Welcome back to the Lawn Hustle Podcast, the
lawn care podcast that helps build better leaders
and better businesses. Today we have Kevin Scott,
the wealthy landskeeper, with us and I appreciate
you joining the Lawn Hustle. Thank you. Thanks
for having me, Andy. It's great to be here. Yes,
sir. Tell our listeners your background your
story What got you into landscaping? And what
got you to where you are today? Okay I'll keep
I'll give you the Coles notes version, but Left
high school in grade 11 Went to work for an irrigation
company for a couple years doing some gulf irrigation
as well as residential from there I did a lot
of golf construction work. And then I went back
to school, got a horticulture degree when I was
like 24, came out of that and joined a golf construction
company. We were building golf courses all around
Ontario during the golf boom from like 97 to
07. Probably built eight or nine golf courses
over that period of time with a lot of renovations
and really great projects, you know, working
with great architects. amazing earth shapers,
we removed a lot of earth, we had tons of scrapers
and rock trucks running around, obviously all
the drainage and irrigation, seeding, planting,
sodding, and then we'd have the clubhouse landscapes
as well. But I was always out of town, like there
was two or three projects over a 10 -year period
that I was able to stay at home and work from
home, but often I would be gone kind of Monday
to Wednesday, come home Wednesday night, back
Friday. And that was fine in the beginning, but
then, you know, had a couple of young girls.
It was getting tougher to be away. And my family
was all from Muskoka, which is the area that
we have our Muskoka Landscapers Company. We were
living in Richmond Hill at the time that I was
in the golf construction, but I knew I always
knew I wanted to do something on my own. We knew
we wanted to get back to Muskoka. My wife's parents
had retired in Muskoka. So we started Muskoka
Landscapers. That was 18 years ago. It was kind
of good timing because the golf boom sort of
ended in 08. Certainly for new construction,
it's picked up again since COVID, but that was
kind of the start of Muskoka landscapers. And
we started like every other business. We had
three or four people the first year. We were
doing whatever we could get our hands on. We
focused mainly on construction type work, not
as much maintenance at the beginning. And we
grew that very quickly. We grew to 15 or 20 people
within three or four years. We started doing
maintenance. We built the maintenance up to a
substantial annual amount. We ended up converting
it into its own business because now the construction
side was really growing. We got to eight, nine,
$10 million in revenue fairly quickly. Maintenance
at the time, we just weren't really set up properly
for it. I shouldn't say we didn't have the right
people. We had some of the right people. We didn't
have the right systems. We didn't have the right
technology. There was tons of competition at
the time. But anyway, we built that into a separate
business and then I sold it. This year, we're
getting back into the maintenance business. And
I've had a lot of people ask me why, but it's
because of the knowledge we have now. We know
that we can perform at a high level. We have
the systems to do it. We have the people to do
it. We have the customers to do it. So we're
really excited about diving back into that. And
yeah, on the design build side, we have about
38 people. Fairly seasonal in Canada where we
are. You know, we have three months from January
to March where we don't do a lot of outdoor work
other than excavation, some blasting work, maybe
a little bit of island work off the ice if we
need to. But yeah, we've got a great thing going.
We've got a really good team. We've got a great
management system. And Wealthy Landscaper started
a year ago, a year and a half ago now. Started
out as something I always wanted to do. One,
the industry has been good to me. I wanted to
do something for the industry. And we've worked
really closely with Leanscaper. That's a new
company for anybody who hasn't heard about it.
I'm sure you see them everywhere. Their mission
and vision is very similar to mine. I really
enjoy the people there. I've known Mark for years.
And that's kind of in the transition into the
wealthy landscaper. It's more, you know, coaching
some clients, trying to work with other people
in the industry, still working on being a better
leader myself. And yeah, love the grind, love
the industry. That's how I got here. Scalability
is one of the biggest pain points. for a business
in the green industry, because people get stuck
in a mindset that they're just cutting grass.
