WEBVTT 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:41.619 hustle podcast. I am your host Andy Wilson with 00:00:41.619 --> 00:00:45.920 17 years of experience in the green industry. 00:00:47.380 --> 00:00:50.840 Today we have a special guest with us Jason Kruehl 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:56.000 and I've been following him on social media for 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:03.159 quite some time. He has 5 ,475 followers on Instagram. 00:01:03.880 --> 00:01:07.640 And I want to encourage my listeners now, go 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:12.640 to Instagram, search him out, follow him. You 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.959 will enjoy his content as much as I do. Jason, 00:01:17.299 --> 00:01:20.579 thank you for joining the Lawn Hustle. Well, 00:01:20.579 --> 00:01:22.620 thanks for having me. I really appreciate that. 00:01:23.159 --> 00:01:26.780 I do more on YouTube probably than Instagram, 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:29.840 but I do try to post content on both sites, but 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:32.620 I enjoyed. I appreciate the invite this morning 00:01:32.620 --> 00:01:34.900 and looking forward to talking with you. Well, 00:01:34.900 --> 00:01:40.400 I have seen you and Paul Jameson on your content. 00:01:41.260 --> 00:01:46.019 And when I first saw the one video and then I 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:49.019 think Paul explained to me what you were doing 00:01:49.019 --> 00:01:53.239 or you were blowing grass and people were thinking, 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:55.659 no, this guy doesn't know what he's doing. But 00:01:55.659 --> 00:02:00.569 you were doing it intentional. He used to live 00:02:00.569 --> 00:02:02.450 in Atlanta. I live near Birmingham. It's not 00:02:02.450 --> 00:02:05.150 too far away. He would come over and we would 00:02:05.150 --> 00:02:09.569 make content. He would film me doing stuff that 00:02:09.569 --> 00:02:11.569 was incorrect. I don't do that a lot anymore, 00:02:11.729 --> 00:02:14.349 but yeah, some of those, I guess millions of 00:02:14.349 --> 00:02:16.310 people watched it and they told me to keep sprayed 00:02:16.310 --> 00:02:20.889 yards and get off the lawn mower. Well, I enjoy 00:02:20.889 --> 00:02:24.629 your content. I appreciate it. Let me ask you, 00:02:25.270 --> 00:02:29.710 what inspired you? to get into the lawn care 00:02:29.710 --> 00:02:35.129 business? That's a good question. I think I just, 00:02:35.189 --> 00:02:37.430 maybe we started around the same time. I just 00:02:37.430 --> 00:02:41.069 finished my 18th year and I had, I tell people 00:02:41.069 --> 00:02:43.610 I had probably 15 jobs before that. I don't think 00:02:43.610 --> 00:02:48.449 that's an exaggeration, all bad basically. I 00:02:48.449 --> 00:02:52.129 do have a college degree and you know, I could 00:02:52.129 --> 00:02:54.509 have just did something else. At some point in 00:02:54.509 --> 00:02:59.319 my life, I figured out I was, I've only, I guess, 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:01.599 been a hard worker, but I was not necessarily 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:05.240 a great employee. Not that I would show up and 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:07.360 do what I was told to do. I just, again, never 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:10.300 had a good job. At some point, I guess I had 00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:12.099 figured out I had an entrepreneurial spirit. 00:03:12.300 --> 00:03:14.599 I was like, you know, I could do this on my own. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:18.039 Why am I working for these people? But I didn't 00:03:18.039 --> 00:03:21.120 have a lot of great ideas. I wanted to do something 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:23.740 that... I guess you would describe as bigger 00:03:23.740 --> 00:03:26.740 than myself. I wanted, I'd considered joining 00:03:26.740 --> 00:03:29.199 the military, I considered being a missionary, 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:33.219 I could start a business. And so I ended up starting 00:03:33.219 --> 00:03:35.419 a business and didn't know what to do. And so 00:03:35.419 --> 00:03:39.860 I started mowing grass. And, you know, it kind 00:03:39.860 --> 00:03:44.080 of had some minor successes early on that compared 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:49.099 to my pathetic jobs. I had had seemed like so 00:03:49.099 --> 00:03:53.060 I became quickly hooked on. Well, how has your 00:03:53.060 --> 00:03:56.979 business evolved over the years? 18 years in 00:03:56.979 --> 00:03:59.860 the business From the time you started to where 00:03:59.860 --> 00:04:03.360 you are today. How have you gotten to where you 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:21.910 are? I used to mow grass. I lived in Montgomery, 00:04:21.910 --> 00:04:27.670 Alabama. I was mowing grass and over time I was 00:04:27.670 --> 00:04:30.170 approached by somebody who bought that business. 00:04:30.629 --> 00:04:32.970 I wasn't necessarily looking to sell it but I 00:04:32.970 --> 00:04:35.129 was made an offer and so I sold that business 00:04:35.129 --> 00:04:38.829 and I kept a small portion and kept mowing grass 00:04:38.829 --> 00:04:41.829 but two years later we decided to relocate our 00:04:41.829 --> 00:04:45.310 family two hours north or roughly two hours north. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:47.939 So I sold the remaining portion of my business 00:04:47.939 --> 00:04:50.579 and I decided to get into the weed control side 00:04:50.579 --> 00:04:54.860 of the business. And I guess that was 11 or 12 00:04:54.860 --> 00:04:57.800 years ago and I've really enjoyed that. So as 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:01.259 far as the evolution, I mean, it was more relocating 00:05:01.259 --> 00:05:03.699 and then decide I want to do weed control. And 00:05:03.699 --> 00:05:06.600 I was mulling grass when I started that as well. 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:09.759 But I eventually decided, you know, I'm going 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:12.360 to go the weed control route. I wasn't sure if 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:15.180 I wanted to grow and have multiple trucks. But 00:05:15.180 --> 00:05:17.300 I think, and I did have two trucks one time, 00:05:17.899 --> 00:05:21.300 but I just became comfortable for a couple of 00:05:21.300 --> 00:05:23.019 reasons saying, you know what, I think I'm going 00:05:23.019 --> 00:05:25.579 to do it myself. Some of that has to do with 00:05:25.579 --> 00:05:30.259 having a social media side to what I do. I may 00:05:30.259 --> 00:05:32.379 do it different if I didn't have that. And then 00:05:32.379 --> 00:05:36.079 some of it just became who I was. Some people 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:38.879 were wired differently and some can handle the 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:43.060 chaos of employees and all that. And I'm not 00:05:43.060 --> 00:05:45.910 as good at that. That's why I shrunk it back 00:05:45.910 --> 00:05:49.189 down and worked by myself. Well, success is not 00:05:49.189 --> 00:05:52.689 determined by how many crews you have. Success 00:05:52.689 --> 00:05:56.949 is determined by your individual goals, your 00:05:56.949 --> 00:06:01.829 individual desires and dreams. And if you are 00:06:01.829 --> 00:06:04.930 reaching those goals and those dreams are becoming 00:06:04.930 --> 00:06:08.310 reality, then you're being successful. So it's 00:06:08.310 --> 00:06:12.329 not determined by crew numbers and how many trucks 