MANSFIELD — Alec Schmitz has been a businessman for four years … and he’s only 16.
At 12, he started mowing yards — first his family’s, then his neighbor’s.
“(The business) just took off like crazy,” he said.
He now has 25 weekly lawn-care accounts that he manages for his business, A to Z Lawn Care.
“Being an entrepreneur kind of runs in the family,” the Mansfield Christian School student said. “It’s in our blood.”
His father, Dwight Schmitz, co-owns Cement Products, Inc., a fourth-generation, family-owned business. According to Dwight, Alec isn’t afraid of work hard.
“He’s the most responsible kid I know,” Dwight said. “He’s an entrepreneur at heart and he has a good work ethic, so hard work comes naturally for him.”
Dwight was able to show Alec the ropes of mowing and landscaping (edging, mulching and trimming) — the two main components of Alec’s business.
“Once he learned it, he was pretty much self-sufficient,” Dwight said.
This past school year, Alec was able to sharpen his skills as an entrepreneur by participating in the Young Entrepreneurs Academy.
YEA is a nine-month program that guides students in grades six through 12 through the process of starting a real business, including developing a business plan, pitching an investor panel, obtaining funding, launching the venture, managing media campaigns, e-commerce and web development, sales events, and trade shows.
Students, ages 11 to 18, are taught to recognize the power of their ideas and to develop the skills necessary to turn those ideas into meaningful enterprises.
“It was a lot fun and I got a lot of business experience out of it,” Alec said. “The biggest thing I think it helped with was my networking ability.
“I look forward to the future with all the knowledge I obtained from it.”
The six students who participated in the YEA program heard from local professionals, including CEOs, attorneys, tax specialists and accountants.
“We had so many people come in and give us advice and share about their experience,” Alec said. “We had tons of information thrown at us, but it was great.”
Dwight was glad to see his son becp,e a part of the program and glean invaluable experience from it.
“I think it was a wonderful thing,” Dwight said.
Alec said he’s picked up three or four accounts this year, bringing his total up to 25. He currently serves primarily the Ontario area, but he’d like to expand his reach to neighboring communities in the future.
He’s also working on hiring his first employee.
“When I go to college, I hope it’ll be fully employed and I can just manage it,” he said.
To request lawn care services from A to Z Lawn Care, contact Alec at alec4mowing@gmail.com.