If we can change that mindset from thinking,
I just cut grass, to where we start thinking
of ourselves as someone who runs a legitimate
business. We want to talk a little bit about
scalability. So let me ask you, what does a scalable
business look like to you? It's one that's always
building leaders. In order to lead, you need
to replace yourself or take away some of your
workload so that you can focus on sales and management
systems and building SOPs. Becoming a better
leader because I think in our industry a lot
of people often come from the field So we're
very good at the work. We understand it We know
how to do it But often we don't have a business
background. So I think a lot of people struggle
In the in the in the industry and all at different
levels because I think you know The ones and
threes are always the toughest part 1 million
is tough to hit 3 million stuff to break But
once you can get beyond that you know, often
those systems will get you to 10. So I think
it's, scalability is tough, but it's very predictable
if you do the right things. Well, is there a
difference between growth and scalability? Yeah,
I think a little bit of, you know, a company
can always have growth or plan for growth. It
doesn't necessarily mean that they're scaling.
You can have growth by conserving waste. I think
a lot of companies overlook waste. We've been
working on it for three or four years now and
I can say for sure it has improved our net by
five or six percent. But it's work. The sooner
people start looking at waste as cash and whether
that's inefficiency in roots, the wrong equipment,
the wrong people, the wrong systems. There's
50 or 60 things that can add up to be waste,
breaks are too long, coffee's too long in the
morning. There's all these things that add up
to a dollar amount at the end of the year. And
I think when people really start focusing on
those, they can grow their business without having
to add people. just by being more efficient.
So I think that's one of those things too, like
when companies get to a million, they should
really take a bit of time to focus on waste,
you know, maybe even prior to that, you know,
but it's an ongoing thing that needs to be reviewed
every year and talked about every huddle. And
so, yeah, I think there's a difference. Scalability,
you're more planning to grow, you know, and you're
going to do that through adding people, adding
customers, whether it's construction or maintenance.
But yeah, that'd be my... My two cents on the
difference. Well, you can be busy and not be
profitable. Been there too. Been there too. And
I think a lot of businesses are at that point
in the green industry because we know how to
stripe out a yard. We know how to edge a driveway
and a sidewalk, to trim the hedges, to install
mulch or river rock. We know how to do the work,
but I think sometimes we get stuck in that thinking
That I'm just cutting grass You know, I'm not
really doing anything more But we got to change
The way we think you know, I believe and and
I believe you will probably agree You are what
you think you are Yes, if you think you're a
loser you've already lost. But if you think you're
a winner, you think you can overcome. And overcoming
cancer was the hardest thing I ever ever came
in my life. I'm sure. And I was up and down,
depressed, sad, discouraged, wanted to quit,
wanted to give up. But there was something inside
me said you were not born to be a quitter. And
I just... Made up my mind every time I get knocked
down. I'm gonna get back up. I'm gonna keep fighting
so What are some of the biggest mistakes that
you have seen working with other landscape businesses?
What are some of the mistakes you have seen them
make? When they're trying to scale trying to
take their business to the next level Yeah, I
mean, there's many, depending on what level they're
at, they have different issues usually. First
off though, I mean, the story is incredible.
The story is incredible. And I think to your
point about belief, a lot of people have limiting
beliefs in themselves for whatever reason, whether
it's how they grew up or it's the work they do
now. But I'd say in our industry, it has improved
dramatically in the past five, six years. you're
seeing businesses succeed and be very profitable,
small companies, big companies, mid -sized companies,
with a real focus on being a business. And now
with private equity looking at everything, it's
all the more reason to be making sure you're
running your business well. But the problems
I would see, the main problem is implementation.
I talk about this a lot. A lot of the information
on how to scale a business, how to grow a business,
how to advertise properly, you can find the information.
You can build the systems. It's all out there
to get, especially with AI. But a lot of people
just can't implement. And sometimes they can't
because they just don't believe they can. A lot
of people give up before they really try. And
it's an unfortunate thing. I understand why it
happens, but I think as an industry, all the
things that are happening with the improving,
I think it's really a great opportunity for people
who do feel like they're struggling with that
implementation. I mean, there's all kinds of
coaches, there's all kinds of resources. You
can find the information online. It's about the
implementation and not biting off too much. I
know so many businesses that... It happens a
lot after events. You leave, you're excited,
there's 25 or 50 things on your mind that you're
like, man, we got to do all these things. You
come back, you bombard your team, they feel overwhelmed,
they think you're crazy. Whereas if you were
to just settle back a little bit, pick two or
three things that you know are going to really
move the needle, and that maybe there's a bit
of low -hanging fruit in your business to fix.
work towards two or three things at a time, get
them implemented well, have the team buy in,
even if you only have two or three people. Even
when you're a smaller company, I think implementing
things is no different than when you have 100
people. They got to believe it. They got to see
why it's better for them and create that clarity.
