Welcome back to the lawn hustle. The podcast
built for lawn care pros, landscapers, and green
industry entrepreneurs. If you're tired of guessing
and ready to grow with purpose, you are in the
right place. I am your host, Andy Wilson. I have
16 years of experience in the green industry.
No fluff, no hype, just proven strategies, honest
conversation, and lessons learned from the field.
Each episode, we dive into the pain points holding
lawn care businesses hostage, pricing, marketing,
strategy, mindsets, and scaling while talking
with the industry leaders, brand partners, and
operators who are doing the work. If you're ready
to legitimize your business, sharpen your skills,
and hustle smarter, welcome to the lawn hustle.
Let's get into it. Today we have a special guest
with us, Matthew McColdrick from McColdrick's
Property Services. He has 3 ,270 followers on
Instagram. Matthew, welcome to the Lawn Hustle.
Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Well, let's jump right into some questions I
have on pricing. How do you calculate your mowing
price per property? Do you have a flat rate?
And then it goes up because I know my flat rate.
Oh, cover the smaller yards. That's just the
flat rate. If it's a huge property, then we adjust
the price. Tell us how you calculate your pricing.
Yeah, so I think I kind of have a slight advantage
over a lot of people because I grew up where
my father had been running a successful lawn
care company early on and I know pricing had
changed over the years but I was privy to You
know how to accomplish the mowing and trimming
of a lawn. So I kind of understand You know the
the footprint if you will just by looking at
it and when I started my business I was a little
too cheap I had basically said, well, I want
to test the model. I want to get these customers
and I want to see if people are excited about
it. And then as time went on, I figured out,
of course, hey, I got to increase my price. And
I figured that out by doing and also by calling
a number of other. professional landscaping companies
in the beginning of the season, because it's
OK for everybody to give a shout and give a call
to different companies and ask them, hey, you
know, I'm just curious, what is your minimum
for mowing? I'm potentially in the market to
have my lawn or I know somebody who's looking.
But either way, a lot of companies that are transparent
and successful, they tend to have this information
out there. So a lot of companies, including my
own, we're trying to put the pricing on the website
for most things within reality. so that people
can look at it and say right off the bat okay
he's too high for me or okay I love that price
you know hopefully I fall in his minimum but
my minimum is at $65 for the smallest of ones
and basically It takes the same energy, whether
it's a tiny lawn or a big lawn, as far as the
unloading goes and then the loading back up.
So I have a drop gate fee that I have to keep
in mind. It's going to take a certain amount
of time to strap everything down properly and
what have you. And I mean, you're really getting
out there and doing the same type of job, whether
it takes, you know, 20 minutes or an hour, you
still have to perform excellent. So you definitely
have to have an average price. And we kind of
settled at sixty five. We may see an increase
with that. because you know of course everything
continues to go up well everything is increasing
and most places increase annually yes so you
know I don't understand why people think lawn
care shouldn't increase their price you know
you tell a client I got to increase my price
And sometimes the response is, you're already
high enough. Sure. But it's just a matter of
educating the client as to why you have to increase
because we're in business to turn a profit. Yes.
We're in business to make money, not to lose
money and leave money on the table. You said
your minimum price is 65 right now. If you increase
that this year, what are you thinking about increasing
it to 70 or higher or what? So I think every
year I try to evaluate what is the cost of inflation
for our country Because that's definitely something
that has to be factored every single year The
government is going to give an increase to a
lot of people that are on a fixed budget through
Social Security and etc Because of the cost of
living increase So when you mentioned before
that a lot of people get kind of excited and
they say why should your price change? Well,
everything changes for us, you know, our insurance
goes up our fuel goes up the cost of the equipment
now is exuberant to a lot of people. It's just
massive, the amount of money that it takes to
switch from gas powered equipment to battery.
And now we're kind of seeing where we're being
forced into that, especially with a state like
Massachusetts, California, these green states
where they get very excited about wanting to
save on the carbon emissions and whatnot. So
for me, it's going to cost me, let's say $25
,000 to go grab, for example, a Greenworks mower
in the spring to have an all fleet I'm gonna
need to go incur these costs and I can buy an
equivalent gravely mower for maybe $11 ,500,
$12 ,000 for a stand -on and you know you could
even buy one that's been demoed and get the same
warranty and everything a little bit cheaper
so when you talk about jumping into just today's
technology different softwares even for design
landscape design you know everybody needs to
modernize and i think people forget that landscapers
are not just a simple showing up with a push
mower anymore it's if you're a real big player
in the game you're also going to offer a lot
more than just mowing you're going to offer a
Big list of things that they're gonna be excited
that you offer, you know Well, I think our industry
has changed, you know used to People get laid
off from the factory and they'd go run out by
a mower start mowing some yards but When it got
95 degrees outside, they were the ones that didn't
show up They're the ones that didn't want to
do the job because it wasn't their niche. It
wasn't their passion. Correct. And so they just
started picking up a few yards just to make a
couple bucks. Sure. You know, and same thing,
you know, young guys. And I'm excited about all
the young lawn care operators in our industry.
But a lot of times they would run and get a mower
just to have some weekend spending money. Sure,
but I think the industry has changed now and
we're at a high professionalism in our industry
right now our industries come a long way since
when I started and I Think some of that has come
with realizing You know, I'm not just mowing
yards. I am providing a service to my clients.
And it's been a paradigm shift. It's been a change
in the way we think, how we operate, and what
we look at our industry, and what we see when
we look at our industry. We're not just cutting
grass. We are service providers. So yeah, just
like an electrician, you know, it's it's a necessity
Exactly needs to be paid for and I just want
to jump on real quick what you mentioned nowadays.
