SPEAKER_07 0:00

Problems, what's the number one thing that you guys do or have done or people can do?

SPEAKER_04 0:05

Um, I think you need to go into a partnership understanding the expectations like as best you can. Like that first year is probably gonna be rough, and like we knew that, like it wasn't like we were just blindsided by like how tough it was, like we knew it was gonna be hard, and I think like having that expectation of like there's gonna be some bumps in the road, like we're probably gonna disagree on some stuff, but like having open communication with each other and not making stuff personal, jet, business, hand dogged.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

Let's get into it, let's get into it. Kyle and Kyle. Kyle. Kyle. Locally owned, locally grown.

SPEAKER_04 0:43

Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_08 0:44

Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_02 0:45

Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_07 0:47

I love it. Yeah, let's get growing. Let's get growing. That's a good one. All right. So today we have Kyle and Kyle here, the owners of um our very own lawn pursuit. So actually, fun fact, I use them as my lawn care solution. I've gotten so many compliments. I actually had someone over this past week and they were like, How is your grass better than like everyone on the street? And I was like, look in the cul-de-sac, you see the guy over there. That's why. I'm like, he owns lawn pursuit. So good. We got it. So good.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

I appreciate that. Thank you.

SPEAKER_07 1:19

Beautiful, beautiful. So I guess to get started, um, this is not gonna be like a typical success story podcast, right? Where you say, Oh, my business is now doing millions because I've worked this hard, right? But this is like brand new because you guys are under a year still, is that right?

SPEAKER_00 1:35

Almost to a year. Almost about almost to the date. Yeah, like you're just getting everything. Yeah, okay. Which is crazy. It's gone by very fast to think about where we were last year at this time and where we are today at this time. So fast and so slow in the at the same time. 100%, 100%. Fast in some departments, slow in others, but um, but as long as we're given a good product, that's all that matters. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:59

So absolutely quality over quantity, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:03

That's right. That was the mindset.

SPEAKER_07 2:05

Interesting. Okay, so that being said, so how what got you guys into the lawn care business? And then what brought you into opening your own?

SPEAKER_04 2:12

So I guess you start since you have the degree.

SPEAKER_00 2:15

Oh. Um, well, I started uh in high school taking care of the baseball fields while I was I was playing baseball. Um, I loved it. Went to college at Mississippi State thinking I was gonna be a high school baseball coach so I could take care of the ball fields. Um, learned that you can get paid to do that. Um, and come to find out State has a terrific program. So one thing led to another, got in with that, um, and that started the grass journey. And I've done minor league baseball fields, I've done golf courses, um, wanted a better uh home life balance and was able to achieve that with um owning my own business or our own business. Um, when we decided to go out on our own, um, it was kind of a collab where I was like, look, I know what I'm good at, I know what I can do, um, I know what I'm not good at, and I know what you can do. Um, we'd be a great team. And I kind of pitched it to him as like, I'd I'd love an opportunity if you would come on board with me. Um, I was scared, you know, to to to figure all that stuff out myself. Um, and I trust this person right here all very much. And so um, and so it worked out, and that's kind of how we we started, and then it was just a matter of trying to figure out a name. I mean, we were brainstorming so many different things.

SPEAKER_07 3:38

Um, does that sound familiar? Well, I I spent like we spent a long time though when we were gonna merge too.

SPEAKER_02 3:45

Yeah, I spent like I remember whenever I was choosing the the name of my CPF, the of the CPA fame. I spent like three months thinking about it. You know, like which names, you know?

SPEAKER_00 3:56

That's wild. I mean, we we didn't spend three months because I think for us.

SPEAKER_04 4:00

Yeah, but we were because we were like trying to get a little bit of work and effort, you know, you don't realize we had to hit the ground running kind of fast. Like we I guess we started this out of necessity. Um, we used to be coworkers together, and um, that's how we figured out that we work so well together. And so just having the experience working for another company that did this, and then figuring out like I think the best move for our future is to just start it ourselves and be our own bosses, um, stop working for somebody else, and you know, hopefully make more money for yourself. So yeah, yeah, that's kind of why we got into it.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Well, and you also run into when you're sometimes working for other people, like they have their ways of doing things, or they want it done this way, or you know, XYZ. And and when you're in certain positions and they're not present, you know, you kind of just fall into habits or doing certain things. Um, and then you know, then you start to realize, okay, well, we need to do it back this way. Well, we had really good response, or we were able to gain a lot of customers, or we we had a lot of positivity when we were doing this. Um, or we don't do a good job of this, and now we know what we need to do better to like with our business. And I feel like that's really what helps us is we got to start the ground, like start from the ground up with the systems and how we wanted things to do, and and make sure we're not chasing money and making sure we've got direct deposits and this and that. Like we wanted to set it up from the get-go, right? So that when we got when we started making millions, we wouldn't have to go back onto how we were doing things and be like, okay, well, gotten this, like, we gotta figure out where all this is.