Because ultimately, everybody wants that. Everybody
wants to be clear on, if I do this, this is how
long it should take, this is why. This is what
happens if I do it. You know, when people know
all those things, it's a lot easier for them
to buy in. And the worst thing you can do is
release new things, and then in a month, pull
back on them. Because now you're creating people
that seen it didn't work. Next time you try and
do it, they're less confident in you. So anyway,
I could go on about implementation for hours,
but I think it is truly the hardest part of our
business. And some of it's because our owners
can't buy into it and don't want to put the effort
into it because sometimes they feel like the
value isn't there. And also because it's hard.
It's hard to do. Would you feel like there is
a revenue level that one needs to get to before
they try to scale a business? And what should
they focus on to get to that revenue level? Right.
Again, lots of different things. But if you're
a business that's, say, under $500 ,000, it's
still a good time to start building out systems,
like your SOPs, like how the morning huddle works,
how the equipment's maintained, safety routes,
how you park, how you unload the trailer. There's
hundreds of things that can be built into systems.
The biggest thing, though, I think, is building
out your workflow. So what happens from initial
phone call to warranty work or to the end of
the first year of service, depending on irrigation
companies, maintenance, construction, whatever
you're doing. But I think really building out
that workflow with all the things that happen,
like when the callback is, what do they get when
you call back? Do you have a welcome package?
Who does the estimating? Who are they responsible
to? Because when you build out that workflow,
you'll see that there's like, I know our workflow
at Muskoka Landscapes has 120 steps. And years
ago, there was me and another person on it, you
know, because you're doing a little bit of everything,
especially when you're a smaller company. But
as your company grows, it's so much easier than
to take people's names and add them to take things
off the list and create some accountability for
them and take it off your plate. But I think
under half a million, it's still good. And again,
build out two at a time. Get the team to use
them, walk them through it, get them to help
you build it. That's one of the biggest things
with implementing. If you have your team help
you build out an SOP for them, they generally
have much better buy -in. And then as you get
bigger, I think it just becomes different things.
Once you crack the million dollar mark, you need
different people. You may need an ops person.
You may need a sales manager. You may need a
full -time person in accounting, depending on
how you're set up. So I think as it progresses,
and then once you hit the 3 million mark, you
kind of need all the people at some capacity
that you need to run a $10 million business.
They just might not be doing it all the time.
Often you grow people where they're still working
in the field a little bit, but also have another
role. And the thing I think to watch for with
that, especially at the smaller scales, is don't
move people that you have into positions, because
they've been with you for a while, if they're
not skilled to do that position. I think a lot
of us make that mistake. We put people into roles
because they've been with us for a long time,
where they're not really the right fit person,
but we're trying to create more reason for them
to stay, which I've had success with as well.
but I've also had problems with it so I think
but it's a common mistake in the industry and
then you find out as you scale that person really
doesn't have the skills to do what you need them
to do and then you know you're in a bit of a
pickle. I'm glad you mentioned that because I
was going to ask you when a business gets to
the place where they realize they can't do it
all by themselves and they need to hire someone
What is the best position to hire first, office
help, a manager, more field technicians? What
do you think we should hire first when we get
to that point where we're ready to scale? I think
it's two things. One is hire somebody that's
better at you than your weakest point. Like whatever
you're weak at. hire somebody to do that. That's
good at it. Um, yeah, I think, I think that's
a big key. The other, the other thing is hire
somebody that can really take things off your
plate. You know, often we get worried, you know,
or we make the mistake. And I've made this mistake
many times to you hire somebody to do a role.
They're not really doing the role. So you're
still getting dragged back in, you know, so you
got to make sure you hire well to pay, pay what
they're worth. And often we get into this spot
where we think, well, if I just had another mower
or I just had another excavator, people can get
their head around that. They have a hard time
going, I got to pay that guy 70 grand a year
or 100 grand a year or whatever the number is
for things I'm already doing, but not realizing
that person may not do it the same way as you
do. They're likely going to do it better. And
like the increase in your enterprise value by
having them is dramatic. Cause now you're able
to focus on all these other things that you now
have time for. Like you, you start getting people
that come in and take 30 or 35 of your hours
off of what you were doing. Man, you can, you
could really move the needle, right? And I think
that that would be the other comment is like,
who could move the needle the most first, whether
that's an accountant, maybe a CFO, opt person.
could be a salesperson. I think whoever can move
the needle the most, and I would say wherever
you think you're weakest, that's the person you
need first. Because for certain companies, it's
different. If you're somebody who really loves
the sales and accounting portion, and you're
good at it, you may want to hire an ops manager.