00:06:12.329 --> 00:06:16.680 you have. Because some guys choose to be solo 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:19.959 operators, and I think that's what you have chosen 00:06:19.959 --> 00:06:26.560 So I appreciate You being on my show, but let 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:30.899 me ask you this What keeps you passionate you 00:06:30.899 --> 00:06:36.660 and I both know? That burnout is real We all 00:06:36.660 --> 00:06:40.160 go through those struggles when we're tempted 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:43.519 Throw in the towel, go get a job, and work for 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:47.420 somebody else. But what keeps Jason passionate 00:06:47.420 --> 00:06:51.300 about his business, about the green industry, 00:06:51.699 --> 00:06:54.860 and what keeps him motivated to keep going day 00:06:54.860 --> 00:06:59.040 after day? That's a good question. And I've given 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:01.439 that some thought, because I do think, well, 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:05.050 I'll say this. Just finishing my 18th year. I 00:07:05.050 --> 00:07:08.269 think I'm far more excited about year 19 than 00:07:08.269 --> 00:07:11.490 I probably was year three. You know, so my burnout 00:07:11.490 --> 00:07:14.889 came early on and thinking, I don't know if this 00:07:14.889 --> 00:07:18.670 can work, you know, because not having a good 00:07:18.670 --> 00:07:21.850 idea of how to scale and how to manage employees 00:07:21.850 --> 00:07:24.689 and what my true overhead costs were. It seemed 00:07:24.689 --> 00:07:27.129 like I was working harder and not making more 00:07:27.129 --> 00:07:32.370 money as I began to learn myself. And of course, 00:07:32.540 --> 00:07:34.540 obviously got more experience in the business, 00:07:34.819 --> 00:07:40.240 I'm able to manage it in a way that also helps 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:45.160 me achieve other life goals. To me, this is my 00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:46.939 answer. It doesn't mean that it's true for everybody 00:07:46.939 --> 00:07:51.699 else. But for me, if I grew a $10 million a year 00:07:51.699 --> 00:07:54.800 landscape company or whatever, which is an admirable 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:59.560 goal, but neglected other things in my life, 00:07:59.819 --> 00:08:04.569 primarily my family, then that would not be success 00:08:04.569 --> 00:08:08.930 in my eyes. So I've tweaked it to where monetarily, 00:08:09.709 --> 00:08:12.550 I definitely try to make money and want to make 00:08:12.550 --> 00:08:16.750 more than I did last year and have financial 00:08:16.750 --> 00:08:20.850 goals. But I also have four kids and a wife and 00:08:20.850 --> 00:08:24.290 we're active in our church. There's other things 00:08:24.290 --> 00:08:28.310 going on. I have aging parents and a lot of things 00:08:28.310 --> 00:08:32.100 I want to accomplish other than lawn care. So 00:08:32.100 --> 00:08:35.559 I think when I look at the lawn business, I'm 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:38.639 like, I personally wouldn't trade jobs with almost 00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:43.399 anybody. I love what I do. I love doing lawn 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:46.840 care more than I do being on YouTube, to be honest 00:08:46.840 --> 00:08:50.919 with you, because it's not that stressful to 00:08:50.919 --> 00:08:53.220 be. I'm out there literally spraying water on 00:08:53.220 --> 00:08:57.360 people's yard with some herbicide mixed in. And 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:00.240 I'm able to listen to stuff like I listen to 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:02.240 podcasts or audiobooks while I'm doing it. So 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:05.000 I'm saying I'm challenging myself mentally. I'm 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:08.019 staying active physically. It gives me a flexible 00:09:08.019 --> 00:09:11.360 schedule, which allows me to be a dad and a husband. 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:16.600 And it pays pretty well. I'm like, I don't I 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:20.279 wouldn't trade that for an office job that even 00:09:20.279 --> 00:09:22.059 if it paid more, which I don't think it would. 00:09:23.519 --> 00:09:26.100 It's not a hard decision for me. So I think. 00:09:26.330 --> 00:09:29.110 having those terrible jobs early on maybe helped 00:09:29.110 --> 00:09:32.169 me out to appreciate where I'm at today. Well, 00:09:32.169 --> 00:09:35.070 I hope our listeners heard what you were saying. 00:09:35.769 --> 00:09:38.950 You don't want to get so busy building a business 00:09:38.950 --> 00:09:44.830 that you fail in building a life. That's a more 00:09:44.830 --> 00:09:47.149 succinct way to say what I just said. So yeah, 00:09:47.169 --> 00:09:50.990 I appreciate that summary. But I was at that 00:09:50.990 --> 00:09:55.009 point where when I started I was growing so fast 00:09:55.009 --> 00:09:58.730 and was so busy that I was missing birthday parties, 00:09:59.149 --> 00:10:03.370 missing family retreats and get togethers. My 00:10:03.370 --> 00:10:05.230 wife would come home and I would ask her who 00:10:05.230 --> 00:10:08.610 was there. She would go down the list and she 00:10:08.610 --> 00:10:10.570 would say, this one asked where you were and 00:10:10.570 --> 00:10:14.370 this one asked what you were doing. And I realized 00:10:14.370 --> 00:10:17.750 that I was missing out on what I was trying to 00:10:17.750 --> 00:10:20.710 build a business for. I was missing out on my 00:10:20.710 --> 00:10:25.039 family. So I cut back and I said, listen, family 00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:28.419 is number one. Well, my relationship with God 00:10:28.419 --> 00:10:32.320 is number one. Family is number two. Professional 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:35.500 lawn maintenance is number three. And that's 00:10:35.500 --> 00:10:38.419 the order that it has to be because I don't want 00:10:38.419 --> 00:10:41.360 to try to build something and lose everything. 00:10:43.580 --> 00:10:47.460 So... How have you seen the lawn care industry 00:10:47.460 --> 00:10:50.720 in your years in the business? How have you seen 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:57.360 it change over the years? Well, again, when I 00:10:57.360 --> 00:11:00.659 started, I just went out there and started working. 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:04.480 I don't know that I had a great plan. What I've 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:07.500 realized today, and as I switched to weed control 00:11:07.500 --> 00:11:09.879 and fertilization, I was like, this is so much 00:11:09.879 --> 00:11:13.799 better. Why would I mow grass? Now, I see people 00:11:13.799 --> 00:11:17.179 that are mowing grass actually being fairly successful. 