SPEAKER_07 5:36

Which a lot of people do that. Like, 100%. We've talked about that, and like we witnessed and they spent a lot, yeah, exactly. And you worked for that. So it was they spent a lot of money trying to fix it too, you know.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

Exactly. Exactly. And so we just were like, you know what, we know what we're doing, we can put out a good product, we're we're we're good people, we're compassionate, like, like we got this. And and you know, our three Google reviews that we have so far, I feel like are a representation of that. Um, because what they what they talk about and stuff like that. And those um for us just seems to to to help us. And we put out what you need when you need it, and I think that's the difference too, like what you were saying about your yard, and people are like, how is your yard the best? Well, we put out what we need to when we need to, and I don't water it. I don't know. And you don't water it. I don't water it.

SPEAKER_07 6:19

And we're in Tennessee or that Tennessee he like he is killing everyone's gravity.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

It's ridiculous thrive to save your front yard, it's because you get that shade.

SPEAKER_07 6:26

Yes, that shade is my backyard looks so good to be able to do it.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

It does, it does, yeah. That's just that's just because we know what we're doing.

SPEAKER_07 6:32

Hey, yeah, I I mean, two years I had like hardly any grass back there, so it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

You started your pursuit two years ago.

SPEAKER_07 6:39

Well, yes, yeah. Hey, that that pursuit has been wildly successful.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Good, cool.

SPEAKER_07 6:44

So, okay, so that's interesting. So now I want to hear more about the partnership. So, why do you think you guys make good partners and like who wears what hats in the business? And is there anything that you feel like is missing?

SPEAKER_04 6:56

Um, no, I mean, uh no, no, no, not at all. Like, I think you when like we started, like he has this great background, like in college, like doing sports turf, all this stuff. So I really leaned on him and trusted him with like creating the programs and stuff like that, the fertility programs. Like, he knows exactly what to do at all times of the year. And I know how to be an applicator. I I know some things, just not as much as he does when it comes to looking at a problem in somebody's lawn and diagnosing it. Kyle's great at that. I'm more so good at maybe like business strategy, like finances and like knowing who to get in touch with, like you guys, to be art accountants and stuff like that. Although I can't give credit to that, you found hope.

SPEAKER_07 7:37

So um yeah, hiring industry expert and business person. So yeah, two halves. I like it.

SPEAKER_04 7:42

Yeah, yeah, I think so. And then, you know, just trying to fill in the blanks with the skills that we don't have, making sure that we're working with the right people.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

It mindset's always not that hire your weakness is is something that I've always always been told or thought, and and um those are certain things instead of trying to put a square peg into a round hole, it's well, let's find that square peg and put it in the right hole. I'm gonna handle my duties. And part of that I think is just being honest and upfront and being like, look, I'm not gonna BS you. This is what I can do, this is what I can't do. Or if I don't know something, it's hey man, I don't, I don't know, but I can research it and we can figure it out. Um, and I feel like that was why we were so compatible. It was like, you're, yeah, I mean, he's outstanding when it comes to the the projections and all the numbers and everything like that. Like he runs all those that stresses me out, and I don't like to think about it. So like I just when it comes to stuff like that, like I literally just rely on him, and that's that trust factor. Like, I just rely on him and I trust him um on that aspect. And he either tells me, you know, hey, we're we're gonna be able to give ourselves back a little bit this month, or hey, don't buy anything type stuff. And it it just it's been awesome. I know I'm not the easiest person to deal with, but like it's we've been we've been awesome and it's been really good.

SPEAKER_04 8:54

It is no it's been great so far, even though it's you know, first year in business and there's a lot of things to overcome. Like he's been a great partner, and I wouldn't want to do it with anybody else.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

But to answer your question, I guess I just thought about being there. Yeah, the biggest issue right now is he is pretty much full-time with the business, and I'm still part-time. And so it once I'm able to be on full-time, that was why I was like me when it was like what's missing. Um, because his back's probably really sore, and he's doing a lot of the heavy lifting and he's carrying that load right now. But it's like anything else, it's a process, we'll get there. Yeah, um, keep our head down, and yeah, we're we're we're we're pretty dang close. Um yeah, so July should be a good thing. So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_07 9:35

So then that being said, how do you deal with that? So that this is gonna be um maybe a little intrusive, but like, how do you deal with like Kyle only spending half the time in the business and you spending the full time in the business? Has that impacted like your relationship? Has it impacted like business growth?

SPEAKER_04 9:52

Do you think what I mean uh is this for business growth? Like obviously it would be great if he was, you know, working full-time with me and you know, then we could talk to more people, we could get more lawns done, like it'll just snowball from there. So as soon as he can come on full-time, yeah, I expect like things to just like blow up even more than they are right now. Um, and I'm sure that there were frustrating moments where you know we uh just got stressed out because like it it it can be challenging, like trying to find that balance, and you're like, oh, it's not fair, but like that's it's you shouldn't really fair is a bad word in business. It is, and I think that like we realize that pretty early, like if we want this to succeed, like there are gonna have to be sacrifices that each of us make individually. And so one of those for me right now is like, yeah, I um I just have to be the one to do more production right now, and that's fine, because he'll get there and he'll it'll all even out and he'll be there. But he also does great with selling the business when like Spring Hill, like your entire neighborhood, like he's like the king down there, and so we I think we also balance each other out in that way. Like he's more of the salesman. I like to be a little bit more behind the scenes or just like be the one getting the work done in the field. Um, and he's got the personality to like talk to anybody to to pitch it.