You may want to hire somebody to do something
that you not necessarily don't like to do, but
don't feel you're really passionate or good at.
and fill that gap with somebody who's strong.
And as the business owner, I need to determine
what are the things that only I can do? Right.
And what are the things that I can delegate?
And that could determine what kind of hire you
hire to begin with when you go to scale your
business. And when you begin to build that team,
you start buying back your time. And it frees
you to do what only you can do and to work on
your business and not in your business. And to
be able to go to those birthday parties. When
I first started, I had no help. I was missing
my kids' birthday parties. I was missing family
cookouts, reunions. Made up my mind one day when
my wife said, everyone ask about you, where you
were. And I made up my mind, I'm tired of building
and working so hard to build this business that
I'm failing to build a life. And my wife and
I have been married now for 36 years. And we
have two successful grandchildren. that are great
productive citizens in our community. But I had
to realize there's some things that only I can
do and there's a whole lot of things I can delegate.
And at this point I need to hire someone. And
I think if people will start thinking about building
a life instead of just building a business, it
can direct them in the direction that they should
go for their business. So when you go to set
up your business, what would be the first system
that you would recommend to implement in order
to promote growth? I would probably start with
SOPs because SOPs really give a clear description
of how everything gets done within the business.
So as you hire people, Sometimes you need to
modify the SOPs based on their skill set or their
week in an area. You might have to make an adjustment.
But I think building out those systems is really
the key. And then that workflow is the biggest
one because if you have a, if you build a, and
it takes time, you know, you need a half a day
probably to really sit back and think about like
all the little things and handoffs that happen
from an initial call to the site meeting. Who
sets that up? How quickly do they get an estimate
back? Is the estimate presented? There is a contract,
there's a deposit. There's a lot of things that
happen in that workflow. And the sooner you build
that and follow it, it makes it so much easier
to add people into it. And that workflow is gonna
change as you grow as well. There's gonna be
new people, there's gonna be new systems that
you need to add. It might be a sales to ops handoff.
There's lots of different things that'll change.
But to your point too about time, Yeah, like
you want to be careful you're not it's a cliche
I guess but you know Don't be so focused on building
a home that nobody wants to live in True, you
know, it's a mistake. We all make I did the same
thing I'm making up for it now with my girls,
but the first seven eight years And keep in mind
at that time my wife worked in the business for
the first five or six years as well so there
was a lot of like after -dinner work and gone
for the weekends, not for the weekends, but on
the weekend for estimating or meeting clients.
And I missed a lot of soccer games and a lot
of swim practices. And again, I'm making up for
it now with travel with them, which is awesome.
But yeah, it's an easy trap to fall in. And I
would also say just kind of in the same light
that probably the hardest part as a young business
is the flip from being somebody, the owner is
in the field. to not being in the field. That's
probably the biggest hurdle for most people because
they know they're the most productive. They know
they're the one that keeps the pace the best.
So transitioning from somebody else doing that
role and you moving into more of a management
or sales or accounting role is difficult. It's
probably the hardest leap I would say. When you
start getting into the, again, depending on your
business, but if you're over a million and in
maintenance, for instance. Once you're over that,
you know, as you grow, okay, when I hit this
number, I need this person. When I hit this number,
I hit this person. And it's the same with construction.
Like, once you get to the $3 million mark, you're
kind of capped out as an owner or operator. You
know, like you need to add people. So I think
the clues are a little more obvious as you grow,
but that jump, and I mean, when you look at how
many businesses are in North America, and the
percentage of them that do less than half a million
a year, that is like 90 % of our industry, 85,
90%. Again, I think that's because that transition
is so hard to leave the field or leave the team
and really be relying on somebody else to manage
the work. As a young business, that's what you
want. You want to work on replacing yourself.
You want to work on replacing yourself all the
way through. But I think that's one of the tougher
hurdles for most. I was reading a book by Dr.
John Maxwell. And in this book on leadership,
he said, you should be training your replacement
right now. If you want to be an effective leader,
start training your replacement. And that has
always stuck to me since I read that. It's been
years ago. Right. And I think I started investing
in my employees. You know, we have boot day.