Everybody's showing up that are the professionals
anyhow with uniforms and matching hats and all
these other things, because I think society,
like you mentioned, has made a dramatic shift,
especially with technology, modernization of
colors and things that people get excited to
see. So we need to vinyl wrap our trucks. We
need to do all these things to be visually appealing
and to actually fall onto their radar. Otherwise
again, it drops into like those weekend warriors
and nothing wrong with that But at the same time
those guys definitely are not completely invested
as you or I you know Exactly it it cost a lot
of money To get the proper equipment to set your
business up legally to You know save money for
taxes to save money back for equipment purchases
to pay your employees and pay them well and to
pay yourself and pay yourself well. So there's
a lot involved and some people just don't see
it. I've never seen anyone at Kroger's fill up
a shopping cart, get up to the cashier, they
ring everything up and it comes to $300. I've
never seen anyone say, well, that's too much.
I'm only going to pay you $175. Right. Somehow
they come up with the $300 to pay the bill because
it's something they need. It's a necessity. And
we got to start thinking when I price my jobs,
I'm pricing them according to my value. Yeah.
Perceived value is everything. And I'm pricing
according to the perceived outcome that the client
has. If they want a top quality job, they're
going to pay top quality price. If I do the job.
They might not be my ideal customer. And that's
fine. We can move on. They can find someone else.
And I wish them luck. Yeah, it's not personal,
it's business. Exactly. So, and I tell some of
the guys that are starting out, it's your price.
You know your numbers, you know your value, you
know the service that you're going to offer,
and you know the quality of job you're going
to do. So, don't let the customer dictate the
price. Absolutely. Because that customer's not
paying your bills, you're paying your bills.
So you know what you need to make per job in
order to turn a profit. If you don't know, you
might need to go to work someplace else. Amen.
You have to know your numbers. Yep. Bottom line.
Yeah, and stick to it, because if you go to somebody
and you tell them $85 or $110 for the mo, whatever
it may be, and then all of a sudden you drop
down to $80, they're going to say, either this
guy doesn't actually believe he was worth that
much, and he lied to me, and he was just trying
to throw something at the wall and see if it
will stick. That's not good business. And then
all of a sudden, angry people or people that
have a negative experience are most commonly
going to tell 10 people about that. If a good
person is going to tell an average of two to
three. So it's power of how you work your words
too, because stand up for your value. Make sure
that they understand. Because again, you can
walk away and still have a forever friend. Right.
They call me later when they end up having the
guy who is cheaper fail them. So, you know, always
hold to your value, like you said. That is so
good. And also remember. When you set your price.
They're not just paying to have their grass cut
They're paying for your reputation. Yes, they're
paying for the years of work that you've put
in and We've all heard it. Well, the last guy
was only $45 Where's he now? Yeah. Yeah, we build
trust in our brands and I think trust is so easily
broken and it's so hard to garner it. But where
are people's houses more than their own family?
I mean, I see my customers more than their kids.
So every week when I'm at Miss Jones' house,
if I see the trash bucket down at the end of
the driveway, I'm going to bring it up for them
because why not? I'm there. It takes me one extra
second. Chances are I already had to make a beeline
up that driveway for Truman. So it's like, hey,
just do these small things. Because again, that
adds to your value when you care and you notice.
And I am a visual king. bugs climbing up their
homes whether it's an ant or god forbid termite
or anything when I'm doing mulch work these huge
crucial details when you call and stop and send
them photos and tell them exactly what's happening
hey you have a small piece of trim that's pulling
away from your home I see water that's going
where it shouldn't be all of those things that's
our job If we're pros, that's our job because
we should always be selling work, not just to
sell it, but to make sure Mr. and Mrs. Jones
understand to protect their investment. It's
one of the best things you can make in the world
is your home, but it's going to cause you headaches.
So if you have a true pro like you or myself,
we're going to make a lot of these keen observations
for them. It's those little things that distinguish
us from our competitors. Had an employee one
time I told him we pulled up trash can was out
by the road. I Said before you start take that
can and set it up by the garage door He said
is that our job I said no, but we do it anyways,
yes And now that's the first thing he looks for
when we go to jobs because he didn't think That's
just a reputation builder. He just thought, you
know, we don't get paid to move trash cans. That's
why am I doing that? Yeah, exactly. But now he
has bought into that. And it's always those little
things. I had a customer a couple of years ago.
Three days after Thanksgiving, he called me.
And I had just finished up their property the
day before Thanksgiving. Got all the leaves cleaned
up, got the gutter and the roof blowed off and
the gutters blowed out. Flower beds all cleaned
out. And he called me three days after Thanksgiving
and said, can you come by the house? I thought,
oh boy. So I show up and I knock on the door
he comes to the door and he hands me a card And
he just said Merry Christmas So I didn't think
anything at all about it I said, you know, you
really didn't have to do that We enjoy working
for you. We appreciate the work You know, we
try our best to make sure your your property
looks the best on the block and he said to me
We want to do this for you because it's the little
things that you do. That's not related to lawn
care. Like if you see something going on, like
one time a picket on a fence was cracked and
split. I took a picture, sent it to him today.
If you need me to, I can replace this picket.
