Meet Your Neighbor: Galion brothers have high hopes for their growing business

GALION — Two brothers are each others’ keeper. They seek the good of the other — especially as they tend to their lawn care business.

Meet your neighbors, Michael and Brayden Drake, owners of Drake’s Lawn Care and upperclassmen at Galion High School.

“Michael is a senior,” Brayden said, “I am a junior.”

They launched their business as 10-and-11-year-olds when they began mowing their great-grandma’s lawn in Shelby using an old lawn mower she had in a shed. They also mowed an additional property the family owned.

“One lawn turned into another and then we ended up getting a lawn that wasn’t our family’s," Michael noted. "It's been fun."

“We started mowing one of my dad’s buddies, and he gave us a self-propelled lawn mower," Brayden said.

A growing business

Fast-forward a few years and the boys now have about 20 lawns to mow in Shelby and Galion. The future of the business looks bright. Their plan is to grow their business all across Ohio − not just Galion and Shelby.

“Once we’re both out of high school, we’ll create an LLC (limited liability corporation) and get a bunch of new equipment,” Michael shared.

Their ambitions grew when they acquired a zero-turn mower, their favorite to use.

“It gets the job done super–quick and makes the yards look nice,” Michael noted.

They’re especially proud of their work when a striping kit is attached. It's an accessory that enhances a yard and is often used on baseball fields and golf courses.

“One line will be light and one line will be dark because it lays the grass down and changes the way light reflects off of it,” Brayden explained.

The business has grown organically. Once they began driving, Michael said they realized "gas and all that isn’t cheap,” so mowing more lawns helped with their expenses.

North Central Ohio doesn’t have a need for year-round mowing services, so the brothers try to be versatile — especially when the snow flies.

“If people want or need their driveways shoveled, we’ll do that as well,” Michael said.

Balancing school and work

Along with their growing business, the students sharpen their entrepreneurial spirit and hone their work ethic during the school year and afterwards.

Michael plays football and is on the track team while he works at the Crossroads Family of Companies’ warehouse in Galion.

Brayden is on the track team and plays soccer. And like his older brother, he has another job in addition to mowing. He is a lifeguard at the Y in Galion.

The brothers' goal is to serve customers and do it right — the first time.

“We work hard,” Michael shared. “We make sure the job gets done correctly. We don’t settle for alright or okay. We make sure the job looks good and the customers are happy.”

For more information about Drake’s Lawn Care, call 419-561-8084.

Meet Your Neighbor is a weekly series profiling people in Richland County and surrounding areas. Correspondent Joe Di Lullo can be reached at muckrack.com/dilulloj or jp.dilullo0926@gmail.com .

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Meet Your Neighbor: Galion brothers have high hopes for their growing business