WEBVTT 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:26.019 And welcome back to the Lawn Hustle podcast. 00:00:26.260 --> 00:00:30.660 I am your host, Andy Wilson. I have 16 years 00:00:30.660 --> 00:00:34.520 of experience in the green industry. And the 00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:38.320 sole purpose of this podcast is to help lawn 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:42.820 care businesses legitimize the green industry. 00:00:43.219 --> 00:00:46.979 We want to do our part in taking us from the 00:00:46.979 --> 00:00:51.219 chuck in the truck to a legitimate thriving industry. 00:00:52.189 --> 00:00:55.130 Tonight I have a special guest, John Grant with 00:00:55.130 --> 00:00:59.570 Grant Sons Lawn Care. John, welcome to the Lawn 00:00:59.570 --> 00:01:04.030 Hustle. Thank you for having me, Andy. Well, 00:01:04.030 --> 00:01:07.650 a few months ago, you and I had the privilege 00:01:07.650 --> 00:01:12.829 of attending the LCR Summit and Equip Expo in 00:01:12.829 --> 00:01:17.530 Louisville, Kentucky. Tell us, what was your 00:01:17.530 --> 00:01:24.099 biggest takeaways from both events? Let's see. 00:01:25.579 --> 00:01:31.719 I would say from the LCR summit I was really 00:01:31.719 --> 00:01:39.980 kind of recognizing a lot of my learning. I was 00:01:39.980 --> 00:01:42.560 being a student but not as much putting it into 00:01:42.560 --> 00:01:47.159 practice as I should have been. And that's something 00:01:47.159 --> 00:01:51.989 we're really trying to work on. That I I would 00:01:51.989 --> 00:01:54.810 say I struggle with I you get a lot of education 00:01:54.810 --> 00:01:59.170 you get a lot of learning You hear how you should 00:01:59.170 --> 00:02:01.709 be doing it, but are you really putting it into 00:02:01.709 --> 00:02:06.469 practice and I would say I was struggling with 00:02:06.469 --> 00:02:09.669 that and that was something I was having a hard 00:02:09.669 --> 00:02:14.949 time with getting Stuff into play that I should 00:02:14.949 --> 00:02:18.150 have been or holding back, you know, maybe afraid 00:02:18.150 --> 00:02:20.830 to step out sometimes move forward with that 00:02:20.830 --> 00:02:27.150 stuff. I came to the realization that I need 00:02:27.150 --> 00:02:31.250 to put more things into play and utilize the 00:02:31.250 --> 00:02:35.250 stuff I'm learning more and be able to grow the 00:02:35.250 --> 00:02:39.710 business. What about Equip Expo? Was this your 00:02:39.710 --> 00:02:45.509 first year to attend Equip? This was our third 00:02:45.509 --> 00:02:49.389 year at Equip. Okay, 23 was our first year there 00:02:49.389 --> 00:02:59.409 so I would say equip was good More trying to 00:02:59.409 --> 00:03:02.849 find maybe the new piece of equipment or the 00:03:02.849 --> 00:03:08.169 new Thing that'll piece of equipment that'll 00:03:08.169 --> 00:03:15.830 help us to grow our business or Be able to Be 00:03:15.830 --> 00:03:19.569 more efficient in what we're doing So we are 00:03:19.569 --> 00:03:24.969 looking at again checking mowers out Checking 00:03:24.969 --> 00:03:28.150 out the new Ferris stuff the new Billy goat stuff 00:03:28.150 --> 00:03:33.669 To see what how we can grow with maybe those 00:03:33.669 --> 00:03:40.729 Brands and be able to Increase our efficiency 00:03:40.729 --> 00:03:46.560 with different piece of equipment Where you're 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.219 at, tell us about your business, how long you've 00:03:50.219 --> 00:03:57.539 been in business, what services you offer. Introduce 00:03:57.539 --> 00:04:04.840 us to Grant's Sons Long Care. So I'm the owner, 00:04:04.979 --> 00:04:07.520 John Grant, of Grant and Sons Long Care. We're 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:11.560 out of Fishersville, Virginia. This will be our, 00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:17.089 I would say our... ended our third full year 00:04:17.089 --> 00:04:22.269 this last year. So this will be our fourth full 00:04:22.269 --> 00:04:27.149 year doing lawn care. We started and opened doors 00:04:27.149 --> 00:04:31.949 in September of 22. And we started with leaf 00:04:31.949 --> 00:04:35.189 removal. So this was our fourth year doing leaf 00:04:35.189 --> 00:04:38.529 removal. And then we went into lawn maintenance, 00:04:39.250 --> 00:04:41.410 seeing that we're gonna continue to grow this. 00:04:41.430 --> 00:04:45.509 We need to be... able to offer other services 00:04:45.509 --> 00:04:50.069 such as lawn maintenance, landscape enhancements. 00:04:51.009 --> 00:04:53.689 So that's kind of where we stick with right now. 00:04:53.829 --> 00:04:58.290 We'll do some design install. Nothing massive, 00:04:58.310 --> 00:05:02.730 but we do plantings and installs like that. We 00:05:02.730 --> 00:05:05.350 don't do any hardscape right now. We're holding 00:05:05.350 --> 00:05:09.769 off on that. We really want to be able to grow 00:05:09.769 --> 00:05:16.170 our lawn maintenance side and get that. Get some 00:05:16.170 --> 00:05:18.769 more clients on that end of the business. So 00:05:18.769 --> 00:05:22.290 really we're This will be our fourth year going 00:05:22.290 --> 00:05:26.129 into this coming spring. So we're excited for 00:05:26.129 --> 00:05:32.350 some a new season This will be our 17th season 00:05:32.350 --> 00:05:40.829 since I got into the business and We are probably 00:05:40.829 --> 00:05:44.290 going to eliminate a couple services. I've spent 00:05:44.290 --> 00:05:49.490 some time this winter evaluating my business. 00:05:50.370 --> 00:05:55.050 Right after I got home from Equip Expo, I was 00:05:55.050 --> 00:05:58.730 drilling some holes for a privacy fence build 00:05:58.730 --> 00:06:03.269 and hit a tree stump underground, locked my auger 00:06:03.269 --> 00:06:07.959 up instantly, threw me across the yard. And I 00:06:07.959 --> 00:06:11.160 ripped this rotator cuff in three places, tore 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:15.939 that main ligament completely in half, created 00:06:15.939 --> 00:06:18.759 a bunch of bone spurs on my collarbone that was 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:22.819 digging into the rotator cuff. Six weeks ago, 00:06:22.819 --> 00:06:27.120 I had surgery on this rotator cuff and I'm going 00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:30.819 to be down until April. So I got a lot of time 00:06:30.819 --> 00:06:34.800 to reevaluate my business and look at things. 00:06:35.379 --> 00:06:41.759 So I've been looking at What services are making 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:45.699 me money? What services are costing me money? 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:50.720 And what services can I eliminate? So I want 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:55.620 to eliminate probably my fertilization aspect 00:06:55.620 --> 00:06:59.319 of the business because I really don't do enough 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:03.180 of it to justify having the Burma Greens and 00:07:03.180 --> 00:07:06.959 all that equipment. So we're going to downsize 00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:11.579 that. And I want to really try to grow the lawn 00:07:11.579 --> 00:07:15.680 maintenance side of my business. We're at 140 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:19.560 clients a week right now, but there's room to 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:23.839 grow. So I want to do that. We had a webinar 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:26.899 a few weeks back on what to do in the wintertime 00:07:26.899 --> 00:07:30.060 to help your business be ready to go in the spring 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:33.980 because you and I both know we heard nailers. 