What's up, hustlers? Welcome back to the Lawn
Hustle Podcast. The podcast built for the grinders,
the dreamers, and those turning grass into cash.
I am your host, Andy Wilson. Today we're talking
about something that does not get covered in
most lawn care groups, masterminds, YouTube channels,
or business podcasts. Today's podcast is not
about equipment. It's not about pricing or growth.
It's about our marriages and how running a lawn
care business can either build it up or slowly
break it down if you are not careful. Before
we get started, let's hear a word from my sponsor,
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for a $50 Amazon gift card, 10 % off, and personalized
onboarding. Eartha Pro, you run the outside work,
we run the office. So we're going to dig into
how a lawn care business can affect your marriage.
Let's be real. Lawn care is not a nine to five
job, as much as we would like for it to be. During
peak season, it's sun up to sun down. You're
running on fumes. You're sweaty. You're stressed.
You're tired. And by the time you get home, you've
got nothing left to give. Now here's the problem.
While you're hustling for your business, your
spouse might be feeling left behind. They see
the long hours, the missed dinners, the missed
family get -togethers, the missed birthday parties.
They see the weekends that are booked and they
might start thinking, you care more about than
you do about them. And that right there can be
the start of a crack in your marriage. Now let
me say from the beginning, I am not a licensed
marriage counselor. I do, however, have a degree
in social work from the university here in Indiana,
IU. So let's talk about some common struggles
that can affect your marriage if you are not
intentional. Time strains. The busiest months
don't line up with the normal family rhythms.
Normal vacations, kids' sports, holidays. Sometimes
these things take a backseat to your business.
Number two, money stress. Cash flow can be feast
or famine. One month you're flush, the next you're
stressed about payroll, about equipment repairs.
That financial roller coaster can weigh heavy
on a marriage. Number three, identity. A lot
of spouses don't fully understand what we do.
They see cutting grass. They don't see the late
night working on estimates, invoices, answering
emails or text messages. They don't see managing
crews. or chasing invoices. And that disconnect
can create tension when there is a lack of understanding
what all we do to help run or establish a business.
But with that being said, I want to say this
now. Don't get so busy building a business that
you fail to build a life. Let me say that again.
Don't get so busy building a business that you
fail to build a life. As hard as you work on
your business, you should work on building a
relationship with your children, with your spouse,
with your family. Because when the business is
gone, family should still be there. Sometimes
one spouse carries the home life while the other
carries the business. That imbalance leads to
resentment if it's not talked through. Does this
sound familiar? It does for me. Because when
I was starting my business, I was so focused
on running a business, building a business, getting
new clients, making sure all the invoices are
done, making sure everything was mailed out,
making sure that I had followed through and followed
up on phone calls, emails, text messages. And
sometimes it would be easy for me to, I don't
need to do this around the house because I'm
doing all of this for the business. That's an
imbalance. That's why it's important to set your
business up to where when you walk away, for
the day, you can leave the business behind. Pick
it up tomorrow morning, grind harder, hustle
smarter, work harder. So, let's recap. These
are some struggles that lawn care businesses
go through time string, money stress, identity
clash, and an unbalanced role in your relationship.
So building a stronger marriage through lawn
care is impossible, absolutely. Lawn care doesn't
have to hurt your marriage. In fact, it can strengthen
your marriage if you bring your spouse into the
vision. Here are some things that I've learned
both from my own journey and from others in the
industry. Communicate with your spouse. Like
you mow. Communicate like you mow. Consistently.
Don't let weeks go by without checking in. A
five minute hi, how are you doing? Can go a long
way. When you take some time to include your
spouse. in your vision of your business. It makes
them feel a part of a team. So you want to communicate
like you, like you know, consistently. You want
to involve your spouse in the business. Maybe
not out in the field, but in decision making.
Share wins, share struggles. When they feel included,
they feel valued. When they ask you how was your
day, be honest with them. Tell them about your
day. your experiences. What you did for that
day. Maybe what you didn't get accomplished for
that day. Because when you include them, they
feel valued. Protect time together. Even during
the busy season, carve out non -negotiable Family
time. Breakfast dates. Sunday dinner. Kids events.
Treat that time like a high paying client. You
wouldn't cancel on them. So don't cancel on your
spouse. My family. We sat down every night. and
have a family meal together. We eat dinner together
because we are a family. And I'm not going to
allow the stress and the pressure of that day's
schedule take me away from my family. You see.
