Teen Entrepreneur Expands Lawn Care Business To Arlington

ARLINGTON, VA — Jack Lannin is a 17-year-old entrepreneur who's bringing his yard work business to Arlington after a successful launch last month in Fairfax County.

"It's kind of an idea honestly that I'm very passionate about and motivated," he said. "I want to make it happen, not just around here but all over the place, to give that opportunity to teens and homeowners everywhere."

Lannin founded TaskTeens in May with a focus on outdoor house jobs like lawn mowing, weeding and mulching. Before deciding to go out on his own, he created TaskTeens after helping found and run TeenServ with two other McLean High School students.

A homeowner looking to hire a teen for yard work can visit TaskTeen's website and create a post describing the work that needs to be done. The company has a 24-hour turnaround for assigning a teen when a homeowner posts a job.

TaskTeens offers a range of prices for its services based on the size of the job.

"We will do any type of yard work you may need done," Lannin said. "Primarily, we have lawn mowing, mulching, and weeding. But we've had all kinds of things, including standing deck chairs, moving piles of wood, really anything you can name outdoors."

In its first month of existence, Lannin's business has also proved to be a boon for teenagers who have been having a hard time finding summer employment.

"With this crisis created with the coronavirus, a lot of our teenagers found themselves out of employment and opportunities for earning," Lannin said. "So, they see TaskTeens and we provide that to them. They can still get out, still make money and still make a productive usage of their time."

Currently, TaskTeens employs 83 teens, who are ready to tackle any lawn care or maintenance job a homeowner might have.

For people who may be concerned about having strangers coming to their property due to the coronavirus pandemic, Lannin said his teens are not allowed to go indoors.

"We are leaving that to homeowner when they're booking their job," he said. "If they want specific parameters followed, they just need to put that in the comments and we'll make sure our teen can accommodate them."

Last month, TaskTeens donated half of its revenue to Fairfax County COVID Aid, a McLean student-run volunteer organization. The group connects volunteers to high-risk individuals needing grocery shopping or other tasks done. Those funds will be used to purchase food, clothing and other essential items for residents in need. Now that the business is offering its services in Arlington, half of its revenues will go to the Arlington Food Assistance Center.

The new business has a few incentives for homeowners and teen workers alike. The VIP program offers benefits to homeowners who pay $300 for at least two jobs within three months. A matching program for teens provides bonus pay and priority on jobs upon completion of four jobs in a month. Homeowners can also get 15 percent off their first job posting.

Patch Editor Emily Leayman helped with the reporting on this story.