00:07:35.199 --> 00:07:40.120 lesson at LCR about nature. And we know that 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:43.819 if you wait till spring to get going, you're 00:07:43.819 --> 00:07:47.439 already behind. So I want to put forth the effort 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:51.600 now to help this year be the best year of my 00:07:51.600 --> 00:07:56.959 business. So let me ask you, what are you doing 00:07:56.959 --> 00:08:01.160 in the winter months to help your business be 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:07.180 ready to roll when it's time to roll? Sure So 00:08:07.180 --> 00:08:10.540 right now we're we just actually talked a little 00:08:10.540 --> 00:08:13.620 bit about it today me my wife and my son really 00:08:13.620 --> 00:08:18.939 just working on Right now we're looking at all 00:08:18.939 --> 00:08:23.620 our Some of our marketing we did last year and 00:08:23.620 --> 00:08:26.300 really kind of we didn't have the time and didn't 00:08:26.300 --> 00:08:32.779 really look at where that's What the What do 00:08:32.779 --> 00:08:36.960 you call it? Oh, how well that did, you know, 00:08:37.080 --> 00:08:40.019 we're gonna break that down and revisit it and 00:08:40.019 --> 00:08:43.480 see what we were paying for leads, what that 00:08:43.480 --> 00:08:47.259 cost us, was it benefiting us? We've done some 00:08:47.259 --> 00:08:52.600 marketing with some other places. And I just 00:08:52.600 --> 00:08:54.919 really haven't seen the return. It may be brand 00:08:54.919 --> 00:08:58.019 awareness, but I haven't really seen, I haven't 00:08:58.019 --> 00:09:01.860 got a call from all those, which is just fine. 00:09:01.940 --> 00:09:05.149 I think it's more brand awareness, marketing 00:09:05.149 --> 00:09:07.830 we do, but I'm probably looking at pulling that 00:09:07.830 --> 00:09:10.909 so I can put it towards more either Facebook 00:09:10.909 --> 00:09:14.789 marketing, maybe doing some more flyers. We've 00:09:14.789 --> 00:09:17.730 already been out this year putting outdoor hangers 00:09:17.730 --> 00:09:21.549 to get ready for fall pruning, fall slash spring 00:09:21.549 --> 00:09:26.009 pruning, you know, and get that all lined out 00:09:26.009 --> 00:09:28.870 and try to get some more customers in all the 00:09:28.870 --> 00:09:32.429 subdivisions we service. But we've been sitting 00:09:32.429 --> 00:09:34.629 down and really looking at, OK, here's our goals 00:09:34.629 --> 00:09:38.509 for this year, doing some goal setting, how we 00:09:38.509 --> 00:09:42.470 want to grow the company. We just feel like right 00:09:42.470 --> 00:09:45.210 now we really need to also grow our lawn maintenance 00:09:45.210 --> 00:09:48.350 side that needs to be built up. We need probably 00:09:48.350 --> 00:09:52.090 about another 50 mowing customers this year is 00:09:52.090 --> 00:09:55.909 where we want to go. We hired a guy right after 00:09:55.909 --> 00:10:00.340 quip. mid -November there, which kind of off 00:10:00.340 --> 00:10:04.460 -season, but hired him to get him in, see how 00:10:04.460 --> 00:10:07.620 he does in the fall here. And we're doing some 00:10:07.620 --> 00:10:10.639 training this winter with him to build him up, 00:10:10.940 --> 00:10:13.759 get him ready for the spring. And the goal will 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:17.440 be hopefully to have him, he'll be running a 00:10:17.440 --> 00:10:20.559 truck with Kaden and possibly me and maybe hiring 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:24.460 another guy this spring to be more of a trimmer 00:10:24.460 --> 00:10:27.460 guide and starting out. They'll both be learning, 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:32.700 but the goal will be for him to grow and be able 00:10:32.700 --> 00:10:37.340 to take over a truck at some point. I would say 00:10:37.340 --> 00:10:39.600 the biggest part we're doing right now is really 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:42.639 doing the goal setting, planning out our year 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:47.720 for, like Nailer talks about, the different seasons 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:50.980 that you do different stuff. You need to... um 00:10:50.980 --> 00:10:52.980 really train your customers to know that hey 00:10:52.980 --> 00:10:55.700 this is the time that we do this service because 00:10:55.700 --> 00:10:58.320 come summer we're we're slammed with mowing you 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:03.200 know um our long -term goal would have be able 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:06.980 to be have a truck here maybe by this year or 00:11:06.980 --> 00:11:11.159 maybe out doing um um more landscape enhancement 00:11:11.159 --> 00:11:13.659 stuff and being able to go out and do quotes 00:11:13.659 --> 00:11:16.740 and estimates easier last year i was so uh me 00:11:16.740 --> 00:11:20.279 and kaden were so slammed and so busy That and 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:23.700 we didn't hire a guy. We had we hired a guy midsummer 00:11:23.700 --> 00:11:26.679 and he didn't work out He was a great guy, but 00:11:26.679 --> 00:11:32.379 he just kind of ghosted But um So we were trying 00:11:32.379 --> 00:11:35.740 to it was but hiring hiring seems like a huge 00:11:35.740 --> 00:11:37.580 frustration sometimes, you know I mean, it's 00:11:37.580 --> 00:11:43.299 a lot of work to to know The right person that 00:11:43.299 --> 00:11:45.460 you have to train them no matter what you got 00:11:45.460 --> 00:11:49.460 to train these people and put the time in and 00:11:49.460 --> 00:11:52.980 be able to do that. So having a way, but having 00:11:52.980 --> 00:11:57.039 a, sorry, jumping, I get a little squirrel here. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.259 Building a landscape enhancement service so we 00:12:01.259 --> 00:12:04.600 can be out doing mulch and different things like 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:07.620 that and taking care of properties, regular maintenance 00:12:07.620 --> 00:12:11.720 on their shrubs and bed maintenance is a goal 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:15.440 of mine to have and to be able to fill that, 00:12:15.820 --> 00:12:18.840 have a truck that is you know staying busy doing 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:23.320 those services just so we can grow that revenue 00:12:23.320 --> 00:12:27.620 and grow the business and provide those services. 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:31.759 Well you are on the right track you know people 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:34.419 that wait till spring to start thinking about 00:12:34.419 --> 00:12:40.080 spring they're so far behind because once that 00:12:40.080 --> 00:12:46.220 spring rush hits you know like I know it's Go 00:12:46.220 --> 00:12:50.039 go go go go go because the grass is growing so 00:12:50.039 --> 00:12:52.860 fast you can barely keep up with it and then 00:12:52.860 --> 00:12:56.879 you get two or three days of rain and By the 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:58.779 time you get back to that property the grass 00:12:58.779 --> 00:13:03.220 is knee -high So, you know now's the time to 00:13:03.220 --> 00:13:06.639 really start setting your plans setting your 00:13:06.639 --> 00:13:12.279 goals and Putting your plan into action to where 00:13:12.279 --> 00:13:16.340 your goal can become a reality So you're on the 00:13:16.340 --> 00:13:22.559 right track. I follow you on Instagram and you 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:30.159 have 9 ,068 followers on Instagram. I love your 