You can get so busy trying to build your business
that you don't build your life. And that is a
mistake. So, protect time together. Talk about
money openly. Don't hide the ups and the downs.
Be transparent so your spouse doesn't feel blindsided,
when things get tight, or when you make a big
investment. Be honest, be transparent, and be
open. Dream together. Remind each other of the
why. Why you started. Maybe it was financial
freedom. Maybe it was time freedom. Or building
something for the kids. That shared vision keeps
you rowing in the same direction. So look, hustlers.
A lot of marriages end in divorce. My wife and
I have been married for 37 years. And while we
were dating and just talking about marriage,
we made up our mind that the word divorce would
not be mentioned in an argument. We wouldn't
throw it up. in a disagreement. We would talk
through it, we would work through it, and we
would survive. You see, we took some vows for
richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health,
forsaking all others, that we would love, honor,
and cherish each other. So I'm not going to be
inconsiderate when the money is there. And I'm
not going to hide it when the money's not there.
I'm going to love her in sickness and in health,
forsaking all others until Death do us part.
You see, marriage is until death, not until something
better comes along. Your marriage is more important
than your mowing route. You can always replace
a trimmer. You can always find another client.
But you cannot just replace the person who's
been with you through the ups and the downs.
When you take your marriage personally and you
take it and you begin to build it and you begin
to establish and you begin to mesh and grow together,
the two become one. When you do that, there are
going to be things that will try to destroy that
unit, try to break down, try to divide, try to
sever, but you've got to make up your mind, I'm
in. this marriage until death do us part. So
I encourage you to take care of your lawns, work
on your route density, know your numbers, know
what you should be charging. Charge according
to your value and the customer's perceived outcome.
But I want to also encourage you, work on your
marriage harder. Work on your marriage even more.
Because at the end of the day, the best business
partner you will ever have is your spouse. We've
been through sickness as most of you know, I
am a throat cancer survivor And I would not Want
to walk that road by myself I'm so thankful and
grateful that my wife was there for me She encouraged
me she prayed for me wiped tears from my eyes.
She was a strength for me. And there's been times
that I have been there for her because that's
what a husband and wife does. Yes, I want to
have a great business. Yes, I want to make money.
Yes, I want to grow. I want to scale. I want
to take my business to the next level, but not
at the expense of my family. And this is why
I think it's important that you set some time
limits on work. For example, here are a few.
Maybe no phone calls or no estimates after 6
or 7 p .m. Maybe you start winding down the work
day at 5 p .m. And if I'm starting a job before
5 and I can't get it done either I wait and start
it the next morning or I come back the next morning
first thing and finish Because I want to set
those time frames for my work so I can make those
family dinners, so I can go to those family birthday
parties, so I can go to the kids sporting events
or school functions. You see, you can go through
your kids' whole school years and miss out on
all of their events. and when you look back through
the years in the pictures or the videos and you
see grandma and grandpa you see aunts and uncles
you see your family but you're never in the picture
you're never in the video because you're never
there that my friend can be a I cannot survive.
So set those timeframes. I'm not going to mow
anything after 5 p .m. I'm shutting my work phone
off at 7 p .m. I'm not going to answer the phone.
I'm not going to return an email. I'm not going
to return a text message. It can wait from 7
p .m. to 7 a .m. Those 12 hours are my time,
my family's time, my wife and I's time. So I
want to encourage you. Yes, we want to be successful.
Yes, we want to grow a great business. the ins
and outs of running a business and being efficient
and knowing the bottom dollar of our income versus
the top dollar of our income. We want to know
all about our profit margins. We want to know
all about our P &L. You know, I want to make
a problem. I need to know about that. But I don't
want to sacrifice my family, my wife, my kids,
my mother. She's 92 years old. She's the matriarch.
She is what has held us all together for all
of these years. These last years, to be flooded
with family time, with honoring her, cherishing
her, loving her more than ever before. And I
know you want the same thing. I want you to have
a great business, but I want you to have a great
family also. Because running a business, whether
it's lawn care or plumbing or roofing or whatever
it is, running a business can destroy the family
unit if you let it. But if you make up your mind,
I'm going to involve my wife in my decision making,
in my business finances in my day -to -day operation.
And I'm going to find a happy family while I'm
building a great company. So thanks for listening,
lawn hustles. If this episode hit home for you,
share it with another lawn care pro who might
need the reminder. And remember, it's not just
about growing lawns, it's about growing a life.
I'll catch you on the next episode of The Lawn
Hustle.