00:11:17.340 --> 00:11:21.039 I would say one way is change. Some people say, 00:11:21.299 --> 00:11:23.440 well, the prices are about the same as they were 00:11:23.440 --> 00:11:26.120 20 years ago. Yeah, I don't believe that. I have 00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:28.559 friends. I can't believe what they charge for 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:32.519 mowing the grass and seem to get plenty of work 00:11:32.519 --> 00:11:35.080 to be able to do that. And of course, landscaping 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:37.840 is expensive, too. So they're able to put together 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:41.320 a plan that I wasn't able to do on that side 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:44.580 of the business. I think, you know, it's a legit, 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:50.860 I don't know, the demand is there. People aren't, 00:11:51.100 --> 00:11:53.960 the customer, the clientele, they're not exactly 00:11:53.960 --> 00:11:56.779 shifting more towards do it yourself. They're 00:11:56.779 --> 00:11:59.320 probably shifting even more toward pay somebody 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:02.600 to do all these services for me. So I think there's 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:07.340 huge demand. And I think it's become actually 00:12:07.340 --> 00:12:11.279 more respected. You know, it used to be like, 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:13.460 well, you're just cutting grass because you couldn't 00:12:13.460 --> 00:12:15.240 cut it with a real job or something. You know, 00:12:15.379 --> 00:12:17.440 I felt like what maybe is mowing insecurities. 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:21.000 But now I feel like, you know, somebody I know 00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:23.340 some young people that are doing quite well in 00:12:23.340 --> 00:12:26.440 their 20s doing landscaping and mowing and we 00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:28.080 don't look down on them. We actually probably 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:30.850 say, wow. That was a good decision. You're doing 00:12:30.850 --> 00:12:33.210 a lot better off than a lot of your people you 00:12:33.210 --> 00:12:34.950 probably graduated high school with and took 00:12:34.950 --> 00:12:37.730 a different path. You're way further along than 00:12:37.730 --> 00:12:40.570 they are as far as career wise. So I don't know. 00:12:40.669 --> 00:12:43.370 More respected, I guess, would be would be one 00:12:43.370 --> 00:12:46.129 thing. Maybe one other thing quickly was just 00:12:46.129 --> 00:12:48.730 how we get customers and things, of course, has 00:12:48.730 --> 00:12:50.750 changed. I used to walk around, put door hangers 00:12:50.750 --> 00:12:53.690 outside, which can still work. But so much of 00:12:53.690 --> 00:12:59.149 it now is online and you're your reputation online, 00:12:59.389 --> 00:13:02.470 Google reviews, and your website rank, all these 00:13:02.470 --> 00:13:05.269 things that nobody cares about. You used to literally 00:13:05.269 --> 00:13:08.590 name your business like AA Lawn Care, AAA Lawn 00:13:08.590 --> 00:13:10.690 Care, so that you would show up first in the 00:13:10.690 --> 00:13:15.250 white pages, or yellow pages probably. I don't 00:13:15.250 --> 00:13:17.990 think that has almost no relevance anymore today. 00:13:19.110 --> 00:13:21.629 Well, let's take a short break and hear a word 00:13:21.629 --> 00:13:25.240 from my show sponsor. 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Let me ask you, what trends are 00:14:06.149 --> 00:14:09.850 you seeing in the green industry right now that 00:14:09.850 --> 00:14:18.750 is changing the trajectory of our business? I 00:14:18.750 --> 00:14:21.450 think I've become aware of a couple of things. 00:14:21.570 --> 00:14:24.110 Of course, if you go to those and stuff, you'll 00:14:24.110 --> 00:14:27.129 see all the autonomous equipment and certainly 00:14:27.129 --> 00:14:32.549 a big push and battery equipment. And for years, 00:14:32.809 --> 00:14:36.370 I guess since COVID became more evident with 00:14:36.370 --> 00:14:39.769 like labor issues, you know, being a challenge. 00:14:40.289 --> 00:14:43.289 So. I don't know. I don't know that it's fully 00:14:43.289 --> 00:14:45.690 hit where I'm at yet, but I think where at least 00:14:45.690 --> 00:14:48.450 the wheels are turning on how can we shift to 00:14:48.450 --> 00:14:54.110 be more, well, less labor dependent and more 00:14:54.110 --> 00:15:01.330 battery equipment, save on gas. And I picked 00:15:01.330 --> 00:15:03.690 up on that this year when I met a friend of mine 00:15:03.690 --> 00:15:07.210 that he has a... We were at dinner with a group 00:15:07.210 --> 00:15:09.509 of lawn care people and this guy probably had 00:15:09.509 --> 00:15:12.769 the biggest business of all of us does lots of 00:15:12.769 --> 00:15:16.269 schools and lots of big properties and big crews 00:15:16.269 --> 00:15:19.230 and trucks out driving all over place and He 00:15:19.230 --> 00:15:23.350 told me that he runs all battery -powered Handheld 00:15:23.350 --> 00:15:26.549 equipment as mowers are still gas. I think his 00:15:26.549 --> 00:15:30.649 blowers are gas but as far as Tremors and I think 00:15:30.649 --> 00:15:33.169 hedge trimmers and all that stuff string tremors 00:15:33.169 --> 00:15:37.629 and Edger's, he's using Makita battery powered 00:15:37.629 --> 00:15:39.909 equipment. I thought, wow, because it wasn't 00:15:39.909 --> 00:15:43.009 just like a little small timer. And it wasn't 00:15:43.009 --> 00:15:45.470 in California where he may have been forced a 00:15:45.470 --> 00:15:48.070 little bit, forced his hand. This is in Alabama, 00:15:48.990 --> 00:15:53.710 slow adopters to the trends. So I think those 00:15:53.710 --> 00:15:55.669 are a couple of things that are changing the 00:15:55.669 --> 00:15:58.950 industry a little bit. This last year at Equip 00:15:58.950 --> 00:16:03.899 Expo, I connected with a brand. And I've become 00:16:03.899 --> 00:16:07.500 an ambassador for them and they have sent me 00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:10.460 some battery powered trimmers, hedge trimmers, 00:16:10.759 --> 00:16:16.679 blowers. And I'm really impressed with the power 00:16:16.679 --> 00:16:20.360 that they have. I wish the batteries would last 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:24.200 longer though. That's my only issue with them 00:16:24.200 --> 00:16:31.879 is the batteries just don't last. And this has 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:34.279 been my experience. I have a lot of Milwaukee 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:38.679 equipment that they send me and I love a lot 00:16:38.679 --> 00:16:41.860 of the equipment. The blowers are the one that, 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:44.840 one of my friends who researched a lot, he said, 00:16:45.340 --> 00:16:49.159 the blowers use so much energy. that it's hard 00:16:49.159 --> 00:16:53.240 to, from a cost standpoint, to put the size battery 00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:55.000 on there that you need. It's going to be very 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:57.899 expensive to give you the equivalent energy that 00:16:57.899 --> 00:17:01.100 you would get from a gas blower. Now, on trimmers, 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:04.359 hedge trimmers, string trimmers, things, it's 00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:09.119 a lot easier to do. So, but to your point, maybe 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:13.160 I've seen a great improvement even over the years 00:17:13.160 --> 00:17:16.869 to where like I... I go, I have a battery backpack 00:17:16.869 --> 00:17:18.970 blower and string trimmers and all, you know, 00:17:18.990 --> 00:17:21.670 and I go grab those, even chainsaw. I have a 00:17:21.670 --> 00:17:24.250 gas chainsaw, battery chainsaw. I almost always 00:17:24.250 --> 00:17:28.509 grab the battery one just for my personal preference. 