“I started my own lawn care company first,” Banks said. “I graduated from Miamisburg High School in 2014 and started taking classes at Sinclair Community College. Then I started working full time at McDonald’s.”
McDonald’s Restaurants was interested in fast-tracking Banks to the management program, but he had a decision to make – accept the opportunity with McDonald’s in upper management or take his college experience in business administration and focus on his new lawn care company. For Banks, it was an easy decision.
“I figured that lawn care had so much potential,” Banks said. “It just needed my attention full time.”
And he was right. Before long he had hired two crews and was building sales and a fleet of vehicles and equipment. Then while searching for a way to advertise his company and branding his vehicles, Banks discovered vinyl vehicle wraps. And before long, his second business, Performance Wraps, was born.
“My wife, Tanor and I started Performance Wraps in 2017,” Banks said. “By 2019 we decided to sell the lawn care business and Performance Wraps just took off. We jumped from a 1,500 square foot building to 8,000.”
For Banks the biggest learning curve was figuring out how to wrap a vehicle properly. He knew he would have to learn to do it quickly, so he worked hard and didn’t stop until he mastered it.
“In a nutshell, if I see a phenomenal product or service that makes sense, I go for it,” Banks said. “At the end of the day, that’s what matters.”
And that’s what inspired Banks in 2021, as the global pandemic moved into its second year, to look into starting another business.
“I got a wild hair,” Banks said. “I had all these tools myself and I was wondering why there wasn’t an app to help people rent this stuff out to others who needed it.”
Banks did some research and found Yoodlize, a peer-to-peer rental platform that was designed to connect people with the things they need. The idea for Yoodlize was born in Utah and Banks was intrigued but it hadn’t yet expanded beyond that state.
“I figured it couldn’t be hard to start something like this myself,” Banks said. “But I don’t have time to do it!”
After researching the company, Banks discovered that Yoodlize founder Jason Fairbourne was an entrepreneur with a similar spirit as his own. At the time, everyone at Yoodlize was working for shares of the company, and no one was getting a paycheck.
“I messaged Jason and told him I’d like him to look at Dayton for his next market,” Banks said. “About a month later, he called me, and we agreed I’d develop the local market.”
Today the rental platform has taken off in Utah and the simple idea that collectively people own everything anyone needs, they just need to connect with one another, is driving the success. Owners can post their items and renters can sign up to take home anything from recreational equipment to tools to bounce houses, then return them at the end of the rental period. And Banks has taken over the development locally and is working to raise awareness and convince people to post and rent items.
Banks’ devotion to creating and building his own businesses was recognized in November when he received one of the first Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce Winsupply Awards for Entrepreneurial Excellence. Winners were chosen because they exemplify the American entrepreneurial spirit and for establishing and nurturing successful business ventures in the Dayton region.
“My goals for my businesses are growth first and foremost,” Banks said. “I’m not the kind of owner that has everything starting and stopping with me. I want to empower my employees to handle their own roles and help grow the company.”
As for Yoodlize, Banks sees the app as a way to help the local economy continue to recover and make people happy at the same time by allowing them to try out new things without spending thousands of dollars.
“If you’ve never been camping before, you can rent all the equipment you need and decide if you like it before you buy everything,” Banks said. “I encourage people to download the app and check it out. You never know what you may find.”
For more information, log on to performancewraps.com and download the Yoodlize app in the Apple and Google versions.
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