From a young age, Mark Drapper struggled to read and write – but engines were his playground.
His mum Ruth, who has home schooled all 11 of her children, saw that her ninth child had a natural talent that couldn’t be taught in traditional classrooms.
She tailored his curriculum to nurture his practical skills – and now Mark, 22, is thriving as an entrepreneur at the helm of a lawnmower business near Dorchester.
In the space of five years, MAD Mowers has grown from a gazebo in the back garden, to a new showroom and workshop in a business park.
Mark’s success is testament to support from the whole family.

Ruth said: “Mark’s challenges with reading and writing led some to label him as dyslexic or possibly autistic, but I call him gifted and unique. He is a genius with engines.
“Academia was difficult for him, so as part of his homeschooling he would take trips to the recycling centre and buy scrap lawnmowers for £3.
“In the afternoons he would spend hours fixing them up or stripping them for parts to sell on eBay.
“As Mark got older, we discovered a lawnmower business in Yeovil called Mike’s Mowers and arranged work experience for him there.”
Mark worked at Mike’s Mowers for a year before it closed – prompting Mark to start up his own firm.
Naming it MAD Mowers after his own initials (Mark Amos Drapper), he set to work in the family home in Stockwood, under an orange gazebo in the back garden.
Business quickly took off, and more customers meant the family had to build a workshop and turn their small shed into an office.
Meanwhile, dad Andrew was helping Mark part-time whilst also working as a night porter at The George Albert Hotel.
After covid, he began working at MAD Mowers full time – and then the 11th and youngest child, Michael, joined the family firm, helping during the summer months.
“Michael is 18 and brings different gifts to the table,” says Ruth. “He is not only able to fix mowers but loves the business side and sales.
“His home-schooling studies focused on business including customer service, marketing, management, and leadership courses, and he’s still learning about sales and has attended an industry run workshop.”

Michael’s contribution proved to be pivotal. His unique set of skills drove MAD Mowers to new heights, focusing on sales and business development.
“By the time Michael was old enough to leave school and work full time, the business had been growing and growing,” adds Ruth.
“Until the summer of 2023, the workshop was so full of mowers it was hard to find space to work.
“Unless it was good weather, they would have to bring all the machines inside when it rained, and then there was no room to work.
“Also, there was nowhere Michael could set up a showroom for the sales side of the business.”
The family needed to make the leap from their back garden into an industrial unit. After a long search, Mark, Michael and Andrew sat down, did the maths, and decided to move into Unit 4, Wardon Hill Business Park.
Dad Andrew is on board, and the trio have now moved into robot mowers, alongside selling, servicing, and repairing ride-on and pedestrian mowers, as well as other small-engine garden machinery.
Andrew said: “A client was recently struggling to retain staff willing to spend full days on a ride-on mower.

“The Voyager solves that problem neatly – the operator drives the boundary once, and the machine handles the rest. That frees up the team to focus on trimming edges, emptying bins, and the more skilled finishing work. And they can even have a coffee break while the Voyager is still mowing. On the next visit, they do not even have to mow the boundary. The Voyager can mow for 28,000 square metres or about 8 hours, and can also have a supplementary battery added if it needs more time on a job.”
MAD Mowers now employs Ollie as a trainee technician on Saturdays, as well as Wayne, a full-time mechanic. Sixth child Cornelius has also come on board to lead their social media, with his videography and media skills.
“MAD Mowers is more than just a business – it’s a family legacy,” says Ruth.
“We have never taken out a business loan and only run by re-investing the money we make.
“We’re incredibly proud of how far we’ve come in just over five years. Our commitment is to provide every customer with five star service, while maintaining the close-knit, family feel that has been at the heart of our business from the beginning.”
n If you want to support the young entrepreneurs at MAD Mowers you can call 0333 0064332, visit madmowers.uk, or just pop in 9am-5pm Monday to Saturday, Unit 4, Wardon Hill Business Park, Wardon Hill, Evershot, DT2 9PW.