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:36.940 content. Since you've been in business for the 00:13:36.940 --> 00:13:40.460 last three or four years, what has been the biggest 00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:43.460 challenge for you and how did you overcome it? 00:13:46.730 --> 00:13:54.889 Hmm See I Would say It's probably right now with 00:13:54.889 --> 00:13:59.830 hiring. I was so afraid to hire Just stress you 00:13:59.830 --> 00:14:02.230 get a couple guys and I've hired a couple guys 00:14:02.230 --> 00:14:06.309 over the years and Just nobody ever can either 00:14:06.309 --> 00:14:11.399 cut it or they know it all and you find out they 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:13.399 don't or they can't really do the job. They're 00:14:13.399 --> 00:14:15.860 not as good as they said they were. They don't 00:14:15.860 --> 00:14:18.879 have the experience. Or then you find somebody 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:21.179 that's great and they may ghost you, you know? 00:14:21.220 --> 00:14:27.279 So it's like it's to me it was so stressful to 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:30.000 hand over reins to and say, hey, I'm going to 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:33.159 trust you to do this because I'd say that's one 00:14:33.159 --> 00:14:38.980 of my biggest struggles is letting go of being 00:14:40.280 --> 00:14:45.200 the main in charge like in the you know out in 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:47.580 the field being the one who's doing the work 00:14:47.580 --> 00:14:49.720 like I want to jump in and just do it rather 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:53.720 than teach when I know that I need to teach and 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:58.519 step back and say let them figure it out let 00:14:58.519 --> 00:15:03.399 them fail or let them learn because you can't 00:15:03.399 --> 00:15:05.899 learn from your mistakes if you don't make any 00:15:05.899 --> 00:15:13.779 mistakes and So I would say hiring and then giving 00:15:13.779 --> 00:15:16.440 control over to those employees to like us. I 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:18.240 mean, not, not all full control, but you know 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:25.580 what I mean? Like giving them, um, um, some responsibility 00:15:25.580 --> 00:15:29.419 to do the job. Yeah. Giving them the responsibility 00:15:29.419 --> 00:15:33.460 to do that job and, and letting them do it without 00:15:33.460 --> 00:15:35.620 jumping in and being like, Oh no, don't do it 00:15:35.620 --> 00:15:37.600 that way. Oh no, don't do it this way with them. 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:39.460 figure it out and then when we come back and 00:15:39.460 --> 00:15:41.740 look at it okay next time I would have done it 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:45.700 this way it looks great but next time let's let's 00:15:45.700 --> 00:15:50.919 do this this way and teach from how you want 00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:53.840 it to be done but I mean give them instructions 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:56.580 right I feel like training is a big thing that 00:15:56.580 --> 00:16:00.740 doesn't happen a lot anymore in our not necessarily 00:16:00.740 --> 00:16:03.700 in our industry but in the world like I feel 00:16:03.700 --> 00:16:05.639 like people are just thrown into positions and 00:16:05.639 --> 00:16:08.399 expected do your job you said you could do this 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:12.639 do it you know um rather than um teaching and 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:17.259 um like like an apprenticeship used to be back 00:16:17.259 --> 00:16:19.080 in the day you know you go into a job and you 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:22.120 were trained to do that job you know so i feel 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:23.899 that training is a big thing and that's something 00:16:23.899 --> 00:16:25.779 we're really trying to push forward with this 00:16:25.779 --> 00:16:30.200 employee um so already sending i i talked to 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:32.799 him i said i'm sending you to a class for a landscape 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:35.659 class to learn about landscaping, him and Caden 00:16:35.659 --> 00:16:38.399 will both be going to it. Paid class, you'll 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:42.639 get paid, go on a Saturday, some extra hours 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:46.059 for you, and it's a chance to learn, and I'm 00:16:46.059 --> 00:16:50.120 investing in him so that he knows that this is 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:55.899 worth it to him too, you know, that he gets to, 00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:00.580 that I'm investing in him, not necessarily just 00:17:00.539 --> 00:17:04.599 expecting him to come to work and you know provide 00:17:04.599 --> 00:17:09.319 you know or when you invest in your employees 00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:12.460 you're actually investing in your business as 00:17:12.460 --> 00:17:16.180 well because if you can make them be better employees 00:17:16.180 --> 00:17:21.019 it benefits you as the business owner and it 00:17:21.019 --> 00:17:25.059 works together and i found another thing not 00:17:25.059 --> 00:17:30.289 only teaching but sharing my vision with employees. 00:17:31.269 --> 00:17:34.650 So they know where I want the business to go. 00:17:35.890 --> 00:17:38.990 And we hang big banners and big flyers and stuff 00:17:38.990 --> 00:17:42.470 inside the shop. So when they walk in, they see, 00:17:42.769 --> 00:17:46.710 you know, our financial goal for this year is 00:17:46.710 --> 00:17:51.650 300 grand or 400 ,000, whatever. They know where 00:17:51.650 --> 00:17:55.930 I want to go. And when I share my vision with 00:17:55.930 --> 00:17:59.640 them, share my dream and my passion with them, 00:17:59.900 --> 00:18:02.680 they buy into the business because they feel 00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:05.279 like they're not just cutting grass. They're 00:18:05.279 --> 00:18:09.920 a part of a legitimate business. So sharing that 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:13.319 vision, sharing that dream, sharing the goal 00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:18.599 and teaching them how to do the job will only 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:22.220 benefit me and benefit you as the business owners. 