FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Jay's Lawn Care based out of Fayetteville has received a $10,000 grant from the Jobber Grant Program.
Jay Rawls is the owner of the home service business working on Northwest Arkansas landscapes. Rawls says his business grew out of his love working outside and his entrepreneurship.
"We're taking care of residential properties for the most part, for the maintenance side, and sometimes we do light landscaping jobs," Rawls said.
Jay's Lawn Care started three years ago with Rawls as a solo operator. It has now grown into a three-person operation in two crews. The owner employs a marketing strategy that is quite simple: yard signs, Google, and word of mouth. It may be too good though as it's created a good problem.
"We're getting a lot of referrals and a lot of people that want to work with us. But one of our obstacles has been we haven't had the capacity to meet the demand," Rawls explained.
Jobber is a software service that aims to help home service businesses succeed. Moly Milosovic is the Head of Community for Jobber.
"We try to automate and streamline all the admin parts of doing their work so that they can focus on actually doing the very skilled work that only they can do," Milosovic said.
The software company extends their mission into their Jobber Grant Program. In four years, they've given $600,000 to 100 home service businesses.
"There aren't necessarily grants out there specifically for them, if they're looking for funding. A lot of grants out there are for retail restaurants. But these people are doing really important work, but they almost are invisible sometimes," Milosovic said.
Jay's Lawn Care is the latest grant recipient receiving a $10,000 grant. Milosovic explains his business stood out because it was a "complete package." She says his business had grown significantly in three years and that his profit-sharing model made him stand out.
Milosovic adds that his application came with specific ways that he would use his grant and how he could grow from it.
"When we looked at his business from a career perspective, from his team perspective, he's really big on mentorship," Milosovic said.
"It's helping them know that they are making what they should be making and being rewarded for their hard work," Rawls said.
Rawls added that he's going to use the money to grow and meet his demand. He'll soon be adding a new truck to his growing fleet.
"This is going to help us so much. Be able to get another workshop and get another crew out on the road so we can customize our routing and be able to get to everybody in an efficient manner," Rawls explained.
For any home service businesses interested, Jobber says anyone can apply, it's not just limited to those who use their service. Milosovic said the applications typically open up in the spring with two phases in the process. Entrepreneurs can apply at jobbergrants.com.
You can get in touch with Jay's Lawn Care at their website or by calling or texting 479-308-8450.
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