When the economy soured, Brucker’s engineering firm saw its annual revenue drop precipitously as clients stopped building and larger firms, which were struggling themselves, started going after smaller projects. To bring in extra money, Brucker started mowing lawns on weekends.

But something unexpected happened. Even as his engineering firm stalled, his new business took off.

Brucker left the engineering business and, in 2010, officially launched Hometown Lawn, which offers a range of lawn, landscaping, drainage and irrigation services. The company has earned a huge roster of clients, from 100-acre commercial properties to homeowner associations to single-family homes sitting on a third of an acre. Brucker and his team will plow snow, clean gutters and more.

Brucker’s engineering experience, though, is Hometown Lawn’s secret weapon: They can tackle more complicated work than typical companies in that field can. Much of his old experience—which involved sewers, street design and other infrastructure work—informs Hometown Lawn’s projects.

“With the engineering background,” Brucker said, “we’re able to do a lot of things that other companies can’t do.”

For example, a homebuilder usually has to contract with a handful of different companies to get a new lawn sodded and landscaped, along with irrigation and drainage—or they can hire Hometown Lawn to do it all.

“We can take a four-party business to one point of contact,” Brucker said.

The company now employs about a dozen people, including a full-time sales staff to generate business with commercial clients and multifamily projects. Brucker also maintains a web presecnve with an affordable website design and an active social media presence to engage customers and keep generating positive word of mouth.

“We go wherever the project may take us,” Brucker said. “We have done work all over the Kansas City area.”

Making the switch to Hometown Lawn was a little scary, said Brucker, who continues to hold engineering licenses in Kansas and Missouri. As the company has grown, he has been forced to make another transition, too—from field work to business development.

It’s something that a lot of entrepreneurs struggle with, but generating new work, after all, must be a focus for any healthy company. “You’ve got 12 families that are relying on you,” Brucker said.

He’s proud of the relationships that Hometown Lawn has built with suppliers and customers—relationships that wouldn’t be possible if the company weren’t delivering outstanding service. “Our goal is to make our clients’ lives easier,” Brucker said.