00:18:22.900 --> 00:18:26.609 So I appreciate what you're doing with with your 00:18:26.609 --> 00:18:31.490 son and this employee investing in them. I really 00:18:31.490 --> 00:18:35.009 feel like you have to invest in your business 00:18:35.009 --> 00:18:39.990 as much as you invest into your equipment because 00:18:39.990 --> 00:18:45.609 the reason why I say that is when I invest in 00:18:45.609 --> 00:18:50.430 myself by going to equip or going to LCR or going 00:18:50.430 --> 00:18:55.690 to you know Brian Fullerton's meeting whatever 00:18:55.690 --> 00:19:00.470 it is, or buying books, joining mastermind groups, 00:19:01.509 --> 00:19:04.750 I'm investing in myself to make me a better man, 00:19:05.470 --> 00:19:09.910 a better husband, a better business owner, because 00:19:09.910 --> 00:19:12.930 it all works together. I can't be a good husband 00:19:12.930 --> 00:19:16.089 and a lousy business owner. And I can't be a 00:19:16.089 --> 00:19:18.869 lousy business owner and be a good husband because 00:19:18.869 --> 00:19:22.670 it bleeds through. And one thing I had to learn 00:19:22.670 --> 00:19:28.400 is I never bring business home with me. At the 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:31.160 end of the day, when we're finished unloading 00:19:31.160 --> 00:19:35.539 the trailer, I have some nice lawn chairs inside 00:19:35.539 --> 00:19:39.579 the shop. I'll sit there for 10, 15 minutes and 00:19:39.579 --> 00:19:44.140 just unwind. Let everything from the day, the 00:19:44.140 --> 00:19:47.380 stress, the pressure, the success or the failure, 00:19:47.839 --> 00:19:51.980 just roll off of me so I don't bring that home. 00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:57.059 because my family don't deserve the stress and 00:19:57.059 --> 00:20:00.059 the pressure of the business on them when they've 00:20:00.059 --> 00:20:03.339 had a busy day, or maybe my wife had a bad day 00:20:03.339 --> 00:20:08.079 teaching school that day. So I just learned a 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:11.200 long time ago, when you shut down, shut down, 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:15.519 don't bring it home. And, you know, there's a 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:18.859 lot of learning that's involved in running a 00:20:18.859 --> 00:20:26.180 business. If John Grant today could go back to 00:20:26.180 --> 00:20:30.180 when John Grant started, what would you tell 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:39.140 yourself then? I probably would have done a little, 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:42.839 well, it's hard when you're starting out, I think. 00:20:43.859 --> 00:20:45.900 I would probably like to do a little more like 00:20:45.900 --> 00:20:48.160 what you're talking about, you know, that de 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:52.720 -stressing or leaving. That they're at the shop 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:57.019 My only problem was this was home is was my shop, 00:20:57.099 --> 00:21:00.559 you know until until this I'd say this November 00:21:00.559 --> 00:21:03.759 when we hired this guy we just started got a 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:10.140 storage unit and started out of that so and I 00:21:10.140 --> 00:21:14.180 probably would have tried to I Know starting 00:21:14.180 --> 00:21:17.000 a business. It takes a lot It's a lot of your 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:21.920 time. It's a lot of extra time. I feel like The 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:24.859 reason I started it was to buy back my time with 00:21:24.859 --> 00:21:29.660 my family, my kids. Um, and I feel that the last 00:21:29.660 --> 00:21:31.700 three years of starting the business, I probably 00:21:31.700 --> 00:21:34.819 had less time with my family and my kids. Um, 00:21:34.900 --> 00:21:37.579 so that's a frustration for me because my goal 00:21:37.579 --> 00:21:39.680 with this was to have more time. I mean, I've 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:41.799 had great more time with Kayden and we've had 00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:44.660 some time together, me and Noah was in the business, 00:21:44.660 --> 00:21:47.240 but I just feel like the goal was to buy back 00:21:47.240 --> 00:21:54.450 my time. after hours, which I didn't. And we're 00:21:54.450 --> 00:21:56.910 working towards that now. That's the goal now. 00:21:58.289 --> 00:22:00.190 That's one of the things I'm really working on 00:22:00.190 --> 00:22:02.369 is trying with the new employee, I'm able to 00:22:02.369 --> 00:22:05.329 be home. We're done by 4 .15. We got to shut 00:22:05.329 --> 00:22:09.450 off time. Maybe here and there, a job, we don't 00:22:09.450 --> 00:22:11.250 plan to go further, but it goes over a little 00:22:11.250 --> 00:22:13.910 bit. And that's gonna happen here and there. 00:22:13.950 --> 00:22:18.140 But the goal is to be done at 4 .15. We're out 00:22:18.140 --> 00:22:21.039 for the day and I'm home and I go to my son's 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:24.000 game. I can do whatever. So we having that extra 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:27.900 employee has really let me do that already. Um, 00:22:28.680 --> 00:22:30.740 and that I would say that's, that's the thing 00:22:30.740 --> 00:22:32.539 I wish I could have done maybe earlier, maybe 00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:34.920 hired a guy earlier and not been so afraid to 00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:38.619 hire. Cause I mean, I think we could have, we've 00:22:38.619 --> 00:22:40.559 probably could have grown a little quicker or 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:42.640 grown a little bigger if we had that, that other 00:22:42.640 --> 00:22:46.609 guy. Cause me, me and Kaden did probably. 60 00:22:46.609 --> 00:22:51.849 hour weeks last year, you know And I would say 00:22:51.849 --> 00:22:56.329 don't be afraid to hire I Love that And I love 00:22:56.329 --> 00:22:59.349 that you're buying back your time and yeah when 00:22:59.349 --> 00:23:03.809 I started It was daylight to dark. I went every 00:23:03.809 --> 00:23:08.390 day And I was missing birthday parties family 00:23:08.390 --> 00:23:14.170 cookouts family reunions You know special occasions 00:23:14.440 --> 00:23:18.420 at friends houses. And my wife had come home 00:23:18.420 --> 00:23:21.339 and I would say, well, who was there? And she 00:23:21.339 --> 00:23:24.460 would say, well, Tim was there. Kirk was there. 00:23:24.900 --> 00:23:28.299 They ask, you know, where you were. And then 00:23:28.299 --> 00:23:30.579 they just started saying, is Andy working? Because 00:23:30.579 --> 00:23:34.000 they knew that's what I was doing. It was a day 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:37.319 and there was sunshine. So I was working. But 00:23:37.319 --> 00:23:40.859 I got tired of that because I realized I was 00:23:40.859 --> 00:23:44.170 so busy trying to build a business. that I was 00:23:44.170 --> 00:23:48.890 failing in building a life. I was failing my 00:23:48.890 --> 00:23:54.029 family. I was failing my friends. So I had to 00:23:54.029 --> 00:23:57.130 come to the same conclusion as you. You know, 00:23:57.130 --> 00:24:01.450 I got to shut down at this time. If I get done 00:24:01.450 --> 00:24:06.849 early, great. If I quit at 4 30, if I'm starting 00:24:06.849 --> 00:24:11.470 a job and it's going to take me 35 minutes to 00:24:11.470 --> 00:24:15.829 do it. And it's 410 already. That job's gonna 00:24:15.829 --> 00:24:17.750 wait till the first job in the next morning. 