Tim Bannister had to shut down the family business in February.
It was heart-wrenching.
For more than three decades Cary Printing provided services to customers including Glaxo SmithKline, SAS and Burt's Bees. But the recession sapped sales, and the credit crunch staunched financing. It all proved too much.
"It turned out to be a perfect storm," said Bannister, 47. "By definition, a perfect storm is unsurvivable."
After the closure, Bannister tried jobs at a couple of other printers but said he just didn't feel at home. One day, a younger brother reminded him of a past dream to own a lawn-care business. Bannister enjoys being outside and the feeling of accomplishment that comes with a freshly shorn lawn.
Still, he was realistic about the prospect.
"Everybody and their brother has a trailer with a lawn mower on the back of it," he said. "You see them constantly."
But Bannister also thought he had an edge.
Through the years Cary Printing developed an environmentally-friendly reputation. A "green" business, it could verify the environmental practices in its supply chain by tracking the paper in a customers' order all the way back to the forest that supplied the lumber.
What if he brought that same passion for the environment to lawn care?
Two weeks ago Bannister started EcoZoo Lawn Maintenance, www.ecozoolawn.com, with money he pulled from his 401(k) retirement account. Bannister, who declined to disclose startup costs, uses battery-powered equipment. And he travels in a van powered by biodiesel fuel.
This is the "story after the story," said Bannister, a father of two. It shows how "somebody who has the rug snatched out from under them can still follow through on the things that are important to them."
Bannister knows he faces challenges. The economy is still in the grips of the recession that killed Cary Printing, and consumers are still cutting back on spending. He's hopeful, though, that the worst of the downturn is over.
As for competition, Bannister said his rates are competitive with traditional lawn-care services because he doesn't have the same fuel and maintenance costs. At least one other company touts itself as an environmentally-friendly yard work option -- Clean Air Lawn Care -- but Bannister said past personal professional and personal contacts should help him win over clients.
He has already signed up a residential and a commercial customer and has had about four other inquiries.
Bannister plans to reach out to "green" businesses that already use lawn-care services to add to the customer list. And he plans to share contacts with a local company that uses natural fertilization and weed-killing methods and has a list of about 450 clients.
Ultimately, Bannister, who now does the work himself with the help of high school students, wants to focus on managing a crew and marketing the business. He also wants to add solar panels to his house and van for recharging the batteries he uses.
"You've got your naysayers," Bannister said of his new venture. "That's one reason we developed the tag line, 'Your Planet. Your Choice.' It's all your choice."
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Call them entrepreneurs by necessity. A new wave of unemployed workers are finding the optimal way to earn income is to form their own business.
The Kauffman Foundation reports interest in entrepreneurship is strong. One in four workers who have not found jobs are considering launching a business, a CareerBuilder.com survey says. The challenge is navigating the credit crisis to obtain start-up funds and having financial staying power.
Kauffman Foundation economist Tim Kane said he expects the trend of entrepreneurs by necessity to continue at least through 2010.
While more people started businesses in 2008 compared with 2007, an even larger number closed, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. That means many of those launching ventures that aren't well capitalized likely will fail within months as they struggle to raise hard-to-find cash.
But there are encouraging signs, too. More than half of the companies on the 2009 Fortune 500 list were launched during a recession or bear market.
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