Every entrepreneur faces the same decision at one point in their career: Should I take the leap and strike out on my own, or should I continue to play it safe?

At ROCeteer, we are honored that we get to work with people every day who are bold enough to take the first option, no matter where it leads.

Today, we’re starting an article series that interviews entrepreneurs from around the world about their journeys, both the good and the bad, so that others may learn from their stories.

Who knows; maybe you’ll be inspired to take that leap as well!

This week’s entrepreneur is Bryan Clayton. Please introduce yourself to our readers, Bryan!

I am CEO and Co-founder of GreenPal, which is best described as “Uber for lawn mowing”.

I’ve been in the landscaping industry for 15 years. I started cutting grass in high school. Over the 15 years I grew that business to over 100 people and sold that company last year.

You once started your own business – what was it?

Our company created prosperity for our people and that’s why we did what we did. Much of our operating core was comprised of Guatemalan immigrants and these were the finest people I have ever known. Typically, they would come to the United States for several consecutive lawn mowing seasons, saving as much money as they could to improve the lives of their families back home by building homes, ranches, and setting up farms stocked with cattle.

This became our company’s purpose, our “Why.” In weekly meetings, we would get progress reports from our men on how projects “back home” were coming along.

What made you decide to go out on your own vs work for someone else?

I always enjoyed building something from scratch, something that was bigger than myself and that provided a livelihood for others.

Did you take any outside funding?

No. We were self funded, and grew the company from profits the business generated.

Did you have any partners?

No.

What was your vision/goal for the company? (Did you meet that?)

Our vision was to be the market leader for commercial landscape maintenance in middle Tennessee. Upon my exit, we had attained a high profile in our market as one of the top 3 companies in terms of market-share and annual revenue.

What was your company culture like? Did it ever change?

In the halls of our office and in the shop we displayed picture collages of all the homes, farms, and business that had been established by our people in Guatemala. Celebrating these victories gave us fuel to get through the tough times, particularly when economic recession that began in 2009.

Why are you not with that business anymore? 

We were acquired by a national organization.

Would you do it again?

Of course, much of my experience and leadership capabilities has come from my previous years of founding and operation a company of that scope.

What are you doing now?

I have started my second company GreenPal, best described as Uber for lawn mowing. The inspiration came from operating my landscaping company and seeing that its its just too hard for a busy homeowner to find and hire the best fit lawn service for them.

I’ve also experienced the challenges that lawn services deal with. Getting new customers, billing, scheduling, and routing is just too difficult given today’s technology.

So this is why I built GreenPal. Our vision is to make this household chore easier for consumers, while also improving the lives of hard working small business owners in the landscaping industry.

What advice would you give to someone thinking of starting their own business?

Have a bias towards action.

How I overcome the fear of risk when trying new things for GreenPal. I close my eyes and fast forward 1 year. I think about a year from today and things looking exactly as they do right now. The realization that in a year’s time my team and I have made little to no progress causes me to take action and alleviates my fear of risk.

I call it fast forwarding the story, and it always helped me have a bias towards action.

What is your favorite song?

Plush by Stone Temple Pilots

Thank you for sharing with us Bryan!

You can reach Bryan on Twitter at @YourGreenPal.

Did you used to have your own business and want to tell people about it? Write us at editor@roceteer.com and let us know!