I noticed today it was cracked. Sure. Go ahead
and fix it for me. Little extra money. Not a
whole lot to replace one picket But it lets them
know I care about your property Yes So I replaced
it He said and I never have to care worry about
carrying my trash can up to the the garage you
do it every week He said the stuff you don't
have to do but you do and I've serviced their
property now for This will be my 15th season
with them. All right, that's a win, baby. That's
customer retention. And that's what doing those
little things will do for you. When it comes
time to renew a contract, they're going to be
loyal to you because you prove to them that you're
loyal to them. Absolutely. So when I got in the
truck and was heading back to the house, I opened
it up and there's a check in the card. Opened
the check up. He wrote me a bonus check for $1
,500. All right. That's awesome. And just said
Merry Christmas. That's beautiful. So I told
him, I told him, well, it's going to be a Merry
Christmas now. Heck yeah. That's awesome. I love
that. But just the years of doing what you don't
have to do instead of just getting by. Doing
the little extra things taking a trash can from
the street up to the garage door. What's it take
you 10 seconds? Exactly 15 seconds, you know,
it's not a lot of time But that 15 seconds can
make a huge impression So we were talking about
pricing how often do you raise your price do
you do it annually or Every other year, what's
your plan? Yeah. So I'm doing it every single
year now. When I first started the business,
I kind of was doing that on a, you know, as needed
basis. I really was trying to hold strong for
people. But what I learned is, as you said, in
order to grow and to provide efficient, effective
quality services, you have to keep up with the
times. So people get very excited and they think
I'm going to lose somebody. It's OK. if you lose
someone because if you're doing an excellent
job and you're impressing everybody on your roster
but then the only factor comes down to price
you didn't really lose that customer for any
other reason except they can't afford what you're
offering and you don't want to lose people but
you also can't lose yourself can't lose your
family money you can't take the hours that you're
literally bleeding into your business and not
be paid for that you know and I see too many
people struggling with that and I see a lot of
people who don't understand pricing who come
out here and try to tell everybody how to do
things and then I'll see them make a post online
saying hey you know how do you guys price snow
work and I'm saying this is an influencer this
is someone who companies are looking to and saying
hey I want to send these guys all these products
and stuff that's confusing to me because I believe
we're supposed to be educated experts, you know,
and it doesn't mean you had to go to a top 100
high school like I did or something. You can
go to any means of method by just having a YouTube
degree, I always say, because the information
is out there. I'm a big book fan. I have maybe
like 40 something books on the whole industry
that I'm involved with, which is property services.
So we dive into a lot of things. But for the
long side, that's that's the biggest facet of
our business because we started with it. It's
what my family was known. for and you know for
pricing I think it's important every year so
we've been doing it every year I do not agree
that Pricing should go up multiple times in a
year even if we have you know certain circumstances
come about you can put act of God clauses in
your agreements then you can have discussions
with people but for me when I have people sign
on that is an ink everything we do is with an
agreement because we want to make sure they know
that this is locked in for them and You know
we can make educated guesses, but sometimes you're
gonna lose a little But always when you have
that strong relationship like the gentleman that
you work for that you've had for so many years,
you can have conversations with these people
once they know you, once they trust you, and
they believe in you. Some of my customers are
my biggest diehards. I had a tough winter one
year, and I won't give names here, but there
was a lot of people who I spoke to, and I told
them just my truths because they know I'm an
excellent human out here. And just like yourself,
I was blessed with $1 ,000 tip, $500 tip, all
these wonderful gestures from these people who
say, You know, Matt, I know you would never ask
for something like this, but hearing your story,
knowing that you've worked for me for this so
many years, knowing what you're up against and
that you're not just sitting stagnant, you're
going out and trying to figure out new methods
to add to your business to increase opportunity
for when these things happen. But I want to invest
in you because I love you. People say it to me
all the time. I love you, Matt. And they say
it to my guys. I exchange hugs all the time with
the cutest old ladies who, you know, they're
just longing for a connection. And a lot of these
landscapers out here, they just say, oh, I'm
going to get this done, fly through these. They
don't want to talk to Mrs. Jones. They put their
headphones on. They pretend they didn't hear
them, and they get out of there. But that's a
mistake. You know, you can't take five, 10, 20
minutes every time, but you know, have a heart,
have some compassion, because I believe having
a heart leads to having a lot of additional business
and a lot of people who, like again I said, will
go lobby for you. So if you say, hey, I need
a new customer. Guess what they're going to do
when they go out for coffee. They're going to
mention to people, hey, I just want to mention
my snow guy said that he could take you on some
more accounts. If you're not happy with your
guy, this guy has been awesome for six years.
You know, so that's a blessing when you hear
those kind of praises, because word of mouth,
guerrilla marketing is our number one fire opportunity
in this business. It truly is. Well, one thing's
for sure. You don't want to have to get new customers
or clients every year. Sure, you want to retain
them? you want to keep them you want long -term
relationships and in order to turn a customer
into a client You have to build a relationship
with them Make them feel like They're as important
to you as you are to them Yeah and that you need
them as much as they need you. And that's so
simply done by sending a thank you card to someone
and a lot of companies I say send out a Christmas
card, send out a New Year's card and if you can't
afford all the postage and all this extras just
drop it off at the last service you have with
people because we go around and I'll tell you
there's a lot of nurseries who will sell me poinsettias
and things like this at a really low price near
the holidays because they want to get rid of
them and I tell my customers the truth. Hey,
I'm delivering you this beautiful plant that's
wrapped in foil with a card and everything. And
I got a good deal on it. It's not about how much
money I did or didn't spend on it, but I wanted
to bless you with something beautiful that you
could look at for a while and remember us while
you're waiting for us to come back and start
servicing your property again when the flowers
are coming back up, you know? That is good. That
is so important for customers to not just Build
a route number Yes, but to build relationships
with their clients and they they will keep you
and They will they will go to bat for you. They
will defend you they will You know, they'll stand
up for you because let's face it things happen
sometimes on a property And if you don't have
people saying, yeah, I don't buy that, that's
not the way he operates. He's been working for
me for 15 years and everything that he sees,
he texts me or he comes up and knocks on the
door and tells me about it. You know, you don't
want to just hit somebody's gut or downspout
and act like you didn't do it. yeah amen that's
dishonest and i'll tell you that will spread
like wildfire you're the one that's on the property
if you didn't do it who else is mowing the yard
yeah yeah so and then it makes you appear to
be dishonest yeah and untrustworthy And never
be afraid to have a conversation I always tell
people that because well people can get real
excited and emotional our Job is to calm them
and to stay calm on our own accord if you can't
be calm You can't be a business owner because
patience is everything you know What does your
route density look like? So I'll tell you, we
are blessed to have, you know, close to 65 accounts
in the city of Worcester, and then we have a
lot of different accounts in the surrounding
towns, leading all the way out to where I live,
and then a little bit out into Middlesex County.
