In the fall of 2016, just weeks after Kim and Carlos Garcia married, grief and a life-altering decision arrived at the same time. Carlos’s stepfather, who had long run a small mowing route, passed away after a stroke and heart attack. Soon after, his stepmother handed over what remained of the business — a mower, a trailer, and a stack of client names scribbled on loose scraps of paper — and asked whether Carlos wanted to carry it forward.
Kim remembers the two of them sitting together that October and November, looking at the makeshift records and asking one another:
“Do we want to continue this? Is this what we’re going to do?”
Nothing about the business was formal. Carlos was still working in a warehouse for a staffing agency. The client list was scattered across pieces of paper. But slowly, they decided to build something of their own.
A Business Needing Stability
That decision grew into Tio’s Lawn Service LLC, a full-service landscaping company serving neighborhoods across Memphis, Tennessee. Demand was steady from the beginning. Tio’s offered lawn maintenance, landscaping, seasonal cleanup, sod installation, and hardscaping — and customers kept calling.
What the business lacked was structure and financial stability.
A chance encounter changed that. While visiting her other venture — a physical therapy clinic located in the same building where Communities Unlimited (CU) Senior Management Consultant Rhett Douglas once had an office — Kim was introduced to CU.
“The clinic manager said, ‘You need to talk to Rhett. They help small businesses,’” Kim recalled. “That’s how we learned about Communities Unlimited.”
When CU’s Entrepreneurship Team began working with Tio’s, the business was generating strong revenue but ending the year with very little cash on hand. Several months closed with negative margins, forcing Kim and Carlos to lean on short-term debt. The core issue was pricing. They were charging too little for the labor required because they feared losing customers.
How CU Helped
Once connected, Rhett began helping Kim organize purchase orders, understand real costs, and establish pricing that reflected the work required.
“There were times we couldn’t pay ourselves, which meant we couldn’t pay our mortgage,” Kim said. “Rhett helped us organize everything and understand our costs. Now we know exactly what a job requires.”
One of the biggest changes was adopting a clear hourly rate — something they’d never formalized before.
“It sounds simple, but we didn’t have a system like that,” she said.
The impact was immediate.
“Night and day,” Kim said. “Even though rain slows us down sometimes, we’ve been able to pay ourselves consistently this winter. We feel much more stable. We’re organized, more confident, and prepared.”
After implementing Douglas’ recommendations, Tio’s saw its net profit increase by roughly 60%, and its cash reserves grew by multiples compared to the previous year — enough to eliminate the cycle of relying on short-term debt.
Stronger pricing, better cost tracking, and disciplined cash flow transformed the business. With far more financial clarity, Tio’s secured a storage facility, upgraded equipment, and began marketing to new service areas. For the first time, the company was operating on a foundation built for growth rather than guesswork.
A New Chapter of Growth
As demand increased, Tio’s reached a point where expansion became a necessity.
“We have so much work that the current crews are maxed out,” Kim said. “If someone misses a day or it rains, the schedule gets pushed too far back.”
With CU’s support, Kim and Carlos are working through an expansion plan: where the third crew will be based, how routes will be organized, what equipment will be required, how the team will be structured, and how to pace the rollout before the busy spring season
They are now finalizing an application with CU’s Lending Team to finance the additional crew.
“If all goes well, we hope to buy the truck and get the ramp rack installed by February,” Kim said. “That way, we’re ready for the spring rush.”
Throughout this process, Rhett has served as both consultant and translator — bridging Kim’s detail-driven mindset and Carlos’s visionary approach.
“He’s been patient and knowledgeable. I’m the numbers person and Carlos is the visionary. Rhett helps Carlos see the practical steps and helps me break down the big scary moves into manageable next steps. He doesn’t just tell us what to do; he helps us understand why.”
— Kim Garcia, Tio’s Lawn Service
Growing a Legacy
What began as a few client names on scraps of paper has become a professionally managed landscaping company on the rise. With renewed financial discipline, stronger systems, and CU’s continued support, Tio’s Lawn Service is preparing for expansion, stability, and long-term sustainability.
For Kim and Carlos, the business that once felt like a question — Do we want to continue this? — now feels like a clear answer:
A family legacy worth growing.
