40 | OCTOBER 31 • 2024 J
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ak Park-based entrepreneur Sruli (Michael)
Klein, 28, founder and CEO of Capital
Landscapes, is no stranger to launching
and expanding companies. The Farber Hebrew Day
School graduate launched his first landscape compa-
ny “Mow on the Go” at age 14.
“I knew nothing about mowing lawns,
” he recalls.
“But I had a push mower, and I would just figure it
out.
”
By the time he was 17, he had three landscaping
trucks to his name and five people working for him
full time. Klein, who also owns Klein’s Rentals (a
kosher traveling rental service), eventually grew the
company to a multi-million-dollar business before
selling the brand in 2017.
During this time, he moved on to launch
Emergency Response Services Inc., a property res-
toration company that he sold in 2020. Yet Mow
on the Go was always on the back of his mind, and
when Klein received a call from the then-owner to
help him restore the business, which had fallen apart
with poor customer service, Klein offered to buy it
back.
In November 2022, Klein purchased Mow on the
Go and rebranded it to Capital Landscapes. “The
business had fallen apart, and they lost every cus-
tomer,
” Klein explains. “I rebranded and kept one
employee.
”
In just two years, the business has gone from zero
customers to 17 vehicles in Klein’s fleet, as well as 32
people that work for him full-time under the new
name.
The business expansion was made possible with
Hebrew Free Loan’s Marvin I. Danto Small Business
Loan, which granted Capital Landscapes $100,000 to
grow the company.
FROM STANDARD LANDSCAPING
TO LUXURY DESIGN
Capital Landscapes now services most of the Metro
Detroit area from as far south as Detroit to as far
north as Bloomfield Hills, then as east as Warren
and as west as Northville.
Klein decided to go beyond standard landscap-
ing services. By expanding the service offerings,
he transformed Capital Landscapes to a full-size
landscape design firm that specializes in creating
everything from simple to luxurious outdoor envi-
ronments.
“We build high-end landscapes for several hun-
dred-thousand dollars each, and we also do com-
mercial landscaping where we build massive retain-
ing walls and fountains,
” he explains.
In the winter months, Capital Landscapes also
offers residential and commercial snow removal.
Still, it wasn’t an easy journey to get the business
to where it is today. In its early years as Mow on the
Go, Klein regularly clocked 60-to-70 hours per week
growing the business. He also had to navigate bring-
ing a business back to life that had essentially been
run into the ground.
To rebuild the brand, Klein focused on what ini-
tially made it successful: great customer service.
“Customer service is the biggest thing in land-
scaping,
” he says. “I learned that most people don’t
really care what company mows their grass, plows
their snow, does their mulch or flowers. It’s really
about having an effortless relationship and not won-
dering if a company will show up this week.
”
Yet at the basics is one guiding principle: “honest,
quality work,
” Klein explains.
“We’re always communicating with people,
” Klein
says. “When someone calls, we answer. We call them
back.
”
Learn more at caplandscapes.com.
A Go-Getter to Get Your
Landscape in Shape
Energetic entrepeneur transforms “Mow on the Go”
into the full-service company “Capital Landscapes.”
ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
BUSINESS
Michael
Klein
LEFT: A landscape
created by Capital
Landscapes.