WEBVTT
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We'll probably hit 400.
2
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That's our goal.
3
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He was watching a bunch of lawn videos and then your video started popping up.
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Why don't we start a lawn business?
5
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We're not accepting any new mowing customers, booked out till third week of August for projects.
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We're capped out.
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Everybody's topic about like price increases, like, man, we should have done more.
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And so right now is it one other person with you or two or how many guys do you have calling?
9
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Right now we've got three guys in a truck finishing the route for today.
10
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Okay.
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And then typically we've just got two guys in a truck.
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Got it.
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And are they coming back here then?
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Yeah, yeah, they'll be back here probably about like an hour.
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Yeah, yeah, about an hour.
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So all the mowers lined up right there in front of our kayaks.
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And then we've got our board.
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So we'll have, we're still, you know, we're three seasons in and we're still working on what to put on our board and stuff.
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But like what we load up in the trailers and then we do gas cards.
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So that's their calendars of when they're there and just kind of random stuff.
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And I made that little sign to remind them like we're not just here to cut grass.
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We're here to make their yard look great.
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That's awesome.
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Little inspiration I like to think hopefully.
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Yep.
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And so the three that are full-timers, they're the ones that just usually one hop in with you and the two others in the other.
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Got it.
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That's super cool.
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Yeah, one of the guys that's been with us since, like, he was our very first hire.
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So he's the other...
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He drives the other truck.
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He runs the other mower.
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So he's kind of like...
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We like kind of call him like Assistant G. Like we're trying to figure out like what he would be because Tyler doesn't want to get out of the field.
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And I like doing the admin stuff.
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So it's kind of like we want to give you a little bit more responsibility.
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But yeah, what?
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So.
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What's the size of revenue you're thinking you're gonna hit this year?
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So we'll probably hit 400.
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That's our goal.
42
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Okay.
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Last year, what was it?
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We finished at 280 last year.
45
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Wow, so it's a pretty big step up.
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Yeah, yeah.
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This year has been, we added like, so we only worked Monday through Thursday last year.
48
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We added Friday this year.
49
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With those part-timers kind of?
50
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With the part-timers and then like we switched.
51
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So he works Monday through Thursday and then I work landscaping projects on Fridays.
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Got it.
53
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And so just adding that one day has like made a huge difference.
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So that's like, I think a big factor because we had a whole day.
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We weren't doing anything, making money.
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It was driving me nuts.
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I was like, our trucks are just sitting here doing nothing on a Friday.
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Let's do something.
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So, yeah, so that's.
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that'll be a good year do you think you're probably capped around 400 just with the two trucks yeah oh for sure yeah we're like not accepting any new mowing customers we're booked out till third week of august for projects like we're capped out for at least spring and summer yeah how many customers
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$147?
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Yeah, like $150 is it.
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We can't do any more.
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Because then you probably only have one day a week to do projects.
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Yeah, because Tuesday one truck mows and one truck does projects.
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So we're not even like...
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full day of projects except for Friday.
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Got it.
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Do you actually turn away Moen customers now?
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Oh yeah.
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Like I've had, we have like six estimate requests in our email inbox from Friday that I still need to respond to today to like say, hey, we're not taking any more customers.
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Unless they're in one of the neighborhoods.
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And it's so hard for me to say no, but...
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Have you already raised prices this year?
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Yep.
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Really?
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Raised prices on everybody.
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Really across the board?
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Yeah.
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Raised them across the board.
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Some people a little bit more because we want to try to get rid of them.
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Some people a little bit less.
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Yeah.
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And I think we only lost six people.
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Wow.
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So.
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How much did you raise it by?
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What percentage?
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Anywhere between 18 and 25%.
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So we probably could have done more.
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I know it's what everybody, like, everybody's topic about, like, price increases, like, man, we should have done more.
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So, yeah.
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And then some people, like, complained about the price, but they were like, well, we're not going to get rid of you.
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We just want to complain about it.
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I was like, okay, good.
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Great.
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We'll send calls to Command Center for three days.
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Yeah, yeah.
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Right after the price increase.
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Y'all handle it.
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Oh, cool.
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But, yeah.
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So then here, this is, like, kind of the shop space, I guess.
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Yeah.
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So...
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This is very nice.
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Nice.
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Just all the tools that we need.
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We get snacks for the guys.
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So they got snacks and then ice.
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Is this a relic of the past or usable?
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It's still usable.
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Really?
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This is what got us started our first year.
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Really?
116
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So we had that, and then we got the small motors on the other truck.
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But we used this for the entire first year.
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60 inch?
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72.
120
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Oh, we're 60.
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I see, Jenna.
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Yeah.
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It's still good to use every now and then.
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Give him some big properties?
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Yeah.
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Oh, man.
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But it's cool because it was his dad's mower.
128
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Oh, wow.
129
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And so, like, your dad helped us start the business because that was our first piece of equipment that we had.
130
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Super cool.
131
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So what were you doing before this?
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I forget, Tyler.
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Parts management.
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I was at the Lexus dealer.
135
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Okay.
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I've been an automotive for 10 years.
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And then you were doing the bootcamp thing.
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You're still doing that, right?
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I still do that, yeah.
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So is that the Saturday game?
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No, so I do that three mornings.
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Like, I did it at 5.30 this morning.
143
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Oh, wow.
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So I do it three mornings a week, but I've, like, way taken a step back from that since this has picked up so much.
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Right.
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But, yeah, I just train three mornings a week, and that's it.
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Yeah, well.
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Do you think you're going to, from here, are you going to just optimize with the two trucks, or do you think you're eventually going to have to...
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Get a third and move forward.
150
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We haven't talked about that yet.
151
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Really?
152
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Okay.
153
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All right.
154
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Because if we get another truck, then we have to get a whole shop space.
155
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It's a third one when we're here.
156
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Yeah.
157
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We are tapped out of space for here.
158
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Right.
159
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We find another space, then another truck and all that.
160
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Yeah.
161
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I mean, we've been like praying about it.
162
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And like, we're, I'm just like very like, if an opportunity presents itself, we're going to like- Like a killer shop space.
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Yes.
164
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Yeah.
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Like we're not actively out there looking for it, but just kind of like, if we see a sign like, oh, let's find out about that place or something like that.
166
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So worst case scenario would be just keep optimizing the size, maybe 500 next year, 480.
167
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Yeah.
168
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Okay.
169
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Yeah.
170
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Good stuff.
171
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And so when did you all get involved with the lawn care?
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Like why was it lawn care?
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you were already doing your boot camp stuff and then you had to do in the parks man so like why lawn care so when we we bought this house um and tyler had a yard at his old house but it wasn't like this big so when we got here he kind of like got like obsessed with it like making it look good and stripes and all that kind of stuff so lawn uh-oh
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lawn videos started really popping up on his YouTube.
175
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And so he was watching a bunch of lawn videos and then your video started popping up.
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And so he had watched a couple of them.
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And then one night he called me in and it was Nick Reed's video about him starting.
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And so he's like, Hey, watch this.
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I was like, Oh, that's cool.
180
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So we're sitting there watching it.
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And I'm like, Hey, like that, why don't we do something like that?
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Like, yeah,
183
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Why don't we start a lawn business?
184
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So that was in November of 2020.
185
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Two.
186
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Yep.
187
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And like he just started thinking about it.
188
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He was like, well, what if we did this?
189
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And so he started throwing out ideas.
190
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And I was like, oh, okay, serious.
191
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So then we booked the call with Lee and then training in February.
192
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And we went to training, came back, got our truck wrapped.
193
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And he was going to only do it part time.
194
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And within two weeks of coming back from training and getting our truck, we were completely booked.
195
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And he had to like walk into his boss.
196
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And it was like.
197
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This is basically your third spring rush then.
198
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Yeah.
199
00:07:41.740 --> 00:07:41.960
Yeah.
200
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Third one.
201
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How's that been?
202
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Like in terms of, because the first one's always crazy.
203
00:07:46.143 --> 00:07:46.684
Yeah, oh yeah.
204
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If you actually just came right back from training, then it would've hit right away.
205
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Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
206
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And so, but then like second one, third one, have you adjusted each spring rush you think?
207
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Kind of, so our first, like from my perspective, our first one, like it was insane, nuts, overworked.
208
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They all hated me.
209
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Like called me a slave driver.
210
00:08:06.860 --> 00:08:08.161
Yeah, oh yeah, it was real bad.
211
00:08:10.618 --> 00:08:11.999
Yeah, it was real bad.
212
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So then and they were working five days a week.
213
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So then last year when we took it down to four days a week, I got a little bit more tame and we didn't get like as out of control.
214
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Yeah.
215
00:08:23.423 --> 00:08:24.524
And this year I've had my moments.
216
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couple of attics.
217
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Is that, like, I know the one guy, he stayed with you for a while.
218
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Uh-huh.
219
00:08:29.326 --> 00:08:31.488
Has there been other crew members staying with you for a while?
220
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Our first two employees are still with us.
221
00:08:34.750 --> 00:08:35.090
What?
222
00:08:35.150 --> 00:08:36.791
Yeah, one of them's part-time, one of them's full-time.
223
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You're like, all these amateurs can't keep employees.
224
00:08:38.713 --> 00:08:38.973
I know.
225
00:08:39.013 --> 00:08:40.274
Our first two just sticking around.
226
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That's amazing.
227
00:08:41.575 --> 00:08:41.995
How?
228
00:08:42.015 --> 00:08:42.555
Did you know them?
229
00:08:42.575 --> 00:08:43.156
Do you know them?
230
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No.
231
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Really?
232
00:08:43.756 --> 00:08:43.956
Nope.
233
00:08:44.196 --> 00:08:44.977
Found them on Indeed.
234
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Wow.
235
00:08:45.497 --> 00:08:46.058
Yeah.
236
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Yeah.
237
00:08:46.678 --> 00:08:48.559
So that's your main guy and then the other one.
238
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Is a part-timer.
239
00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:50.440
Yeah.
240
00:08:50.460 --> 00:08:51.100
He's in his 60s.
241
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Wow.
242
00:08:51.680 --> 00:08:53.561
And he's...
243
00:08:53.581 --> 00:08:57.303
But he, yeah, he really like bounces around and it's awesome.
244
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There you go.
245
00:08:58.043 --> 00:09:02.145
When I raised prices, and I'm actually still kind of working on it.
246
00:09:02.425 --> 00:09:04.847
Some people, I didn't change their budgeted hours.
247
00:09:06.047 --> 00:09:08.748
And then some people, I did change their budgeted hours.
248
00:09:09.488 --> 00:09:16.271
And so we went from $70 an hour to $80 an hour, like in our matrix technically.
249
00:09:17.491 --> 00:09:20.472
And so with P4P, I was then like splitting it.
250
00:09:20.592 --> 00:09:23.073
So I was saying $75 an hour for the 33% that they get.
251
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um to use raised prices and then adjusted budget i was kind of a correct yeah yeah since we're still so small and like i can like i pretty much know every single yard that we have right now like what it looks like who the person all that so i knew which ones we could adjust yeah um and so that's um i think has helped a little bit i honestly haven't like sat there and gone through and done a little bit better with
252
00:09:54.628 --> 00:09:58.849
Like, actually, okay, where are we not hitting it?
