ForConstructionPros.com

Ten years ago, Tim Cushenberry was driving down the streets of his hometown of Hammond, LA, wondering what career path to take in life.

Then Cushenberry began noticing that a lot of parking lots were in bad shape in the area. He thought that either there weren't enough people in the parking lot maintenance business, or the people in the business weren't doing a good job. Either way, there was obviously room in the market for one more. Cushenberry had found the lifelong, profitable business he was looking for.

Cushenberry started out with a small striping machine, one helper, and training from some friends who happened to be experts in the business. They taught him parking lot maintenance techniques and how to bid jobs competitively.

"I was small at first, every time taking small steps," Cushenberry says.

Today, Cushenberry's Zebra Parking Lot Maintenance Co., Inc., has more than 30 employees, is licensed in two states, and does parking lot construction, repair, and maintenance. The business focuses mostly on commercial clients, but doesn't turn away requests for small residential jobs.

"We've always tried to maintain the ability to go back and do work for some of the customers that helped us in the beginning, who got us going way back," Cushenberry says. He notes that sometimes this is a challenge, however, because it's hard for a large-scale parking lot maintenance business to compete with smaller companies that have less overhead.