SPEAKER_07 11:09

So yes, it sounds so familiar. Yeah, so so I do work full-time in our business, obviously, but I have children, so I have to take some time more time, I think, away than Joaquin can for the or has to from the business. So that's interesting because it's the same. And he says the same thing. So that's a great mindset to have, like, it'll work itself out because eventually he'll have children and he'll be taking the breaks. I don't be old, so I'll be like, I can do whatever you want.

SPEAKER_04 11:32

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I mean we're in the exact same thing. Like he has a family that he has to support, so he has to go work that part-time job with the golf course and stuff like that. And I'm not a position where I have those responsibilities yet, but yeah, maybe someday. Uh do you have a family? Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

Just me and my wife right now. That's awesome. Yeah, that's awesome. That's awesome. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_07 11:50

And baseball games, you know. This is pretty good.

SPEAKER_00 11:53

I mean, and just everything else mowing, just all sorts of anything right now. It's just kind of doing odd and end jobs, you know, just to like help it uh help any way possible. Um but yeah, no, it's been it's a process, but it it helps you, I think, appreciate it more. And I have I've always had the mindset of like you can't get somewhere or help somebody if you haven't gone through something yourself. Yeah. So going through this process now and and and you know, us getting frustrated at each other and then us talking it out and and having these issues and then fixing them shows, or I think it's more of a testament to kind of like our relationship and and how the business is, to where you're able to have differences, talk about them, come to an agreement, and then it's water off your back or whatever the saying, or duck's back, I guess, or whatever it is. Um, and I think that's been really important for us. And um, I know it's helped me a lot because I I kind of uh I can overwork that little voice in my head sometimes, and and he helps me keep it at bay. So it's it's been it's been awesome.

SPEAKER_07 12:57

So then what would you say in your partnerships? Anyone else who wants or or even has a business partner right now? What's the number one thing that's kind of helped you guys stay on the same page? Or like talk, like you guys you said, talking things out, having problems. What's the number one thing that you guys do or have done or people can do?

SPEAKER_04 13:15

Um, I think you need to go into a partnership understanding the expectations as best you can. Like that first year is probably gonna be rough, and like we knew that. Like it wasn't like we were just blindsided by like how tough it was. Like, we knew it was gonna be hard. And I think like having that expectation of like there's gonna be some bumps in the road, like we're probably gonna disagree on some stuff, but like having open communication with each other and not making stuff personal is super helpful for sure. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Communication, I was gonna say communication, yeah, and that's been the biggest thing to where just communicate, and you even see that with customer service today. People just want to be talked to and they want to know what's going on, and that's the simplest way to retain customers that I've I've noticed right now, or at least in the the year that we've been operating. Um, you just communicate with them, and and that's the biggest thing they're hungry for is when you go talk to a new customer, they're just like, Well, my other guy or girl, whatever, like they've ghosted me, or this or that. You hear that all the time, and it's just being reliable. And I've got an example, I don't want to use any names, but there's a gentleman that um we've picked up that uh is kind of down by uh he's in Franklin, uh West Side of Franklin. And this one individual, you know, he was like, I've used these guys and this guy and this guy, and they all burn me. And um, you know, we we met with him and we we talked and we told them we were gonna do what we were gonna do. And I even went and helped adjust some irrigation heads for him, and and we'd done everything we've said we were going to. And because of that, he's gotten us at least, I think, five customers. Wow, because they're like, Oh, you are so-and-so, or so-and-so's wife told us about. Oh, yeah, we love that. And I've literally sent an estimate and met with a lady Saturday who has got to finish her current um contract contract with her current company, and then she's jumping over, and she's just like, they've said nothing but great things about you, you know. And it's like, I appreciate that. Um, and that's another thing we keep getting from a lot of people is a lot of people are skeptical. Oh, you're a new business. Why, why'd you what's going on here? You know, and so a lot of people don't. You have two types of people. You have the people that are like, heck yeah, I don't care if your product's good or not, I'm gonna support you. Yeah, and those people are great, you need those people. And then there's the people that are like, uh, I'm gonna go with this one because they're a little more seasoned. And it's like, I get that. But those people are the ones calling us now saying, hey, I don't know what you guys did to our neighbor, but uh there you are. Looks awesome.

SPEAKER_07 15:36

We've experienced that too. Yeah, that's funny to hear.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

Yeah, it's just it's just the way of the world, and it's and you just you you have to have short memory. Um, and that comes from sports or anything like that. You can't fester on stuff and let it last. It's it's a matter of it's over, okay. Like, whatever. Did I learn from it? Did I grow from it? How did I grow from it? How did I learn from it? Boom. Next, move on, and then move on. And it's it's and then I'm bad about that, where I will sit and and I go back to that little voice where it just it I call it like a little corkscrew where it just kind of like circles, and all of a sudden, next thing you know, you're way down, you're looking up, trying to get out of it, and you're like, Oh man, I dug burning your time. Yeah, exactly. And then you're worrying about stuff that's not even real or or whatever. So um, yeah, sorry, that was probably a little off topic.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

No, that was no, that was awesome. That was awesome.

