Customer Spotlight: Jenco Property Maintenance, LLC

When talking to Mike Jensen, it’s almost impossible to overlook his positive attitude and amiable character. It’s clear Mike is passionate about what he does, and his employees are happy to work for him due to the environment he has created within Jenco Property Maintenance, LLC. Over the past 14 years, Mike has proven that hard work pays off.

In 2002, Mike started working in Mound with a business partner under the name MJL Lawn Care. With only the two of them, they struggled to get four days of work per week. Eventually, Mike’s partner moved to Alaska, and the two parted ways. Mike held on to the company and after a few name changes, he decided on Jenco in 2010.

Mike’s company started primarily as a landscaping company. During the recession, Mike was only able to work on mowing and maintenance once per week. Today, Jenco is 80% property management, including mowing, fertilizing, and plowing with limited landscaping. Jenco maintains a customer base consisting of 50% residential, 20% commercial, and 30% homeowner associations covering the greater western Twin Cities metro area. The business has grown progressively, and today Mike oversees ten employees.

Making the decision to be a business owner wasn’t difficult.

“When I was in eleventh grade at Mound High School, I did a work program with Cargill in their IT department. When I wasn’t doing that, I mowed lawns on my own,” Mike says. Half way through his senior year of high school Mike realized he would be unhappy sitting in an office cubicle for the rest of his life.

Once he graduated from high school, Mike attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He took numerous economic classes, which steered him towards being self-employed due to the troubled economy.

After a year at UMD, without hesitation, Mike achieved his goal. At the time, Mike and his business partner already owned a few trucks and a 48-inch mower. He did some construction and mowing before buying his first house at age 19 and, ultimately, running his business from there.

Up until five years ago, Mike says his favorite part of being a business owner was being able to set his own schedule and keeping his days flexible. Today, Mike says his favorite part is having the opportunity to gain respect with his employees.

“I’ve done work for people and with people who live to work. I want to work to live, and I try to instill that in my employees. I am a family-friendly employer, and I want to watch my guys succeed with me,” he says.

Mike has three kids at home. He still appreciates setting his own schedule and being able to involve them in his work. “They come with me on jobs,” says Mike. “I’m proud that my kids will be able to grow up with me being a major part of their lives.”

Mike says he tries to be on the job site at least 50% of the time. He wants to spend as much time as he possibly can in the field without getting behind on daily paperwork, which happens to be the most challenging part of his job.

“I’m a very hands-on person,” Mike explains. “Sitting down at a desk and making sure I am caught up on my paperwork isn’t ideal.”

Mike does all the fertilizing work on his own due to the safety precautions that come with the chemicals.  “I just can’t let that go because a person has to be really careful about that,” he adds.

As for his day-to-day work, each day is different, but Mike tries to keep a consistent schedule so his employees know what to expect. On Mondays, Mike is always in his office, allowing him to set up the rest of his week. He tries to be in the field on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Thursdays are floater days, and on Fridays, Mike works partially in the office and partially in the field.

Weather determines everything and can throw off an entire schedule for Jenco staff. “I always say one day of rain creates two days of extra work, especially in landscaping,” Mike explains. This is why his employees work four 10- to 12-hour days.  They either have Fridays off or they use them as a make-up day if something comes up during the week. These longer days allow for no work on weekends and create a saving of time and fuel.

Mike isn’t done growing his company and hopes to increase it by 20% in the near future. “My biggest goal is to make the company large enough to sustain any economic climate,” he says.

When it comes to Jenco, Mike has a lot to be proud of. He says he is extremely proud of the quality of work he and his employees provide.

“I inspect what I expect, and quality over quantity is my motto,” Mike says. His employees know what he expects of them. Jenco has grown exponentially since 2010 due to the quality of the work they perform. He adds that customer service is a huge part of his success, too. “I trust my employees just as much on customer service as I do on maintenance,” he says. “We have actually gotten accounts strictly because of our excellent customer service.”

Mike opened his first checking account 22 years ago at age ten with Crow River State Bank, now Minnesota Lakes Bank. Growing up in Mound, Mike always knew a lot of the staff, and that made him feel comfortable and connected to the company. Mark Winter, now retired, gave Mike his first business loan in 2002. “I’ve always had loyalty to Minnesota Lakes Bank. They’ve never doubted my business and have always been supportive of me,” Mike offered.

Tom Screeden helped Mike take out a large business loan and buy new equipment in 2010. “Tom is phenomenal. I can always count on him to be honest with me,” Mike adds. “That new guy, John [Poling, the bank president], is pretty great, too.”

Being a small business owner, it’s extremely important to Mike to have a feeling of comfort when in a financial pinch or if the business needs a quick turn around.

Mike says being a member of the Delano Fire Department and being married to a first grade teacher has also helped him get involved in the community and meet more people to add to his growing network. He added: “One big part of my life that I do enjoy is being a smaller business owner in a community like Delano because I get to build really unique relationships—both personal and business.”