253
00:09:58.949 --> 00:10:00.309
Where are we not getting it to fix it?
254
00:10:00.569 --> 00:10:00.829
Right.
255
00:10:00.869 --> 00:10:01.149
So.
256
00:10:01.649 --> 00:10:03.129
But the current crew is pretty happy.
257
00:10:03.189 --> 00:10:05.310
Like, they're just like, okay, base is fine kind of thing.
258
00:10:06.290 --> 00:10:07.210
For the most part, yeah.
259
00:10:07.330 --> 00:10:10.131
I mean, they'll mumble and groan and complain about it every once in a while.
260
00:10:10.211 --> 00:10:10.451
But.
261
00:10:11.711 --> 00:10:12.771
When they see that they hit it.
262
00:10:14.031 --> 00:10:15.091
There's days that they hit it.
263
00:10:15.352 --> 00:10:15.592
Right.
264
00:10:15.772 --> 00:10:19.992
But as far as, like, the pay period, it papers off.
265
00:10:20.092 --> 00:10:20.472
Yeah.
266
00:10:21.253 --> 00:10:23.413
So they see it, and it's like, oh, you know, where to go.
267
00:10:23.773 --> 00:10:24.053
Right.
268
00:10:24.730 --> 00:10:32.716
And then projects kill us too, because I am very optimistic about how quickly we can get things done.
269
00:10:32.736 --> 00:10:34.257
And everything goes perfectly to plan.
270
00:10:34.277 --> 00:10:35.698
And yes.
271
00:10:35.778 --> 00:10:40.882
So that has kind of hurt us with projects, but I'm getting a little bit better.
272
00:10:41.182 --> 00:10:41.383
Yeah.
273
00:10:41.583 --> 00:10:42.584
Do you do all the estimates then?
274
00:10:42.764 --> 00:10:43.584
Yes, I do all of them.
275
00:10:43.664 --> 00:10:46.647
So you do them throughout the week, and then Friday the projects go out.
276
00:10:46.667 --> 00:10:46.827
Yep.
277
00:10:47.327 --> 00:10:47.587
Got it.
278
00:10:47.747 --> 00:10:47.928
Yeah.
279
00:10:48.448 --> 00:10:50.950
Do most of the mowing, can they do them over the phone?
280
00:10:51.958 --> 00:10:53.039
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
281
00:10:53.299 --> 00:10:56.442
There's the other peninsula, so Hendersonville has two peninsulas.
282
00:10:56.463 --> 00:10:59.586
The other one, there are some areas that are very hilly.
283
00:11:00.006 --> 00:11:03.329
And so I know if someone calls or requests, like I'm gonna go look at it.
284
00:11:03.529 --> 00:11:06.572
The Augusta business model is to do $800,000 in annual revenue, $200,000 in profits.
285
00:11:09.275 --> 00:11:10.116
How is that possible?
286
00:11:10.436 --> 00:11:18.562
Because of Command Center taking our phone calls, emails, text messages, and even running payroll, doing all the admin work so we can focus on growing the business.
287
00:11:18.922 --> 00:11:29.991
If you think having someone answer your phone throughout the day would be a relief for you and your business, go to AugustaLawnCareServices.com slash franchise, book a call, and see if joining Augusta Nation would be the right fit for you.
288
00:11:30.211 --> 00:11:36.856
So you think you're going to go away more from the projects and do more of the mowing, or is it really just coming out if you can get the third truck and open that up?
289
00:11:37.228 --> 00:11:39.072
I think it'll be if we get a third truck.
290
00:11:39.152 --> 00:11:39.372
Got it.
291
00:11:39.392 --> 00:11:40.875
Because I really like projects.
292
00:11:41.196 --> 00:11:43.520
I like the big lump of money that comes in.
293
00:11:43.540 --> 00:11:43.721
I like...
294
00:11:46.144 --> 00:11:53.228
I feel like there's a lot of our customers that use us for projects and I would hate for them to have to go with somebody else.
295
00:11:53.948 --> 00:11:57.930
So we stopped for a while taking outside projects.
296
00:11:57.950 --> 00:12:05.294
We were only doing projects for our mowing customers, which that's probably going into fall and things like that.
297
00:12:05.314 --> 00:12:08.536
Like we're going to like top priorities are mowing customers, obviously.
298
00:12:10.177 --> 00:12:12.579
But I would just hate for them to have to go with somebody else.
299
00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:14.121
So I'm of a mind.
300
00:12:14.141 --> 00:12:17.504
Let's figure out how to make it happen so that we can.
301
00:12:17.704 --> 00:12:21.267
So if we just optimize, take budget hours down by half, we get more projects.
302
00:12:21.287 --> 00:12:22.068
Yes, exactly.
303
00:12:22.088 --> 00:12:24.890
So we just need more optimistic.
304
00:12:24.950 --> 00:12:26.131
Yeah, that's how it works, right?
305
00:12:26.272 --> 00:12:27.032
Very cool.
306
00:12:27.593 --> 00:12:30.836
And so, yeah, like really finding a space around here is tough, though.
307
00:12:30.936 --> 00:12:34.899
I was looking the other day, like just finding rent spots.
308
00:12:34.999 --> 00:12:35.320
Yeah, yeah.
309
00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:36.641
It's crazy.
310
00:12:36.821 --> 00:12:38.423
Yeah.
311
00:12:38.583 --> 00:12:42.167
I have a friend who's a realtor, and she kind of looked around.
312
00:12:42.368 --> 00:12:45.831
And this was last year when I was like, let's just explore the idea.
313
00:12:46.432 --> 00:12:48.995
And we couldn't find anything.
314
00:12:49.496 --> 00:12:51.177
I haven't even really looked this year.
315
00:12:51.197 --> 00:12:52.339
Right.
316
00:12:52.359 --> 00:12:53.840
So, yeah.
317
00:12:54.021 --> 00:12:55.462
We have to have a space that...
318
00:12:56.363 --> 00:12:57.524
Obviously fits all this.
319
00:12:58.064 --> 00:13:01.027
Storage units around here don't have parking spots.
320
00:13:01.647 --> 00:13:03.548
So, like, we can't park our trucks.
321
00:13:04.129 --> 00:13:05.770
So we'd still, they'd be having to come here.
322
00:13:05.790 --> 00:13:07.171
Then we'd have to drive over and load up.
323
00:13:07.191 --> 00:13:09.753
Does he do a man guy would take his truck, would ever take his truck home?
324
00:13:11.714 --> 00:13:14.076
Uh, I don't think so.
325
00:13:14.196 --> 00:13:14.677
I don't know.
326
00:13:15.938 --> 00:13:16.498
Just a thought.
327
00:13:16.678 --> 00:13:17.158
Yeah.
328
00:13:17.178 --> 00:13:19.280
I don't think so.
329
00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:19.800
I don't know.
330
00:13:19.920 --> 00:13:20.741
We get very nervous.
331
00:13:20.761 --> 00:13:21.842
Yeah.
332
00:13:21.862 --> 00:13:22.022
Yeah.
333
00:13:22.662 --> 00:13:24.644
We put some truck trackers in there.
334
00:13:24.684 --> 00:13:24.784
Yeah.
335
00:13:25.585 --> 00:13:25.865
But...
336
00:13:26.762 --> 00:13:30.105
We were considering it originally when we were moving from Blaine to Bellingham.
337
00:13:30.385 --> 00:13:31.205
Wait until we're done talking.
338
00:13:31.225 --> 00:13:31.926
We couldn't find any space.
339
00:13:31.946 --> 00:13:36.549
We were like, okay, well, what if we take like three or four of the crews, they just take the truck home.
340
00:13:37.090 --> 00:13:40.292
They like might even, some of them were willing to take less money per hour.
341
00:13:40.312 --> 00:13:41.533
They're like, hey, we need a truck.
342
00:13:41.693 --> 00:13:42.013
Woohoo.
343
00:13:42.714 --> 00:13:46.677
But then we could cut way back on shop space.
344
00:13:46.757 --> 00:13:47.077
Yeah.
345
00:13:47.397 --> 00:13:48.038
Interesting.
346
00:13:48.058 --> 00:13:48.979
It's definitely an option.
347
00:13:48.999 --> 00:13:50.760
I know I'd consider it in Charlotte too.
348
00:13:50.920 --> 00:13:53.602
North Carolina is like, hey, let's just have a crew.
349
00:13:53.622 --> 00:13:54.503
I'll take their trucks home.
350
00:13:54.883 --> 00:14:00.897
There's obviously liability there, but I'll pay for that versus having to find a shop space in some places.
351
00:14:01.739 --> 00:14:02.300
Interesting.
352
00:14:03.061 --> 00:14:04.425
We honestly hadn't even thought about that.
353
00:14:05.157 --> 00:14:09.339
Some of the spaces I was looking at, even in Charlotte, was like five, six, seven grand a month.
354
00:14:09.599 --> 00:14:16.143
I'm like, okay, well, hypothetically speaking, if I get one total truck a year, I can pay for the truck.
355
00:14:16.423 --> 00:14:18.264
Basing it off of a truck total.
356
00:14:18.304 --> 00:14:20.345
Yeah, so I don't know, just a thought.
357
00:14:20.645 --> 00:14:21.185
That's funny.
358
00:14:21.305 --> 00:14:22.646
I'm seeing more people move to it.
359
00:14:22.806 --> 00:14:27.529
Even if you don't have the enclosed vans, the vans are nice, but here you're not going to do a van or an enclosed space.
360
00:14:27.549 --> 00:14:28.549
You have to open.
361
00:14:29.109 --> 00:14:32.751
So even if the truck was there and they came to pick up the trailer, I don't know.
362
00:14:33.192 --> 00:14:33.492
Huh.
363
00:14:33.652 --> 00:14:33.772
Oh.
364
00:14:34.092 --> 00:14:36.133
Because ramp rack here, you've got to have a bigger mower.
365
00:14:36.193 --> 00:14:37.554
Because you're needing two people, too.
366
00:14:37.834 --> 00:14:39.896
Yeah, we never even considered a ramp rack.
367
00:14:39.936 --> 00:14:46.440
Because none of our neighborhoods, like the couple in Nashville, their next truck, they're getting a ramp rack.
368
00:14:46.460 --> 00:14:47.821
Because their neighborhoods are tiny.
369
00:14:47.961 --> 00:14:51.463
Like, they can't even park their trailer in some of the neighborhoods.
370
00:14:52.024 --> 00:14:54.745
If you did a solo route, could you do a ramp rack?
371
00:14:54.805 --> 00:14:57.147
Like, if you've got a truck for just one person?
372
00:14:58.007 --> 00:15:01.910
Because you probably need two mowers now for two people.
373
00:15:01.970 --> 00:15:02.330
Yeah.
374
00:15:02.931 --> 00:15:03.191
Yeah.
375
00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:05.841
But also then you have more capital outlay.