00:17:29.549 --> 00:17:33.710 Well, you're right. The batteries on the blowers, 00:17:34.089 --> 00:17:37.109 I burn through them so quick. But if I'm doing 00:17:37.109 --> 00:17:42.339 a hedge job and trimming a few bushes, that that 00:17:42.339 --> 00:17:44.960 hedge trim will last all day. And I haven't come 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:50.500 across anything that that Cinex 60 volt hedge 00:17:50.500 --> 00:17:53.380 trim will not cut through. It's a great piece 00:17:53.380 --> 00:17:57.900 of equipment. Well, is there any misconceptions 00:17:57.900 --> 00:18:00.440 about the lawn care industry that you would like 00:18:00.440 --> 00:18:03.559 to clear up? We're not all chucking the trucks 00:18:03.559 --> 00:18:09.609 or anything that you want to clear up. Maybe 00:18:09.609 --> 00:18:12.750 to my earlier point, it's I think it's a very 00:18:12.750 --> 00:18:18.049 respectable industry nowadays. Like I used to 00:18:18.049 --> 00:18:20.650 probably be a little bit embarrassed, but feel 00:18:20.650 --> 00:18:24.349 like, yeah, I graduated. I was not saying this 00:18:24.349 --> 00:18:27.609 in a too arrogant way, but I was valedictorian 00:18:27.609 --> 00:18:30.029 my high school or I graduated with honors in 00:18:30.029 --> 00:18:32.470 college with, you know, I think I felt like sometimes 00:18:32.470 --> 00:18:34.690 my family thought surely he's going to accomplish 00:18:34.690 --> 00:18:38.019 more than like you and lawn care. I mean, And 00:18:38.019 --> 00:18:41.200 maybe I should have, I don't know. But to me, 00:18:41.299 --> 00:18:43.700 it's more of just a fit personality -wise, what 00:18:43.700 --> 00:18:46.539 I enjoy. I just want to be out there doing something. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:51.740 So I think the misconception being that it's 00:18:51.740 --> 00:18:54.859 kind of a low -end job. You're just the grass 00:18:54.859 --> 00:18:59.019 cutter guy that is working for that. To me, I 00:18:59.019 --> 00:19:01.680 don't tell the customers this, but in my mind, 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:05.410 I hope that... Again, I'm not saying this too 00:19:05.410 --> 00:19:07.309 arrogantly, but I think they need me more than 00:19:07.309 --> 00:19:11.410 I need them. I have a service to offer you and 00:19:11.410 --> 00:19:14.490 a skill set and you can fire me if you want to, 00:19:14.630 --> 00:19:17.869 but I can go get more customers. So it's not 00:19:17.869 --> 00:19:20.369 like, hey, that's my guy who comes over and does 00:19:20.369 --> 00:19:23.549 my yard because I'm a big shot. He's down here 00:19:23.549 --> 00:19:26.990 working for me. I'm like, well, whatever. I don't 00:19:26.990 --> 00:19:29.490 care what job you have. I take it serious. I 00:19:29.490 --> 00:19:33.269 take a lot of pride in my work. It's just a respectable 00:19:33.269 --> 00:19:35.529 thing and I wouldn't if my son said I want to 00:19:35.529 --> 00:19:37.670 get into lawn care and not go to college or go 00:19:37.670 --> 00:19:39.150 to college and then start a lawn care. Yeah, 00:19:39.150 --> 00:19:41.309 I would. Hey, that sounds like a great decision 00:19:41.309 --> 00:19:44.450 to me. I think it's again if you're cut out for 00:19:44.450 --> 00:19:47.410 it, it's certainly not for everybody. Well guys 00:19:47.410 --> 00:19:52.809 like you, Mike Andes was in college to be a brain 00:19:52.809 --> 00:19:58.630 surgeon and he has over 200 locations now of 00:19:58.630 --> 00:20:02.660 Augusta lawn care. We had him on the show, and 00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:05.140 he talked about his journey and how he got started. 00:20:06.019 --> 00:20:10.220 And I think guys like you, like him, like Paul 00:20:10.220 --> 00:20:14.420 Jameson, Naylor Taliaferro, these guys bring, 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:20.059 in my view, authenticity to our industry. And 00:20:20.059 --> 00:20:24.039 our industry is just full of great guys that 00:20:24.039 --> 00:20:27.779 are passionate about their business. passionate 00:20:27.779 --> 00:20:32.359 about serving their community and they're making 00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:35.599 a change. I believe our industry is going through 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:39.880 a paradigm shift where we're changing from those 00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:44.240 misconceptions and people are now wanting to 00:20:44.240 --> 00:20:47.759 get into the lawn care business as a first option, 00:20:47.859 --> 00:20:51.650 not a second option. That's a good way to say 00:20:51.650 --> 00:20:53.309 it. I think some of the people you mentioned, 00:20:53.329 --> 00:20:57.829 I don't know Mike as well. I know Nailor, Paul, 00:20:57.970 --> 00:21:00.750 and others. And what I think you get with the 00:21:00.750 --> 00:21:03.690 lawn care people, not everybody fits in a box, 00:21:03.750 --> 00:21:06.990 but you get somebody that's not afraid to work 00:21:06.990 --> 00:21:09.329 and has that little blue collar side to them 00:21:09.329 --> 00:21:12.309 that's not afraid to get dirty and work. And 00:21:12.309 --> 00:21:15.670 I think with that comes a little bit of character 00:21:15.670 --> 00:21:20.049 development and humility. Those people, have 00:21:20.049 --> 00:21:22.430 different levels of success. Obviously Mike's 00:21:22.430 --> 00:21:25.089 done great for himself. But, you know, you sit 00:21:25.089 --> 00:21:27.410 and talk to them and they're just, they're not, 00:21:28.630 --> 00:21:31.410 in my experience, not full of themselves and 00:21:31.410 --> 00:21:33.970 you can have conversation with them and treat 00:21:33.970 --> 00:21:37.009 them like a real person. And so I think you get 00:21:37.009 --> 00:21:39.069 a lot of that with lawn care people. They're 00:21:39.069 --> 00:21:41.710 not, again, not all of them are clones, but just 00:21:41.710 --> 00:21:44.029 great. I mean, I just love being around, when 00:21:44.029 --> 00:21:46.390 I'm around a lot of people. It doesn't seem like 00:21:46.390 --> 00:21:47.750 a matter of where they're from. Of course, we 00:21:47.750 --> 00:21:50.630 have something in common, but it's just a good 00:21:50.630 --> 00:21:53.029 conversation with somebody I feel like is sort 00:21:53.029 --> 00:21:55.950 of a friend that I never met. Well, that's what 00:21:55.950 --> 00:22:02.190 I enjoy going to equip. I went to Nailer's event 00:22:02.190 --> 00:22:07.390 the two days prior to event the LCR Summit. And 00:22:07.390 --> 00:22:09.369 the reason why I love going to these events, 00:22:09.410 --> 00:22:14.230 because when I find people in the industry, that 00:22:14.230 --> 00:22:17.269 are successful. And I can rub shoulders with 00:22:17.269 --> 00:22:22.490 them. Success breeds success. And I think you 00:22:22.490 --> 00:22:26.089 become who you hang around with. If you choose 00:22:26.089 --> 00:22:28.769 to hang around with the losers in our industry, 00:22:29.589 --> 00:22:30.990 then you're probably going to end up being a 00:22:30.990 --> 00:22:34.390 loser. But I care too much about my business. 00:22:34.690 --> 00:22:38.029 I've worked too hard to establish my business 00:22:38.029 --> 00:22:42.490 to let someone else destroy it. So I hang around 00:22:42.490 --> 00:22:45.269 with guys that are going to build me up. Let 00:22:45.269 --> 00:22:51.529 me ask you, who is your mentor? Well, I mean, 00:22:51.549 --> 00:22:54.769 I have a friend named James who's taught me from 00:22:54.769 --> 00:22:58.529 the weed control and fertilization side. We knew 00:22:58.529 --> 00:23:02.930 each other before I started doing weed control 00:23:02.930 --> 00:23:05.410 and through different circumstances. He managed 00:23:05.410 --> 00:23:08.069 a large weed control and fertilization company 00:23:08.069 --> 00:23:11.650 while I was mowing grass. and he's old enough 00:23:11.650 --> 00:23:15.910 to be my dad, you know, but anyway, his company 00:23:15.910 --> 00:23:19.809 sold out and he went to work for Harrell's who 00:23:19.809 --> 00:23:23.609 I now buy my fertilizer and things from. And 00:23:23.609 --> 00:23:26.109 I moved, I had sort of lost touch with him for 00:23:26.109 --> 00:23:29.069 a couple of years. I didn't, I don't know if 00:23:29.069 --> 00:23:30.990 I knew what he was doing, but I contacted him 00:23:30.990 --> 00:23:32.730 and said, hey James, I'm thinking about getting 00:23:32.730 --> 00:23:34.509 in weed control and fertilization. You know, 00:23:34.509 --> 00:23:36.890 I had a little bit of experience on the low end 00:23:36.890 --> 00:23:40.640 side. He says, well, I'm now working for Harrelson. 