But we're in Worcester County and Middlesex.
We don't mind driving to different locations,
but we tell people, hey, you know, if we don't
have five on the same street, unfortunately,
that means we're gonna have to factor in how
long it takes me to get from here to you. And
then I have, you know, potentially most likely
three people in the truck at all given times,
me plus two. And so we need to factor in there
hourly. So I have to do all this math. How much
is my truck worth? What is it for mileage? Because
we're claiming our mileage at the end of the
year. So, you know, you got to keep every single
thing accounted for. When you said know your
numbers, it can sound very stressful, but it's
actually extremely easy if you just take the
time to relax and put it down, whether it's on
paper or in a software program, whatever it is.
But it's just very important to know your numbers.
So I tend to love to have multiples, obviously,
in a row. For example, in 01602 in Tadney Square,
that's one of our honey holes in the city of
Worcester because we service a lot of houses
in those. streets and area and basically also
1 -606 so off of Burko street in Worcester that's
a heavily dense area so we can mow anywhere from
You know, if it's a big day, you know, we could
do 11 monster ones to 15, but we could get up
to close to like 30 lawns in a day. So it really
depends, hey, how close are they? And how many
guys do I have with me? And then of course, the
equipment's incredible because now that we have
the Gravely mowers and we graduated from our
old stuff, you really can do a lawn a lot faster.
So someone might say to you, hmm, well, you know,
it takes you only 20 something minutes to do
my lawn, this would be cost well. 20 something
minutes, but we're running three mowers that
cost $11 ,000 or more a piece. So there's $33
,000 running over your lawn, plus the fuel, plus
everything, plus our insurance. You get a fat
stuff. So when I show up to a house, I'm showing
up with a hundred and something thousand dollars
between my truck trailer and equipment. So hi,
I'm a guy showing up, you know, with a lot of
stuff and it's all dependable. So it's going
to work, you know, so a lot of this stuff gets
factored in, you know, but I love, I would love
to have, a lot more customers just next door
because you drop your gate once. That's beautiful.
You just go down the sidewalk. And if you make
a mess, obviously, on other people's, just clean
it up, guys. It's not that hard because your
image is everything. And then eventually you'll
get the customer that's between those five houses
that sandwich that you just don't have yet. So
eventually you see, you know what? Let's do it.
Let's make the whole neighborhood look awesome
in one shot. There's nothing better than that.
And in Milford, we're proving that, you know,
I had an elderly aunt. She called and the guy
that was mowing her yard for some reason just
quit showing up. Sure. So she called me and said,
Andy, she said, your mom told me you're mowing
yards. She said, would you give me a price to
mow my yard? I said, absolutely. Yeah. So I go
there. I mow her yard. I mowed it three times.
A lady across the street. Walked over This yards
never looked like this before She said you do
a great job She said would you give me a price
to my yard? Absolutely The next door neighbor
to her come over the next week And before it
was all said and done I was doing eight properties
on that one street one of the elderly gentlemen
died, so his family sold the house. And out of
those seven that was remaining, I'm still mowing
those yards today. Nice. Good work. And when
I pull up, I pull about middle ways between all
the properties, drop the gate one time, roll
the mower off. We mow seven properties in about
an hour and 15 minutes. Alright, and then I pull
back on the trailer so in that hour and 15 minutes
Where we are just mowing blowing and going? You
can make anywhere from If I'm at 65, I'm making
about $430 that's awesome and an hour and 15
minutes Nice job. That's a testament Then when
we lift the gate up we pull out of the neighborhood.
We drive two blocks I Unload I do a hearing aid
doctor's office in an insurance office Those
two properties are very small. I Can do both
of those properties in about 15 minutes? So in
15 minutes on the second stop I can make $130.
Nice. So you're talking about in an hour and
a half, you've made almost $600. Yeah, that's
wonderful. It's because of that route density.
And when I showed up at my aunt's house, I showed
up and I showed out. Yep, you did. Yeah. the
attention of people in the neighborhood. And
now, you know, I'm still mowing. We go to Muncie
once a week. It's about 13 miles from my shop.
And we mow 23 properties every Friday in Muncie.
Every other week, day of the week, we're in Newcastle.
17 ,000 population. And my route is so tight
because I've worked hard at establishing Areas
of town. This is my Monday area. This is my Tuesday
area Wednesday area because I want to keep The
route tight because the last time I spent in
the truck the more money I'm making You know,
I've said it before We don't get paid to look
out of a windshield. Truck drivers do. I'm not
a truck driver. I'm a lawn care professional.
And if I'm not blowing grass, I'm not making
cash. Yep, that's fair. So, if I can give you
some advice, not you necessarily, but people
that are listening. Look at your route Tighten
your route the less time you're in the truck
The more profit you're going to make the more
the more income is going to come in Just by tightening
up that route because you're not spending time
paying employees to travel You know you you're
constantly out working you pull up you go a block
or two drop the gate, move two or three more,
lift the gate, drive another block or two, drop
the gate, you move five or six in that neighborhood.
The tighter your route, the better your profit
is going to be, period. So that route density
is very important. Amen because I mean trucks
and trucks are one of the most expensive pieces
of our business So you're saving so much wear
and tear you're saving so much fuel even angel
ID engine idling times, you know, I'll tell you
just My truck alone, this F350, the newer ones,
it's insane how much a break job costs, how much
all these things cost. It's exuberant versus
my 2003 F250s and whatnot. So guys with the older
trucks, you know, maybe you could do some things
a little cheaper, but at the same time, remember
that can only last so long because you're going
to have to buy a more expensive truck because
that's the way the industry is going. So don't
cripple yourself now. Make sure that you have
a feasible way to get to your goals and aspirations.