376
00:15:06.041 --> 00:15:06.281
Yeah.
377
00:15:06.301 --> 00:15:12.646
The other truck and... And that may come down the road, but when we're building subdivisions around here, they're stacked on top of each other.
378
00:15:12.946 --> 00:15:13.126
Yeah.
379
00:15:13.146 --> 00:15:15.808
So that may be a possibility, more yards would be like that.
380
00:15:15.928 --> 00:15:16.189
Yeah.
381
00:15:16.829 --> 00:15:19.011
Right now with the half acre to acre lots.
382
00:15:19.551 --> 00:15:22.513
Yeah, you gotta have a 48 or 52 in there, plus one other.
383
00:15:22.533 --> 00:15:26.076
Yeah, something in small games that still have the decent size of ours.
384
00:15:26.236 --> 00:15:27.357
Yeah, no, totally.
385
00:15:27.557 --> 00:15:29.599
Do you want to grow it much larger, you think?
386
00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:31.000
Or is this where you feel good?
387
00:15:31.560 --> 00:15:32.821
Like that four or five, 600,000?
388
00:15:34.592 --> 00:15:36.237
We definitely want to grow.
389
00:15:37.621 --> 00:15:38.303
How much more?
390
00:15:41.905 --> 00:15:45.586
So our ultimate goal is we want to have multiple locations.
391
00:15:45.966 --> 00:15:46.606
Yeah.
392
00:15:47.146 --> 00:15:52.987
I think the biggest thing to figure out is like when we're ready to let go of stuff.
393
00:15:53.347 --> 00:15:56.448
Because I like doing the admin stuff.
394
00:15:56.608 --> 00:15:57.528
I can do it.
395
00:15:57.768 --> 00:15:59.189
Like I'm free labor.
396
00:15:59.209 --> 00:15:59.309
Yeah.
397
00:15:59.849 --> 00:16:05.030
And he likes being in the field and mowing and things like that and helps with quality control.
398
00:16:05.050 --> 00:16:05.310
Yeah.
399
00:16:06.367 --> 00:16:12.150
Like our ultimate goal, like end of the road, like when we're happy, we'll have five locations.
400
00:16:12.830 --> 00:16:18.813
Like we'll be able to like step back a lot more, but I don't know what that looks like.
401
00:16:19.033 --> 00:16:20.373
Like I've talked to Nick about it too.
402
00:16:20.473 --> 00:16:22.054
He's like, so what does that look like for you?
403
00:16:22.134 --> 00:16:22.914
Like, what would you do?
404
00:16:22.954 --> 00:16:24.015
I was like, I don't know.
405
00:16:24.575 --> 00:16:25.896
Still run everything.
406
00:16:27.777 --> 00:16:30.658
Which direction does it kind of naturally spread the leads coming in?
407
00:16:30.918 --> 00:16:35.320
If people come from more up South or more towards Nashville in terms of the lead kind of coming in?
408
00:16:35.742 --> 00:16:40.563
We're getting a little bit more towards Nashville and then Gallatin.
409
00:16:40.583 --> 00:16:41.183
Okay.
410
00:16:41.203 --> 00:16:45.304
So we're going like west and east, like this way.
411
00:16:45.424 --> 00:16:45.724
Got it.
412
00:16:45.824 --> 00:16:46.145
Yeah.
413
00:16:46.205 --> 00:16:46.505
Got it.
414
00:16:46.785 --> 00:16:47.845
So not as much north.
415
00:16:48.125 --> 00:16:48.345
Yep.
416
00:16:48.605 --> 00:16:48.865
Okay.
417
00:16:49.165 --> 00:16:52.226
Because that's where it gets a little more rural once you get north.
418
00:16:52.266 --> 00:16:52.526
Mm-hmm.
419
00:16:52.906 --> 00:16:54.607
That's probably where like a shop might work.
420
00:16:54.787 --> 00:16:55.147
Yeah.
421
00:16:55.167 --> 00:16:56.307
I don't know.
422
00:16:57.247 --> 00:16:57.947
It's still expensive.
423
00:16:58.227 --> 00:16:58.788
I looked around.
424
00:16:59.188 --> 00:16:59.848
It's not cheap.
425
00:17:00.028 --> 00:17:00.268
Yeah.
426
00:17:01.277 --> 00:17:03.178
It's almost like you can just find a farm.
427
00:17:03.218 --> 00:17:06.319
Well, and everybody and their mom is moving to Nashville.
428
00:17:06.479 --> 00:17:09.600
And like, so Nashville is too expensive, so they're all going to the suburbs.
429
00:17:10.040 --> 00:17:12.941
So that's making everything out here so much more expensive.
430
00:17:13.081 --> 00:17:13.701
Right.
431
00:17:13.721 --> 00:17:15.042
So that doesn't help us either.
432
00:17:15.062 --> 00:17:16.362
Yeah, yeah, totally.
433
00:17:17.463 --> 00:17:20.264
So, and then on the admin side, you learned that whole process.
434
00:17:20.304 --> 00:17:22.744
Are you going to hand that off to someone else eventually down the road, you think?
435
00:17:23.345 --> 00:17:24.005
I don't know.
436
00:17:24.065 --> 00:17:25.065
I like doing it.
437
00:17:25.125 --> 00:17:26.906
Like, I like doing it.
438
00:17:26.986 --> 00:17:28.206
It gives me something to do.
439
00:17:28.486 --> 00:17:29.747
And, you know, it...
440
00:17:31.189 --> 00:17:36.218
feeds the control freak in me to like, like I want to make sure I'm touching everything in our business.
441
00:17:36.238 --> 00:17:37.440
I don't know.
442
00:17:37.461 --> 00:17:38.022
Maybe one day.
443
00:17:38.843 --> 00:17:42.149
Do you do only the over the phone or do you do instant quotes as well?
444
00:17:42.915 --> 00:17:44.997
So we did the Instant Quilt last year.
445
00:17:45.257 --> 00:17:48.561
I wasn't as big of a fan of it, and so we took it off this year.
446
00:17:48.741 --> 00:17:51.364
So just so we can get more precise with the measurement and stuff?
447
00:17:51.664 --> 00:17:55.168
So if a request comes in, that's why you're kind of like, got it.
448
00:17:55.188 --> 00:17:56.249
That makes sense.
449
00:17:56.269 --> 00:18:00.874
So then the sticks that came in on the weekend, are you basically looking at, are they in our areas or not?
450
00:18:01.074 --> 00:18:01.274
Yep.
451
00:18:01.334 --> 00:18:01.614
Got it.
452
00:18:01.754 --> 00:18:01.955
Yeah.
453
00:18:02.055 --> 00:18:02.195
Yeah.
454
00:18:02.750 --> 00:18:03.030
Got it.
455
00:18:03.230 --> 00:18:06.031
So you're still taking them in and just like some of them you're going to say no to.
456
00:18:06.091 --> 00:18:06.351
Yes.
457
00:18:06.431 --> 00:18:07.571
Based upon them being too far away.
458
00:18:07.591 --> 00:18:07.851
Yes.
459
00:18:08.291 --> 00:18:08.631
Got it.
460
00:18:08.771 --> 00:18:09.311
Okay, cool.
461
00:18:09.491 --> 00:18:10.032
Very cool.
462
00:18:10.272 --> 00:18:17.333
Or if they're honestly, if they're like too big or too small, like we're now looking for the perfect yards.
463
00:18:17.413 --> 00:18:17.593
Right.
464
00:18:17.753 --> 00:18:19.293
And that's like half an acre.
465
00:18:19.313 --> 00:18:20.454
That's kind of like what you're looking at.
466
00:18:20.734 --> 00:18:23.554
Yeah, those are the ones that you did not get real quick.
467
00:18:24.134 --> 00:18:26.735
You guys can handle them either two in a truck or some other.
468
00:18:27.513 --> 00:18:27.773
Got it.
469
00:18:28.013 --> 00:18:34.994
So we're praying for either an amazing shop space or potentially someone to be able to take their truck home and go that route.
470
00:18:35.614 --> 00:18:36.054
It'd be nice.
471
00:18:36.074 --> 00:18:43.856
I think if you can get to 600, that's when it starts making sense to be able to spend some time managing, off the truck.
472
00:18:43.936 --> 00:18:48.777
And even if that's a few years of just slowly getting to even three or four trucks.
473
00:18:49.377 --> 00:18:52.437
Four trucks can easily do $700,000, $800,000.
474
00:18:53.257 --> 00:18:56.718
And you basically full time managing quality control
475
00:18:57.118 --> 00:19:00.801
I'm just thinking longer term, flexibility a little bit more, things like that.
476
00:19:01.361 --> 00:19:07.886
But I really like the way you guys started it, and then it's just been like a slow, hey, we're not trying to go to $500,000 the first year.
477
00:19:08.107 --> 00:19:08.447
Yeah.
478
00:19:08.787 --> 00:19:11.209
So, getting more consistent.
479
00:19:11.529 --> 00:19:17.994
Yeah, if we could find another truck, we might, I think we could make one more truck work here if we just put it on the project.
480
00:19:18.074 --> 00:19:18.515
Okay.
481
00:19:19.748 --> 00:19:21.810
Because right now projects are only Fridays, right?
482
00:19:22.371 --> 00:19:23.472
No, Tuesdays and Fridays.
483
00:19:23.492 --> 00:19:24.112
Tuesdays and Fridays.
484
00:19:24.293 --> 00:19:29.838
So basically if you fill in two more days or three more days, and I'm guessing that takes the dump trailer out.
485
00:19:30.198 --> 00:19:30.459
Yeah.
486
00:19:31.219 --> 00:19:31.580
Got it.
487
00:19:32.073 --> 00:19:33.254
And so what's your schedule look like?
488
00:19:33.574 --> 00:19:37.998
Estimates in the morning and then admin throughout the day kind of thing?
489
00:19:38.018 --> 00:19:39.539
My schedule is all over the place.
490
00:19:39.699 --> 00:19:42.222
I mean, I do estimates like all throughout the day.
491
00:19:43.282 --> 00:19:48.987
And then so Tuesdays, my mother-in-law watches them or they're in a Mother's Day out.
492
00:19:49.408 --> 00:19:51.670
And so I'll actually go work projects on Tuesdays.
493
00:19:52.830 --> 00:19:53.690
and Fridays.
494
00:19:54.391 --> 00:20:00.172
And then Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, I'm just like, I'll answer the phone when it rings.
495
00:20:00.332 --> 00:20:03.613
Like I don't actually have set time blocking hours.
496
00:20:04.153 --> 00:20:07.674
It literally is just when someone wants to have an estimate, I go and do an estimate.
497
00:20:07.794 --> 00:20:10.995
Like ours, we're not as like packed with estimate requests.
498
00:20:11.195 --> 00:20:12.915
It's very sporadic.
499
00:20:13.155 --> 00:20:13.415
Yeah.
500
00:20:13.435 --> 00:20:15.196
Well, hey, you don't have to run ads.
501
00:20:15.236 --> 00:20:16.896
So yeah, that's good.