SPEAKER_07 16:23

I think it's human experience, you know. But I mean, everyone experiences that, so it's nice of people to hear that they're not alone, like when experiencing it.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Well, that's the biggest thing that I love hearing when I I get to talk or I hear people speak. It's it's when people are in situations and stuff like that. I I feel like you're not alone. Yeah, you feel like sometimes you're alone and you're the only person that is dealing with certain things, or like I need help, you know, and we live in a world that nobody wants to ask for help. It's oh you don't need help, you know. Yeah, but everybody everybody needs help. No, they do.

SPEAKER_07 16:51

Something that you said was interesting to me. So I want to ask you about that in a second. So we just did a six series episode about or six series, six episode series. Uh fix that. Uh we just did a six episode series about solopreneurship to um to enterprise, like how to go from solopreneur to enterprise. So that being said, something you said was interesting, and I want to hear like how because I know that's a goal for you guys, right? To grow and scale and you guys have good product, you know what you're doing. Um, so to get to that level or when you get to that level, on your way to that level, how are you guys going to ensure that it stays the way it is? So, like taking care of the guy in West Franklin, yeah, instead of becoming the big company who ghosts them or like kind of ruins their stuff or is not as detailed. So, how how are you going to maintain that?

SPEAKER_04 17:39

I think it's really important to obviously get all of your processes and like try to build a scalable business. So, like I have a way that I like to interact with new customers. Like, I write that down. Like, I write down my interaction for how I speak to them. And it sounds like overkill sometimes when it's just us because it's like I know he knows what he's doing. But like if you want to like scale that, I think you need to write down exactly what you're doing so that when you finally hire your first employee, you can train them in how you're maintaining that relationship with that customer so that you know that they're you know still doing a good job. And like to grow slowly, and like you don't just want to hire a bunch of people just because you have too much work and you need it done. Like, I want us to be able to grow at a pace where we're hiring the right people and training them well, you know, things aren't falling through the cracks, like customer relationship. That's like the most important thing. Like that is being maintained with like the level that we're doing it now. So yeah, I think a lot of those big companies, they they just get massive and they'll hire anybody, their turnover rate's huge. Um, and they're just trying to get new customers, not necessarily like maintain the ones that they have. Um, that kind of feels like what their business model is. 100%, 100%.

SPEAKER_00 18:53

I agree.

SPEAKER_04 18:53

So yeah, we want to get a customer and be their people for life.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

That's the mindset for sure.

SPEAKER_07 18:59

Have you guys lost any customers?

SPEAKER_04 19:01

Uh to moving, to people moving, or they decide that they want to be like a fully like organic, like nothing on my lawn type thing.

SPEAKER_07 19:10

I went through that phase and then I had dead grass and the unfortunate, you know, unfortunately in the organics world, it's it's organic.

SPEAKER_00 19:20

So it takes a lot more of a certain product to get your out, you know, with whatever your outcome is, your desired outcome is gonna be. And so sometimes that's it sounds good, like, oh, I want to be organic. It's like, okay, well, go look at the cost or or or how not well your weeds are gonna be treated, type stuff. You know, there's a reason why farmers have to spray certain things. I mean, it's if if not, you're gonna not, we'd have four strawberries instead of 400, you know, and it's like that's just the reality of of some of those products. But you understand that and you relay that to the customer when you meet with them and you explain, like, look, we're licensed, like, I can go buy some cool stuff because I've got a restricted use pesticides license, but we don't do that. We go and buy pretty much anything that you can buy at a co-op or at your normal place like that. So we're not putting anything super crazy on your yard, we're be friendly, so everything we have put out there is not going to hurt pollinators. If we don't have pollinators, we all die. So it's it's something that we're very passionate about. And like I said, we try to do everything the right way. Um, but to answer your question, I only think you're as good as the the people you train. And so if, which is basically what Tilly said, but basically it's just a matter of if you have systems in place, if you have ways in place, then teach them what you want. If you want them to do something or do something a certain way, explain that and express that, but not just express it, do it yourself. Let them see you do that. You can't tell somebody to do something that you're not gonna do. So I've always been a lead by example kind of guy. Um, so that's kind of how I would we go about that. But but especially for training, it would be a matter of like, all right, you ride with me for a week, go ride with him for a week. See how I do things, see how he do do things, see how he does things. We're keeping that. That's fine. Um, and uh and and pick and choose what you want from us, create your own self as an applicator, but as long as you're communicating and we're you know doing what we up to our standard, then that's that's fine. Like I want you to be your own person and I want you to be able to go out there and build your own relationships, but I just want you to do it to our standard, you know. And I think that is one of the biggest issues that we've seen in the past, to let his point what he was talking about, is you got guys that are just there for a paycheck, and that's fine because we we gotta support families, like we've all got stuff. So, like there's nothing wrong with getting a paycheck. Um, but I'm gonna want somebody that's a little more passionate, somebody that's not just there for a paycheck, somebody that if you were to pop your head out and be like, Hey, Steve, what are you spraying? And Steve goes, I don't know, I'm just you know, and you're like, What we why are you even here then? You know, whereas it's Like, Steve, what are you spraying? Oh, I've got uh an iron sulfate mixture with this and this and that. And and now you're like, oh, I don't even know what that is, but that sounds great, okay?