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:43.720 I'm selling stuff now. He would have helped me 00:23:43.720 --> 00:23:47.299 anyway, but we were friends and he helps people 00:23:47.299 --> 00:23:50.799 that he barely knows. But anyway, he really took 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:54.019 me under his wing at a critical time and he had 00:23:54.019 --> 00:23:57.980 over 30 years experience. So he was just unbelievable. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:01.480 And today I still speak with him, I would say 00:24:01.480 --> 00:24:05.980 at least weekly. And just I guess there's no 00:24:05.980 --> 00:24:08.019 substitute for experience. I mean, I've got my 00:24:08.019 --> 00:24:11.799 own experience now, but his experience on the 00:24:11.799 --> 00:24:15.359 turf side, yes, but also just business practical 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:17.960 sense, talking with customers. I mean, there's 00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:20.920 no complaint that he hadn't heard just about 00:24:20.920 --> 00:24:23.920 it, how to deal with it. I was giving one tip. 00:24:24.059 --> 00:24:27.650 He said he told me early on, he said. you get 00:24:27.650 --> 00:24:29.509 somebody complaining, and in weed control, you 00:24:29.509 --> 00:24:31.369 probably get more complaints than Moe. He said, 00:24:31.470 --> 00:24:33.289 when he has somebody complaining and they have 00:24:33.289 --> 00:24:35.069 a problem, they're like, oh, what happened here 00:24:35.069 --> 00:24:37.309 and this, and I'm paying you, and it looked better 00:24:37.309 --> 00:24:40.089 before you started, all that. He said, you wanna 00:24:40.089 --> 00:24:42.730 quickly, now, it could be 100 % their fault. 00:24:42.990 --> 00:24:46.109 They ain't watered in a year, and they did all 00:24:46.109 --> 00:24:49.609 Moe -ed it, scouted it, or whatever. But they 00:24:49.609 --> 00:24:51.269 don't want you getting into an argument with 00:24:51.269 --> 00:24:53.670 them. So he said, just as quickly as you can, 00:24:54.189 --> 00:24:56.750 shift the conversation from the problem to the 00:24:56.750 --> 00:24:59.369 solution. And just remembering that and say, 00:24:59.490 --> 00:25:01.750 you know, well, I understand you're frustrated 00:25:01.750 --> 00:25:03.509 about your yard. And you'll say, well, the reason 00:25:03.509 --> 00:25:05.730 this looks terrible is because you're a terrible 00:25:05.730 --> 00:25:07.069 homeowner. You know, that's not going to get 00:25:07.069 --> 00:25:08.930 you anywhere. But I can quickly start saying, 00:25:09.210 --> 00:25:11.539 well, I tell you what. Let's try this. Why don't 00:25:11.539 --> 00:25:13.759 you give me three weeks? I'm going to put a heavy 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:16.220 application of fertilizer down. And I want you 00:25:16.220 --> 00:25:18.519 to, if you would commit to watering this grass, 00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:21.500 a deep soaking twice a week. And let's check 00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:23.480 back in three weeks and see how it's looking. 00:25:23.980 --> 00:25:26.240 And you know, and so that shifts it from what 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:28.660 I want you to resize the yard. You must make 00:25:28.660 --> 00:25:31.359 to now three weeks later, it's Bermuda grass 00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:34.900 doesn't grow back. It's green, you know. Stuff 00:25:34.900 --> 00:25:38.519 like that he taught me has helped a lot along 00:25:38.519 --> 00:25:40.539 with you know actually how to take care of turf 00:25:40.539 --> 00:25:43.160 and stuff of that nature Well, that is so good 00:25:43.160 --> 00:25:47.319 shifting from the problem to the solution I'm 00:25:47.319 --> 00:25:50.759 going to remember that and encourage my listeners 00:25:50.759 --> 00:25:55.059 to practice that Because there's nothing I hate 00:25:55.059 --> 00:26:02.099 worse than client business tension or Feeling 00:26:02.099 --> 00:26:05.109 like they're not happy You know, there's too 00:26:05.109 --> 00:26:08.309 many businesses in my town that they can very 00:26:08.309 --> 00:26:10.750 quickly drop me and move on to the next guy. 00:26:11.650 --> 00:26:15.609 So if I change my attitude, my mindset, the way 00:26:15.609 --> 00:26:19.069 I think about the problem and focus on the solution, 00:26:19.789 --> 00:26:22.910 that's going to bring calm to it. So I appreciate 00:26:22.910 --> 00:26:28.950 that. That is so good. Can you give our listeners 00:26:28.950 --> 00:26:36.059 one, two or three lawn care tips that will help 00:26:36.059 --> 00:26:43.140 create a beautiful property. I can certainly 00:26:43.140 --> 00:26:46.440 try. I mean, I want to maybe a misconception 00:26:46.440 --> 00:26:51.299 about that is there is, it is somewhat of a partnership. 00:26:51.539 --> 00:26:53.759 Like, yeah, I'm doing weed control and fertilization. 00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:58.440 And so the yards that look the best, typically 00:26:58.440 --> 00:27:01.380 have a homeowner that also cares a little bit. 00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:04.940 So if the homeowner is not willing to ever water, 00:27:05.019 --> 00:27:08.140 no matter how dry and hot it gets, or they're 00:27:08.140 --> 00:27:09.900 not going to mow the grass, but once every three 00:27:09.900 --> 00:27:12.099 weeks, because they just don't like it. There's 00:27:12.099 --> 00:27:15.319 only so much you could do from a chemical standpoint 00:27:15.319 --> 00:27:19.660 in fertilizer. So I think understanding that 00:27:19.660 --> 00:27:22.759 you certainly play a role in it. I mean, to that 00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:25.660 point, the frequent mowing, I know it sounds 00:27:25.960 --> 00:27:28.799 I'm not saying that the guy that's out there, 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:30.859 you know, real mowing every day or every other 00:27:30.859 --> 00:27:33.180 day. You ain't gotta be that guy. But weekly 00:27:33.180 --> 00:27:35.619 mowing compared to bi -weekly does make a huge 00:27:35.619 --> 00:27:37.599 difference. And again, I'm dealing with Bermuda 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:44.920 lawns, primarily some Zoysia. I think, you know, 00:27:45.220 --> 00:27:49.599 it is a combination of turf health and and the 00:27:49.599 --> 00:27:52.519 weed control side. So it's somewhat of a misconception. 00:27:52.660 --> 00:27:54.359 I think sometimes the customers want to know, 00:27:54.599 --> 00:27:57.480 why don't I have weeds ever? Can't you just spray 00:27:57.480 --> 00:28:00.539 more pre -emergent, more post -emergent, just 00:28:00.539 --> 00:28:02.880 spray, spray, spray, spray? Well, you understand 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:05.920 that the... The actual turf, it will tolerate 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:08.559 the herbicide. It doesn't mean it likes the herbicide. 00:28:08.740 --> 00:28:11.440 It tolerates it. What you're spraying, as it 00:28:11.440 --> 00:28:13.900 was explained to me recently, is trying to kill 00:28:13.900 --> 00:28:17.980 a plant. Now the grass, it won't kill it, but 00:28:17.980 --> 00:28:21.440 you're not exactly happy about having 2, 4D sprayed 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:24.400 on it or whatever the product is of that particular 00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:30.339 type. So there has to be an emphasis on quality. 