502
00:20:16.936 --> 00:20:18.657
So it's a property that we already have.
503
00:20:19.457 --> 00:20:47.624
yeah a lot of times so i say i do all the estimates if they're there i'll have them do it oh that's good yeah i'll have my guys take a video or something like that yeah and then did you hire the other two this year then the other higher yes how's that been so far great there we hired young this year so one is 18 and one is 19 yeah um and they've stayed on yeah have you guys lost anyone uh we lost like a couple last year or something yeah we lost two last
504
00:20:49.844 --> 00:21:13.279
yeah solid we lost one guy because he was going to be a kicker for a semi-pro football team and then we looked at the roster and he wasn't on the roster so we're like oh what happened there buddy yeah i was like what happened there buddy and then we have one guy we really liked but then he got a welding apprentice oh cool and we're like okay he like wants to be a welder long term like okay we can't fault you for yeah chasing your dream yeah so
505
00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:15.480
Yeah, it seems pretty consistent.
506
00:21:15.540 --> 00:21:15.820
Yeah.
507
00:21:16.020 --> 00:21:18.501
But the two guys that we have now, they're great.
508
00:21:18.681 --> 00:21:19.702
Like, we really like them.
509
00:21:19.962 --> 00:21:20.062
So.
510
00:21:20.082 --> 00:21:20.943
It seems really cool.
511
00:21:20.963 --> 00:21:25.065
Well, even, like, sometimes I see a lot of children when they have to come, like, to your house and that sort of thing.
512
00:21:25.745 --> 00:21:27.646
But it seems like it's been fine.
513
00:21:27.946 --> 00:21:29.307
Yeah, they're doing good.
514
00:21:29.327 --> 00:21:29.487
Yeah.
515
00:21:29.507 --> 00:21:30.427
They live pretty close.
516
00:21:32.497 --> 00:21:35.840
Our furthest guy lives in Gallatin, so he drives like 20, 25 minutes.
517
00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:36.360
Okay.
518
00:21:36.821 --> 00:21:38.743
But he was the one that we hired very first.
519
00:21:38.903 --> 00:21:41.645
So he's been doing this for three years now.
520
00:21:42.466 --> 00:21:42.986
No issues.
521
00:21:43.006 --> 00:21:43.447
That's great.
522
00:21:43.507 --> 00:21:43.727
Yeah.
523
00:21:44.147 --> 00:21:44.608
Super awesome.
524
00:21:44.628 --> 00:21:44.728
Cool.
525
00:21:45.208 --> 00:21:47.250
Well, hey, thanks for letting us come.
526
00:21:47.310 --> 00:21:47.631
Yeah, of course.
527
00:21:47.651 --> 00:21:49.492
But is there anything I can help with at all?
528
00:21:49.612 --> 00:21:52.695
I know it's very much of a steady journey for you.
529
00:21:52.735 --> 00:21:53.035
Yeah.
530
00:21:53.576 --> 00:21:53.756
And...
531
00:21:55.077 --> 00:21:57.038
But, like, is there anything I can help with at all?
532
00:21:57.258 --> 00:21:58.039
Anything whatsoever?
533
00:21:58.519 --> 00:21:59.640
I know it's like you've been plotting.
534
00:21:59.660 --> 00:22:01.361
You guys are both in the field crushing it.
535
00:22:01.521 --> 00:22:01.941
Yeah.
536
00:22:02.121 --> 00:22:02.742
I mean, I don't know.
537
00:22:02.762 --> 00:22:05.784
I look forward to the next few years, though, because it's going to be that kind of turning thing.
538
00:22:06.024 --> 00:22:07.945
It's like, okay, eventually you've got to get out of the field.
539
00:22:08.045 --> 00:22:08.305
Yeah.
540
00:22:08.325 --> 00:22:10.006
Eventually you don't want to be doing it all the time.
541
00:22:10.606 --> 00:22:14.389
And so it's like, how do we start handing these off to other people?
542
00:22:14.749 --> 00:22:15.289
Yeah.
543
00:22:15.349 --> 00:22:16.710
And I'm glad you got above, like, to 80.
544
00:22:16.750 --> 00:22:23.054
Because, like, once you have 80, 90 even, that's when you have just a little bit of that margin, a little bit of protection to be able to take that time.
545
00:22:23.074 --> 00:22:23.274
Yeah.
546
00:22:23.434 --> 00:22:24.635
A little more flexible, so...
547
00:22:25.248 --> 00:22:25.568
It's good.
548
00:22:26.029 --> 00:22:26.269
Yeah.
549
00:22:26.749 --> 00:22:33.936
I think definitely like when we start, I mean, we're Brian Connors, who I'm talking to for our coach and he's awesome.
550
00:22:34.036 --> 00:22:38.079
So he's got that experience with starting a second location and all that.
551
00:22:38.139 --> 00:22:43.444
But I know when that time comes like figuring out like, okay, how does it work?
552
00:22:44.085 --> 00:22:51.611
Like, how do you ranch off and have two separate locations, but you're all meeting at the same place and it's all the same stuff.
553
00:22:51.691 --> 00:22:52.072
So yeah.
554
00:22:53.544 --> 00:22:54.185
It's a transition.
555
00:22:54.565 --> 00:22:54.846
Yeah.
556
00:22:55.387 --> 00:22:55.607
Right.
557
00:22:55.967 --> 00:22:57.890
I think you're super good with operations, though.
558
00:22:57.910 --> 00:23:04.238
Like, I think one of the things I thought was super powerful about both of you is, like, you're really good at operations, and the crew likes that.
559
00:23:04.318 --> 00:23:12.949
Like, sometimes they like the owner being out there with them all the time, and then you being able to cover all admin and sales is, like, kind of a win-win.
560
00:23:13.810 --> 00:23:15.172
So, we love it.
561
00:23:15.393 --> 00:23:16.754
Yeah, it works for us.
1
00:00:00.051 --> 00:00:01.612
We'll probably hit 400.
2
00:00:01.992 --> 00:00:02.773
That's our goal.
3
00:00:02.893 --> 00:00:06.795
He was watching a bunch of lawn videos and then your video started popping up.
4
00:00:06.856 --> 00:00:08.417
Why don't we start a lawn business?
5
00:00:08.457 --> 00:00:13.980
We're not accepting any new mowing customers, booked out till third week of August for projects.
6
00:00:14.100 --> 00:00:15.401
We're capped out.
7
00:00:15.601 --> 00:00:19.524
Everybody's topic about like price increases, like, man, we should have done more.
8
00:00:19.704 --> 00:00:24.167
And so right now is it one other person with you or two or how many guys do you have calling?
9
00:00:24.808 --> 00:00:27.370
Right now we've got three guys in a truck finishing the route for today.
10
00:00:27.490 --> 00:00:28.050
Okay.
11
00:00:28.510 --> 00:00:30.531
And then typically we've just got two guys in a truck.
12
00:00:30.772 --> 00:00:31.012
Got it.
13
00:00:31.072 --> 00:00:32.192
And are they coming back here then?
14
00:00:32.332 --> 00:00:34.654
Yeah, yeah, they'll be back here probably about like an hour.
15
00:00:34.794 --> 00:00:37.155
Yeah, yeah, about an hour.
16
00:00:37.215 --> 00:00:41.638
So all the mowers lined up right there in front of our kayaks.
17
00:00:41.798 --> 00:00:43.459
And then we've got our board.
18
00:00:43.599 --> 00:00:48.782
So we'll have, we're still, you know, we're three seasons in and we're still working on what to put on our board and stuff.
19
00:00:50.063 --> 00:00:52.946
But like what we load up in the trailers and then we do gas cards.
20
00:00:52.986 --> 00:00:57.812
So that's their calendars of when they're there and just kind of random stuff.
21
00:00:57.892 --> 00:01:02.798
And I made that little sign to remind them like we're not just here to cut grass.
22
00:01:02.818 --> 00:01:04.420
We're here to make their yard look great.
23
00:01:04.440 --> 00:01:05.161
That's awesome.
24
00:01:05.322 --> 00:01:07.484
Little inspiration I like to think hopefully.
25
00:01:07.504 --> 00:01:07.785
Yep.
26
00:01:08.384 --> 00:01:13.791
And so the three that are full-timers, they're the ones that just usually one hop in with you and the two others in the other.
27
00:01:13.951 --> 00:01:14.291
Got it.
28
00:01:14.712 --> 00:01:15.513
That's super cool.
29
00:01:15.593 --> 00:01:19.558
Yeah, one of the guys that's been with us since, like, he was our very first hire.
30
00:01:19.838 --> 00:01:20.860
So he's the other...
31
00:01:22.301 --> 00:01:23.403
He drives the other truck.
32
00:01:23.643 --> 00:01:24.885
He runs the other mower.
33
00:01:25.385 --> 00:01:26.146
So he's kind of like...
34
00:01:27.027 --> 00:01:34.193
We like kind of call him like Assistant G. Like we're trying to figure out like what he would be because Tyler doesn't want to get out of the field.
35
00:01:34.293 --> 00:01:36.535
And I like doing the admin stuff.
36
00:01:36.555 --> 00:01:39.738
So it's kind of like we want to give you a little bit more responsibility.
37
00:01:39.818 --> 00:01:41.499
But yeah, what?
38
00:01:41.820 --> 00:01:42.080
So.
39
00:01:42.673 --> 00:01:45.474
What's the size of revenue you're thinking you're gonna hit this year?
40
00:01:45.574 --> 00:01:47.435
So we'll probably hit 400.
41
00:01:47.795 --> 00:01:48.596
That's our goal.
42
00:01:48.796 --> 00:01:49.656
Okay.
43
00:01:49.736 --> 00:01:50.656
Last year, what was it?
44
00:01:50.936 --> 00:01:53.057
We finished at 280 last year.
45
00:01:53.137 --> 00:01:54.298
Wow, so it's a pretty big step up.
46
00:01:54.338 --> 00:01:55.118
Yeah, yeah.
47
00:01:55.238 --> 00:02:00.480
This year has been, we added like, so we only worked Monday through Thursday last year.
48
00:02:00.981 --> 00:02:02.921
We added Friday this year.
49
00:02:02.941 --> 00:02:04.082
With those part-timers kind of?
50
00:02:04.102 --> 00:02:06.423
With the part-timers and then like we switched.
51
00:02:06.543 --> 00:02:10.965
So he works Monday through Thursday and then I work landscaping projects on Fridays.
52
00:02:11.145 --> 00:02:11.505
Got it.
53
00:02:12.105 --> 00:02:18.067
And so just adding that one day has like made a huge difference.
54
00:02:18.227 --> 00:02:22.848
So that's like, I think a big factor because we had a whole day.
55
00:02:22.888 --> 00:02:24.728
We weren't doing anything, making money.
56
00:02:24.949 --> 00:02:25.709
It was driving me nuts.
57
00:02:26.529 --> 00:02:30.790
I was like, our trucks are just sitting here doing nothing on a Friday.
58
00:02:30.830 --> 00:02:31.810
Let's do something.
59
00:02:33.091 --> 00:02:34.111
So, yeah, so that's.