I'll take them all out and buy them a new pair
of boots. Perfect. We fist bump every morning
and have contact. Let them know, you know, I
care about you. I'm concerned about you. And
I have found that when you do those things and
you invest in your employees, They in return
are committed and sold out to help you bring
your vision to fruition and Bring your goals
to reality When you invest in them they buy into
you Definitely and they start feeling like you
know, I work for Professional lawn maintenance
or I work for Kevin Scott. I you know, I work
for a legitimate business and they start giving
you 100 % when you invest in them. Let's take
just a short break and let's hear a word from
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We've been talking about scaling and growing
a business and I feel like I have one of the
authoritarian voices on this subject on my show
today. And I want to ask you, should owners focus
on profit or growth first? I mean, they kind
of go hand in hand because you need the funds,
right? You need the funds to grow or you need
the capital to grow one or the other. And what
we were talking about before the break there,
too, with the team, I think that is probably
the most dramatic change we've had in our business.
This is probably six or seven years ago where
We were so I think I was so I wasn't the leader
I Am today seven or eight years ago, and I was
a bit naive very naive But we used to be profit
customers team now. It's team customers profit
and when we flip that and really started making
our focus on our team and trying to drive up
wages and pension plan and benefit packages and
I mean, we have so much less turnover, like very
little. Like this year, we have everybody back
from last year and we're adding three people.
And culture is so big. And that's just when you
were talking about that, Andy, that's a hard
thing too as you grow, right? The culture is
much easier when you're a group, especially if
you're a group that you're still... working with
the team. You know, it's a lot easier to have
good conversations. You kind of all really know
each other well because at break you're talking
about what you did last night and your kids or
your wife or whatever it might be. And often
you become really good friends. But as you grow,
it gets trickier. But it's more just about real
clarity, making sure that everybody's clear on
what their role entails, what they do when they
improve, what they can move to when they improve,
how they improve, like what are the steps they
need to make. So yeah, I think when you really
have that clear vision, it makes a dramatic difference
on how everybody feels and how everybody moves.
And I don't remember the original question now.
What you said was great. Okay, perfect. It was
growth versus profit. Yeah. I think they go together.
In that same book I was telling you about by
Dr. Maxwell. He made another, I think it's a
profound statement. If you think you're a leader
and no one's following you, you're just taking
a walk. So I want to be a leader in our industry
where I develop people that follow me because
I have a vision, because I have set my goals.
their smart goals, their reachable goals, their
trackable goals. And with all of that being said,
what KPI or what key performance indicator should
a business try to develop first in order to help
them scale? Would it be, do I need to keep a
laser focus on my Revenue growth, my revenue
per client, my profit margin. And I'll stop right
there and I am just amazed at how many people
don't know what their profit margin is. They
know their revenue and they'll brag about their
revenue. Oh, I done two million last year. How
much profit did you make? That's the key to whether
you're successful. or whether you're failing,
even though you brought in two million or customer
or client retention rate. Are you maintaining
your customers or are you having to get new customers
every season just to survive? So what would you
think would be a key performance indicator that
people need to really start focusing on? Yeah,
I'll give you two. And the first one isn't really
a key performance indicator, but it's standards.
You gotta set the standards for the people to
follow the systems, right? You want people to
do what you would do if you were there. So I
think that's something that a lot of people don't
focus enough energy on. Setting standards are
just as important as SOPs. But when it comes
to finance, we really focus hard on our labor
variance. So we're looking at actual, or sorry,
estimated versus actual weekly. And that's, we
know we want to hit a certain revenue per hour.
And that's how we're profitable. And when we
dip down, we need to revisit it. When we're going
up, we know things are going well. And you know,
you want to really take a lot of that information
and be able to assess it to see like, okay, well,
why are we up so high right now? Like what is
it the right, is it the type of job? Is it the
area we're working? Is it the crew that's on
that job? So revenue per hour I think is the
biggest indicator because often your budget is
set on that like if you if you look at your budget
versus hours you predict to work that's going
to be your revenue per hour should be revenue
per hour assuming you work all those hours now
it's a question of how profitable are those hours.
