Business profile: Tiger Turf

Lawn care company stakes out turf in Columbia’s business landscape

Frank Baumstark gets great satisfaction from a job well done. He and his wife, Michelle Baumstark, own the lawn care and landscaping business Tiger Turf, and one of Frank’s favorite parts of the job is enjoying the end result. When he drives by a client’s property and sees the even stripes in the lawn, he thinks, “‘Wow, did we do that?’” he said. “That’s what makes my day. My guys did a good job on that property. It’s pretty simple for me.”

While a student at the University of Missouri, Frank started mowing lawns for extra income. Three years later, in 1999, he began to build the business, using advertisements and promotions to attract more clients. Tiger Turf now has eight employees, including three crew leaders and one general manager, and a base of 200 properties.

The Baumstarks’ business is one of five finalists for the Columbia Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year Award.

Frank attributes the nomination partly to customer service.

“Each property has its own particular issues to deal with, and making sure you and the customer are on same page before you start the process, I think, is what really separates us,” Frank said. “We try to customize each job based on customers’ needs. [It’s] not a cookie-cutter business.”

The anatomy of each lawn is completely different, Frank said. Knowing every lawn’s special needs helps the Tiger Turf team to avoid mistakes—such as using heavy equipment in low-lying areas, leaving deep ruts, Frank said. Such attention to detail helps the company retain customers.

“About 60 percent of our customers have been with us for five years or more,” Michelle Baumstark said. Some, she said, have been around since the very beginning—as has she. Michelle and Frank met in the end zone at the 1997 MU-Nebraska football game during overtime. While she was a journalism student at MU, Michelle worked on flyers for her then-boyfriend’s business—and she ran the trimmer once.

“I think the weed eater was bigger than she was,” Frank said. Now Michelle sticks to marketing—while also working as the Columbia Public Schools school-community programs coordinator.

Landscaping is a huge industry in Columbia, Michelle said, and the Baumstarks feel honored to be nominated for the Small Business of the Year Award. She said that when she surveys customers, it’s nice to hear positive feedback on the company’s experience and dependability.

Michelle said the owners of many startup companies think it’s going to be easy to run a business, but the work involves troubleshooting every day—and dealing with scheduling, bidding, marketing, billing, maintaining equipment, and training and retaining personnel.

“There’s really not a manual on how to run your own business,” Michelle said.

But what about running a business with one’s spouse? The Baumstarks, who have been married for eight years, said it’s great to run a business together.

“There’s no workplace tension,” Michelle said.

From keeping financial records in a shoebox in the early days to requiring an accountant these days, the business has seen its number of customers grow by 1,000 percent. Frank said the challenge is that the faster the company grows, the more it needs to ensure that employees are well trained and that the employee retention rate remains high.

The Baumstarks’ main goal is to employ Columbia workers, Frank said, and the number of employees varies with the seasons. He said he appreciates the work his guys do, and he lets them know. He’s indebted to his manager, Eric Meireis, who came to Tiger Turf with a college degree and 25 years of experience in lawn care, landscaping and golf courses. Although Meireis handles daily operations, Frank and Michelle admit to a little craziness around their house in running the business, raising a family and having other jobs; Frank also works in medical sales.

For the future, the Baumstarks want to be able to continue the same level of customer service. “Tiger Turf is only as good as its employees,” Michelle said. “Each employee plays an important role in the success of the business. Without reliable and skilled employees, the company would not have been able to experience the growth and success it has seen over the last 12 years.”

Tiger Turf
3104 W. Worley St.
256-8873
www.tigerturf.net