60
00:02:34.571 --> 00:02:52.368
that'll be a good year do you think you're probably capped around 400 just with the two trucks yeah oh for sure yeah we're like not accepting any new mowing customers we're booked out till third week of august for projects like we're capped out for at least spring and summer yeah how many customers
61
00:02:53.370 --> 00:02:53.570
$147?
62
00:02:53.930 --> 00:02:57.775
Yeah, like $150 is it.
63
00:02:57.935 --> 00:02:58.856
We can't do any more.
64
00:02:59.116 --> 00:03:02.861
Because then you probably only have one day a week to do projects.
65
00:03:03.201 --> 00:03:06.786
Yeah, because Tuesday one truck mows and one truck does projects.
66
00:03:07.286 --> 00:03:08.167
So we're not even like...
67
00:03:09.188 --> 00:03:11.089
full day of projects except for Friday.
68
00:03:11.369 --> 00:03:11.649
Got it.
69
00:03:11.829 --> 00:03:13.629
Do you actually turn away Moen customers now?
70
00:03:13.729 --> 00:03:14.869
Oh yeah.
71
00:03:14.909 --> 00:03:25.432
Like I've had, we have like six estimate requests in our email inbox from Friday that I still need to respond to today to like say, hey, we're not taking any more customers.
72
00:03:25.972 --> 00:03:27.372
Unless they're in one of the neighborhoods.
73
00:03:27.532 --> 00:03:29.793
And it's so hard for me to say no, but...
74
00:03:30.482 --> 00:03:31.643
Have you already raised prices this year?
75
00:03:31.864 --> 00:03:32.044
Yep.
76
00:03:32.645 --> 00:03:32.985
Really?
77
00:03:33.025 --> 00:03:34.106
Raised prices on everybody.
78
00:03:34.387 --> 00:03:35.748
Really across the board?
79
00:03:35.788 --> 00:03:35.889
Yeah.
80
00:03:35.909 --> 00:03:36.850
Raised them across the board.
81
00:03:36.890 --> 00:03:38.872
Some people a little bit more because we want to try to get rid of them.
82
00:03:38.892 --> 00:03:40.114
Some people a little bit less.
83
00:03:40.234 --> 00:03:40.774
Yeah.
84
00:03:40.835 --> 00:03:42.617
And I think we only lost six people.
85
00:03:43.177 --> 00:03:43.378
Wow.
86
00:03:43.598 --> 00:03:43.858
So.
87
00:03:44.078 --> 00:03:44.779
How much did you raise it by?
88
00:03:44.859 --> 00:03:46.001
What percentage?
89
00:03:46.201 --> 00:03:47.142
Anywhere between 18 and 25%.
90
00:03:49.103 --> 00:03:50.503
So we probably could have done more.
91
00:03:50.523 --> 00:03:56.805
I know it's what everybody, like, everybody's topic about, like, price increases, like, man, we should have done more.
92
00:03:56.825 --> 00:03:58.846
So, yeah.
93
00:03:58.866 --> 00:04:02.567
And then some people, like, complained about the price, but they were like, well, we're not going to get rid of you.
94
00:04:02.587 --> 00:04:03.688
We just want to complain about it.
95
00:04:03.708 --> 00:04:05.708
I was like, okay, good.
96
00:04:05.768 --> 00:04:06.028
Great.
97
00:04:06.288 --> 00:04:08.289
We'll send calls to Command Center for three days.
98
00:04:08.329 --> 00:04:09.089
Yeah, yeah.
99
00:04:09.109 --> 00:04:10.150
Right after the price increase.
100
00:04:10.870 --> 00:04:11.670
Y'all handle it.
101
00:04:11.690 --> 00:04:12.850
Oh, cool.
102
00:04:12.890 --> 00:04:13.691
But, yeah.
103
00:04:13.771 --> 00:04:16.531
So then here, this is, like, kind of the shop space, I guess.
104
00:04:16.551 --> 00:04:16.652
Yeah.
105
00:04:16.672 --> 00:04:16.772
So...
106
00:04:16.792 --> 00:04:17.692
This is very nice.
107
00:04:17.712 --> 00:04:17.852
Nice.
108
00:04:18.548 --> 00:04:20.749
Just all the tools that we need.
109
00:04:21.310 --> 00:04:22.871
We get snacks for the guys.
110
00:04:23.711 --> 00:04:25.552
So they got snacks and then ice.
111
00:04:25.672 --> 00:04:27.834
Is this a relic of the past or usable?
112
00:04:28.054 --> 00:04:29.375
It's still usable.
113
00:04:29.535 --> 00:04:30.135
Really?
114
00:04:30.595 --> 00:04:33.157
This is what got us started our first year.
115
00:04:33.237 --> 00:04:33.477
Really?
116
00:04:33.497 --> 00:04:39.961
So we had that, and then we got the small motors on the other truck.
117
00:04:40.041 --> 00:04:43.283
But we used this for the entire first year.
118
00:04:43.323 --> 00:04:43.863
60 inch?
119
00:04:44.384 --> 00:04:44.504
72.
120
00:04:44.544 --> 00:04:45.224
Oh, we're 60.
121
00:04:45.264 --> 00:04:46.065
I see, Jenna.
122
00:04:46.105 --> 00:04:46.285
Yeah.
123
00:04:47.095 --> 00:04:48.375
It's still good to use every now and then.
124
00:04:48.976 --> 00:04:49.936
Give him some big properties?
125
00:04:50.516 --> 00:04:50.916
Yeah.
126
00:04:50.996 --> 00:04:51.436
Oh, man.
127
00:04:51.656 --> 00:04:53.717
But it's cool because it was his dad's mower.
128
00:04:53.917 --> 00:04:54.617
Oh, wow.
129
00:04:54.697 --> 00:05:01.459
And so, like, your dad helped us start the business because that was our first piece of equipment that we had.
130
00:05:01.479 --> 00:05:02.599
Super cool.
131
00:05:02.959 --> 00:05:04.320
So what were you doing before this?
132
00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:05.140
I forget, Tyler.
133
00:05:05.260 --> 00:05:05.900
Parts management.
134
00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:07.260
I was at the Lexus dealer.
135
00:05:07.520 --> 00:05:07.820
Okay.
136
00:05:07.921 --> 00:05:09.641
I've been an automotive for 10 years.
137
00:05:09.881 --> 00:05:11.482
And then you were doing the bootcamp thing.
138
00:05:11.562 --> 00:05:12.302
You're still doing that, right?
139
00:05:12.322 --> 00:05:13.202
I still do that, yeah.
140
00:05:13.222 --> 00:05:14.963
So is that the Saturday game?
141
00:05:15.103 --> 00:05:16.543
No, so I do that three mornings.
142
00:05:16.563 --> 00:05:17.943
Like, I did it at 5.30 this morning.
143
00:05:17.963 --> 00:05:18.304
Oh, wow.
144
00:05:18.364 --> 00:05:24.525
So I do it three mornings a week, but I've, like, way taken a step back from that since this has picked up so much.
145
00:05:24.785 --> 00:05:25.446
Right.
146
00:05:25.506 --> 00:05:27.446
But, yeah, I just train three mornings a week, and that's it.
147
00:05:27.766 --> 00:05:28.347
Yeah, well.
148
00:05:28.367 --> 00:05:32.948
Do you think you're going to, from here, are you going to just optimize with the two trucks, or do you think you're eventually going to have to...
149
00:05:33.428 --> 00:05:34.989
Get a third and move forward.
150
00:05:35.409 --> 00:05:36.289
We haven't talked about that yet.
151
00:05:36.389 --> 00:05:36.589
Really?
152
00:05:36.609 --> 00:05:36.709
Okay.
153
00:05:36.870 --> 00:05:37.350
All right.
154
00:05:37.390 --> 00:05:41.912
Because if we get another truck, then we have to get a whole shop space.
155
00:05:41.972 --> 00:05:43.212
It's a third one when we're here.
156
00:05:43.252 --> 00:05:43.913
Yeah.
157
00:05:43.953 --> 00:05:46.794
We are tapped out of space for here.
158
00:05:46.814 --> 00:05:47.234
Right.
159
00:05:47.254 --> 00:05:49.455
We find another space, then another truck and all that.
160
00:05:50.068 --> 00:05:50.448
Yeah.
161
00:05:50.748 --> 00:05:52.849
I mean, we've been like praying about it.
162
00:05:52.929 --> 00:05:57.850
And like, we're, I'm just like very like, if an opportunity presents itself, we're going to like- Like a killer shop space.
163
00:05:57.910 --> 00:05:58.411
Yes.
164
00:05:59.111 --> 00:05:59.371
Yeah.
165
00:05:59.651 --> 00:06:06.913
Like we're not actively out there looking for it, but just kind of like, if we see a sign like, oh, let's find out about that place or something like that.
166
00:06:06.973 --> 00:06:11.955
So worst case scenario would be just keep optimizing the size, maybe 500 next year, 480.
167
00:06:12.015 --> 00:06:12.315
Yeah.
168
00:06:13.055 --> 00:06:13.555
Okay.
169
00:06:13.575 --> 00:06:13.775
Yeah.
170
00:06:14.215 --> 00:06:14.755
Good stuff.
171
00:06:15.136 --> 00:06:18.637
And so when did you all get involved with the lawn care?
172
00:06:18.657 --> 00:06:19.697
Like why was it lawn care?
173
00:06:20.297 --> 00:06:42.648
you were already doing your boot camp stuff and then you had to do in the parks man so like why lawn care so when we we bought this house um and tyler had a yard at his old house but it wasn't like this big so when we got here he kind of like got like obsessed with it like making it look good and stripes and all that kind of stuff so lawn uh-oh
174
00:06:43.068 --> 00:06:47.171
lawn videos started really popping up on his YouTube.
175
00:06:47.311 --> 00:06:51.574
And so he was watching a bunch of lawn videos and then your video started popping up.
176
00:06:51.994 --> 00:06:53.815
And so he had watched a couple of them.
177
00:06:53.995 --> 00:06:59.178
And then one night he called me in and it was Nick Reed's video about him starting.
178
00:06:59.318 --> 00:07:00.799
And so he's like, Hey, watch this.
179
00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:01.860
I was like, Oh, that's cool.
180
00:07:01.880 --> 00:07:02.921
So we're sitting there watching it.
181
00:07:03.261 --> 00:07:06.983
And I'm like, Hey, like that, why don't we do something like that?
182
00:07:07.003 --> 00:07:07.224
Like, yeah,
183
00:07:08.425 --> 00:07:09.967
Why don't we start a lawn business?
184
00:07:09.987 --> 00:07:12.210
So that was in November of 2020.
185
00:07:14.960 --> 00:07:15.400
Two.
186
00:07:15.781 --> 00:07:15.961
Yep.
187
00:07:16.821 --> 00:07:18.563
And like he just started thinking about it.
188
00:07:18.583 --> 00:07:20.004
He was like, well, what if we did this?
189
00:07:20.084 --> 00:07:21.165
And so he started throwing out ideas.