00:24:18.309 --> 00:24:21.549 Because I shut down. The banks don't stay open. 00:24:22.289 --> 00:24:25.309 No. Just because, you know, you're running late 00:24:25.309 --> 00:24:28.150 and you get there. If you're not there when they 00:24:28.150 --> 00:24:30.390 close, they're closed. You have to wait till 00:24:30.390 --> 00:24:34.450 the morning. So, you know. And then another important 00:24:34.450 --> 00:24:39.190 thing is to know your price. Price your properties 00:24:39.190 --> 00:24:45.069 according to your value. and according to that 00:24:45.069 --> 00:24:49.150 client's expected outcome of the job. And when 00:24:49.150 --> 00:24:52.430 you do that and you stick to it, it's going to 00:24:52.430 --> 00:24:57.670 make you more profitable. It's going to build 00:24:57.670 --> 00:25:00.869 a better relationship with your client because 00:25:00.869 --> 00:25:03.549 they know you're going to show up, you're going 00:25:03.549 --> 00:25:06.150 to do the job. It's going to look great when 00:25:06.150 --> 00:25:10.130 you're done. And I had one lady tell me, well, 00:25:10.130 --> 00:25:17.920 you're high. Last guy done it for $25 Call the 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:22.259 last guy have him come back because I've got 00:25:22.259 --> 00:25:25.619 a minimum and your property falls in that minimum 00:25:25.619 --> 00:25:29.660 and It's gonna be this price, but I promise you 00:25:29.660 --> 00:25:34.140 you get the best job that you can buy in Newcastle 00:25:34.140 --> 00:25:36.339 Because I'm gonna do the job. I'm gonna show 00:25:36.339 --> 00:25:40.559 up. I'm gonna show out and Your job is gonna 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:44.099 be done with professionalism, it's going to be 00:25:44.099 --> 00:25:48.700 done with integrity. And I'm going to do it with 00:25:48.700 --> 00:25:52.660 a spirit of a servant because I feel like we're 00:25:52.660 --> 00:25:55.680 servants to our clients. You know, not that there 00:25:55.680 --> 00:26:01.599 are boss ruling over us, but they do hold the 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:06.160 paycheck or the credit card. They're paying us. 00:26:06.259 --> 00:26:09.029 So we are their servant. and we do it with a 00:26:09.029 --> 00:26:13.029 spirit of excellence in all that we do. So let's 00:26:13.029 --> 00:26:15.269 take a short break. Let's hear a word from our 00:26:15.269 --> 00:26:19.509 show sponsor, Earth a Pro. Did you know that 00:26:19.509 --> 00:26:21.269 bookkeeping is one of the first things you should 00:26:21.269 --> 00:26:23.970 outsource before scaling your company? Hey guys, 00:26:24.069 --> 00:26:26.029 it's Joey with the landscaping bookkeeper. And 00:26:26.029 --> 00:26:27.789 I wanted to personally invite you to join our 00:26:27.789 --> 00:26:29.789 group of more than 50 lawn keepers that have 00:26:29.789 --> 00:26:32.269 decided to track and learn their numbers. With 00:26:32.269 --> 00:26:34.230 the Landscaping Bookkeeper, you'll get monthly 00:26:34.230 --> 00:26:36.049 accountability and peace of mind knowing that 00:26:36.049 --> 00:26:38.009 your business is on the right track financially. 00:26:38.750 --> 00:26:41.569 You can book a call with us by going to thelandscapingbookkeeper 00:26:41.569 --> 00:26:44.069 .com and scheduling a 15 -minute phone call. 00:26:44.529 --> 00:26:46.569 I look forward to hearing from you guys. Thanks. 00:26:48.269 --> 00:26:50.150 We'll hear from Arthur Pro here at the end of 00:26:50.150 --> 00:26:53.309 the show. That was Joey Koberle, the Landscaping 00:26:53.309 --> 00:26:57.809 Bookkeeper. If you need bookkeeping services, 00:26:57.869 --> 00:27:02.589 reach out to Joey or Megan Koberle. and schedule 00:27:02.589 --> 00:27:07.710 that free 15 minute call. Okay, let me ask you 00:27:07.710 --> 00:27:15.190 this. Where is your business today and where 00:27:15.190 --> 00:27:21.710 do you see it in two or three years? As far as 00:27:21.710 --> 00:27:26.089 number of employees, number of clients, what 00:27:26.089 --> 00:27:37.200 are your goals and where you're going? So two 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:40.400 to three years. Hmm. I hope to have at least 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:44.720 three maybe four trucks doing at least lawn maintenance 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:50.779 We're trying to get into fertilization that'll 00:27:50.779 --> 00:27:54.299 be I'm probably gonna have to end up hiring a 00:27:54.299 --> 00:27:59.319 tech with The way my situation is here, Virginia. 00:27:59.319 --> 00:28:01.200 It's a little different than most you can't just 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:07.170 go test you have to have worked under a prior 00:28:07.170 --> 00:28:11.029 company and have your commercial pesticides licensed 00:28:11.029 --> 00:28:15.250 or somebody else applicators license. So I will 00:28:15.250 --> 00:28:19.549 have to hire a pesticide and fertilization applicator, 00:28:19.549 --> 00:28:24.529 a commercial guy to do that. That's my goal here. 00:28:24.849 --> 00:28:28.930 Maybe this year, maybe next year, pushing, we're 00:28:28.930 --> 00:28:35.609 gonna try to push that fertilization. with our 00:28:35.609 --> 00:28:40.150 clients. So the goal would be to hopefully have 00:28:40.150 --> 00:28:44.289 a truck running full capacity doing fertilization 00:28:44.289 --> 00:28:48.950 within the next three years. And then I hope 00:28:48.950 --> 00:28:54.410 to have at least a landscape enhancement or even 00:28:54.410 --> 00:28:59.289 design truck out doing landscape installs and 00:28:59.289 --> 00:29:06.410 enhancement work. Probably two to at least two 00:29:06.410 --> 00:29:09.410 at least three mowing trucks. Maybe four right 00:29:09.410 --> 00:29:11.750 now. We're looking at whether the best thing 00:29:11.750 --> 00:29:16.329 is There's a lot of debate on this so whether 00:29:16.329 --> 00:29:18.970 two guys in a truck or three guys in a truck 00:29:18.970 --> 00:29:22.210 I know with me and Caden last year two guys in 00:29:22.210 --> 00:29:25.569 a truck. We're pushing on our size properties 00:29:25.569 --> 00:29:32.289 In our area we're pushing 20 a day is pushing 00:29:32.289 --> 00:29:36.079 it. It's pretty it's pretty um that's a tight 00:29:36.079 --> 00:29:42.119 a long day um and we had had a guy through july 00:29:42.119 --> 00:29:48.000 and august um and we were finishing by two one 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:52.299 thirty two o 'clock so i was you know and i had 00:29:52.299 --> 00:29:54.700 picked up some more we were up to about 21 or 00:29:54.700 --> 00:29:57.119 22 on that day and we were still finishing at 00:29:57.119 --> 00:30:01.160 130 or two we could add another 10 jobs or you 00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:04.089 know We could have 30 jobs, 28 to 30 jobs on 00:30:04.089 --> 00:30:08.589 that route per day. It'd be a little much, but 00:30:08.589 --> 00:30:12.049 probably 24, 25 would be perfect. So figuring 00:30:12.049 --> 00:30:16.549 out that your guys aren't as worn out, right? 00:30:17.009 --> 00:30:20.089 If you're two guys pushing. So that's something 00:30:20.089 --> 00:30:24.710 we're playing with. So how many trucks and how 00:30:24.710 --> 00:30:27.509 many routes will depend on which way we go with 00:30:27.509 --> 00:30:32.039 whether two or three guys in a truck. Well, we 00:30:32.039 --> 00:30:36.700 hear a lot about people transitioning to battery 00:30:36.700 --> 00:30:40.819 powered equipment. Are you using gas or battery 00:30:40.819 --> 00:30:44.460 powered and do you plan to transition to battery 00:30:44.460 --> 00:30:50.220 powered? Good question. I would like to transition 00:30:50.220 --> 00:30:57.920 the battery. And we do. We don't do any of our 00:30:57.920 --> 00:31:01.829 moving stuff with battery, but some of our are 00:31:01.829 --> 00:31:05.230 trimming right now we're using Milwaukee that's 00:31:05.230 --> 00:31:09.490 what we have right now only using them for doing 00:31:09.490 --> 00:31:17.690 shrubs and stuff but we like the electric I guess 00:31:17.690 --> 00:31:23.029 with it really depends on on the cost of it all 00:31:23.029 --> 00:31:25.230 you know setting up a truck what what is the 00:31:25.230 --> 00:31:31.000 cost and I I see the investment with the the 00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:34.559 savings and the time, just with not having to 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:37.859 deal with as much maintenance on the gas side 00:31:37.859 --> 00:31:42.200 of the engine side. I see that just with, you 00:31:42.200 --> 00:31:43.700 know, you get a trigger after a little while 00:31:43.700 --> 00:31:46.119 it starts, you're yanking it two or three times 00:31:46.119 --> 00:31:48.180 to get it started or maybe four or five, you 00:31:48.180 --> 00:31:50.619 know, and then that thing doesn't start and you're 00:31:50.619 --> 00:31:57.200 on a, you know, so I see in that way it's beneficial. 