So write it down and stay down. dedicated, you
know. Let's take a break and hear a word from
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Eartha Pro, you run the outside work, we run
the office. We're back with Matthew I Personally
They're just a sponsor of my program It is a
great program it's more towards like the Solo
operator or the small small business That's what
they gear towards to help them get into a good
habit of having a software to help their business
run more efficiently. Oh, that's okay. Let's
talk about equipment. You said you use Gravely
mowers. Why Gravely? So I will say this a lot
of people get so excited about I need to have
a gravely I need to have a right mower. I've
driven them all I've used them all for different
people I've worked for in the past and Gravely
is an exceptional brand. We love them. They love
us. They've been super kind to us They send a
swag. They send us to the Patriots do all kinds
of cool things But you don't pick it just based
on Excitement you pick it on dealer support.
So for us gravely is everything because gravely
and errands They're basically made by Crandall
Hicksco. They're a brand that is held by them
and they're actually a local to Massachusetts
situation. So in Westboro, Mass, we have Boston
Lawn Mower. And I always say, pick it based on
dealer support. So they have countless parts
of these machines in stock. If there's a warranty
issue, they knock it out like that. It's, you
know, basically see what your dealer believes
in. Who is closest to you? put it to the test.
Asked for a demo model. So gravely happened by
accident. I've always loved errands. It's something
that my family's believed in forever, always
run it. But Gravely, one of my neighbors, had
worked for Gravely and he said, hey, you should
give them a shot. You've been frustrated with
your Cub Cadet mowers and we think you'd love
it. So he gave me a demo to use. Then all of
a sudden I found out, hey, most of these companies
offer a zero percent financing over 48 months.
So it makes it extremely attainable for the new
guys coming in. And basically we said, you know
what, let's give it a go. And Gravely is treated
us with nothing but love and respect, whether
it was out at Equip Expo, giving us extra benefits
of being part of Team Gravely. But I'll tell
you, just pick it based on what you have for
support. And also, I'm not a Kohler guy personally.
I've not had great experience with them. I know
other people tell me, I love it. But I'm a Kawasaki
guy. So if you can, if you can push towards a
Kawasaki engine, in my opinion, they're truly
a Japanese wonder. Well, you said it correct.
And I can't stress this enough, dealer support.
For example, my dealer here in town is a grasshopper
dealer. Awesome. So I run grasshopper mowers.
And I love grasshopper. Grasshopper has been
good to me. Yeah, heck yeah. As a matter of fact,
my phone rang one morning I was walking into
the convenience store and it was a guy said told
me his name said I'm the social media influencer
for grasshopper and I wanted to find out if you
were interested in becoming an ambassador for
grasshopper well I thought it was a joke yeah
so the next day I called grasshopper company.
And I said, this guy called said he was an influencer
for your social media and offered me an ambassador
position. She said, Well, he's standing right
here. Do you need to talk to him? I said, No,
no, no, that's not I'll call him back later.
I just want to make sure you know that it was
wasn't wasn't a scam. And they sent me to Florida.
filmed me mowing like a four million dollar property
and made some commercials out of it and they've
been nothing but great for me but if my dealer
was a scag dealer I would have probably been
driving scag mowers or if they were gravely I
would have been driving gravely because all grass
All mowers make tall grass short. Amen. But you
want to buy something where you get the support
that you need. And if you go down, they'll give
you a mower to use while you're down. Absolutely.
Or they'll take you, because you make your living
cutting grass, and take you to the top of the
repair list. Yes. Versus the whole mower. owner
who might be down because if you're mowing 25,
30 a day, you can't be down for three or four
or five days or you're behind and look at all
the revenue that you're losing because you're
down. So that dealer support and my dealer used
to sell Echo. Trimmers blowers hedge trimmers
all the the accessories And for some reason they
they quit selling echo and start selling steel.
Yeah so prior to Them selling steel I ran echo
that makes sense Because they were an echo dealer
I could get fast turn around on breakdowns. They
always had parts in stock So when they went to
steal, I went to steal. Yeah, that makes sense.
Dealer support. Yeah. And I could walk in there
right now and find just about anything that I
need. And they would be more than happy to help
me out. Yeah, I love that. Great dealer support.
That's what you want. Especially when you run...
a legitimate business. And you just can't be
down. When I first started, I was buying mowers
off a Craigslist. Sure. That's a way to get going.
I did the same thing. And when I went down, they
were older mowers. Yep. Sometimes the parts weren't
in stock. Exactly. So when I went down, it took
me longer to get up and running again. So I work
very hard to save money to do what a sale stuff
whatever I could to come up with the money to
buy a new mower So that I could have that good
dealer Support I mean they know me. I know them
we work together and The turnaround is so much
quicker So if you know the family exactly if
you're out there and you're listening to show
Find you a great dealer. I could go to Muncie,
13 miles, and find a SCAD dealer, an Exmark dealer.
I could drive about seven miles to Middletown,
find a Gravely dealer. But why drive when I have
a grasshopper dealer three miles from my shop?
Yeah, that's fair Yeah, I'm with you on that.
So I it's not necessarily the brand for me It's
the dealer support that makes the difference
I think people forget too a lot of the hydros
and everything. They're actually made by pretty
much a couple of companies. So a lot of these
parts are kind of, you know, they're similar.
So it's really engine based for me and then obviously
number one dealer support. And we started with
a Toro Proline 1989 and a 1993. So ran into the
same caveats as yourself where I had to start
looking for parts, mowers and things because
they weren't readily available. So I was scouring
eBay. But again, time is something we can never
We can't make more of it. We all have an invisible
clock over our head. Not to sound, you know,
sad about it, but we really do. Time is everything.
