "It's allowed me to save up and pay for part of my car, that my dad just bought me and I had to pay the tax on it, and save for what I want to do with it, hang out with my friends, pay for my girlfriend."
Steven says the business earned him a TCU Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and a $10,000 scholarship. It's far from where they started. Before Steven and Matt could drive, they would push the lawn equipment through the neighborhoods to their jobs, sometimes half a mile. Now that same job has paid for their works cars..and more. Steven Crandall says, "It's pretty cool to go to work each week with a bunch of guys. And we're all friends, just have fun, working and making lots of money."
Steven Crandall says, "My mom, brother and I were eating dinner one night and she told us we needed to start earning our own money." The boys took it seriously. Steven eventually took over.
This year, Crandall Brothers Lawn Service should rake in about $50,000 dollars. It's money their single mother says goes a long way. Deborah Crandall says, "They're able to do things that I would have had to say, 'You know we don't have the money to do that', so now they can do that."
So can their friends, who make up Steven's 10 person staff. Steven cuts them in on the wealth, paying each about 15 bucks an hour. Matt Crandall says, "Here's guys making $6 an hour, having to work everyday after school and we work Friday, Saturday and we make double what they do." Employee Bobby Schneider says, "All the friends who don't get to work for Steven are definitely jealous and they're trying to call him everyday and they're trying to get on."
For the lucky ones, hitting paydirt means contributing to the college fund...and other, more fun things. Employee Tyler Hanberry says, "It's allowed me to save up and pay for part of my car, that my dad just bought me and I had to pay the tax on it, and save for what I want to do with it, hang out with my friends, pay for my girlfriend."
Steven says the business earned him a TCU Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and a $10,000 scholarship. It's far from where they started. Before Steven and Matt could drive, they would push the lawn equipment through the neighborhoods to their jobs, sometimes half a mile. Now that same job has paid for their works cars..and more. Steven Crandall says, "It's pretty cool to go to work each week with a bunch of guys. And we're all friends, just have fun, working and making lots of money."
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