SPEAKER_06 22:08

Yeah, so education, education, right?

SPEAKER_00 22:10

Educating, just just you want them to be like uh like if you could just boop yourself and have like a another copy and paste, yeah. There we go. You want them to be that, you know, not to a T, but you want them to pretty much be, hey, I'm sending my guy, I promise you, it's gonna get done just as well, if not better, than if I were to go do it. Now, sometimes I've learned in the past, you have to go do those because some people are like, Well, you didn't you said you were and you sent him, and it was like, Okay, I apologize, I've learned my lesson, but even though that guy came and did a better, it doesn't matter, you know? So it's just like little things like that.

SPEAKER_07 22:46

So, how do you plan on dealing with things like that when you are going to that enterprise level and you have to have employees going out to do it?

SPEAKER_04 22:52

That's a great question. I'm sure we'll run into some issues where maybe we hire the wrong guy and he's not doing a good enough thing.

SPEAKER_07 22:59

We've hired a lot of the wrong guys.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:02

So I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

I mean it's like dating. You you you kind of have to like, you know, dating, the whole purpose of dating is to figure out what you like about people and what you don't like, so then hopefully you can find the right one. It's the same thing I feel like with a hiring process. It's like, well, I thought this dude was good, but this. And then you start to learn traits about people or certain things like that, and you're like, we want to stay away from those people or that kind of person, or if they, you know, it's just an attitude, but also a vibe kind of thing, and it's it's I think it all plays in all the quiet.

SPEAKER_07 23:29

No, so then so then that I guess what I'm saying is so so do you have a plan right now for how you're gonna handle those clients or customers?

SPEAKER_04 23:36

Not in uh for handling clients or customers, we're handling new employees.

SPEAKER_07 23:40

Clients or customers when they s when they want you or you, oh, rather than the employee. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:46

I don't really think I've come up with a plan for that.

SPEAKER_00 23:49

You don't have a plan as of right now, it would just be accommodating. You want me, I'll be there. This is what this is when I'm available, so pick out your time and I'll be there. Um, and same thing with him.

SPEAKER_04 23:59

Um it'll be a I feel like it'll be a couple years till we get to that point, but um like for now it's just gonna be him and I doing the production for a while. But no, I mean I I would like to know y'all's advice on like how you go through hiring and firing somebody that's not working out, like or how you deal with customers that are you know a little bit picky, like how do you set that boundary as the owner? Like, hey, sorry, like I've I'm the owner of the company now, I've got people set in place to do the right thing. Like, I need you to respect this. Yeah, I need you to respect this boundary and like trust me when I say I'm sitting this person that they're gonna do the right thing. Yeah, and if they don't, we'll make it right. But I think you need to draw a line for some customers.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

And I think y'all actually addressed that in one of y'all's podcasts. I watched it.

SPEAKER_07 24:44

Thank you so much for watching, but no, we did. So I was hoping that we and we had to do it.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

It was a bad hire. It was I don't forget who well, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 24:50

What we've had bad hires. Well, I'll tell you that.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

It was a friend or something, right? It was your friend.

SPEAKER_07 24:56

We will talk about that and momentarily.

SPEAKER_02 25:01

We really appreciate it. Insight, uh insight about that, you know. You know, something I I have realized though. So something that happened with us is that I think we grew too fast.

SPEAKER_07 25:10

We wait. Well, it's funny because we did, but at the same time, I was watching for that, but for in my mind, it was not that fast.

SPEAKER_02 25:17

Somehow, some something that happened with our business, like we grew too fast. And all of those questions you you are having, we have had to experience by like you know, like in the last six months. You know, that's overwhelming. Yeah, and right now I'm just realizing this. Oh crap, why did we and and and it just happened? I'm like, it just happened really. It just really happened really, um, really without us knowing about it, you know, you know, in you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_07 25:50

So it's well, because we were busy working, like being employees of the business and not owners, which I feel like it's we're in good.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

Something that happened to us though is like you know, we grew bigger, we have more bills. We had to go out and chase more business to get that bill, to get to get the beers paid, you know, just to just to get the people paid. And then I'm like, somehow you get on this train, and like, oh cool, we grew to this level, but then like once you have that revenue, you're like, okay, cool. Like, I am hustling my battle for the last three months. We bring in money, but everything is going away too space. Okay, we gotta do something about this. Like, why what is going on? But it's kind of growing fast and kind of you know, making mistakes and sometimes using credit cards, it's kind of like help you. Grow revenue that level, and they're like, okay, cool. Now I gotta damn side, like try not to have the revenue. Yeah. Let me see how we can figure out like how the efficiency, you know.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

But you gotta understand, and that's like to what he brought up earlier about trying to understand like the mindset, like you have to understand you're gonna make mistakes. Yes, and you have to understand that you're not gonna be successful in this, and like you almost want to just tell yourself you're gonna fail, so that you, you know, that you so it makes you work a little bit harder, but uh, you just have to understand not to give up. And you're gonna have issues and things are gonna happen, and it's just a matter of like I think I said earlier, like how you take that situation, learn from it, forget about it, and move on. And yeah, that's what I think uh helps with that aspect.

