Students in and around the campus of Ashland University pursue all kinds of different paths: medical field, journalism or even theatre.  

However, some choose to use the knowledge learned at the Dauch College of Business and Economics to build a fully functional business while in their undergraduate years. This was the case for a young entrepreneur, Caden Doss. 

Doss is a junior at Ashland University. While he may be a full-time student, he does serve as the owner of Precision Grounds Management, a landscaping company based in Elyria, Ohio. “We do residential and commercial mowing and landscaping,” Doss said.  

The company started with slow and steady beginnings after his 2021 side hustle.  He previously worked for a landscaping company and figured he could do the work better himself. 

He then began mowing lawns around Avon, Ohio. “I was in high school and I started mowing with a push mower on some residential properties,” explains Doss.  

He eventually gains help in his efforts from his friend, who aided in his lawn-mowing side hustle, building their business into the landscaping powerhouse it is starting to become.  

The service started as a side hustle to get extra change before “it quickly ramped up into something that could be considered a full-time career,” he said. 

Precision Grounds’ earlier stages faced various challenges, making it more difficult for the company to initially get off the ground.  

“When I started up, it was stressful getting the first clients, keeping my one guy busy, and having to continuously sell jobs and then do all of the work as well,” said Doss. When you start a business like Precision Grounds, you often must juggle many different roles.  

For Doss, he had to be “the owner, a laborer, administrative person,” all at the same time. “You definitely have to do everything; that’s definitely the hard part.” 

Doss comments on what inspired him to pursue his career in the landscaping business and the challenges that arise while also being a full-time student. “It’s not like I was favorable towards the landscape industry or the lawn care industry. It’s just kind of what I knew.” He continues, “there have been classes where I failed, and, you know, you have to pick the last of the two evils at times.”  

As Precision Grounds Management first started, the long-term success of the business was not yet foreseen. Therefore, Doss found his priorities in his studies rather than in the business itself.  

“When I first started school, I wasn’t sure if this was going to be like my full-time thing. So obviously in my freshman year, I was getting better grades,” explains Doss. “When this started ramping up at the end of freshman, sophomore, now junior year, school has been, more challenging because there’s more moving parts with the business and things that need to be done.” 

As the business continues to grow, Doss finds himself prioritizing the lawn care service and his employees.  

Doss attributes most of his company’s success to the people he’s surrounded himself with, who help support him and his entrepreneurship endeavors.  

“I’ve noticed the [AU] professors have been extremely helpful and um, you know, accommodating me,” Doss said. 

He sees the business department and professors associated with Ashland have been helpful in supporting his business, not only within the classroom, but also with professional and monetary support. “They’ve been big helps and given me tips and guidance and grants and things like that.” 

Doss also attributes his success to his employees. “I have a lot of my top employees who are guys I graduate with…you just got to have people you can trust and that have your back and, will have integrity when you’re not there,” says Doss.  

To learn more Precision Grounds Management, they can be reached through their phone number at (440) 773-2547 or by email at [email protected].