Brandon Mars is the type of person to dive headfirst into a project and learn by doing. So, when he convinced his adviser to award him internship credit for starting a landscaping business the summer after his junior year, he was confident he would be successful. His gumption and devotion to learning have helped Mars retain and grow his business ever since.
Mars was three years into his bachelor’s in horticulture with a specialization in landscape design and management when he started his company, but he had limited experience in business, finance and marketing, so he leaned on loved ones to get his footing.
“A lot of it has just been trial and error, but I've learned a lot from my dad and his friend Dennis, who both own businesses,” Mars said. “So they've been a lot of help, giving me guidance on running a company, especially with the legal and administrative aspects.”
That first summer, Mars had five or six clients — primarily referrals from family members and friends. But after three months of successful projects in Franklin, Wisconsin, he had to return to Lincoln to complete his senior year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
“I had to put everything on pause for my senior year to finish schooling,” Mars said. “I had a couple of people reach out, but they were super understanding. ‘Oh, you're still in college? I totally understand, reach out when you're done and we'd love to work with you again.’ It was hard turning people away.”
Mars graduated from Nebraska in 2022 and returned to Wisconsin to continue to own and operate Paradise Landscape & Design, where he remains today. Every day his job looks a little different.
“Running a landscape company — it's anywhere from meeting with clients for the first time and talking about the projects they're looking to do, sitting in the office doing estimates, drawing up designs for them, being on jobs and actually doing the work itself to all the back-end stuff — the accounting, dealing with state sales tax and the less fun side of business like making sure everything's running on time.”
But Mars does not only run Paradise Landscape & Design — he wears all the hats. As the owner and only employee, Mars has to carefully manage his time and divide his responsibilities with the changing seasons. He spends the majority of his time outdoors in the summer building beautiful landscapes for his clients and in the winter, he hunkers down in his office.
“I spend a lot of time on the behind-the-scenes stuff, doing a little bit of design for the people that are ahead of the ball,” Mars said. “A lot of stuff working with marketing, getting all that stuff put together. And then I'll do continuing education, whether it's in-person seminars or some online courses just to further my knowledge and experience and be able to offer more things for my clients in the future.”
With extra time in the landscaping off-season, Mars can devote more of his energy to home improvement projects.
“Anything working with my hands is always fun,” Mars said. “Recently, I've been doing a lot of home improvement projects, so that's fun and time consuming and frustrating all at the same time. It is always fun to take on a new challenge too.”
Mars always knew he wanted a career where he could spend his days outside and work with his hands, but he didn’t know exactly what that would look like. His time in college helped narrow his focus.
“I knew I couldn't get stuck in an office cubicle every day, that’s not for me,” Mars said. “Even as a young kid, I was always spending my time outdoors, pruning bushes and trees and picking up trash and just enjoyed the outdoors. My college courses helped me discover what I wanted to do.”
Mars strongly attributes Kim Todd, Nebraska professor, extension horticulture specialist and licensed landscape architect, and her experiential courses to his success.
“We talked for hours throughout my four years, and she really helped guide me to where I am today,” Mars said. “If it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't be here. She's an amazing professor because she's so hands-on.”
Mars faces many challenges as a young business owner and the only employee at his company. He says many potential clients assume he is not knowledgeable or does not have enough experience to complete their landscaping projects because he is young. But Mars truly loves his job and the process of remodeling outdoor spaces.
“I love the transformations that we can do for people,” Mars said. “They come in with, ‘here's my problem, here's my space I absolutely hate, I don't know what to do with it.’ I get to help them work through that process and really create something that they can enjoy and almost fall in love with all over again.”
The best advice Mars has to anyone hoping to follow in his footsteps is to pursue something they are passionate about.
“Take the leap,” Mars said. “I know it's a little cliche, but it's worth taking that risk, in my opinion, to go follow that dream and find a way to make it work. You’ve got to find the job that you love. Otherwise, what's the point? We spend so much time in our lives working. If you don't enjoy it, I mean, what's the point?”
