Today we’d like to introduce you to Evan Wills.
Hi Evan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Our company was started in 1984 by my dad, Richard Wills, providing solely tree services while my mom, Paula, managed the office. I started working with my dad during summers while in school. After graduation I started my own business specializing in lawn care and continued to work for my dad while I slowly grew my business, initially working afternoons and weekends until I had enough work to run my business full time. My younger brother, Nate, joined the team in 2014 when he graduated and worked for both businesses. In 2018, we decided to merge and become a comprehensive property maintenance company. We’ve continued to grow our equipment and services list since.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been many struggles over the years. A consistent struggle is finding reliable help. We value our employees and make it a priority to pay fair wages but continue to have high turnover and low application rates. One of the reasons for high turnover is also one of the challenges of what we do which is working long days in the elements. Extreme heat, rain, wind, cold and snow can make our line of work difficult and sometimes dangerous. Mother nature also plays a large role in the stability of the business. Droughts lead to less mowing or snowfall for plowing and too much rain can lead to overly saturated unfavorable mowing conditions. There are a lot of uncontrollable external factors that lead to unpredictability of income year to year.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We take a lot of pride in the quality of our work and always strive to go above expectations, even if that means putting in extra time and effort that negatively impacts our bottom line. Our goal is to leave a jobsite and feel like we’ve done the best work we can for our customer. This pride and effort are what have allowed us to grow our business and services list over the years. In regard to tree work, we have a particular expertise in proper tree pruning and shaping ensuring the health and aesthetics of trees. We also provide full tree removal services including stump grinding. Initially our lawn care services included mowing and weed whacking but has grown to include comprehensive lawn maintenance and sports field maintenance including mowing, weed whacking, aeration and overseeding, fertilization, weed control, and brush hogging. We perform landscaping installation including edging, mulching, and planting. We’ve recently added baseball field renovations and maintenance to our skillset. In the fall we offer leaf removal services and then commercial snow plowing services in the winter.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Networking for us has not been intentional. We genuinely enjoy taking time with our customers, their neighbors, employees at our service sites, etc. and having real conversations with them. No matter how busy we are we always take the time to talk to people, learn more about them and build rapport. Often this leads to recurrent work and referrals. We also network with other local companies and take time to build relationships with them. If there are services we can’t provide, we make sure to offer referrals to other companies. We find that if you take the time to build real relationships then the work can follow.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.willspropertymaintenance.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willspropertymaintenance.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/willspropertymaintenance