190
00:07:21.185 --> 00:07:22.506
And I was like, oh, okay, serious.
191
00:07:22.866 --> 00:07:27.529
So then we booked the call with Lee and then training in February.
192
00:07:27.629 --> 00:07:31.132
And we went to training, came back, got our truck wrapped.
193
00:07:31.452 --> 00:07:33.474
And he was going to only do it part time.
194
00:07:34.274 --> 00:07:37.857
And within two weeks of coming back from training and getting our truck, we were completely booked.
195
00:07:37.937 --> 00:07:39.438
And he had to like walk into his boss.
196
00:07:39.458 --> 00:07:39.998
And it was like.
197
00:07:40.018 --> 00:07:41.540
This is basically your third spring rush then.
198
00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:41.680
Yeah.
199
00:07:41.740 --> 00:07:41.960
Yeah.
200
00:07:42.440 --> 00:07:42.941
Third one.
201
00:07:42.961 --> 00:07:43.581
How's that been?
202
00:07:43.741 --> 00:07:46.063
Like in terms of, because the first one's always crazy.
203
00:07:46.143 --> 00:07:46.684
Yeah, oh yeah.
204
00:07:46.704 --> 00:07:49.166
If you actually just came right back from training, then it would've hit right away.
205
00:07:49.306 --> 00:07:50.587
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
206
00:07:50.767 --> 00:07:54.490
And so, but then like second one, third one, have you adjusted each spring rush you think?
207
00:07:55.050 --> 00:08:01.776
Kind of, so our first, like from my perspective, our first one, like it was insane, nuts, overworked.
208
00:08:02.336 --> 00:08:03.537
They all hated me.
209
00:08:04.118 --> 00:08:06.780
Like called me a slave driver.
210
00:08:06.860 --> 00:08:08.161
Yeah, oh yeah, it was real bad.
211
00:08:10.618 --> 00:08:11.999
Yeah, it was real bad.
212
00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:14.280
So then and they were working five days a week.
213
00:08:14.460 --> 00:08:22.123
So then last year when we took it down to four days a week, I got a little bit more tame and we didn't get like as out of control.
214
00:08:22.143 --> 00:08:23.063
Yeah.
215
00:08:23.423 --> 00:08:24.524
And this year I've had my moments.
216
00:08:25.804 --> 00:08:26.645
couple of attics.
217
00:08:26.665 --> 00:08:29.046
Is that, like, I know the one guy, he stayed with you for a while.
218
00:08:29.066 --> 00:08:29.306
Uh-huh.
219
00:08:29.326 --> 00:08:31.488
Has there been other crew members staying with you for a while?
220
00:08:32.028 --> 00:08:34.470
Our first two employees are still with us.
221
00:08:34.750 --> 00:08:35.090
What?
222
00:08:35.150 --> 00:08:36.791
Yeah, one of them's part-time, one of them's full-time.
223
00:08:36.811 --> 00:08:38.653
You're like, all these amateurs can't keep employees.
224
00:08:38.713 --> 00:08:38.973
I know.
225
00:08:39.013 --> 00:08:40.274
Our first two just sticking around.
226
00:08:40.614 --> 00:08:41.334
That's amazing.
227
00:08:41.575 --> 00:08:41.995
How?
228
00:08:42.015 --> 00:08:42.555
Did you know them?
229
00:08:42.575 --> 00:08:43.156
Do you know them?
230
00:08:43.196 --> 00:08:43.356
No.
231
00:08:43.536 --> 00:08:43.736
Really?
232
00:08:43.756 --> 00:08:43.956
Nope.
233
00:08:44.196 --> 00:08:44.977
Found them on Indeed.
234
00:08:45.037 --> 00:08:45.357
Wow.
235
00:08:45.497 --> 00:08:46.058
Yeah.
236
00:08:46.158 --> 00:08:46.378
Yeah.
237
00:08:46.678 --> 00:08:48.559
So that's your main guy and then the other one.
238
00:08:48.719 --> 00:08:49.479
Is a part-timer.
239
00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:50.440
Yeah.
240
00:08:50.460 --> 00:08:51.100
He's in his 60s.
241
00:08:51.180 --> 00:08:51.360
Wow.
242
00:08:51.680 --> 00:08:53.561
And he's...
243
00:08:53.581 --> 00:08:57.303
But he, yeah, he really like bounces around and it's awesome.
244
00:08:57.323 --> 00:08:57.803
There you go.
245
00:08:58.043 --> 00:09:02.145
When I raised prices, and I'm actually still kind of working on it.
246
00:09:02.425 --> 00:09:04.847
Some people, I didn't change their budgeted hours.
247
00:09:06.047 --> 00:09:08.748
And then some people, I did change their budgeted hours.
248
00:09:09.488 --> 00:09:16.271
And so we went from $70 an hour to $80 an hour, like in our matrix technically.
249
00:09:17.491 --> 00:09:20.472
And so with P4P, I was then like splitting it.
250
00:09:20.592 --> 00:09:23.073
So I was saying $75 an hour for the 33% that they get.
251
00:09:27.655 --> 00:09:53.671
um to use raised prices and then adjusted budget i was kind of a correct yeah yeah since we're still so small and like i can like i pretty much know every single yard that we have right now like what it looks like who the person all that so i knew which ones we could adjust yeah um and so that's um i think has helped a little bit i honestly haven't like sat there and gone through and done a little bit better with
252
00:09:54.628 --> 00:09:58.849
Like, actually, okay, where are we not hitting it?
253
00:09:58.949 --> 00:10:00.309
Where are we not getting it to fix it?
254
00:10:00.569 --> 00:10:00.829
Right.
255
00:10:00.869 --> 00:10:01.149
So.
256
00:10:01.649 --> 00:10:03.129
But the current crew is pretty happy.
257
00:10:03.189 --> 00:10:05.310
Like, they're just like, okay, base is fine kind of thing.
258
00:10:06.290 --> 00:10:07.210
For the most part, yeah.
259
00:10:07.330 --> 00:10:10.131
I mean, they'll mumble and groan and complain about it every once in a while.
260
00:10:10.211 --> 00:10:10.451
But.
261
00:10:11.711 --> 00:10:12.771
When they see that they hit it.
262
00:10:14.031 --> 00:10:15.091
There's days that they hit it.
263
00:10:15.352 --> 00:10:15.592
Right.
264
00:10:15.772 --> 00:10:19.992
But as far as, like, the pay period, it papers off.
265
00:10:20.092 --> 00:10:20.472
Yeah.
266
00:10:21.253 --> 00:10:23.413
So they see it, and it's like, oh, you know, where to go.
267
00:10:23.773 --> 00:10:24.053
Right.
268
00:10:24.730 --> 00:10:32.716
And then projects kill us too, because I am very optimistic about how quickly we can get things done.
269
00:10:32.736 --> 00:10:34.257
And everything goes perfectly to plan.
270
00:10:34.277 --> 00:10:35.698
And yes.
271
00:10:35.778 --> 00:10:40.882
So that has kind of hurt us with projects, but I'm getting a little bit better.
272
00:10:41.182 --> 00:10:41.383
Yeah.
273
00:10:41.583 --> 00:10:42.584
Do you do all the estimates then?
274
00:10:42.764 --> 00:10:43.584
Yes, I do all of them.
275
00:10:43.664 --> 00:10:46.647
So you do them throughout the week, and then Friday the projects go out.
276
00:10:46.667 --> 00:10:46.827
Yep.
277
00:10:47.327 --> 00:10:47.587
Got it.
278
00:10:47.747 --> 00:10:47.928
Yeah.
279
00:10:48.448 --> 00:10:50.950
Do most of the mowing, can they do them over the phone?
280
00:10:51.958 --> 00:10:53.039
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah.
281
00:10:53.299 --> 00:10:56.442
There's the other peninsula, so Hendersonville has two peninsulas.
282
00:10:56.463 --> 00:10:59.586
The other one, there are some areas that are very hilly.
283
00:11:00.006 --> 00:11:03.329
And so I know if someone calls or requests, like I'm gonna go look at it.
284
00:11:03.529 --> 00:11:06.572
The Augusta business model is to do $800,000 in annual revenue, $200,000 in profits.
285
00:11:09.275 --> 00:11:10.116
How is that possible?
286
00:11:10.436 --> 00:11:18.562
Because of Command Center taking our phone calls, emails, text messages, and even running payroll, doing all the admin work so we can focus on growing the business.
287
00:11:18.922 --> 00:11:29.991
If you think having someone answer your phone throughout the day would be a relief for you and your business, go to AugustaLawnCareServices.com slash franchise, book a call, and see if joining Augusta Nation would be the right fit for you.
288
00:11:30.211 --> 00:11:36.856
So you think you're going to go away more from the projects and do more of the mowing, or is it really just coming out if you can get the third truck and open that up?
289
00:11:37.228 --> 00:11:39.072
I think it'll be if we get a third truck.
290
00:11:39.152 --> 00:11:39.372
Got it.
291
00:11:39.392 --> 00:11:40.875
Because I really like projects.
292
00:11:41.196 --> 00:11:43.520
I like the big lump of money that comes in.
293
00:11:43.540 --> 00:11:43.721
I like...
294
00:11:46.144 --> 00:11:53.228
I feel like there's a lot of our customers that use us for projects and I would hate for them to have to go with somebody else.
295
00:11:53.948 --> 00:11:57.930
So we stopped for a while taking outside projects.
296
00:11:57.950 --> 00:12:05.294
We were only doing projects for our mowing customers, which that's probably going into fall and things like that.
297
00:12:05.314 --> 00:12:08.536
Like we're going to like top priorities are mowing customers, obviously.
298
00:12:10.177 --> 00:12:12.579
But I would just hate for them to have to go with somebody else.
299
00:12:12.679 --> 00:12:14.121
So I'm of a mind.
300
00:12:14.141 --> 00:12:17.504
Let's figure out how to make it happen so that we can.
301
00:12:17.704 --> 00:12:21.267
So if we just optimize, take budget hours down by half, we get more projects.
302
00:12:21.287 --> 00:12:22.068
Yes, exactly.
303
00:12:22.088 --> 00:12:24.890
So we just need more optimistic.
304
00:12:24.950 --> 00:12:26.131
Yeah, that's how it works, right?
305
00:12:26.272 --> 00:12:27.032
Very cool.
306
00:12:27.593 --> 00:12:30.836
And so, yeah, like really finding a space around here is tough, though.
307
00:12:30.936 --> 00:12:34.899
I was looking the other day, like just finding rent spots.
308
00:12:34.999 --> 00:12:35.320
Yeah, yeah.
309
00:12:36.080 --> 00:12:36.641
It's crazy.
310
00:12:36.821 --> 00:12:38.423
Yeah.
311
00:12:38.583 --> 00:12:42.167
I have a friend who's a realtor, and she kind of looked around.
312
00:12:42.368 --> 00:12:45.831
And this was last year when I was like, let's just explore the idea.
313
00:12:46.432 --> 00:12:48.995
And we couldn't find anything.
314
00:12:49.496 --> 00:12:51.177
I haven't even really looked this year.