SPEAKER_02 27:17

Do you think often about what will you do next if Lone Pursuit doesn't grow it? Or or you don't uh negative talking about it.

SPEAKER_06 27:26

I'm like, hey, there's no option.

SPEAKER_02 27:28

I'm I'm asking this question to hit that from you. Yeah, yeah. No, maybe because the way to go into business is like, hey, I have no other option.

SPEAKER_04 27:34

Yeah, with my retirement plan. So like I I haven't thought about it as like what's gonna happen if this doesn't work out. Like, this is working out, it's gonna work out. It's it's what do I do in my free time after this works out so well that I can hire people to you know run it? We're out on a lake fishing or something. I don't know. We're gonna name it one third.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

That's we're gonna name my boat one third. We had an uh potential investor come in when we first started the business that offered us. I remember that. Yeah, uh a good good it was respectable and everything was awesome, but we laughed at each other and I like told him my joke about hey, you know what? One day I'll get a boat, I'm gonna name it one third, and we'll laugh because that would have been their own shape.

SPEAKER_02 28:09

How much how much money did he value the business at that time when he offered you that that money?

SPEAKER_00 28:14

I think it was 125,000 for a for a third of like percentage, and it was but that also brought on another investor. Um added an experienced uh entrepreneur that has many great portfolio and whatnot. Um, but it kind of took away our freedom. And at the end of the day, it was gonna have to still put things up to a vote. And we looked at each other like, bro, we ain't voting on squad. If we want more money, we're giving ourselves more money. And it was gonna and it was gonna go to that third party and it was gonna rely on them. And so we thought about it, and I could see um how something like that would be motivation or or how it would be like, heck yeah, like because you're so dad, like so daggum scared. Yeah, and at that point in time, like I had no money, like no income, no nothing. There's somebody telling you that they're gonna let you in on a chunk of money, and once you become profitable, then you can pick up a salary. I think sometimes I think back, I'm like, dang, did I mess up by not doing that? But I know by the end, like, even though we're going through the tunnel and we're like searching, you know, right now for that light at the end.

SPEAKER_07 29:20

Once we get to that light, we're gonna what he just said though, we've talked about this in our podcast a couple of times about that, like entrepreneurs, you know, they have that uh because I had the same thing. I was like, I have a family to feed, I'm the only one working, you know. Yeah, like it's fine, I'm not worried about it. Right, right. But it but what what was that we ego? You have to have this ego that you know, like oh yeah, you just know you're gonna be successful.

SPEAKER_00 29:43

And it's well, and there's you know, you there's prayer and there's other stuff that helps too, like kind of helps humble you and everything like that. But at the end of the day, it's just like they say, you got that dog in you, you know, and it's just like you either do or you don't.

SPEAKER_02 29:58

Yeah, I so I was reading this book, this book called Good to Great. And I think what what you all explaining is like in business, you always have to have faith that like you know, like long time everything is going to work out. For sure. But still you have to face the brutal facts of the day today. You know, always have faith that everything's going to work out, but still, like, you know, business is hard, you know, you gotta say like brutal fat. And I think that kind of explains like what is business about. You gotta have this crazy faith. Yeah. This is going to work out.

SPEAKER_00 30:28

And your cell phone knows too, just I guess. Like, I know I can do this.

SPEAKER_07 30:31

Like if you can't if you can have faith in yourself, there's no way you can never have a business.

SPEAKER_00 30:34

100%, 100%, 100%. That's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 30:38

It was it's called this book I'm breathing called that I just finished reading called Good to Grade. Okay. You know how you borrow it from you?

SPEAKER_07 30:45

Yeah, I was like, bring that to me Saturday, and then I'll we can put it on. Does it have pictures?

SPEAKER_02 30:49

Those are my kind of books.

SPEAKER_07 30:52

Some diamond hands. Chat GPT, tell me what the some good pictures.

SPEAKER_02 30:56

Put some pictures for those. Fantastic. Awesome.

SPEAKER_07 30:59

Cool. Okay, so I want to go back to your initial question, though, how to handle clients who want you as the owners doing the job and not employees.

SPEAKER_05 31:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 31:09

So we ran into that. I mean, obviously, when when you run a business, especially a new business, you're going to run into everything. And every business owner and new entrepreneur is going to run into similar things. So that being said, um, what we did and what we've done differently is we pretty much don't give them the option. And we set the expectation right away from getting the client. And we did not do that at the at the beginning because it was just us. And we're like, hey, I'll handle it. I got you.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

I got you. I got you.

