Editor’s note: The following story is part of a continuing series on students who own their own business.

His hands are the sort that are calloused and have dirt permanently embedded in them; they look like they’ve seen a lot of hard work, old beyond his 19 years.

His boots look pretty rough around the edges too, with the metal of the steel toes peaking through the leather. But then again, a lot of things about Ryan Anderson, a sophomore in landscape and horticulture, seem older than his years.

For one, he owns a business. And he has trucks — several of them — and employees, too.

Anderson, the owner of R and R Landscaping Inc., at 120 Cherry St. in Ames, isn’t new to the concepts of business. In fact, he’s owned his own business since he was nine years old. Anderson started out mowing lawns and, “everything sort of escalated since then.”

At age 14 he got a job laying sod and wanted to sound more professional so he changed his business name from RJ’s Land Service to R and R Landscaping. The new name also comes with expanded services.

Besides the usual lawn care, R and R also does construction and installation. With a smile of exasperation over having to explain the meaning behind the name for the umpteenth time, Anderson said, “R and R stands for the slogan, ‘Everyone needs a little R and R.'”

Rest and relaxation is in short supply in Anderson’s life. Besides owning and operating his own business, Anderson is also a full-time student. Between the two, he doesn’t have much spare time.

“It’s interesting. I do a lot of running back and forth between the campus and the shop. I don’t sit around on breaks between classes. Usually I try to schedule my classes so they are in blocks and I have as much free time out of school as I can. I tend to put the business first.

“Things for school sometimes get turned in late. I guess my school work has suffered a little, but that will happen. I just want to make sure that when I graduate I will have a grade point that will get me a good job if this doesn’t work out,” Anderson said.

To take some of the constant pressure off himself, and to adjust to his growing business, Anderson plans on creating a full-time position soon.

“Next year I want to hire a full-time salaried position. I think it will help keep me serious about school. They will take a little weight off my shoulders,” he said.

So far, though, things have been working out with R and R Landscaping. Anderson owns a small fleet of trucks, a grader, more tools than you can shake a stick at, and lots of other things that regular 19-year-old college students don’t have.

His young age hasn’t been much of a problem with employers other than a few surprised looks and a couple of questions. A person doesn’t expect a 19-year-old to show up and introduce himself as the owner of the business he or she just contracted. Anderson looks like he should be working for the business, not owning and operating it.

One problem he has run into with his age is dealing with his employees, some of whom are older than Anderson himself.

“Generally it’s not too bad. Some people have a problem taking orders from a 19-year-old. They gain my respect by doing good work, and I gain theirs by treating them well,” he said.

Once his employees get past the initial shock of his age, then they have to deal with his work ethic. At first Anderson thought everyone would naturally want to work from seven in the morning until nine at night like him. To a few of his employees that wasn’t quite so natural. They wanted to have a social life once the sun went down. Anderson has adjusted though, and is now concerned with motivating his employees. But don’t be fooled, he’s still a stickler for high quality work.

Anderson’s thinks his emphasis on hard work and a quality product is the secret to his success.

“We’re not the cheapest around. I price so that we can do quality work. I try to be aggressive as I can to get all the business I can. I don’t do telemarketing or pressure sales or anything, but I try to get my name out there. So far, every year has been a successful one for me,” Anderson said.

Some of his success might have come from a little help from his parents along the way. In his earlier years, his mom used to drive him around, pulling his mower on a trailer behind her car. His father put up with Anderson always being underfoot and with constant questions about construction from a kid who wanted to learn.

Now that Anderson has his driver’s license and his own vehicles, his mother helps with bookkeeping and billing when he runs out of time to do it himself. Anderson still wants to learn from his father but now that he’s not underfoot, his questions have more to do with business decisions and managing money.

All of the decisions that come with owning a business have come in stride for Anderson, and he is busy making plans for the future.

“One of the reasons I like this is being able to make my own decisions. I like running my own show. In 10 years I’d like to be the best and one of the bigger full-service landscape, maintenance and installation companies in central Iowa,” Anderson said.