00:31:58.740 --> 00:32:01.480 we would like to move to battery. It just really 00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:04.680 depends on the cost. I know getting set up with 00:32:04.680 --> 00:32:09.799 a truck, we really like the Crest stuff. Our 00:32:09.799 --> 00:32:11.559 biggest problem with the Crest stuff is there 00:32:11.559 --> 00:32:16.819 is no dealer close to us. So it's, I mean, not 00:32:16.819 --> 00:32:18.519 that there's gonna be any major repairs that 00:32:18.519 --> 00:32:21.359 we probably couldn't do ourselves, but it's just 00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:26.700 getting stuff. There's an hour and a half away. 00:32:27.279 --> 00:32:30.240 for the nearest dealer and that's and I don't 00:32:30.240 --> 00:32:33.400 even know if they're necessarily still a dealer. 00:32:34.700 --> 00:32:37.599 I'd like to see some of the robotics with the 00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:43.579 mowers more I don't know that I want the autonomous 00:32:43.579 --> 00:32:47.819 itself but the but the autonomous maybe the smaller 00:32:47.819 --> 00:32:51.700 scale stuff that's you can set and leave I really 00:32:51.700 --> 00:32:55.559 thought that was um beneficial because you could 00:32:55.559 --> 00:32:57.859 have a guy in a truck that's literally going 00:32:57.859 --> 00:33:00.380 out doing trimming and maybe a monthly maintenance 00:33:00.380 --> 00:33:03.000 on that piece of equipment that's on the yard 00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:06.220 and then he's not actually carrying a mower and 00:33:06.220 --> 00:33:08.759 you only need one guy in a truck so your profits 00:33:08.759 --> 00:33:12.940 could be higher but um with trimmers and stuff 00:33:12.940 --> 00:33:18.079 I'd like to move that route and blowers um it's 00:33:18.079 --> 00:33:20.400 just really finding if we can get a dealer close 00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:24.059 or we may look at Milwaukee I don't know and 00:33:24.059 --> 00:33:28.849 see Well this year to quip I connected with cynics 00:33:28.849 --> 00:33:33.410 tools Okay, and they have brought me on as a 00:33:33.410 --> 00:33:37.349 brand ambassador for cynics tools. They've sent 00:33:37.349 --> 00:33:45.869 me a blower Hedge trimmer and a trimmer and Four 00:33:45.869 --> 00:33:48.789 or five batteries and three different chargers 00:33:48.789 --> 00:33:52.210 and I used them there at the end of the fall 00:33:52.210 --> 00:33:56.920 season before I got injured And I am really impressed 00:33:56.920 --> 00:34:03.279 with the balance of the trimmer, the weight. 00:34:04.339 --> 00:34:08.619 It's so much lighter than my steel trimmers that 00:34:08.619 --> 00:34:13.559 we've been using. And the battery life works 00:34:13.559 --> 00:34:16.840 really well, especially on like the hedge trimmers. 00:34:17.099 --> 00:34:20.579 I can trim with that thing all day long. And 00:34:20.579 --> 00:34:24.110 I mean, I'm trimming a lot of bushes. in a day's 00:34:24.110 --> 00:34:32.369 time. So my biggest fear of transitioning from 00:34:32.369 --> 00:34:36.630 gas to battery was that the battery life, would 00:34:36.630 --> 00:34:41.409 they hold up for all that we put them through? 00:34:43.130 --> 00:34:46.550 But so far, I'm impressed with Cynics. It's a 00:34:46.550 --> 00:34:49.889 great piece of equipment. The trimmers last great. 00:34:50.429 --> 00:34:54.110 They have great balance. I don't smell gas. I 00:34:54.110 --> 00:34:59.050 don't smell like gas. And so I'm thankful for 00:34:59.050 --> 00:35:02.210 that. And it's a process. We're transitioning 00:35:02.210 --> 00:35:07.829 slowly. But I'm 60 years old, so I don't have 00:35:07.829 --> 00:35:11.320 too many more years active in. the business. 00:35:11.940 --> 00:35:14.239 I have a guy that's wanting to buy me out right 00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:19.860 now. So we'll see how that goes. But let's talk 00:35:19.860 --> 00:35:24.659 about your Instagram for a minute. I was following 00:35:24.659 --> 00:35:27.139 you when you had just a handful of followers. 00:35:28.380 --> 00:35:32.619 And then the next day I woke up and you had 5 00:35:32.619 --> 00:35:36.900 ,000. And then the next day you had 8 ,000 and 00:35:36.900 --> 00:35:43.150 now you're up to 9 ,068. What is your secret? 00:35:44.750 --> 00:35:50.550 Having a teenager I'll tell you what when I started 00:35:50.550 --> 00:35:59.010 that Instagram I got I had up to about 350 maybe 00:35:59.010 --> 00:36:05.590 followers and we went to nailers event last year 00:36:05.590 --> 00:36:11.510 and They talked a lot about social media at that 00:36:11.510 --> 00:36:16.230 event and growing your social media platforms 00:36:16.230 --> 00:36:21.429 to be able to grow your audience. Our audience 00:36:21.429 --> 00:36:26.909 necessarily isn't everybody else out there in 00:36:26.909 --> 00:36:29.590 the green industry and that's not what we're 00:36:29.590 --> 00:36:34.550 shooting for. We're shooting for B2C which is 00:36:34.550 --> 00:36:37.769 business to customer instead of business to business. 00:36:37.769 --> 00:36:41.739 We have a lot of business to business. But from 00:36:41.739 --> 00:36:43.840 that we get a lot of business we get we can get 00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:47.179 business customer Because it kind of spreads 00:36:47.179 --> 00:36:51.960 out So at that summit we were they'll see our 00:36:51.960 --> 00:36:58.219 summit They were talking about How to set up 00:36:58.219 --> 00:37:01.340 your Instagram and how it needs to look on your 00:37:01.340 --> 00:37:05.480 on your platform there When you when you do it 00:37:05.480 --> 00:37:08.599 and how to set those different things up And 00:37:08.599 --> 00:37:10.599 I looked over at Kaden and I said, we need to 00:37:10.599 --> 00:37:14.139 make that, we need to change that. And before 00:37:14.139 --> 00:37:17.019 he goes, he goes, I already did it. I was like, 00:37:17.019 --> 00:37:19.320 what? And sure enough, I'll pull it up and he's 00:37:19.320 --> 00:37:22.780 got it, he's got it edited already. And, and 00:37:22.780 --> 00:37:24.920 so they're just talking and I was like, Hey, 00:37:24.940 --> 00:37:26.539 we need to change that too. He's like, I already 00:37:26.539 --> 00:37:31.840 did it, you know? And I think by the time we, 00:37:31.900 --> 00:37:34.340 I don't even know by the time we got back from 00:37:34.340 --> 00:37:40.210 a quip, I think we'd already, tripled, you know, 00:37:40.309 --> 00:37:42.230 within the next like two weeks after equip we 00:37:42.230 --> 00:37:44.750 had already tripled in the amount of followers. 