So make every second matter in your life. And
that starts with your business because the minutes
you're wasting, and I don't say wasting in a
negative sense, but the minute you're dedicating
to your business and then you go beyond that,
your family's going to start to sacrifice. Your
own personal mind may sacrifice. And it's all
about keeping a well rested, healthy balance.
I'm not saying I'm not extremely tired that I
don't work, you know, 40 plus hours in a row.
Sometimes that does happen guys, but make sure
that you're not losing time on silly things.
So everything that you're saying right now, just
it's, it's perfect. When your equipment, how
often do you rotate your equipment? So I'll tell
you, we actually bought a lot of the new stuff
not too long ago, maybe within the last three
to four years we made the switch to Gravely.
So we don't necessarily need to get rid of those
because we're able to mow lawns at such a fast
rate that my hours actually stay pretty low.
So I don't let my mower sit idling forever. The
only time they idle is for one to three minutes,
depending on how hard I ran it before I decided
to shut it off in the trailer. A lot of times
I leave it going for the full three minutes.
as the manufacturer recommends. But for the mowing
time, it's so quick. And if you have two or three
of them going, you're just boom, boom, boom.
So I just don't like to see people who let their
mower sit on the side of the road running forever
while they're having conversation and stuff.
It's like, hey, yeah, it looks cool, maybe. But
at the same time, it's just not practical. You
got to value those engine hours, you know? So
for us, we just, we... We take care of our stuff
too. All my Echo stuff, even the old gray stuff
that I've had forever, I'm not getting rid of
it anytime soon. Because if you take care of
your stuff, it will take care of you. Be cognitive.
Have a maintenance book. We write everything
down from serial number, model number, to when
the oil changes were done, belt swaps, plugs,
et cetera. All of that matters. Well, if there's
someone out there that has a question about when
should I? Upgrade my mower. Here's something
you might think about. If your engine is a 26
horsepower engine, times that by 100, 2600, that's
roughly the amount of hours you'll get out of
that engine. Before burnout, yeah. If you take
care of it. Now if you want to trade it in, You
keep it up to 2 ,600 hours. You're probably not
going to get a whole lot of trade -in. So, back
that down 300 or 400 hours and maybe sell it
outright to somebody. You'll get more money out
of it. Maybe that will help you understand when
you should start thinking about upgrading your
equipment. That's fair. I see a lot of guys selling
them at around like 1 ,200, 1 ,500 hours. So
what you're saying makes total sense, you know,
get it a little underside there, then you have
more value. And once you get over the thousand
hours, you're potentially gonna have to rebuild
hydros, get a new hydro. So I'd say do a lot
of information research online, because you can
look up on Aaron's page, typical mechanical issues,
when failures may occur. So research is everything.
Where did your first 50 customers come from?
That's an awesome question. So we were, it was
really weird. When I started my business, I put
an ad in the newspaper and I said, let's see
what happens. It was literally three lines. It
said, if you need an honest, reliable landscaper,
please call Matt. We want to earn your trust
and business today. I didn't even have my business
name in there. And I just had that because it's
per word charge. You just want to get yourself
in there. I was getting like 40 plus calls in
a day sometimes or in a weekend. It was insane.
So we got one call from a gentleman and he was
a lawyer. He passed away, unfortunately, but
his wife took over the empire. But this gentleman
gave me a call and he said, hey, I heard that
you're a great landscaper. And I saw your little
article, your little ad in the newspaper and
the telegramming is that. I was wondering if
you could take a look at a few of my properties
and I said okay i'll take a look at them go ahead
and give me the properties this man kept going
one two three four five six seven all the way
down to number 18 and i'm writing all these addresses
down like this guy is pulling my leg there's
no way this is real i think this guy's a competitor
maybe somebody's just trying to waste my time
get me off the path of success so i called around
i checked with a lot of people and i found out
hey this guy owns 54 properties so you know i
was blessed to have that fall in my lap and my
family does have a strong name out here that
my family worked so hard to bolster up and create.
That definitely helped me have an advantage over
some people. And so I really got my 50 customers
right off the bat because he gave me half of
his customers immediately. So I think I had 28
from him right away. And then we had gotten a
number of other people from the newspaper. So
we hit 50 very fast. And then all of a sudden
we were serving 250 different people, whether
it was for a regular weekly routine, a once a
year project, whether it be mulch every single
year or just shrubbery and bushes. a combination
of all that. So within your first year, everyone
should have, I mean, if you don't, it's okay,
but everyone should have the ability to get that
if you live in a saturated area of populations.
Worcester is over 220 ,000 people there. So that's
huge for us, right? And if we want more there,
we can have it. But we do enjoy working in a
lot of these small towns where there's 4 ,000
people up to 12 ,000 people. Your stuff's gonna
be a lot safer, et cetera. So there's a lot to
consider. But we got our 50 that through the
newspaper. What marketing channel has currently
given you the most leads? What do you use as
far as a marketing channel? So for marketing,
I'm kind of blessed, because when I went to Nichols
College, which is heavily centered for business,
and then I transferred to LaSalle College, that
was also business -minded. In my high school,
St. John's was very business -minded. So I was
heavily burned into the marketing ideas and the
classes to understand what I should do. So the
newspapers were a honey hole. Not necessarily
just your small newspapers. I've had examples
where I pay $250 for an ad in one of these tiny
newspapers and it yields nothing. It's not because
I don't offer exceptional work and that our name
is not known, etc. It's just smaller view base
and maybe the newspaper has a little less weight.
