By Jack Henry

High school students earn money in a variety of ways. Some students take the traditional route of getting a low-earning job at a restaurant or grocery store, while others take matters into their own hands. That is exactly what Max McManus (‘22) set out to do over the summer of 2021, with the creation of his own lawn care business, known as McManus Lawn Care. 

McManus cites his inspiration for the company to be from his father, who ran a similar business in his high school years. McManus says his father nudged him into the work, telling him to give it a try, since it is easy money for a teenage boy. In fact, McManus’ father was the first person to advertise the company, posting an advertisement on NextDoor.com, a website used by households across the country to communicate with neighbors about everything from local crime to lawn care businesses. 

“Reputation is the most important thing in the lawn care industry,” McManus stated, “with trust and publicity from former clients, it propels us into more jobs with better pay.” This is what he says was his major incentive to do his best work for each and every client, regardless the difficulty of the job or the circumstances of work.

McManus started the business as a solo endeavor by completing tasks such as mulching and mowing the lawns of neighbors who needed it, at a price that was competitive with the big names in the industry. Soon after, he began to receive more offers. He eventually became tired of working by himself, causing him to enlist some help from friends. Although he started the business with the sole intent of profit, it quickly turned into something else. He found that hiring friends such as Will Edwards (‘22) and Ian Quindoza (‘22), helped him manage the workload. With the addition of two close friends to the company, McManus says that he began to have more fun while working, and that “sometimes it didn’t even feel like I was working at all.” 

With more employees, McManus needed to delegate the workload. He retained the role of President and CEO, and delegated other positions to his most trusted employees. Edwards eventually became the Vice President and self-proclaimed “Mulch Scientist.” 

On the job.

According to McManus, Edwards has been “crucial in the success of the company,” with his marketing skills being a main factor in their capabilities of finding new opportunities for work in different areas around the Richmond area. 

Edwards has a different story on how the company was founded, “Max did one or two jobs by himself, and then we decided to run things together” said Edwards. In fact, Edwards claims that the initial name of the company was supposed to be McManus-Edwards Lawn Care, but “Max changed it because he thought it sounded better as just ‘McManus Lawn Care’ and that wasn’t something I wanted to argue about.” Edwards talked about some of the difficulties of the job in his Senior Speech on December 9, 2021 during an Upper School Assembly, specifically focusing on difficult clients and how he was able to continue working with them. While it is still unclear whether or not the initial name was supposed to include Edwards, it is clear that he was integral to the success of the company either way.

Taking a break.

Quindoza joined the company a few weeks after its initial launch, and was named the Head of the Human Resources Department. “The HR part has been easy,” stated Quindoza, citing that he often forgets that he is even the department head, since there are so few complaints. “Of course, there are difficult customers here and there, but we try to manage them as best as possible,” Quindoza said. 

With nearly every employee continuing on to college next year, McManus Lawn Care will be left in the care of Social Media Manager Ryan Holdych (‘24), who runs the company’s Instagram account. Holdych became involved with the company through his older brother Cam (‘22). Holdych had no comment on the future of the company, but he will certainly have much to manage in the coming years. 

McManus wants to continue the business into the Spring and Summer of 2022, and you can follow and contact McManus Lawn Care through their instagram. 

Photos courtesy of McManus Lawn Care’s instagram.