Tony Sellers
President, Sellers Services Inc., Rochester, Ind.
1. How did Sellers Services get its start?
I was a union laborer, doing road construction, which I enjoyed. I was going to school at night for landscaping and trying to learn more about the business. When my son was born, it made me want to move back home to where I was from — I missed the small town and wanted to be closer to family. One of my dad’s friends had five lawn accounts and heard that I was wanting to start a lawn care business. I went out and got a Toro credit card before quitting my job to ensure I had enough credit before I quit — and I left my job. That’s how it started. I took care of those clients, I actually still work for three of those five today and, honestly, the other two passed away. It’s nice to know that these clients have stuck with us that long.
2. What is your favorite tool to get the job done?
Equipment-wise, we use mostly Echo and Scag for our lawn care. Those are probably our two biggest brand names we use. And then for me as an owner, probably my biggest tool is our CRM. We use Asset, and I like that it takes care of our accounting, job costing, scheduling, etc., all in one program. We don’t have to use other programs for accounting, and we’re super excited about its new cloud platform called Include Go.
3. Do you have a most memorable day at work?
I’m very, very passionate about what I do. I think being in the landscape business, it’s a tough business, especially in the seasonal market where you have a time period to get things done. I think my biggest issue is I do enjoy what I do. Coming home at night and complaining that I had a long day is probably just because I need to do that to make it sound bad, but in all honesty, I probably spent the extra time because I enjoy the business 100 percent.
4. What’s your expectation for 2026?
Our company has more than doubled in size in the past few years. Our goal is $4.7 million this year, but our 10-year-plan is $10 million. We have implemented EOS in our business which gives us structure from a management and accountability standpoint. We especially enjoy being a part of an Ace Peer Group. We are located in a small community where the population here is 1,500 residents full time and ramps up to around 4,500 in the summer. Most of our clients are seasonal lake homes. Being in a small rural area, we are not focused on a whole bunch of trucks and people. Having a good bottom line is more important to us, so we are focused on client relationships and offering a high-end service. We don’t want to lose that as we grow in our market, but we know that we have to grow to ensure we are creating opportunity for our team members to grow themselves. Working with McFarlin Stanford and The Grow Group has helped us uncover some ideas — things that are possible in our area — without adding another location. It gives us that hope and excitement, and we just have to work the plan to get there.
5. Tell me about your family, and what do you all do for fun?
I have four children. My two oldest, Brandon and Brooklyn, they’re in the business right now, which is great. And then I have two younger children, 8 and 10 years old, that I have with my wife Kelly. We purchased the farm from my dad which is about 60 acres and has been in our family for a few generations. I’ve been developing the back of the farm and am currently in the process of a new home design. We have our own backyard paradise which includes about 7 acres of water. We love four-wheeling, fishing and just being outdoors. I love taking the kids back there and just having fun. With my two oldest being in the business, I get to spend a lot of time with them that I honestly didn’t spend in the beginning. But I’ve also learned from them, too. I’m spending a lot more time with my young children, and I have that time that I didn’t have when I first started the company because I was more about business. I love my family, and everything’s great!