315
00:12:51.197 --> 00:12:52.339
Right.
316
00:12:52.359 --> 00:12:53.840
So, yeah.
317
00:12:54.021 --> 00:12:55.462
We have to have a space that...
318
00:12:56.363 --> 00:12:57.524
Obviously fits all this.
319
00:12:58.064 --> 00:13:01.027
Storage units around here don't have parking spots.
320
00:13:01.647 --> 00:13:03.548
So, like, we can't park our trucks.
321
00:13:04.129 --> 00:13:05.770
So we'd still, they'd be having to come here.
322
00:13:05.790 --> 00:13:07.171
Then we'd have to drive over and load up.
323
00:13:07.191 --> 00:13:09.753
Does he do a man guy would take his truck, would ever take his truck home?
324
00:13:11.714 --> 00:13:14.076
Uh, I don't think so.
325
00:13:14.196 --> 00:13:14.677
I don't know.
326
00:13:15.938 --> 00:13:16.498
Just a thought.
327
00:13:16.678 --> 00:13:17.158
Yeah.
328
00:13:17.178 --> 00:13:19.280
I don't think so.
329
00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:19.800
I don't know.
330
00:13:19.920 --> 00:13:20.741
We get very nervous.
331
00:13:20.761 --> 00:13:21.842
Yeah.
332
00:13:21.862 --> 00:13:22.022
Yeah.
333
00:13:22.662 --> 00:13:24.644
We put some truck trackers in there.
334
00:13:24.684 --> 00:13:24.784
Yeah.
335
00:13:25.585 --> 00:13:25.865
But...
336
00:13:26.762 --> 00:13:30.105
We were considering it originally when we were moving from Blaine to Bellingham.
337
00:13:30.385 --> 00:13:31.205
Wait until we're done talking.
338
00:13:31.225 --> 00:13:31.926
We couldn't find any space.
339
00:13:31.946 --> 00:13:36.549
We were like, okay, well, what if we take like three or four of the crews, they just take the truck home.
340
00:13:37.090 --> 00:13:40.292
They like might even, some of them were willing to take less money per hour.
341
00:13:40.312 --> 00:13:41.533
They're like, hey, we need a truck.
342
00:13:41.693 --> 00:13:42.013
Woohoo.
343
00:13:42.714 --> 00:13:46.677
But then we could cut way back on shop space.
344
00:13:46.757 --> 00:13:47.077
Yeah.
345
00:13:47.397 --> 00:13:48.038
Interesting.
346
00:13:48.058 --> 00:13:48.979
It's definitely an option.
347
00:13:48.999 --> 00:13:50.760
I know I'd consider it in Charlotte too.
348
00:13:50.920 --> 00:13:53.602
North Carolina is like, hey, let's just have a crew.
349
00:13:53.622 --> 00:13:54.503
I'll take their trucks home.
350
00:13:54.883 --> 00:14:00.897
There's obviously liability there, but I'll pay for that versus having to find a shop space in some places.
351
00:14:01.739 --> 00:14:02.300
Interesting.
352
00:14:03.061 --> 00:14:04.425
We honestly hadn't even thought about that.
353
00:14:05.157 --> 00:14:09.339
Some of the spaces I was looking at, even in Charlotte, was like five, six, seven grand a month.
354
00:14:09.599 --> 00:14:16.143
I'm like, okay, well, hypothetically speaking, if I get one total truck a year, I can pay for the truck.
355
00:14:16.423 --> 00:14:18.264
Basing it off of a truck total.
356
00:14:18.304 --> 00:14:20.345
Yeah, so I don't know, just a thought.
357
00:14:20.645 --> 00:14:21.185
That's funny.
358
00:14:21.305 --> 00:14:22.646
I'm seeing more people move to it.
359
00:14:22.806 --> 00:14:27.529
Even if you don't have the enclosed vans, the vans are nice, but here you're not going to do a van or an enclosed space.
360
00:14:27.549 --> 00:14:28.549
You have to open.
361
00:14:29.109 --> 00:14:32.751
So even if the truck was there and they came to pick up the trailer, I don't know.
362
00:14:33.192 --> 00:14:33.492
Huh.
363
00:14:33.652 --> 00:14:33.772
Oh.
364
00:14:34.092 --> 00:14:36.133
Because ramp rack here, you've got to have a bigger mower.
365
00:14:36.193 --> 00:14:37.554
Because you're needing two people, too.
366
00:14:37.834 --> 00:14:39.896
Yeah, we never even considered a ramp rack.
367
00:14:39.936 --> 00:14:46.440
Because none of our neighborhoods, like the couple in Nashville, their next truck, they're getting a ramp rack.
368
00:14:46.460 --> 00:14:47.821
Because their neighborhoods are tiny.
369
00:14:47.961 --> 00:14:51.463
Like, they can't even park their trailer in some of the neighborhoods.
370
00:14:52.024 --> 00:14:54.745
If you did a solo route, could you do a ramp rack?
371
00:14:54.805 --> 00:14:57.147
Like, if you've got a truck for just one person?
372
00:14:58.007 --> 00:15:01.910
Because you probably need two mowers now for two people.
373
00:15:01.970 --> 00:15:02.330
Yeah.
374
00:15:02.931 --> 00:15:03.191
Yeah.
375
00:15:03.879 --> 00:15:05.841
But also then you have more capital outlay.
376
00:15:06.041 --> 00:15:06.281
Yeah.
377
00:15:06.301 --> 00:15:12.646
The other truck and... And that may come down the road, but when we're building subdivisions around here, they're stacked on top of each other.
378
00:15:12.946 --> 00:15:13.126
Yeah.
379
00:15:13.146 --> 00:15:15.808
So that may be a possibility, more yards would be like that.
380
00:15:15.928 --> 00:15:16.189
Yeah.
381
00:15:16.829 --> 00:15:19.011
Right now with the half acre to acre lots.
382
00:15:19.551 --> 00:15:22.513
Yeah, you gotta have a 48 or 52 in there, plus one other.
383
00:15:22.533 --> 00:15:26.076
Yeah, something in small games that still have the decent size of ours.
384
00:15:26.236 --> 00:15:27.357
Yeah, no, totally.
385
00:15:27.557 --> 00:15:29.599
Do you want to grow it much larger, you think?
386
00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:31.000
Or is this where you feel good?
387
00:15:31.560 --> 00:15:32.821
Like that four or five, 600,000?
388
00:15:34.592 --> 00:15:36.237
We definitely want to grow.
389
00:15:37.621 --> 00:15:38.303
How much more?
390
00:15:41.905 --> 00:15:45.586
So our ultimate goal is we want to have multiple locations.
391
00:15:45.966 --> 00:15:46.606
Yeah.
392
00:15:47.146 --> 00:15:52.987
I think the biggest thing to figure out is like when we're ready to let go of stuff.
393
00:15:53.347 --> 00:15:56.448
Because I like doing the admin stuff.
394
00:15:56.608 --> 00:15:57.528
I can do it.
395
00:15:57.768 --> 00:15:59.189
Like I'm free labor.
396
00:15:59.209 --> 00:15:59.309
Yeah.
397
00:15:59.849 --> 00:16:05.030
And he likes being in the field and mowing and things like that and helps with quality control.
398
00:16:05.050 --> 00:16:05.310
Yeah.
399
00:16:06.367 --> 00:16:12.150
Like our ultimate goal, like end of the road, like when we're happy, we'll have five locations.
400
00:16:12.830 --> 00:16:18.813
Like we'll be able to like step back a lot more, but I don't know what that looks like.
401
00:16:19.033 --> 00:16:20.373
Like I've talked to Nick about it too.
402
00:16:20.473 --> 00:16:22.054
He's like, so what does that look like for you?
403
00:16:22.134 --> 00:16:22.914
Like, what would you do?
404
00:16:22.954 --> 00:16:24.015
I was like, I don't know.
405
00:16:24.575 --> 00:16:25.896
Still run everything.
406
00:16:27.777 --> 00:16:30.658
Which direction does it kind of naturally spread the leads coming in?
407
00:16:30.918 --> 00:16:35.320
If people come from more up South or more towards Nashville in terms of the lead kind of coming in?
408
00:16:35.742 --> 00:16:40.563
We're getting a little bit more towards Nashville and then Gallatin.
409
00:16:40.583 --> 00:16:41.183
Okay.
410
00:16:41.203 --> 00:16:45.304
So we're going like west and east, like this way.
411
00:16:45.424 --> 00:16:45.724
Got it.
412
00:16:45.824 --> 00:16:46.145
Yeah.
413
00:16:46.205 --> 00:16:46.505
Got it.
414
00:16:46.785 --> 00:16:47.845
So not as much north.
415
00:16:48.125 --> 00:16:48.345
Yep.
416
00:16:48.605 --> 00:16:48.865
Okay.
417
00:16:49.165 --> 00:16:52.226
Because that's where it gets a little more rural once you get north.
418
00:16:52.266 --> 00:16:52.526
Mm-hmm.
419
00:16:52.906 --> 00:16:54.607
That's probably where like a shop might work.
420
00:16:54.787 --> 00:16:55.147
Yeah.
421
00:16:55.167 --> 00:16:56.307
I don't know.
422
00:16:57.247 --> 00:16:57.947
It's still expensive.
423
00:16:58.227 --> 00:16:58.788
I looked around.
424
00:16:59.188 --> 00:16:59.848
It's not cheap.
425
00:17:00.028 --> 00:17:00.268
Yeah.
426
00:17:01.277 --> 00:17:03.178
It's almost like you can just find a farm.
427
00:17:03.218 --> 00:17:06.319
Well, and everybody and their mom is moving to Nashville.
428
00:17:06.479 --> 00:17:09.600
And like, so Nashville is too expensive, so they're all going to the suburbs.
429
00:17:10.040 --> 00:17:12.941
So that's making everything out here so much more expensive.
430
00:17:13.081 --> 00:17:13.701
Right.
431
00:17:13.721 --> 00:17:15.042
So that doesn't help us either.
432
00:17:15.062 --> 00:17:16.362
Yeah, yeah, totally.
433
00:17:17.463 --> 00:17:20.264
So, and then on the admin side, you learned that whole process.
434
00:17:20.304 --> 00:17:22.744
Are you going to hand that off to someone else eventually down the road, you think?
435
00:17:23.345 --> 00:17:24.005
I don't know.
436
00:17:24.065 --> 00:17:25.065
I like doing it.
437
00:17:25.125 --> 00:17:26.906
Like, I like doing it.
438
00:17:26.986 --> 00:17:28.206
It gives me something to do.
439
00:17:28.486 --> 00:17:29.747
And, you know, it...
440
00:17:31.189 --> 00:17:36.218
feeds the control freak in me to like, like I want to make sure I'm touching everything in our business.
441
00:17:36.238 --> 00:17:37.440
I don't know.
442
00:17:37.461 --> 00:17:38.022
Maybe one day.
443
00:17:38.843 --> 00:17:42.149
Do you do only the over the phone or do you do instant quotes as well?
