Hello and welcome to the Lon Hustle, season number one, episode number nine.
In today's episode, we're going to discuss an old phrase.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Now you might be thinking, what does that have anything to do with me and my lawn care
business in the year 2024?
Let's talk about it.
Sometimes in life, you need to act quickly.
Thinking too much about a problem does not always help solve the problem.
In fact, thinking too much about a problem can at times hold us back.
We have expressions to describe that way of thinking, no time like the present.
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
Just do it.
Or get her done.
But sometimes slower is better.
Many things require careful thought and preparations.
Sometimes we need to be cautious and take precautions.
A great expression for that kind of thinking and that kind of behavior is an ounce of prevention.
Is worth a pound of cure.
This saying comes to us from Benjamin Franklin.
In addition to being a writer, Franklin was a printer, a political thinker, a politician,
a scientist, an inventor, a diplomat, and Franklin was one of the founding fathers of
these great United States of America.
So Benjamin Franklin was a busy man, yet he always found time to write and to offer
help and advice to others.
If Benjamin Franklin were alive today, he would probably make a good living as a life
coach.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is one of his most famous sayings.
Now Franklin lived in the 1700s before the metric system took effect in Europe.
The word ounce means something very, very small.
In fact, it's two one hundredths of a kilogram.
So his expression meant that when dealing with a problem, spending a small amount of
time and effort early on is a good investment.
It can save you more trouble in the end.
It is better to take precautions than to suffer severe consequences later.
So what does that have to do with you?
What does that have to do with me?
We are in the lawn care business.
The spring rush is upon us.
Mulch madness has begun.
I received an email from Google.
My Google page received 105 contacts so far this month.
You're fixing to be extremely busy.
I am going to be extremely busy.
And it is better to take precautions than to suffer severe consequences later.
A small amount of time now, a small amount of effort now is a good investment in our
business.
You might ask, what are you saying?
Before the rush starts, now is the time to service all of your equipment.
It doesn't matter how many mowers you have.
It doesn't matter how many handheld blowers and trimmers and hedge trimmers.
Now is the time if you have one or you have 10.
Now is the time to service what you have.
The first Monday of every October.
I put my plows on, my spreaders on, and I do a dry run.
I make sure there's no problem with the plow angling to the right, angling to the left,
putting it in scoop mode, putting it in V mode, raising and lowering it.
I hit the spinner button on the spreader controller to make sure everything is functioning the
way that it should.
Why do I do that?
I'm investing a little time and a little effort before the snow flies, so when it does come,
I'm not caught off guard.
I have preached this to some of my local friends, and I have seen some follow my steps and do
it, and others get caught off guard when the snow flies and their plow don't function.
So I am better off taking that first Monday in October, putting a little effort into putting
the plow on and the spreaders on and doing a dry run.
So I know in November or December, when we get our first accumulating snow that we're
good to go.
We're ready, we're prepared.
And as soon as we reach a snow trigger, we can go keep our businesses open, keep our
residents open, so they have access in and out of their property in case of an emergency
or in case emergency services needs to reach them.
There's access.
I would feel terrible if someone was depending on me and there was a situation where I couldn't
service their property because I wasn't prepared and something happened to that homeowner because
emergency services could not reach them.
I would feel devastated.
So I put forth a little effort early so I'm prepared later.
So the spring rush, mulch madness.
It's here.
In Indiana, where I'm from, the grass is starting to turn green.
It's early this year.
We're going to have an early spring.
The groundhog has verified that.
It's not going to be long until the grass is growing and in that early spring season,
I call it the rapid growth season.
To where the grass is growing like its own steroids, it's hard enough to keep up with
it when everything is running smoothly.
You have a breakdown early on in the spring and your properties can get out of control,
which is going to lead to upset customers.
And potentially you could lose a few customers and your business suffer.
So now is the time to pull those mowers in the shop, jack them up, scrape your deck,
put sharp blades on.
I like to start my season off with new blades.
Change your oil, change your air filter, change your gas filter.
If it's time, according to your manufacturer, if it's time for you to change your hydro
filter and your hydro fluid, do that.
Make sure you follow your manufacturer's recommendations.
The last thing that you or the last thing that I need is for when the spring rush starts,
for us to be in the field and something happened and a mower go down or a piece of equipment
go down and we can't finish the job.
Or the trimmer wants to bulk down when you pull the trigger or the blower wants to bulk
down and it's not blowing like it should all because you did not do anything to prevent
an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Now is the time while it is maybe a little slower for you to start servicing doing dry
runs.
I just this week finished putting belts on servicing the mowers and we are ready to go
as soon as the grass is green and growing.
We're ready to go on day number one because I spent a little time and put forth a little
effort early and invested early in my business.
I don't have to worry about day one, week one, month one about equipment failure.
Now I know things can happen.
I know you can service your equipment and change the oil every 50 hours and do exactly
what your brand recommends and something can still happen.
I understand that.
I'm talking about some things that we can prevent from happening because we put forth
a little effort.
We invest a little time.
So get your equipment serviced now.
Be prepared now.
Be ready to go on day one.
Now let's shift gears.
Not only does your equipment need to be prepared, you need to be prepared.
I need to be prepared.
Let's face it, over the winter, if you're anything like me, you gain a few pounds because
we're not going as much.
So I need to prepare my body, my mind right now for that spring rush.
Start walking a little bit.
Maybe cut back on a few of the cookies and the snacks and the soft drinks.
Start preparing your body for the rush and the hustle of the spring season.
You would be surprised how much better you'll feel when day one comes if you start preparing
right now.
Prepare your body.
Prepare your mind.
Start thinking about and looking at your schedule and in your mind, preparing yourself for the
work that you have to do.
The sole purpose of this podcast is to be a help.
I've been in business for 15 years.
And if there's something that I can say that will help you find success and help you to
run your business smoother and more profitable, that's what I want to do.
So thank you for joining.
You can always follow us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube.
You can email me.
You can call me.
I'm available.
Tune in next week for another episode of the Lawn Hustle.