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:34.079 you know nutrition to help balance that and have 00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:36.960 it as James taught me yeah at some point you 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:39.180 got to let the grass grow you can't just continue 00:28:39.180 --> 00:28:41.559 hammering it with pre -emerge all the time and 00:28:41.559 --> 00:28:44.779 never give a chance to grow so um you know participating 00:28:44.779 --> 00:28:47.880 cooperating with your guy you know we tell people 00:28:47.880 --> 00:28:50.440 water once a week deeply you know again i'm in 00:28:50.440 --> 00:28:53.839 the south if you got super crazy hot drago so 00:28:53.839 --> 00:28:56.420 not not watering five times a week for 10 minutes 00:28:56.420 --> 00:28:58.619 but you'll figure out how much you want to run 00:28:58.619 --> 00:29:00.859 your sprinkler, let's say it's 30 minutes a week. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:03.900 Just soak it real good, 30 minutes, once a week, 00:29:04.200 --> 00:29:06.740 early in the morning. And that will definitely 00:29:06.740 --> 00:29:11.599 help with weeds and fungus. The mulling frequency 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:16.500 has a role. And ultimately, you do need a guy 00:29:16.500 --> 00:29:19.640 or a person that takes care of the turf manager, 00:29:19.660 --> 00:29:21.279 whether you do it yourself or you hire somebody 00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:24.980 like me. The quality products do make a significant 00:29:24.980 --> 00:29:28.500 difference. not all fertilizers created the same. 00:29:28.680 --> 00:29:32.200 You know, you go buy, I buy a $40, $50 bag, you 00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:34.539 buy a $20 bag and say, well, you know, they both 00:29:34.539 --> 00:29:36.400 got three numbers on the bag. Let's throw it 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:38.079 out there and see what happens. You know, they're 00:29:38.079 --> 00:29:42.299 not created equal. So quality products ultimately 00:29:42.299 --> 00:29:45.420 saves you time and money in my opinion. I pay 00:29:45.420 --> 00:29:47.220 a little bit more, but I don't get the callbacks. 00:29:47.380 --> 00:29:49.599 I got happy customers. They don't fire me. They 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:51.900 recommend me to their neighbors. That's getting 00:29:51.900 --> 00:29:53.839 a little bit on the business side, but maybe 00:29:53.839 --> 00:29:56.740 that's helpful. Well, let's talk about the business 00:29:56.740 --> 00:30:02.099 side for just a second here if someone in your 00:30:02.099 --> 00:30:05.980 town Came to you and said Jason. I've seen your 00:30:05.980 --> 00:30:11.539 work. I know the quality of work you do I'm wanting 00:30:11.539 --> 00:30:15.160 to start a lawn care service business. What should 00:30:15.160 --> 00:30:20.460 I do? What advice would you give them? start 00:30:20.460 --> 00:30:23.400 like a weed control like me or mowing or either 00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:25.960 one? Weed control, mowing, either one. Yeah. 00:30:26.380 --> 00:30:28.799 Well, if they were in my town, I mean, I wouldn't 00:30:28.799 --> 00:30:32.759 probably be thrilled about it because I was like, 00:30:33.019 --> 00:30:35.599 well, I mean, I help people sometimes, but I 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:38.240 don't necessarily want to raise up a direct competitor 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:41.099 if I can help it. Well, let's just say I'm helping 00:30:41.099 --> 00:30:43.859 somebody 30 minutes away that we're going to 00:30:43.859 --> 00:30:49.519 be in separate communities. I think you It's 00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:52.059 very challenging and we control to figure it 00:30:52.059 --> 00:30:54.319 out on your own just to be honest with you I'm 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:57.960 not saying yeah, I sell courses I whatever you 00:30:57.960 --> 00:31:01.180 buy but buy my stuff if you want But you need 00:31:01.180 --> 00:31:03.359 somebody to teach you what to do and it's hard 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:05.839 to find information on the internet I do I did 00:31:05.839 --> 00:31:08.380 there's one advantage. I'm one of the few people 00:31:08.380 --> 00:31:11.259 on there that teaches people how to do it, but 00:31:12.970 --> 00:31:15.650 you can come up with a program, whether you work 00:31:15.650 --> 00:31:17.829 with a supplier and they put together a program 00:31:17.829 --> 00:31:19.450 and you talk to somebody like me and it's like, 00:31:19.450 --> 00:31:22.880 you know, here's the program. So. figuring out 00:31:22.880 --> 00:31:25.740 what to spray and what fertilizer to use and 00:31:25.740 --> 00:31:28.680 when to do it. And I look at it as sort of immersing 00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:30.960 yourself in a foreign culture, trying to learn 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:33.940 the language. You know, if you and I start tomorrow 00:31:33.940 --> 00:31:37.420 doing Rosetta Stone to learn Spanish, we might 00:31:37.420 --> 00:31:40.140 make it a little ways. But if we moved to Mexico 00:31:40.140 --> 00:31:42.940 for a year and refused to speak English, we'd 00:31:42.940 --> 00:31:46.240 probably get pretty good a lot faster. So once 00:31:46.240 --> 00:31:48.420 you get out there you got somebody just you're 00:31:48.420 --> 00:31:50.279 reading the sheet says I'm supposed to spray 00:31:50.279 --> 00:31:52.779 you know this and at this right and this at this 00:31:52.779 --> 00:31:55.380 right and you know just do it do find somebody 00:31:55.380 --> 00:31:56.839 knows what they're doing do what they tell you 00:31:56.839 --> 00:32:01.000 to do but as you do it It's basically science. 00:32:01.140 --> 00:32:04.819 I mean if in a basic form science is making observations 00:32:04.819 --> 00:32:06.980 what I just did this what work what didn't work 00:32:06.980 --> 00:32:09.359 So I sprayed the yard I did exactly what Jason 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:12.140 told me to do but this weed didn't die How come 00:32:12.140 --> 00:32:14.440 this weed and you know, and so I have these guys 00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:16.599 in a mint longer. They text me a picture Hey, 00:32:16.799 --> 00:32:19.240 what's this way? They didn't die. I said, oh, 00:32:19.240 --> 00:32:22.059 that's that way You got to use this other product 00:32:22.059 --> 00:32:24.059 on that weight. So I keep it in a little two 00:32:24.059 --> 00:32:27.170 gallon sprayer on my truck The cheap product 00:32:27.170 --> 00:32:29.789 will kill almost all the way. So anyway, find 00:32:29.789 --> 00:32:31.809 somebody that tells you what to do, do what they 00:32:31.809 --> 00:32:35.589 say, and then pay attention to what's working, 00:32:35.650 --> 00:32:38.170 what's not working, and ask questions. Why didn't 00:32:38.170 --> 00:32:40.630 that work? To me, that would be like immersing 00:32:40.630 --> 00:32:43.430 yourself in the culture and you're able to learn 00:32:43.430 --> 00:32:56.660 as quickly as possible. running and operating 00:32:56.660 --> 00:33:08.039 a business. Well, people use this book sometimes 00:33:08.039 --> 00:33:12.079 and I say I really love the book. I didn't listen 00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:15.019 to it, but you may have heard of Michael Gerber's 00:33:15.019 --> 00:33:18.259 E Myth Revisited. I think it's a great book. 