So I think there's a lot of great systems to
to do that we use LMN at Muskoka Landscapers
so the guys can see any time they want they can
look and go I've used 200 of a thousand hours
to do this patio or whatever the number might
be. And they get a pretty good sense of where
they're at. And then we're checking it weekly
as well. But I think that's probably the, if
you're only gonna do one, that's the one I would
do is labor variance. What marketing strategy
do you use? We, I mean, we're in a different
area. We are in a lakefront cottage residential.
area with a lot of high net worth owners. So
we only do like 19 to 20 projects a year. But
our average is probably about 600 ,000. So they're
big projects. So it's a little bit unique and
we have a lot of referrals. We've built relationships
over the years with builders and architects and
landscape architects. And that's really where
most of our funnel comes from and through design
as well. But marketing, depending on what you're
doing, maintenance I always find is a little
bit tough. But again, it depends on the type
of maintenance you're doing. If I was a commercial
maintenance person, I'd be trying to make as
many relationships as I could with property managers
that look after commercial sites, school boards,
any big industrial areas, people with a lot of
grass. But as far as marketing goes, I think
having a really great... website that's simple,
but really shows what your right fit work is,
is important. You know, your branding is obviously
really important. Your welcome package, like
sending something to the customer as soon as
you get a new call that shows what you do. And
if you're in construction, like a little program
checklist, like what are you looking for? I want
a pool and a cabana and whatever it might be.
So you're kind of already vetting them a little
bit as well. You kind of know what they're looking
for. But this The speed of that going out and
setting up that initial call is very important,
just like estimating the turnaround time. Like
your odds of getting a job because you're the
first estimate in, it's like 30 or 40 % higher
than if you're the last person in, even if you're
cheaper. It's not always about the cheapest price.
But then, I mean, I don't do a lot of Google
and meta ads. but I work with people that do.
I know that I've got one client that spends about
six grand a month on Google ads, and he easily
gets more work than that. It brings the right
leads. It is expensive. I've got another person
that spends 12 grand a month. So those types
of systems definitely work, but I think at the
core of it, it's who do people think you are?
What's the message that you're giving people?
because that's really what they believe. I'm
a massive believer in referral work. I think
if you build out a really good customer journey,
especially when you talk about systems like stepping
back and looking at it from how the customer
is gonna see your company through a project or
through a maintenance season, and what you want
them to feel like when you're done. If you can
do that, they're gonna rave about you all the
time. And if it's an ongoing like annual reoccurring
thing for you, It's gravy, like it's gravy to
make sure those relationships stay strong, because
that is easy. When you get a referral, it's yours
to lose. It's not going to matter what your price
is. If they're a friend, and I did a presentation
not too long ago that I used this study, most
couples have four to seven other couple friends
that they're close with and they hang out with.
and they're in their backyards together and they're
using their outdoor kitchen or sitting by the
pool with the kids or whatever it is. But when
you build these super happy customers, they tell
everybody that comes to their house who it is,
what they've done, how they did it, how great
they were to work with. And then even if you
do it on the five model, which was what the presentation
was about, they tell five people. The study showed
that it goes out about four rounds. It works
out to 1 ,250 people. from one really happy customer.
They're gonna spread the word. It works the other
way too, which is also important to remember,
depending on logistically where you are. Word
travels fast and bad news usually travels faster.
But yeah, outside of that, I think it's just
really about showing people who you are. That
word of mouth is sometimes the best form of advertisement.
It's incredible. And I wore or I wear shirts
and hats and has my logo all over it and everything,
my trucks logoed. And I was in the post office
waiting to get some stamps. And a little lady
tapped me on the shoulder. When I turned around,
it was a little elderly lady. She said, do you
mow anybody's yard? I said, as long as they pay
me. And I was just making a joke with her. She
said, well, I want you to give me an estimate.
I said, sure. So when I left the post office,
I met her at her house, gave her the quote. She
accepted. And I went the next week to start my
winter yard. Two weeks later, the neighbor that
lives next door walked over and said, would you
give me an estimate? She said, she has been talking
to me about you. Says you do a great job and
you're dependable. You're trustworthy and you
show up. I gave her the estimate. I got her job.
The next week the man across the street walked
over. Same story. Asked for an estimate. I gave
him an estimate. Got his job. Because I showed
up and I done the job the best that I could.
That one stop ended up being three stops on the
same street. And that tightened up my route density
for that day's schedule. Less windshield time
because I'm not a trucker. I don't get paid to
look out a window. I get paid to cut grass. And
when I cut that grass, I can make that cash.
So, um... Love it. You know... And I got one
in Muncie, same story. I started mowing my aunt's
yard. Now I have seven in a row on that street.
