People: Christian Schloegel

Teenage Landscaper Grows Full-Service Maintenance Company

A landscape maintenance company is quickly growing in the Chicago area. The team provides a variety of services, including commercial and residential lawn care, plant installation and snow removal. They have committed staff members, an experienced leader and a long list of loyal customers. Their clientele is rapidly growing thanks to referrals from those happy customers. The group is also expanding its arsenal of tools, even looking to invest in updated battery-powered equipment. C+I Services is progressing the way any landscape group would hope to. What makes the team stand out, though, is that it is owned and managed by a 19-year-old.

Christian Schloegel is a teenager, college student and business owner. He has been in the business for nearly a decade, after launching his landscape company when he was only in the fifth grade. Inspired by the landscapers managing his own front yard, he began taking care of his neighbors’ properties. Word traveled around his neighborhood, and soon he was providing services to dozens of homes nearby. Christian’s business grew as he moved through middle school into high school and now is a fully functioning LLC. 

“I think my first year I had three lawns,” he says. “In my second year I had about 10, then my third year maybe closer to 40. It especially started growing when I got my driver's license.” 

He now offers a variety of services and employees three to seven crew members, depending on the time of year. Most team members are like him, in their late teens hoping to balance work and attend local colleges or trade schools. Many actually grew up together and started working with Christian during high school. They each have at least four years of landscaping experience before their 20th birthday. 

“It's a lot of work,” Christian admits. “I don't do a lot of typical things a 19-year-old would do. I'm not at a university far from my house. I don't think of a Saturday as a day off. Most of the time I'm awake, I spend either working in the business or working in business school.” 

Christian’s dedication is paying off, though, which motivates him to keep working hard. 

“It’s tough to get a business off the ground,” he says. “That is why I keep going. I’ve come so far and already have a strong client base. I want to keep going. I want to give it 110 percent. Plus, each year I learn more about having responsibility, being a leader, caring for our equipment and managing our team. Through our slow, gradual growth, I’ve gotten a better grasp on it all and I feel like you can’t learn that in a classroom."

"Being able to do it firsthand
really makes a big difference."

As he keeps going, Christian wants to grow his knowledge base and offer more services to clients, like hardscaping for patios and retaining walls. He also wants to build a home base for his company with equipment storage for the cold winter months. More than anything, though, he plans to grow his snow removal operation. It is his favorite service to offer.

“I want more commercial clients, trucks, blowers, salters and skid steers,” he says. “Snow removal is fun to me because the majority of the work is done overnight. You don't have to worry about cars or people around, so it’s very peaceful. Just you, your crew and maybe some music. It’s a great time.”

For now, Christian will continue working to earn his business degree while juggling his landscape business. It’s a hard task, but one that will surely lead him to success in the years to come.