00:37:46.130 --> 00:37:52.190 And the biggest thing with it was learning to 00:37:52.190 --> 00:37:58.250 post consistently. The consistency is what gets 00:37:58.250 --> 00:38:01.630 the algorithm working, which moves you up and 00:38:01.630 --> 00:38:03.630 spreads your and sends your stuff out to more 00:38:03.630 --> 00:38:07.730 people. the more you're consistent and post on 00:38:07.730 --> 00:38:09.949 the regular. It's not like you get to post every 00:38:09.949 --> 00:38:13.010 day. Hey, that's better. But if you can post 00:38:13.010 --> 00:38:17.250 once a week, you know, and be consistent at that, 00:38:17.309 --> 00:38:21.349 it notices that. It sends you out more. So you'll 00:38:21.349 --> 00:38:25.409 get more coverage. But if you're not being consistent 00:38:25.409 --> 00:38:28.670 with it, then you're not gonna get that. So he's 00:38:28.670 --> 00:38:30.710 been really consistent with it. We made more 00:38:30.710 --> 00:38:34.969 of an effort to make more videos. make more content, 00:38:35.150 --> 00:38:37.630 record more, which takes more time in the field 00:38:37.630 --> 00:38:40.929 when you're doing jobs. So, but, you know, that 00:38:40.929 --> 00:38:44.349 gives us that ability to be able to have content 00:38:44.349 --> 00:38:48.050 to share about who we are, what we do, you know, 00:38:48.130 --> 00:38:51.269 what we're about. Let's our customers see that. 00:38:52.570 --> 00:38:55.630 And through being able to grow that like that 00:38:55.630 --> 00:39:03.650 is all I would say. 99 % him, you know, Kayden 00:39:03.650 --> 00:39:06.230 has been the one who has been able to do that. 00:39:06.230 --> 00:39:09.070 I mean, I'm there helping make videos and doing 00:39:09.070 --> 00:39:13.150 videos, but in making the content, I mean, the 00:39:13.150 --> 00:39:15.349 posting part and being consistent with it and 00:39:15.349 --> 00:39:18.590 making and preparing the content and building 00:39:18.590 --> 00:39:21.730 it, you know, has been him. So, I mean, it's 00:39:21.730 --> 00:39:24.610 been it's been huge to see some of our videos 00:39:24.610 --> 00:39:29.800 getting the views they get and that's been really 00:39:29.800 --> 00:39:35.099 awesome i was working here at my house in the 00:39:35.099 --> 00:39:38.739 front yard cleaning up some leaves and i'm on 00:39:38.739 --> 00:39:41.900 my grasshopper mower and i thought well i'm here 00:39:41.900 --> 00:39:45.519 i'll just throw a camera up and i just filmed 00:39:45.519 --> 00:39:50.239 myself mulching up some leaves posted on facebook 00:39:50.239 --> 00:39:56.940 and got 463 000 views and i thought i didn't 00:39:56.940 --> 00:40:01.400 even try I just stuck a camera on a tripod in 00:40:01.400 --> 00:40:05.440 the front yard, didn't do anything special, and 00:40:05.440 --> 00:40:10.659 it blew up. So I thought, you know, the ones 00:40:10.659 --> 00:40:13.179 that I think are going to be great videos, they 00:40:13.179 --> 00:40:16.000 turned out to be duds. And then the ones that 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:18.719 I think are not going to do anything, they'll 00:40:18.719 --> 00:40:22.139 blow up and I'll get, you know... I got one that's 00:40:22.139 --> 00:40:26.219 got like 63 ,000 views or something like that. 00:40:26.800 --> 00:40:32.679 So, when you post, are you posting on the same 00:40:32.679 --> 00:40:36.159 day every week? Or are you recording on the same 00:40:36.159 --> 00:40:41.199 day every week? Or tell our listeners, how many 00:40:41.199 --> 00:40:44.320 times a week do you post? What days do you post? 00:40:44.619 --> 00:40:50.449 Are there days that are better to post on? I 00:40:50.449 --> 00:40:52.409 think it's daily is the best. If you're going 00:40:52.409 --> 00:40:55.710 to do it, daily is the best. And there's times, 00:40:55.710 --> 00:40:59.789 you know, you can post a six. It depends. You 00:40:59.789 --> 00:41:02.170 got to hit those different times when people 00:41:02.170 --> 00:41:04.210 are active. People are getting up or getting 00:41:04.210 --> 00:41:06.849 ready. You got a six o 'clock post. You got a 00:41:06.849 --> 00:41:09.730 nine o 'clock post. You got an 1130 post right 00:41:09.730 --> 00:41:13.010 before lunch. So it's hitting at lunchtime. You 00:41:13.010 --> 00:41:14.849 got a post right after lunch for those people 00:41:14.849 --> 00:41:18.070 who are maybe taking a break, you know, two o 00:41:18.070 --> 00:41:21.460 'clock. Three five six somewhere, you know in 00:41:21.460 --> 00:41:23.320 those time frames when people are getting off 00:41:23.320 --> 00:41:24.900 work. They're wanting to get on their phone They're 00:41:24.900 --> 00:41:27.079 wanting to look at that kind of content. They're 00:41:27.079 --> 00:41:31.679 looking for an outlet, you know And then I think 00:41:31.679 --> 00:41:34.300 towards the evening time too. We don't post that 00:41:34.300 --> 00:41:38.280 often But those are those are your time frames, 00:41:38.420 --> 00:41:40.260 you know there I mean you can find that stuff 00:41:40.260 --> 00:41:43.780 online but um Those are the beneficial time frames 00:41:43.780 --> 00:41:45.699 when you should be making a post and putting 00:41:45.699 --> 00:41:47.460 one out and if you do it every day at nine o 00:41:47.460 --> 00:41:49.909 'clock every morning you know once one person 00:41:49.909 --> 00:41:52.230 looks at that and they see your post again and 00:41:52.230 --> 00:41:54.750 they start following you well it's gonna the 00:41:54.750 --> 00:41:57.469 algorithm is going to push it out to them that 00:41:57.469 --> 00:41:59.170 algorithm is going to continue to push that post 00:41:59.170 --> 00:42:01.030 to them and it's going to push it to other people 00:42:01.030 --> 00:42:03.530 you know if you're consistently posting you don't 00:42:03.530 --> 00:42:05.949 have to post all the time it's just it's about 00:42:05.949 --> 00:42:07.889 the consistency it looks for that consistency 00:42:07.889 --> 00:42:11.050 of posting once a day once a week you do it at 00:42:11.050 --> 00:42:16.110 the same time or um it's really I would say that's 00:42:16.110 --> 00:42:17.869 the biggest thing is if you could be consistent 00:42:17.869 --> 00:42:21.349 with your posting. Like you were saying, you 00:42:21.349 --> 00:42:26.090 just threw a camera up and made a video. I think 00:42:26.090 --> 00:42:31.070 sometimes the videos that are more natural, you're 00:42:31.070 --> 00:42:34.750 not trying, you're just doing what you do. They're 00:42:34.750 --> 00:42:38.590 the videos that hit. And sometimes when we try 00:42:38.590 --> 00:42:41.369 and we try to make a good video and you're trying 00:42:41.369 --> 00:42:46.039 too hard. So making that video that's just natural 00:42:46.039 --> 00:42:48.380 and it's just what you're doing, this is what 00:42:48.380 --> 00:42:52.980 we do. And I think those sometimes are your ones 00:42:52.980 --> 00:42:56.440 that hit the best. I hope you take his advice 00:42:56.440 --> 00:43:02.440 on your social media because he's done it and 00:43:02.440 --> 00:43:09.559 his platform has grown 9 ,068 followers. If you 00:43:09.559 --> 00:43:14.699 take my Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, 00:43:15.800 --> 00:43:20.320 X, all of them, and all of my followers up, I 00:43:20.320 --> 00:43:23.280 would be lucky if I hit his Instagram number 00:43:23.280 --> 00:43:27.840 because I just haven't, like he said, I've not 00:43:27.840 --> 00:43:31.039 been consistent enough, but that's going to change 00:43:31.039 --> 00:43:35.760 this year. I'm going to set a day and I'm going 00:43:35.760 --> 00:43:39.500 to record every day and then I'm going to post 00:43:39.500 --> 00:43:43.420 videos at least once, maybe twice a week. on 00:43:43.420 --> 00:43:47.780 the same day, same times, every week. And I'm 00:43:47.780 --> 00:43:51.179 going to try to catch you. All right, sounds 00:43:51.179 --> 00:43:53.800 good. Well, let me ask you one more question 00:43:53.800 --> 00:43:59.300 here before we wind this down. Sure. What is 00:43:59.300 --> 00:44:02.840 the one piece of equipment that you have gotten 00:44:02.840 --> 00:44:10.500 the best ROL on, ROI on, return on your investment? 