So I pull up about halfway between the seven,
drop the gate one time, mow all seven in about
an hour and 25 minutes and make almost $500.
Perfect. You don't need too many of those. No.
And then I go around and mow an eye doctor, or
I'm sorry, a hearing aid doctor, the eye doctors
in Newcastle. I mow a hearing aid office and
an insurance office. It takes me about 10 minutes
to mow both of them because they're on a busy
street, the yards aren't very big. But because
I have a minimum, I'm not dropping my gate for
less than 65. I can make 130 bucks in 10 minutes.
But it's that word of mouth. I would have never
got all of those jobs if someone wasn't happy
with the job that I got. And they start talking.
And you're exactly right. Sometimes that word
of mouth is the best form of advertisement. Often
when you get an area like that, too, you can
actually do it for less. Yes. You know, when
you start adding that many seven, 10 people on
the same street, you know, you can make it more
affordable for them a little bit as well and
just lock in, especially if you're doing quality
work, people love it. Well, because my gas in
the truck has decreased. I mean, I'm still using
the same amount of gas to mow all seven of them,
but I'm not traveling back and forth. I'm not
paying helpers to ride in the truck. I'm not.
you know running from here and there trying to
make the same amount of money I'm right there
one stop most seven yards almost 500 bucks into
the business and we leave very happy because
we made a lot of profit on those seven jobs I'm
sure so um let me ask you this what is one system
that our listeners should implement right now
if they want to grow and scale? Is it a CRM?
Is it route density? Is it some kind of client
retention program that they have? What would
be some good advice for our listeners that they
can put into action right now to help them grow?
I think there's a lot of things. I would say
number one, something that tells you what your
revenue per hour is. A system, a software, something
that you can look at it whenever you want and
see, yes, we're doing it on time or for less
time, or we're running over on everything. That
gives you all the information you need to make
better decisions and know if you need to adjust
your rates or if you've got a slack crew or whatever.
I think that's probably the biggest ones. a company
that has scale or has, you know, maybe they have
three or four crews running around or they're
doing construction. We use an email tool that's
just, it's free. It's called the five. It used
to be called the four at three. It was something
element came out with years ago and we've kind
of adopted it into the five at three, but it
asks every crew at three o 'clock five questions.
What did you get done today? What are you doing
tomorrow? What's slowing you down? What do you
need from me, meaning the management? And so
we put sub trades on ours because we deal with
a lot of sub trades. So it's more just to get
them thinking about what they're doing, what
they need, what they need from us. Is anything
slowing them down? But that tool, if you have
multiple crews, gives you a great sense of where
everybody's at all the time. And they also put
four or five pictures in there. So yeah, I think
there's lots of little tools that make improvements
really quickly. You just got to use them. And
there's so many great apps and software out there
too that can tell you everything you want to
know. Well, I want to be mindful of your time.
I know you're busy. I appreciate you coming on
the show. We're right at our 45 minute time frame.
So let me try to wrap this up with this. Finish
this sentence. If I want to scale I must Get
out of my own way Very good many many people
are just like the owners the bottleneck You know
it especially as companies do start to scale
because the you know when you're and I went I
went through this for years, too You were the
person doing everything when you started Then
you had somebody helping you a little bit and
then you had somebody else help. Now you had
a couple extra crew. So as that grows, you tend
to want to micromanage or you're hearing conversations.
I still have to stop myself from doing it. And
I have great managers, but often I'll be hearing
a conversation that's happening in the office
and I'll still be putting my two cents in and
slowing down that process. And they were likely
going to come up with the same solution. I was
just trying to speed it up. So I think, yeah,
that would be How I would end that is get out
of your own way. That is so good. Well, Kevin,
I really do appreciate you taking time out of
your day to share with our listeners on some
profitable, tangible information to help them
scale and grow. I wish I had something like this
when I first started my business. Something that
could have guided me. and maybe help me not make
as many mistakes as I did because I made my fair
share. But I really appreciate you. I thank you.
And I wish you nothing but success. And until
we talk again, keep growing, keep making a profit,
and keep hustling. Thank you for joining the
Lawn Hustle. Thank you, Andy. It was great to
meet you. Look forward to doing it again one
day. Well, I'll tell you, like Tony Rudolph told
me, when you meet someone, they're friends for
life. So you're stuck with me now. Sounds good.
All right. Well, I appreciate it. Thank you.
And have a great week. You as well. Take care.
OK, bye bye. Bye bye.