SPEAKER_07 31:35

And we would take phone calls, we would do all the things. And sometimes we would even, if clients would have a problem with an employee doing it, we would say, Okay, I'll just handle it. It's okay. But now we've realized that's we're never gonna grow our business the level that we need to, nor can we prioritize the clients who are paying for us to do bigger jobs, right? And our employees are just as good at doing that task as we are, we wouldn't have them doing it. For sure. You know, at least those um basic tasks. So that being said, we say, hey, this is your now we introduce and say, hey, here's what we're going to offer. If you're doing monthly accounting with us, we have an accounting team to take care of you. If you're doing tax, we have a tax team. Even if Joaquin's doing the taxes, we still say we have a tax team.

SPEAKER_08 32:15

Right, right, right, right, right.

SPEAKER_07 32:16

So I think for you guys it would be, hey, here's what we're gonna do for you. We're going, because you guys are the formulators pretty much, right? Like like you're going to plan it out, but guess what? We we have a formulator team. The team who does this is gonna handle it. Just you, but you're doing it. Then we have applicators, right? That's what it's called.

SPEAKER_00 32:33

Yeah, technician, an applicator, whatever you want to say.

SPEAKER_07 32:35

So then we we have a team we have an applicator. This person's gonna come out and do it. If it's you, it's you, right? Yeah, and if not, because eventually it won't be. That's the goal.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

And 100%, no, 100%. And that's and that's actually something that some customers ask, you actually hear that now because they've they've so many have been through so many of those. Well, I was with this guy when he started his business, he got too big, and now you know, now I'm on this business. And and so it is something that I haven't spent too much time, I guess, thinking about. But yeah, in a situation like that, it's just a matter of trying to explain. I guess it's just it goes back to communication and just being like, Look setting expectations. Yeah, they're gonna come out and they're gonna do as well of a job, and maybe the first couple times they go, uh, you uh you go with them. Yeah, and maybe you go while they're applying and you stand there and talk to the homeowner while they're out there applying, and you you let them see, like, look, I'm here supervising, making sure he's doing the right thing, all the areas covered that needs to be covered. He I've introduced you two together, so now you know her or him, and here's his car number, whatever. You can talk directly. Now, if there's a bigger issue, if Timmy doesn't show up or or Timmy says he did your yard and you check your ring camera and you don't see us there, then please call me because Timmy's in trouble. That's true, that is true. You sometimes cameras will pick up after, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:57

And and that's where it's I've been accused of like not treating a yard and I I've treated it, and then you they show you the camera footage, and you can see uh clean lawn, like no tired tire tracks, and then you see the tire tracks, and I'm like, Well, how'd those tire tracks get there? That was that was me that did that. So uh yeah, just a little side note there. That is true.

SPEAKER_07 34:15

So, how how did you handle that? Did you just show out the tire tracks?

SPEAKER_04 34:18

So, no, that was uh that was actually when we worked for the other business, and um I so that was a major like learning day for me because I initially responded uh via email to this customer and said, Hey, like um I called our technician, he said that he did it. It wasn't me, it was a technician. Um he said that he did it. Um like this is what you can look for, blah blah blah. Um and the guy was like, No, I want you to come out like here.

SPEAKER_00 34:48

Um Didn't he call you a liar?

SPEAKER_04 34:50

Yeah, he he like he called me on the phone, like called me a liar, said he's like been in construction. I don't know. It was it was nuts, and so he just like immediately like got me like super riled up and just came out of like left field with like the energy and just like being mad at us for me saying I I trust our guy and he did it, but I I'll come out there and I'll look at it. And he didn't he didn't want me to do that, so he like he was like no, I'm I'm quitting. And then that's when Kyle came in. I told him exactly what happened. He drove out to the house. Rang the dude's doorbell. Yeah, he drove out to the dude's house, like talked to him, like got down in the lawn, like showed him everything. Like I was gonna do it, but I think the lesson that I learned from that is like don't just like you're gonna have to disagree with customers sometimes because they're gonna be wrong, they're just gonna be wrong about it. Customers are not always right.

SPEAKER_00 35:38

Yes, and customers are not always right, and disagree.

SPEAKER_06 35:40

Who said that, Hardy's Burger King, something like that?

SPEAKER_02 35:42

Oh, I have no idea.

SPEAKER_06 35:43

Well, one of those things.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

Okay, customers there's the slowest customers is always right, but you are right. Costumers are not always right.

