Weed Man Columbus, OH and Dayton, OH
Name: Audrey & Corbin Schlatter
Markets: https://columbus-north.weedman.com/ https://dayton.weedman.com/
Number of Locations: Opened Columbus in 2006; prior to that, they owned a Weed Man franchise in Defiance which was sold in 2010. They operated both their Defiance and Columbus offices from 2006-2010. In 2013 the couple purchased the Greene County franchise and a year later added the entire Dayton Market.
Education: Corbin grew up on his family’s dairy farm and was briefly enrolled in a pre-engineering program at a community college before opening his landscaping business. Audrey is a registered nurse but left the nursing field in 2015 to work full-time at Weed Man.
Career Background: They are originally from Northwest Ohio and a town called Paulding. Corbin’s lawn care career began at the age of 19, when he saw an ad in the local newspaper for a mowing business for sale. He bought the business and it wasn’t long before it took off. He began diversifying his business into landscaping and landscaping maintenance. Through working in the industry he came to learn about Weed Man and the company’s values – which impressed him. In 2003, Corbin bought Weed Man Defiance and added it to his existing business. In 2005, Corbin made the decision to sell his landscape business so he could focus on growing Weed Man alone. That eventually led the family to relocate to Columbus.
Family: Five children. They have twin married daughters, a 20 year old daughter, two sons, ages 16 and 14. In September of 2022, they are expecting to become grandparents for the first time.
Why Weed Man? The reputation of the company’s leadership provided the brand with the credibility and support systems that he was looking for. Ultimately, Corbin was looking for more structure than he had with the landscape business he operated on his own. The growth potential was there and the proven success of the model convinced him to move forward. After initially opening Weed Man in Defiance, their team quickly grew the business but they soon realized the Defiance area had restrictions due to the size of the territory. The Columbus Market provided a much larger business opportunity and utilizing the systems provided by Weed Man’s growth has occurred since inception. The move to the Columbus area also has allowed Corbin, Audrey and their family to support a small church as faith is the central driving force in their lives.
What are you most proud of so far as a Weed Man franchisee? Corbin and Audrey have found the most joy in being able to provide a career path for their employees. One example is a salesman who started working for them in high school. He left for college but came back to them as a sales manager and he has played a big role in their success. They have about 40 employees, in this era of staffing difficulties they have worked hard to create a culture of success and achievement. Along with honest and open communication, the staff has worked tremendously hard to fuel the company’s growth.
What is the key to your success? The husband and wife team makes it a priority to do things the right way and follow the processes to the best of their ability. That means being honest with employees and going above and beyond for customers. They believe strongly that any inconsistencies should be addressed immediately, not the third or fourth time it happens. From a personal standpoint Corbin and Audrey find ways to separate how they interact with one another at work from their life at home. They have different approaches at work, so they’ve learned not to take criticism personally.
What’s next for you and your business? Audrey has been able to transition over the past 2 years to working from home and has trained her replacement to handle her day-to-day roles. She doesn’t sit still as she now homeschools their 2 sons, is the treasurer for a local Christian based pregnancy center and handles the book keeping for the couple’s short term rental properties. Having a track record of growth and passing $4.5 million in revenues the goal now is focused on steady growth within Weed Man but also expanding our new brands; Mosquito Hero and TurfBot. They continue to improve and build a solid team which allows them to continue their exciting growth path.