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:21.140 It's about some lady that baked pies with her. 00:33:21.150 --> 00:33:23.869 and or something and then and she's all open 00:33:23.869 --> 00:33:25.990 a pie baking business well then she got just 00:33:25.990 --> 00:33:28.049 totally overwhelmed with that realize she's at 00:33:28.049 --> 00:33:30.230 the bacon getting there at two in the morning 00:33:30.230 --> 00:33:32.170 instead of 10 o 'clock at night baking she hated 00:33:32.170 --> 00:33:34.109 running the business but she liked making pies 00:33:34.109 --> 00:33:37.369 and now this whole concept which people heard 00:33:37.369 --> 00:33:40.150 for you kind of working in your or working on 00:33:40.150 --> 00:33:42.650 your business not in your business you know again 00:33:42.650 --> 00:33:45.150 i didn't follow that advice but i do think it's 00:33:45.150 --> 00:33:46.809 good advice especially if you're trying to grow 00:33:46.809 --> 00:33:50.519 a business bigger than a solo operation That's 00:33:50.519 --> 00:33:53.220 one that sticks my mind up. Other than that, 00:33:53.500 --> 00:33:56.039 again, my friend James has impacted me a lot. 00:33:56.220 --> 00:34:01.589 And I think to your point, if you're... it's 00:34:01.589 --> 00:34:05.309 like the idea of joining a gym for working out 00:34:05.309 --> 00:34:07.450 or something you know it's just it's a little 00:34:07.450 --> 00:34:10.210 bit contagious so when you're saying I go to 00:34:10.210 --> 00:34:13.170 went to Nailor's event I got around these people 00:34:13.170 --> 00:34:15.610 it's kind of like makes you a little bit more 00:34:15.610 --> 00:34:17.849 excited about going back and doing lawn care 00:34:17.849 --> 00:34:19.590 yes you know where if you're just out there on 00:34:19.590 --> 00:34:22.670 an island doing it by yourself it can get a little 00:34:22.670 --> 00:34:26.420 frustrating frustrating so I say, yeah, James, 00:34:26.480 --> 00:34:29.179 of course, been a mentor to me, but I've also 00:34:29.179 --> 00:34:31.380 had opportunity to be around a lot of people, 00:34:31.599 --> 00:34:34.880 not all of them doing weed control, that I gained 00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:37.639 a lot of encouragement just observing them, seeing 00:34:37.639 --> 00:34:41.420 what works. And I think just practical tip, I 00:34:41.420 --> 00:34:45.889 mean. We're just very transparent about it. I 00:34:45.889 --> 00:34:48.750 want my friends to be successful and I tell them 00:34:48.750 --> 00:34:52.650 what I'm doing. I don't care. Some people get 00:34:52.650 --> 00:34:55.869 so hung up that they got the formula and I'm 00:34:55.869 --> 00:35:00.170 not going to give any tips to anybody. I don't 00:35:00.170 --> 00:35:03.269 operate that way personally. What do you have 00:35:03.269 --> 00:35:06.329 a favorite quote or saying that you live by? 00:35:12.329 --> 00:35:17.489 I doubt it. I am Christian, so I'm shaped heavily 00:35:17.489 --> 00:35:20.329 by the Bible and then take that pretty seriously 00:35:20.329 --> 00:35:23.269 as far as studying that. So I mean, I don't know 00:35:23.269 --> 00:35:27.050 about a direct quote, but to go back to my earlier 00:35:27.050 --> 00:35:29.750 point, I don't want to grow a huge business to 00:35:29.750 --> 00:35:34.489 neglect above things. So again, without a quote, 00:35:35.090 --> 00:35:38.170 well, I'll quote. Jesus I guess you know seek 00:35:38.170 --> 00:35:40.269 first the kingdom of God and his righteous all 00:35:40.269 --> 00:35:41.929 these things to be added to you like I can sit 00:35:41.929 --> 00:35:44.449 around worrying about it Am I saving enough in 00:35:44.449 --> 00:35:47.769 my IRA? Am I my kids gonna have enough for college? 00:35:47.929 --> 00:35:50.389 Am I am I gonna have to spray yards when I'm 00:35:50.389 --> 00:35:52.389 70 years old because I didn't put enough what 00:35:52.389 --> 00:36:01.789 yeah? Ultimately I am convinced that those things 00:36:01.789 --> 00:36:06.150 ultimately did not lead to any kind of real satisfaction 00:36:06.150 --> 00:36:09.230 in life. And as I even talked about why did I 00:36:09.230 --> 00:36:12.570 win in the wine business, I said, well, I wanted 00:36:12.570 --> 00:36:15.230 to do something bigger than myself. Not that 00:36:15.230 --> 00:36:17.170 I've been here and I'm running a solo office, 00:36:17.750 --> 00:36:20.570 maybe I didn't cause that. But the point is, 00:36:22.190 --> 00:36:25.690 I don't think building my own personal Jason 00:36:25.690 --> 00:36:30.619 Creel kingdom is exactly... do it for me. I would 00:36:30.619 --> 00:36:33.260 lay down very unfulfilled. So I want to say even 00:36:33.260 --> 00:36:37.619 when I'm doing lawn care, it's more to me than 00:36:37.619 --> 00:36:39.519 just spraying the yard and getting rid of weeds. 00:36:39.659 --> 00:36:42.480 There's a purpose behind it that's bigger than 00:36:42.480 --> 00:36:46.659 myself. That is so good. One thing I've noticed 00:36:46.659 --> 00:36:53.239 in the last few years is people are more open 00:36:53.239 --> 00:36:58.340 to talk about their faith. And I've seen that. 00:36:58.349 --> 00:37:03.210 kind of a change in the industry. You know, you 00:37:03.210 --> 00:37:05.369 have expressed your faith and talked about your 00:37:05.369 --> 00:37:09.949 church. Paul Jameson always talks about his faith, 00:37:10.050 --> 00:37:14.889 his church, wrote his newest book on Level Up 00:37:14.889 --> 00:37:17.449 Your Money, Biblical Principles to Financial 00:37:17.449 --> 00:37:21.449 Success, you know, and people are willing to 00:37:21.449 --> 00:37:25.210 share their faith. And I appreciate that about 00:37:25.210 --> 00:37:30.159 our industry. I think we're almost to the point 00:37:30.159 --> 00:37:35.500 where there's more professionals than there are 00:37:35.500 --> 00:37:40.059 chucks in the trucks or Dan in the van. You know, 00:37:40.420 --> 00:37:42.980 our industry's changing and one thing's for sure, 00:37:42.980 --> 00:37:48.039 whether it's changing, I want to change with 00:37:48.039 --> 00:37:51.300 it. I want to be able to express my faith in 00:37:51.300 --> 00:37:54.360 God and talk about my relationship with Jesus 00:37:54.360 --> 00:37:57.849 Christ. I want to be able to change with the 00:37:57.849 --> 00:38:02.030 industry when it shifts from gas to battery powered. 00:38:02.369 --> 00:38:05.550 Because one thing is for sure, if you are not 00:38:05.550 --> 00:38:07.989 willing to change with the industry, you will 00:38:07.989 --> 00:38:12.730 get ran over by the industry. And I want to change 00:38:12.730 --> 00:38:17.750 with it, not be against all the changes. Be a 00:38:17.750 --> 00:38:21.449 rebel. say something about your point about talking 00:38:21.449 --> 00:38:24.230 about your faith. I think whether it's politics 00:38:24.230 --> 00:38:27.309 or I'm hoping it's a little bit of a pushback 00:38:27.309 --> 00:38:31.070 to what we get so often, which is just a social 00:38:31.070 --> 00:38:34.369 media keyboard warriors or whatever. Let's just 00:38:34.369 --> 00:38:36.610 get on there and blast everybody who disagrees 00:38:36.610 --> 00:38:39.289 with us, which is so stupid. I would much rather, 00:38:39.349 --> 00:38:42.670 if you told me that you're an atheist who... 00:38:42.539 --> 00:38:45.599 who, you know, hates all the things that I stand 00:38:45.599 --> 00:38:48.599 for or whatever. Yeah, that's fine. I would love 00:38:48.599 --> 00:38:50.780 to talk to you about it and have a conversation. 00:38:51.159 --> 00:38:53.980 I think both sides would come out respecting 00:38:53.980 --> 00:38:57.699 the other person a lot more than. So I hope that 00:38:57.699 --> 00:38:59.440 there's a little bit of that like, hey, I'm so 00:38:59.440 --> 00:39:02.619 tired of this bunch of Internet stuff where we 00:39:02.619 --> 00:39:05.440 just blast everybody and divisiveness that's 00:39:05.440 --> 00:39:07.840 caused in our country over a number of issues. 