444
00:17:42.915 --> 00:17:44.997
So we did the Instant Quilt last year.
445
00:17:45.257 --> 00:17:48.561
I wasn't as big of a fan of it, and so we took it off this year.
446
00:17:48.741 --> 00:17:51.364
So just so we can get more precise with the measurement and stuff?
447
00:17:51.664 --> 00:17:55.168
So if a request comes in, that's why you're kind of like, got it.
448
00:17:55.188 --> 00:17:56.249
That makes sense.
449
00:17:56.269 --> 00:18:00.874
So then the sticks that came in on the weekend, are you basically looking at, are they in our areas or not?
450
00:18:01.074 --> 00:18:01.274
Yep.
451
00:18:01.334 --> 00:18:01.614
Got it.
452
00:18:01.754 --> 00:18:01.955
Yeah.
453
00:18:02.055 --> 00:18:02.195
Yeah.
454
00:18:02.750 --> 00:18:03.030
Got it.
455
00:18:03.230 --> 00:18:06.031
So you're still taking them in and just like some of them you're going to say no to.
456
00:18:06.091 --> 00:18:06.351
Yes.
457
00:18:06.431 --> 00:18:07.571
Based upon them being too far away.
458
00:18:07.591 --> 00:18:07.851
Yes.
459
00:18:08.291 --> 00:18:08.631
Got it.
460
00:18:08.771 --> 00:18:09.311
Okay, cool.
461
00:18:09.491 --> 00:18:10.032
Very cool.
462
00:18:10.272 --> 00:18:17.333
Or if they're honestly, if they're like too big or too small, like we're now looking for the perfect yards.
463
00:18:17.413 --> 00:18:17.593
Right.
464
00:18:17.753 --> 00:18:19.293
And that's like half an acre.
465
00:18:19.313 --> 00:18:20.454
That's kind of like what you're looking at.
466
00:18:20.734 --> 00:18:23.554
Yeah, those are the ones that you did not get real quick.
467
00:18:24.134 --> 00:18:26.735
You guys can handle them either two in a truck or some other.
468
00:18:27.513 --> 00:18:27.773
Got it.
469
00:18:28.013 --> 00:18:34.994
So we're praying for either an amazing shop space or potentially someone to be able to take their truck home and go that route.
470
00:18:35.614 --> 00:18:36.054
It'd be nice.
471
00:18:36.074 --> 00:18:43.856
I think if you can get to 600, that's when it starts making sense to be able to spend some time managing, off the truck.
472
00:18:43.936 --> 00:18:48.777
And even if that's a few years of just slowly getting to even three or four trucks.
473
00:18:49.377 --> 00:18:52.437
Four trucks can easily do $700,000, $800,000.
474
00:18:53.257 --> 00:18:56.718
And you basically full time managing quality control
475
00:18:57.118 --> 00:19:00.801
I'm just thinking longer term, flexibility a little bit more, things like that.
476
00:19:01.361 --> 00:19:07.886
But I really like the way you guys started it, and then it's just been like a slow, hey, we're not trying to go to $500,000 the first year.
477
00:19:08.107 --> 00:19:08.447
Yeah.
478
00:19:08.787 --> 00:19:11.209
So, getting more consistent.
479
00:19:11.529 --> 00:19:17.994
Yeah, if we could find another truck, we might, I think we could make one more truck work here if we just put it on the project.
480
00:19:18.074 --> 00:19:18.515
Okay.
481
00:19:19.748 --> 00:19:21.810
Because right now projects are only Fridays, right?
482
00:19:22.371 --> 00:19:23.472
No, Tuesdays and Fridays.
483
00:19:23.492 --> 00:19:24.112
Tuesdays and Fridays.
484
00:19:24.293 --> 00:19:29.838
So basically if you fill in two more days or three more days, and I'm guessing that takes the dump trailer out.
485
00:19:30.198 --> 00:19:30.459
Yeah.
486
00:19:31.219 --> 00:19:31.580
Got it.
487
00:19:32.073 --> 00:19:33.254
And so what's your schedule look like?
488
00:19:33.574 --> 00:19:37.998
Estimates in the morning and then admin throughout the day kind of thing?
489
00:19:38.018 --> 00:19:39.539
My schedule is all over the place.
490
00:19:39.699 --> 00:19:42.222
I mean, I do estimates like all throughout the day.
491
00:19:43.282 --> 00:19:48.987
And then so Tuesdays, my mother-in-law watches them or they're in a Mother's Day out.
492
00:19:49.408 --> 00:19:51.670
And so I'll actually go work projects on Tuesdays.
493
00:19:52.830 --> 00:19:53.690
and Fridays.
494
00:19:54.391 --> 00:20:00.172
And then Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, I'm just like, I'll answer the phone when it rings.
495
00:20:00.332 --> 00:20:03.613
Like I don't actually have set time blocking hours.
496
00:20:04.153 --> 00:20:07.674
It literally is just when someone wants to have an estimate, I go and do an estimate.
497
00:20:07.794 --> 00:20:10.995
Like ours, we're not as like packed with estimate requests.
498
00:20:11.195 --> 00:20:12.915
It's very sporadic.
499
00:20:13.155 --> 00:20:13.415
Yeah.
500
00:20:13.435 --> 00:20:15.196
Well, hey, you don't have to run ads.
501
00:20:15.236 --> 00:20:16.896
So yeah, that's good.
502
00:20:16.936 --> 00:20:18.657
So it's a property that we already have.
503
00:20:19.457 --> 00:20:47.624
yeah a lot of times so i say i do all the estimates if they're there i'll have them do it oh that's good yeah i'll have my guys take a video or something like that yeah and then did you hire the other two this year then the other higher yes how's that been so far great there we hired young this year so one is 18 and one is 19 yeah um and they've stayed on yeah have you guys lost anyone uh we lost like a couple last year or something yeah we lost two last
504
00:20:49.844 --> 00:21:13.279
yeah solid we lost one guy because he was going to be a kicker for a semi-pro football team and then we looked at the roster and he wasn't on the roster so we're like oh what happened there buddy yeah i was like what happened there buddy and then we have one guy we really liked but then he got a welding apprentice oh cool and we're like okay he like wants to be a welder long term like okay we can't fault you for yeah chasing your dream yeah so
505
00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:15.480
Yeah, it seems pretty consistent.
506
00:21:15.540 --> 00:21:15.820
Yeah.
507
00:21:16.020 --> 00:21:18.501
But the two guys that we have now, they're great.
508
00:21:18.681 --> 00:21:19.702
Like, we really like them.
509
00:21:19.962 --> 00:21:20.062
So.
510
00:21:20.082 --> 00:21:20.943
It seems really cool.
511
00:21:20.963 --> 00:21:25.065
Well, even, like, sometimes I see a lot of children when they have to come, like, to your house and that sort of thing.
512
00:21:25.745 --> 00:21:27.646
But it seems like it's been fine.
513
00:21:27.946 --> 00:21:29.307
Yeah, they're doing good.
514
00:21:29.327 --> 00:21:29.487
Yeah.
515
00:21:29.507 --> 00:21:30.427
They live pretty close.
516
00:21:32.497 --> 00:21:35.840
Our furthest guy lives in Gallatin, so he drives like 20, 25 minutes.
517
00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:36.360
Okay.
518
00:21:36.821 --> 00:21:38.743
But he was the one that we hired very first.
519
00:21:38.903 --> 00:21:41.645
So he's been doing this for three years now.
520
00:21:42.466 --> 00:21:42.986
No issues.
521
00:21:43.006 --> 00:21:43.447
That's great.
522
00:21:43.507 --> 00:21:43.727
Yeah.
523
00:21:44.147 --> 00:21:44.608
Super awesome.
524
00:21:44.628 --> 00:21:44.728
Cool.
525
00:21:45.208 --> 00:21:47.250
Well, hey, thanks for letting us come.
526
00:21:47.310 --> 00:21:47.631
Yeah, of course.
527
00:21:47.651 --> 00:21:49.492
But is there anything I can help with at all?
528
00:21:49.612 --> 00:21:52.695
I know it's very much of a steady journey for you.
529
00:21:52.735 --> 00:21:53.035
Yeah.
530
00:21:53.576 --> 00:21:53.756
And...
531
00:21:55.077 --> 00:21:57.038
But, like, is there anything I can help with at all?
532
00:21:57.258 --> 00:21:58.039
Anything whatsoever?
533
00:21:58.519 --> 00:21:59.640
I know it's like you've been plotting.
534
00:21:59.660 --> 00:22:01.361
You guys are both in the field crushing it.
535
00:22:01.521 --> 00:22:01.941
Yeah.
536
00:22:02.121 --> 00:22:02.742
I mean, I don't know.
537
00:22:02.762 --> 00:22:05.784
I look forward to the next few years, though, because it's going to be that kind of turning thing.
538
00:22:06.024 --> 00:22:07.945
It's like, okay, eventually you've got to get out of the field.
539
00:22:08.045 --> 00:22:08.305
Yeah.
540
00:22:08.325 --> 00:22:10.006
Eventually you don't want to be doing it all the time.
541
00:22:10.606 --> 00:22:14.389
And so it's like, how do we start handing these off to other people?
542
00:22:14.749 --> 00:22:15.289
Yeah.
543
00:22:15.349 --> 00:22:16.710
And I'm glad you got above, like, to 80.
544
00:22:16.750 --> 00:22:23.054
Because, like, once you have 80, 90 even, that's when you have just a little bit of that margin, a little bit of protection to be able to take that time.
545
00:22:23.074 --> 00:22:23.274
Yeah.
546
00:22:23.434 --> 00:22:24.635
A little more flexible, so...
547
00:22:25.248 --> 00:22:25.568
It's good.
548
00:22:26.029 --> 00:22:26.269
Yeah.
549
00:22:26.749 --> 00:22:33.936
I think definitely like when we start, I mean, we're Brian Connors, who I'm talking to for our coach and he's awesome.
550
00:22:34.036 --> 00:22:38.079
So he's got that experience with starting a second location and all that.
551
00:22:38.139 --> 00:22:43.444
But I know when that time comes like figuring out like, okay, how does it work?
552
00:22:44.085 --> 00:22:51.611
Like, how do you ranch off and have two separate locations, but you're all meeting at the same place and it's all the same stuff.
553
00:22:51.691 --> 00:22:52.072
So yeah.
554
00:22:53.544 --> 00:22:54.185
It's a transition.
555
00:22:54.565 --> 00:22:54.846
Yeah.
556
00:22:55.387 --> 00:22:55.607
Right.
557
00:22:55.967 --> 00:22:57.890
I think you're super good with operations, though.
558
00:22:57.910 --> 00:23:04.238
Like, I think one of the things I thought was super powerful about both of you is, like, you're really good at operations, and the crew likes that.
559
00:23:04.318 --> 00:23:12.949
Like, sometimes they like the owner being out there with them all the time, and then you being able to cover all admin and sales is, like, kind of a win-win.
560
00:23:13.810 --> 00:23:15.172
So, we love it.
561
00:23:15.393 --> 00:23:16.754
Yeah, it works for us.