So I always tell people... You know, if you can
advertise with like a radio station, as long
as they're local and people really tune in, or
if you can advertise through the newspaper, that's
going to put you at a higher plateau than a lot
of other people. And it is more attainable than
everybody knows in some circumstances. I held
close to the best that. Telegram and Gazette
because I was only paying 140 bucks I think it
was for a month for my tiny little ad and that
was my secret I told nobody about it unless they
obviously found out about it by seeing in the
paper and Now I share with everybody that you
know you can do those things, but you can also
just do the old -fashioned door hangers You know
you can send out direct targeted mailings You
know if you're out and about and you see properties
that constantly do look good, but it seems like
the landscaper gets there later than they're
supposed to, that, you know, you can make notes
in your book. And then at the end of the year,
when you sit down and you target your mailings,
hit certain neighborhoods, hit certain people
where you saw they have a pro, but the pro seemed
to be dragging their feet a little, because those
are opportunities for you to come in and say,
hi, we know you have a professional service now,
but unfortunately, you know, I have noticed I've
sent out personal letters, people I have noticed
that your beautiful property at some points tends
to look a little bit. Unsightly and you deserve
better. I see that you take great care in your
gardens. I see the type of cars you drive I see
that you picked a certain color shingle for your
roof that you have a copper top for your gutters
and everything It's like hey, you know those
kind of people they definitely want excellence
So gorilla marketing is huge going door -to -door
still alive, you know I I say don't put things
on people's cars stay away from putting things
in people's mailboxes because that's actually
a federal offense sounds crazy, but you can hang
something on their little flag on the outside
of it if you chose. But really respect people's
property when you show up. But go into your local
town police and say, hey, I want to go around
door to door. These are the neighborhoods that
I'm going to go to. They're going to give you
a soliciting pass for the day. And most of the
time, it costs you nothing. But it might cost
you $10 for a quick permit or something. But
do it the proper way because that's just your
energy you're investing. It's not even necessarily
money. So go to Staples, you can print out a
thousand flyers super easy. There's a lot of
websites now, you can print it out even cheaper.
We've used Science .com, Vistaprint, a number
of different places. We use Sticker Mule. They
tend to be a little more expensive for some of
the stickers and magnets and whatnot, but they
make quality products. And you know, so I always
tell people, marketing starts with you. You are
your biggest asset, your mouth. that your hands,
the ability to sell yourself right away. So just
get yourself in the right room. Don't be afraid
to go to networking events. We joined the Chamber
of Commerce for a while. We don't necessarily
see continued value in it at this point, but
it allowed me to talk to so many people that
said, you're incredible. I'd love to have you
work for me. Hey, you know what? I'm a real estate
agent. I'm going to call you for all my cleanups
before I sell a house. Get in bed with real estate
agents. Call your local real estate offices.
Say, hi, this is what we're doing. We're insured.
I'd love to speak to whomever decides on these
things or at least get my name on the docket
in case your main guy can't get to it. We're
available. We're hungry and happy to serve. Always
tell people you're happy to do it, that you love
it. And don't just say it. Believe it and if
you don't believe it like you said you got to
go work for somebody else because the aura that
you project in life is What's gonna yield you
success in return, you know? Something as little
as a t -shirt Yeah, or a hat. Yes. Oh, yeah,
you can make a huge difference I'm standing in
the post office Mailing some information out
And I had my shirt on, t -shirt, my hat. And
while I'm standing there, I felt someone tap
me on the shoulder. Nice. And I turned around
and looked, and it was a little old lady. Nice.
She said, do you mow anyone's yard? I said, as
long as they pay. I love that. And she laughed,
and I laughed, and she said, Well, I want you
to give me a price. Yeah. I said, OK, be happy
to do that. I go give her a price. We agreed.
I went the next week to start my service on her
property. I noted she come out and said, Oh,
it looks so nice. There were some a couple bushes
on the side of the property that hadn't been
turned for a while. So while I was there mowing
I just fired up my hitch trimmer knocked the
bushes down make them look better She said oh
you even did my bushes Yeah So she got to talking
to her neighbor I Go back the next week the neighbor
walks out Says hey while you're here Could you
squeeze my property in? So I got the neighbor.
About two weeks later, the gentleman across the
street, I'm over said, Hey, I've been watching
you the last three or four weeks. He said, I
usually take care of my own property. He said,
but I'm getting old. Will you give me a price
to start mowing my yard? So because I had that
t -shirt on almost two months earlier, three
jobs and I kept all three of them until they
passed away. Sure. Yep. Because they were all
up in age. The gentleman had some heart problems,
but if I was just in there with a shirt on. Yep.
Nobody would know who you were. They wouldn't
know your shirts and your, your hats and your
truck that is wrapped. You become a mobile. billboard.
Yeah. Amen. So I'm, I'm telling you, if you want
to attract customers, start selling yourself,
make sure you have those t -shirts on, make sure
you have at least a hat with your company name
on it. And I like to put the phone number back
by the snap. I haven't done that yet, but that
makes sense. And you know, sell yourself. She
would have never known I was a lawn care business
owner if I didn't have that t -shirt on. Yeah,
I always try to wear something with my brand
on it. And I always have a pocket full of cards
in my little holder there. Because every time
I go out, there's an opportunity to sell. And
it's not obnoxious. When you love what you do,
people feel it. And then they're happy for you
whether they need your service or not. They're
just like, man, I want to love my life this much.
It becomes so contagious, definitely. Well, they
say if you love what you do, you'll never work
a day in your life. Amen. It's true. So what
services are you currently offering? Oh, just
in general. So we offer a lot of services. We'll
just stick to the landscaping side of it and
the landscaping construction. But we'll do anything
from mowing your lawn weekly or bi -weekly. Some
people hate that I say that, but guess what?
Some people can only afford every other week
and our machines are powerful so they can chew
through it. But I'd say mowing, mulching, trimming.
We do a lot of... grass repair for sections of
lawn that might be damaged, whether it's aerating
it, overseeding it, dethatching it, top dressing
it. We are out there doing sod installs. We do
French drains. We do a lot of crushed stonework.
