Nick and Angie Bahr are thrilled to be operating their business, Madison Lawn Care of Sioux Falls, out of their newly constructed building located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Prior to owning this location, the business rented space in Sioux Falls. Great Western Bank in Madison assisted the Bahr’s with a conventional loan and First District Development Company partnered with an SBA 504 loan.
Today, Madison Lawn Care’s operations are much different than the way it originally began. The business started when Nick was just a pre-teen entrepreneur mowing lawns with a borrowed mower in his hometown of Madison, South Dakota. Throughout his high school years, Nick’s business grew steadily, both in number of customers and in number of services offered. During his senior year in high school, Nick joined the South Dakota Army National Guard. After completing basic training, Nick attended a technical school. A year and a half into his degree, Nick’s unit was activated to be sent to Iraq. Nick put school on hold and found help to take care of his lawn care and snow removal business. Nick returned home a year and a half later to complete his education.
At this point in time Nick had a good stock of his own lawn care equipment and a list of 50 lawn care customers. After Nick and Angie were married, they started to work on the lawn care business as a team—adding even more services, comprehensive customer service, and hiring full-time employees. In fact, some of the employees, who were hired while attending college or technical school, have stuck with Nick and Angie after graduation realizing they wanted to make this job their career. Having such a committed and excellent team in place motivated Nick and Angie to expand into Sioux Falls in 2015.
Madison Lawn Care of Sioux Falls was able to enter the Sioux Falls market effectively by purchasing an existing customer list and a non-compete agreement from a lawn care company that had been operating for ten years. Upon entering the Sioux Falls market, Madison Lawn Care operated out of a rented location. With the move into the new location, in 2018, Nick and Angie gained equity in real estate they now own. The also increased square footage—going from 2,000 interior square feet of rented space to the 12,000 square foot new building, as well as, gained efficiencies in the daily operation of the business.
Even though the scope of the business has changed immensely since Nick’s days of mowing lawns with his borrowed mower, the principals he built the business on have not changed—maintaining a positive reputation and being dependable. Today, between Madison Lawn Care in Madison and Madison Lawn Care in Sioux Falls, the business provides their services to a broad range of communities in southeastern South Dakota, spanning from Howard to Harrisburg. Between the two locations, which both operate all year, the business services thousands of customers. Madison Lawn Care offers complete lawn care and outdoor maintenance services such as: lawn fertilization, weed control, landscaping, sprinkler systems, snow removal, custom holiday lighting, and more. By offering a broad spectrum of services, Madison Lawn Care has a competitive edge. Their customers enjoy working with one company year-round for their lawn care, landscape, and snow removal needs. By offering year-round services Madison Lawn Care is able to employ and retain quality and highly educated employees who have a desire for long-term employment. This benefits their customers by enabling their team members to build continuous relationships with the customers.