00:39:08.440 --> 00:39:10.820 And I mean, I feel like I could go to talk to 00:39:10.820 --> 00:39:13.159 somebody who had a complete different worldview, 00:39:13.820 --> 00:39:15.880 have a conversation with, we probably would neither 00:39:15.880 --> 00:39:18.420 one convince each other of others position, but 00:39:18.420 --> 00:39:21.019 that would be certainly much more productive 00:39:21.019 --> 00:39:23.059 than, you know, getting on the internet and making 00:39:23.059 --> 00:39:27.980 a bunch of stupid comments. I agree 100%. That 00:39:27.980 --> 00:39:31.519 is so good. Well, is there anything that we're 00:39:31.519 --> 00:39:33.440 leaving out that you would like to share with 00:39:33.440 --> 00:39:39.750 our listeners? Not particularly. I guess what 00:39:39.750 --> 00:39:43.050 I've said from my own standpoint is if you're 00:39:43.050 --> 00:39:44.889 in the lawn business and maybe you're a little 00:39:44.889 --> 00:39:48.150 burned out or maybe you're getting started, I 00:39:48.150 --> 00:39:51.989 think it's very important not to compare yourself 00:39:51.989 --> 00:39:54.550 with everybody else. It doesn't mean you can't 00:39:54.550 --> 00:39:58.309 learn from that person. But yeah, I mean, if 00:39:58.309 --> 00:40:01.739 you and I sit on here and we... And we got Mike 00:40:01.739 --> 00:40:05.119 Andes on here. And I started comparing my level 00:40:05.119 --> 00:40:08.460 of success to Mike Andes. Eventually, I guess 00:40:08.460 --> 00:40:10.760 I'd just go crawl in the bed again and go back 00:40:10.760 --> 00:40:15.019 to sleep. This is not going well. And there's 00:40:15.019 --> 00:40:16.900 a Tennessee where I can certainly learn from 00:40:16.900 --> 00:40:19.159 him. But I understand that we're two different 00:40:19.159 --> 00:40:22.869 people. He's got a certain gift set and knowledge 00:40:22.869 --> 00:40:25.329 and a mind that allows him to do what he does. 00:40:25.710 --> 00:40:28.530 I have a different set of skills that allow me 00:40:28.530 --> 00:40:31.570 to be successful in a different way. Our bank 00:40:31.570 --> 00:40:34.769 accounts certainly look different, but that's 00:40:34.769 --> 00:40:38.130 okay and don't worry about that. Again, I'm not 00:40:38.130 --> 00:40:40.250 making an excuse for you to go out there and 00:40:40.250 --> 00:40:42.949 just be pathetic and go bankrupt in three years, 00:40:43.289 --> 00:40:46.489 but I'm saying don't think that so -and -so's 00:40:46.489 --> 00:40:49.710 killing it and just crushing everything you know 00:40:49.710 --> 00:40:52.289 we don't know everything about the story behind 00:40:52.289 --> 00:40:55.670 them they may be appear more successful they 00:40:55.670 --> 00:40:57.650 are in reality I'm not suggesting that by mic 00:40:57.650 --> 00:41:01.269 by any means but don't get so caught up in comparing 00:41:01.269 --> 00:41:04.030 yourself with other people and I do think if 00:41:04.030 --> 00:41:06.469 if I could go back and talk to my younger self 00:41:06.469 --> 00:41:12.110 if I could have saved more money early on, I 00:41:12.110 --> 00:41:14.530 wouldn't have to be quite so aggressive in my 00:41:14.530 --> 00:41:17.949 savings plan today as a, you know, not old, but, 00:41:17.949 --> 00:41:21.170 you know, I had to ramp up the aggressiveness 00:41:21.170 --> 00:41:24.650 to have an exit strategy one day because I didn't 00:41:24.650 --> 00:41:27.570 do so well when I was younger. Well, the Bible 00:41:27.570 --> 00:41:30.809 says we're not wise if we compare ourselves among 00:41:30.809 --> 00:41:34.429 ourselves. You know, I look at your success. 00:41:35.269 --> 00:41:39.139 I might not be to your level of success. But 00:41:39.139 --> 00:41:42.119 there's someone out there that might not be to 00:41:42.119 --> 00:41:46.579 my level of success, but we're a community and 00:41:46.579 --> 00:41:50.500 we can all learn from each other. And like going 00:41:50.500 --> 00:41:55.719 to those events, Nailers and Equip, when I walk 00:41:55.719 --> 00:41:59.019 in that massive showroom floor at Equip Expo, 00:41:59.559 --> 00:42:02.739 it's bigger than professional lawn maintenance. 00:42:02.820 --> 00:42:06.559 It's not just me. And I realize I'm not in this 00:42:06.559 --> 00:42:11.050 all by myself. There's people that I went to 00:42:11.050 --> 00:42:13.849 equip to meet I wanted to meet them. I wanted 00:42:13.849 --> 00:42:16.909 to shake their hand But then there are those 00:42:16.909 --> 00:42:20.789 who stopped me and I'm nobody But they stopped 00:42:20.789 --> 00:42:23.610 me and said I've been listening to your podcast 00:42:23.610 --> 00:42:28.610 or I watch your content on YouTube or Instagram 00:42:28.610 --> 00:42:32.630 or tik -tok or Facebook So even though we're 00:42:32.630 --> 00:42:35.409 not all on the same level. We're all in the same 00:42:35.409 --> 00:42:39.500 community So that's what I appreciate about the 00:42:39.500 --> 00:42:44.000 green industry. It is a community. Today before 00:42:44.000 --> 00:42:49.500 we went live, I got on your website and started 00:42:49.500 --> 00:42:53.320 looking at some of the content that you offer 00:42:53.320 --> 00:42:57.440 for sale. Would you like to talk about that for 00:42:57.440 --> 00:43:00.880 a minute and let our people know what you have 00:43:00.880 --> 00:43:06.590 to offer? decent amount of time talking people 00:43:06.590 --> 00:43:08.849 out of bond. There's a bunch that I do talk people 00:43:08.849 --> 00:43:12.250 into and all I mean by that is yeah I deal with 00:43:12.250 --> 00:43:16.289 warm season grasses and I teach people who are 00:43:16.289 --> 00:43:18.050 maybe they're mowing grass and they want to get 00:43:18.050 --> 00:43:20.949 in weed control or they're you know I have some 00:43:20.949 --> 00:43:23.110 people they're like in a second career one guy's 00:43:23.110 --> 00:43:25.869 retired fireman one guy's just retired as a school 00:43:25.869 --> 00:43:28.699 teacher they want to get in weed control. So 00:43:28.699 --> 00:43:31.280 that's primarily what I try to help people with. 00:43:31.360 --> 00:43:32.639 If you want to get in weight control and you 00:43:32.639 --> 00:43:35.340 don't know where to start, I've done everything 00:43:35.340 --> 00:43:37.800 from currently in a one -year mentoring program 00:43:37.800 --> 00:43:40.940 with a group of people. I have a video course. 00:43:41.519 --> 00:43:44.679 It's lawncarelife .com. I give people the option 00:43:44.679 --> 00:43:47.000 to come ride with me for the day. They can do 00:43:47.000 --> 00:43:48.960 a one -hour coach. You know, things like that. 00:43:50.039 --> 00:43:52.199 Primarily, hey, I want to get in wing control, 00:43:52.400 --> 00:43:55.420 Jason. I'm ready to do that. And I don't know 00:43:55.420 --> 00:43:58.159 how to get started. Can you help me? It's not, 00:43:58.980 --> 00:44:01.619 you know, my last year, my business did 5 .2 00:44:01.619 --> 00:44:04.340 million this year. Can you help me get to 7 .8 00:44:04.340 --> 00:44:06.519 million next year? You're like, no, I can't. 00:44:06.800 --> 00:44:09.539 But if you want to get going and something, you 00:44:09.539 --> 00:44:11.960 need somebody to hold your hand and get you started. 00:44:12.340 --> 00:44:15.480 And I hope you make millions later on. But that's 00:44:15.480 --> 00:44:22.340 what I offer. Well, I think that brings us to 00:44:22.340 --> 00:44:26.380 a conclusion on the show and I appreciate all 00:44:26.380 --> 00:44:28.579 the information you shared with our listeners 00:44:28.579 --> 00:44:32.460 and I'm sure they found a value in what you had 00:44:32.460 --> 00:44:38.400 to say and Until we talk again. God bless you 00:44:38.400 --> 00:44:42.599 and I wish you nothing but success and We'll 00:44:42.599 --> 00:44:44.079 talk again real soon