We'll do anything that's outside of your anything
that's outside of your house. And if we're not
necessarily properly licensed for it or, you
know, trained upon it, we're never going to say
no, because we're always going to have someone
in our arsenal that handle it and referrals are
huge make a strong network of all the people
out there that offer the services you don't offer
because maybe one day you're able to offer hydro
seating but for now support a local business
support someone else who believes in your goals
and aspirations because that's gonna go back
to marketing where they're gonna start selling
you to other people you know and I just think
that for us there's not really a limit to what
we'll do outdoors you know and what's cut the
trees down everything you know well I look at
my fellow business owners in town, not as competitors,
but as co -workers. Yeah, I love that. Because,
like you said, Hydrocity, we have a huge Hydrocity
company in our town. I can get the job, hire
him to do it, and still make a little money.
Amen, and it's still got your seal of approval
on it, and you're the one who helped that customer
get it, and they won't forget that. And it helps
when you build those relationships with other
companies. It builds your company. Because like
you said, you can offer things that maybe you
don't necessarily master, but they do. So it
benefits everybody. And I would say to everybody,
even if someone's got a plumbing need or an electrical
need, just make friends with... good top tier
people. Don't just go find a plumber and say
you want to be my plumber. Do your research.
Understand who these people are. Look at your
local pages. See who everyone keeps recommending.
Then get in touch with those people and say,
hey, I see you're a superior human out here doing
great work. Do you mind if I refer my people
to you? And then you're setting up that network
where you're not losing opportunities. You're
actually creating so many more. And then, you
know, people are saying, wow, this is my one
guy. my one -stop shop and that's how we were
able to evolve to the property services. We don't
have a plumber that's licensed in four states
that is I'm paying a salary to but we have an
agreement with this gentleman where all the properties
that we manage for these different landlords
that we attained through our landscaping services,
now they don't want to stress. They don't want
to answer phone calls at one in the morning.
They want me to answer it. They want me to get
in touch with my guy. So you can create so much
opportunity by just not being afraid to be cohesive,
collaborate. A lot of people are very selfish
and narrow -minded. Think bigger. I think I can
do this because people are incredible. The resources
are there. You just have to have the drive and
strive and the go -getter attitude and keep a
smile on guys because while things do get tough,
I think that having all those people behind me
that are an army ready to go, and we have multiple
of these people that, you know, in case someone's
busy or overbooked or whatever, that we can go
to. Because that is your most important thing,
is trust that you build with somebody. So keep
with that flow, you know? Well, as we wrap this
up, why don't you tell our listeners where they
can follow you, how they connect with you, if
they want to follow your journey. Yeah, and I
love that and I'm just gonna say I missed one
thing with the marketing make sure you have a
website an Instagram a Facebook tick -tock YouTube
It's okay if you guys only have one follower,
but we basically did the same thing as mentioned
earlier We have you know over three thousand
three hundred now. I think followers on Instagram
is steadily rising per day It's a beautiful thing,
but um make sure that When you look us up, you
look for mpsllc .com. Basically, it's a very
easy way for, I apologize, mps508 .com for my
website. I am very tired, guys. But basically,
you want to make sure that you have an easy way
for people to search for you. So my last name's
long, make Goldrick Property Services for the
whole title. So we can be found by just typing
mpsllc. Just in Google, type it in. It should
bring you to a list of our type of things. we
offer out there for social media and otherwise.
And, you know, it's, it's one of those things
where this can't be any more personal. I threw
my last name on it because our family worked
so hard to make that. So people say, I want to
come up with a creative name for your business.
And maybe something simpler, like taking ownership
of your clan and your identity is something that
people can look towards. And then, you know,
you basically can build something for the future
of your kids and your family and continue to
honor the legacy. that's been created for generations,
you know, so mps508 .com and definitely Instagram
and Facebook as our biggest things. If you do
not have a website, let me make a recommendation.
Green Frog Web Design. Let's hear a word from
Ezra McCarthy. Love it. Does your website look
like it was built? So if you need a good website,
contact Ezra with Green Frog Web Design. telling
that professional lawn maintenance or the lawn
hustle recommended you to them. And he will be
happy to set you up with a website that will
surely attract quality clients. I thank you for
joining the lawn hustle. Thank you all for listening.
It means a lot to me that you would spend some
of your day listening to the lawn hustle. Matt,
thank you. I appreciate you being here. Yeah,
absolutely. And I look forward to seeing you
at the next Equip Expo. And I hope everybody
continues to look at the new tools out there.
For example, when we show up at Square Barrel,
we're ambassadors for those guys. It's some conversation
starter. And these people that have premium homes,
they are impressed by the new things that are
out there. So always do some informational research,
guys. Make sure you get yourself in the right
circumstances. Well, do you have a discount code
for Square Barrel? So I don't have one right
now, but I'll definitely be posting something
if John and family decide to offer something
like that, but I can encourage you to do this.
They are at most expos, including the upcoming
in Mohican Sun. It's a hardscape expo, but if
you come, he has day of show pricing and you
can't beat that. And I'll tell you what, these
barrels have changed the game for us. They're
in every setup we have, all the different sizes
and they make these beautiful covers. So if I'm.
crushed from a long day of hard physical work.
Sometimes I have to leave the cover on it and
let the rain hit the cover, but it doesn't make
the grass weigh a thousand pounds more, you know.
So it's all the conveniences, you know. Well,
thank you for that. Yeah. Appreciate that information.
I'm intrigued by Square Barrel. I want to get
some. Yeah, heck yeah. I appreciate you being
a guest on the show. Appreciate you all listening.
and leave us a five star rating and a nice review.
It helps the algorithm push us to more listeners
and that really goes a long way. So I appreciate
your support and we will talk again real soon.
Thank you so much.