David Minor’s path to success came from rolling up his sleeves and getting his hands dirty.
Growing up in Fort Worth, Minor started mowing lawns to earn money. From his un-extraordinary venture, he developed entrepreneurial instincts that he parlayed into business success. Minor’s Landscape Services Inc. blossomed into the largest landscaping company in Fort Worth and one of the biggest in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Now, with more than 35 years experience in the landscape services industry, Minor is regarded as much for his entrepreneurship as he is for creating spectacular gardens.
Besides founding and serving as CEO of two different landscaping firms, Minor was founding director and William M. Dickey Entrepreneur in Residence of the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center in the M.J. Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University.
Minor sold the successful landscaping company he founded in 1980 to ServiceMaster in 1998 as the industry was consolidating behind national brands. When Minor’s Landscape Services was sold, the company had three offices and more than 300 employees. Minor went on to become the vice president of the landscape services division for ServiceMaster.
But a few years later, Minor headed back to TCU, his alma mater, to help grow the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center. During his tenure from 2000 to 2010, he was recognized as one of the Top 10 entrepreneurship center directors by Entrepreneur Magazine.
While Minor was teaching students to become entrepreneurs he continued his own entrepreneurial endeavors as well. In 1999, he created the consulting firm of Minor and Associates to work with emerging businesses and speak to business groups on topics ranging such as building a world-class business culture.
In 2013, Minor became CEO of The Landscape Partners, a firm established by two former associates of his old landscaping firm that he had previously invested in. The firm received numerous awards for landscape excellence as well as recognition as a Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year.
Minor, who now has the title of founder emeritus of the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center, and his partner sold The Landscape Partners recently and is now retired but still on the lookout for another business opportunity.
– Marice Richter
What was the best advice you ever received?
The best advice I ever received was from one of my mentors, [former Fort Worth Mayor] Bob Bolen, who was fond of talking about the importance of leaving the world a little better than you found it. I think about that often and have tried to live my life with that in mind.
What is the best advice up could give an entrepreneur?
Never let the drive for success from a financial perspective take the place of the time you put in to your family, friends, faith and community. Maintaining a healthy balance in life is often difficult for an entrepreneur but, at the end of the day when you reflect on how you want to be remembered, you won’t care how people think about the financial success you’ve had. But you will care about what they think of you as a parent, a spouse, a friend or if you too left the world a little better than you found it.