00:44:11.420 --> 00:44:24.239 Sure. Oh, let's see, I would say Probably right 00:44:24.239 --> 00:44:26.980 now our our leaf back has been our best return 00:44:26.980 --> 00:44:29.099 on investment with our I would say it's kind 00:44:29.099 --> 00:44:34.019 of a combined with our dump trailer I Would say 00:44:34.019 --> 00:44:39.019 spending the time I see some people spend Unloading 00:44:39.019 --> 00:44:42.400 a lands a basic landscape trailer with no dump 00:44:43.619 --> 00:44:45.559 Yeah, you're saving some money, but if you got 00:44:45.559 --> 00:44:49.380 two or three guys doing that unloading You're 00:44:49.380 --> 00:44:51.900 losing money when you could pull up and dump 00:44:51.900 --> 00:44:54.440 and yeah, it's a big investment I understand 00:44:54.440 --> 00:44:56.860 that and it was an investment that I saw that 00:44:56.860 --> 00:44:58.719 I need to make from the beginning was that dumb 00:44:58.719 --> 00:45:01.840 trailer and I would say it's paid for itself 00:45:01.840 --> 00:45:04.940 because if I had a If I had to get them out of 00:45:04.940 --> 00:45:07.300 leaves out of the back of that thing that I had 00:45:07.300 --> 00:45:11.019 of a landscape trailer I'd be there for I don't 00:45:11.019 --> 00:45:14.099 know how long but we can carry almost 26 cubic 00:45:14.099 --> 00:45:17.079 yards in that thing. And that's a lot of leaves, 00:45:17.260 --> 00:45:22.159 you know, I mean, so the and the debris loader 00:45:22.159 --> 00:45:24.380 itself being able to vacuum up the leaves and 00:45:24.380 --> 00:45:26.780 not having to we had to do a job last year and 00:45:26.780 --> 00:45:29.760 hand load them because we had already taken our 00:45:29.760 --> 00:45:33.199 setup down and I messed up and didn't do a cleanup 00:45:33.199 --> 00:45:36.699 or got to get it on the schedule. And the guy 00:45:36.699 --> 00:45:38.400 was like, are you still coming to do my cleanup? 00:45:38.460 --> 00:45:42.900 And I was like, oh, my goodness. and we had to 00:45:42.900 --> 00:45:44.320 blow it and then we had to rake it and we had 00:45:44.320 --> 00:45:47.519 a full dump trailer. I mean of unshredded leaves 00:45:47.519 --> 00:45:50.199 but I had a full dump trailer of of leaves and 00:45:50.199 --> 00:45:54.159 I was just like never never again like I couldn't 00:45:54.159 --> 00:45:56.579 imagine like I hadn't had to do it and I had 00:45:56.579 --> 00:45:58.980 to do it that way and I was like these guys that 00:45:58.980 --> 00:46:01.960 I've seen bigger companies than me in my area 00:46:01.960 --> 00:46:04.440 hand loading because they didn't have a debris 00:46:04.440 --> 00:46:07.139 loader like four or five guys and they're just 00:46:07.139 --> 00:46:08.679 loading the truck and then they're standing there 00:46:08.679 --> 00:46:11.829 while that truck goes to dump And there's nothing 00:46:11.829 --> 00:46:13.489 to do because they've already blown all the leaves 00:46:13.489 --> 00:46:16.110 and waiting for them to go dump and come back 00:46:16.110 --> 00:46:19.849 And I thought look at the money Being wasted 00:46:19.849 --> 00:46:22.670 there, you know, so it's a it is a fusion. It's 00:46:22.670 --> 00:46:25.610 a big investment Yeah, it's a big investment 00:46:25.610 --> 00:46:30.730 it is and but I think it pays for itself so fast 00:46:30.730 --> 00:46:33.750 Couldn't agree more. There was nothing like I 00:46:33.750 --> 00:46:38.420 bought two dumb trailers and we have the brand 00:46:38.420 --> 00:46:42.059 of our leaf loader or highway it's called it's 00:46:42.059 --> 00:46:46.760 highway brand and it's big yellow it's got a 00:46:46.760 --> 00:46:51.239 14 inch hose and nice it'll it'll suck through 00:46:51.239 --> 00:46:55.940 a pile of leaves in no time and we we would fill 00:46:55.940 --> 00:47:00.960 those trailers up and i got a strawberry farmer 00:47:00.960 --> 00:47:03.539 i take all of my mulched up leaves out to his 00:47:03.539 --> 00:47:07.760 house and dump them And he uses it for compost 00:47:07.760 --> 00:47:11.639 for strawberry fields. So it helps him and helps 00:47:11.639 --> 00:47:15.139 me because I'm not paying to dump my leaves somewhere. 00:47:15.699 --> 00:47:19.420 And then he gets free compost. So it helps us 00:47:19.420 --> 00:47:22.139 both. And it's so nice to have friends like that 00:47:22.139 --> 00:47:24.780 and people in your community that you can work 00:47:24.780 --> 00:47:29.219 with. You know, I think a lot of people make 00:47:29.219 --> 00:47:33.260 business more difficult than it should be. you 00:47:33.260 --> 00:47:35.619 know when you when you build a community and 00:47:35.619 --> 00:47:39.219 you have people in the industry that's why i 00:47:39.219 --> 00:47:43.099 don't look at other lawn care businesses as a 00:47:43.099 --> 00:47:47.019 competitor i look at them as a friend yeah and 00:47:47.019 --> 00:47:50.760 we'll get together on a rain day at a local restaurant 00:47:50.760 --> 00:47:53.440 here in town sit around the table and talk about 00:47:53.440 --> 00:47:56.380 you know what are you doing how's business going 00:47:56.380 --> 00:48:01.119 this year what's your growth what are you eliminating 00:48:01.730 --> 00:48:06.130 eliminating what are you doing today to help 00:48:06.130 --> 00:48:08.929 your business tomorrow. You know, just brainstorm 00:48:08.929 --> 00:48:12.610 and talk. And it is so nice to have a community 00:48:12.610 --> 00:48:16.489 of people that you can, anyone in my town, if 00:48:16.489 --> 00:48:21.590 I had a down day with equipment, someone would 00:48:21.590 --> 00:48:24.449 call me and come and help me finish up. you know, 00:48:24.449 --> 00:48:26.710 I wouldn't have a complete loss because there's 00:48:26.710 --> 00:48:30.289 friends that we build in the community and in 00:48:30.289 --> 00:48:33.730 the industry. And this farmer, one day he just 00:48:33.730 --> 00:48:36.449 called me out of the blue and said, Hey, I need 00:48:36.449 --> 00:48:40.750 compost for my strawberry fields. He said, in 00:48:40.750 --> 00:48:43.190 the fall of the year, would you be interested 00:48:43.190 --> 00:48:46.409 in dumping your leaves in my house? I said, I 00:48:46.409 --> 00:48:49.190 would love to, because I was paying dump fees 00:48:49.190 --> 00:48:52.980 every time to get rid of them. And it doesn't 00:48:52.980 --> 00:48:56.960 mean I took the dumb fee off of the price for 00:48:56.960 --> 00:48:59.380 the customer because I'm still driving out to 00:48:59.380 --> 00:49:03.139 his house and still have an employee in the truck 00:49:03.139 --> 00:49:05.840 with me and we're dumping them. So, you know, 00:49:05.840 --> 00:49:07.960 we're still dumping them. I'm just not paying 00:49:07.960 --> 00:49:11.019 to dump them. So there are still some expenses 00:49:11.019 --> 00:49:18.000 involved. And so working together and I appreciate 00:49:18.000 --> 00:49:20.679 you. coming on the show. I think you gave our 00:49:20.679 --> 00:49:28.760 listeners some very usable and actionable content 00:49:28.760 --> 00:49:32.159 and some information tonight that will help them 00:49:32.159 --> 00:49:35.500 legitimize and grow their business. So John, 00:49:35.519 --> 00:49:38.940 I appreciate you being on the lawn hustle and 00:49:38.940 --> 00:49:43.320 I hope this year is your best year ever. You 00:49:43.320 --> 00:49:46.360 find more success than you've ever had before. 00:49:46.980 --> 00:49:49.079 I appreciate that. Thank you very much. And thank 00:49:49.079 --> 00:49:52.219 you for bringing me on the show. Oh, you're welcome. 00:49:52.380 --> 00:49:56.320 And we will do it again. I will be contacting 00:49:56.320 --> 00:49:58.400 you sometime and maybe we'll get your son on 00:49:58.400 --> 00:50:01.860 with us the next time. And I was teasing with 00:50:01.860 --> 00:50:04.800 him at the LCR Summit and asked him if he wanted 00:50:04.800 --> 00:50:09.039 to be my social media manager because I'd heard 00:50:09.039 --> 00:50:12.480 you say that he was the reason why your social 00:50:12.480 --> 00:50:16.960 media took off. Man, keep putting out the content, 00:50:17.079 --> 00:50:21.719 keep working, keep grinding. And until we talk 00:50:21.719 --> 00:50:25.320 again, we wish you nothing but success. Thank 00:50:25.320 --> 00:50:28.840 you for being on the lawn hustle. Thank you. 00:50:29.059 --> 00:50:36.480 All right. All right.