Fighting for You and Your Business

Mark Lockett owns Mark's Lawn Care, a full service, affordable lawn care service that serves over 200 clients across Minnesota's Iron Range, but it didn't start that way. Mark describes himself as coming from humble beginnings, and his journey into entrepreneurship has required resilience, hard work and determination - all words that can equally describe Mark himself.

Mark grew up around the Hibbing area and got a job working at McDonalds. He didn't enjoy it and had a desire to work for himself and create his own schedule. He decided to purchase a used truck and started moving brush. He soon realized that he was making decent money moving brush and took the leap into entrepreneurship naming his business Mark's Lawn Care. As he got into business the different "entrepreneur problems", as he describes them, came.

"Growing up we weren't always in the best predicament, so we did things that worsened my chances of getting a traditional loan," said Mark.

While banks were not able to give Mark the financing he needed to grow, he was able to connect with his local business advisor, Char, who worked with him and the Entrepreneur Fund team to access a flexible loan that has allowed him to grow his business from serving 30 clients to over 200 in less than one year. Mark and Char have continued to work together on his business plans and marketing.

"Honestly, I think Char was the only person who ever fought to get Mark’s Lawn Care to a better spot other than me," said Mark.

Mark says he's an entrepreneur because he wanted to make a difference in a lot of peoples lives. His business continues to grow today because of the difference he does make in the lives of his clients and his team members. Mark has become a fierce advocate for the work of the Entrepreneur Fund, and has recently began working within his community to help increase access to support and services for BIPOC entrepreneurs.

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