Courtesy of Lawn Doctor
By Jill Nagy
After a brief foray into the wedding business, Matt and Suzy Mazzone are now in the lawn care business.
They recently purchased the franchise rights for Lawn Doctor in the Clifton Park, Ballston Spa, Schenectady and Amsterdam region. Beginning with a customer base of zero when they started in April, they now have close to 200 customers as they go into the peak lawn care season. There are a lot of lawns in their territory and they said they see a potential for 60,000-65,000 customers, beginning with 300-400 this year.
Lawn Doctor is a weed and feed operation: fertilizing, weed control, insect control, power seeding, aeration, etc. The do not cut grass but will advise on how to have it cut, Matt Mazzone explained.
The Mazzones see this new venture as a complement to their other business, M Zone Logistics LLC, which provides last-mile delivery services to the Amazon facility in the Montgomery County town of Florida.
“We want to provide consistent work over the year,” Mazzone said. People order more from Amazon in the fall and winter, he noted, while the demand for lawn services is greatest in the spring and summer. Their approximately 80 employees can be cross-trained to work for both companies.
“We were blown away by what they had to offer” he said of Lawn Doctor, in the way of customer service and technology. “I think they have been phenomenal with their training and start-up,” he said, “They have patented machinery and formulations. A top agronomist came to help up to make sure we are building the right programs.”
The Mazzones invested approximately $150,000 for a 10-year exclusive franchise, including vans, equipment, marketing, and other expenses. Both Lawn Doctor and M Zone Logistics are based on property the Mazzones own at 581 Saratoga Road (Route 50) in Glenville.
In the long term, the Mazzones would like to extend their franchise to the north and then to the south and east. For now, however, “We want to make our present customers happy,” he said.
The Mazzones were associated with weddings and catering because of Matt’s father, Angelo Mazzone, founder and CEO of Mazzone Hospitality. Matt left the company in April 2020, a few years after it was sold to Restaurant Associates.
Lawn Doctor can be reached at 518-362-9888 or by going to LawnDoctor.com.