SPEAKER_04 35:52

Yeah, they think they are, they're gonna be wrong, and when you email them back telling them that you think that they're wrong, that doesn't go over well. So, yeah, I I think what I mean. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 36:02

You heard that guy's ego, and yeah, I rang his doorbell and I he was like I was like, Man, that was not cool what you did. I was like, uh, let's go look at the I already went in the backyard, saw the tire tracks, looked at the fertilizer pellets, came around front. He was like, Let's go in the backyard. I said, Please do. And we went back there and I said, What are those little BBs on the ground by your left foot? And he looks down. I go, Oh, actually, you see those white tracks going that way. This is actually textbook. I'm gonna use these pictures to teach my new technicians on how to do passes. So thanks for letting me come out here. Yeah, and then he immediately was like, I'm wrong. I don't think he'd ever been wrong, apparently, because he didn't know how to handle it. Oh wow. Um, and no one's ever caught. And I was here, I was like, sir, I'm not here to rub your nose and poo or nothing. I was like, I just if my dude's telling me he's doing something and he's not, I want to know. No offense, I don't care about you. Like, but if my guy's lying to me and he's telling me he's doing stuff, that's not cool, and that's why I'm here. And and and and and from he went from canceling to saying, actually, I want you to do my services, as a matter of fact, please please keep doing my services. That's awesome. Yeah, and so now I probably never leave, unfortunately, and I gotta figure out how to run into them again.

SPEAKER_07 37:10

So that's funny. Um, so the how would you guys so you guys were employees at the time, so how do you think you would handle it if that same thing happened now as business owners?

SPEAKER_04 37:18

Um, I would like what would you do differently?

SPEAKER_07 37:21

That employee was beneath me and that happened to them, or like like yeah, as a business owner, if that happened, I don't care if it's an employee or one of you guys, like somebody's calling you alive. Like, yeah, how would you treat it and like and would it be different than how you did it as an employee?

SPEAKER_04 37:33

Yeah, that's tough. So if it was just me and him doing it, and like I know that I treated a lawn and somebody thinks I didn't do it, I I'll just be like, hey, like if they're disagreeing and say, I don't think you did. I I guess I just have to go out there to the yard with them and walk them through it and show them what I did. I don't know how else to to handle that other than just showing up in person. Like, like I said, I don't think email is the best way to do that. Your sign, your yard sign? Yeah, I think I think a phone call um or just showing up in person, like scheduling a time to meet with them and tell them, like, hey, this is what I did. Like it's something you're not always gonna have proof, which is the tough part, because you know, you can walk through somebody's yard, spray a couple weeds, or um, there's like no tracks, there's no evidence that you were there because the machine wasn't on it. So that's the only difficult part with our industry is like when somebody like really doesn't believe you and really doesn't think that you did what you did, um, there's not like a great way, I don't think, to like that.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

Yeah, at that point you just maybe you just don't want them as a customer. Well, yeah, you just you put them on that list and you just say, all right, once we get an opportunity, we'll fire them, or something like that. But in reality, it's and that's where you have to um you have to kind of be careful because you want to tell them, like, hey, I want, I want, uh one, I I did, I did come out here and I did do this, so I'm not gonna lie to you, I promise you that. But two, because of what I put out when I was here, I can't reapply right now because if I do, I will damage your yard. Yeah, so I know that you don't you don't trust me right now, but I'm gonna need two more weeks or three more weeks or whatever, or maybe the product's safe and you can reapply. And depending on the property, you know what? Sometimes we've learned that you just have to eat certain costs to get to certain places, and that might be one of those that you just say, you know what, you're wrong, but it doesn't matter. Like I'm willing to give you another app or do whatever I need to do to make you feel better about it, just to retain you as a customer. But like to his point, yeah, maybe we don't want them as a customer. Yeah, and you just tell them, you know, maybe you finish the season, and then when the season ends, you just say, you know, we we we are no longer going to be servicing you this year. So I don't know how you would word it, but that's what AI is for.

SPEAKER_04 39:46

We haven't, yeah, we haven't we haven't had any clients like that. I don't know if you guys have had clients like that that just like straight up say, like, oh, you're a liar, you didn't do this, you didn't deliver on X, Y, and Z, like, and they're super angry with you. Like, if you're just like, Okay, I'm sorry, here's your money back, like we don't want to continue this relationship because like you might You have to be picky with your clients, yeah. Yeah, so it's like I guess you can choose when you want to like quote unquote like bend the knee to somebody and like go the extra mile to do something even though you were in the right and they're in the wrong.

SPEAKER_00 40:14

Like that's what's tough about starting out, is you almost just want to bend your knee to everybody because you're just like yes, master, yes, master, yes, master.

SPEAKER_07 40:21

We were doing that way too much.

SPEAKER_00 40:22

Yeah, well, and that's and that's but that's the reality of okay, at that point you're like, I just need any and every service I can get, you know.

SPEAKER_07 40:29

Then and that's the thing, soulpreneur to enterprise is you're in that soulpreneur phase where you're doing that, you're like taking all the marbles, and now you have to start coming through, like, okay, which marbles are like a cabinet.

SPEAKER_04 40:39

Luckily, we've got great we've got great marbles right now. Well, there's not a bad marble in the bunch, I don't think. So, I mean except the ones that are in my I'm just kidding. I lost my marbles. But yeah, I mean, it won't always be like that. Like you're we're gonna run into a bad customer here and there. So figuring out the best way to deal with that.

SPEAKER_00 40:55

Well, and identify. I think that's key is being able to identify from the get-go and knowing if somebody's gonna be an issue or not. And you can kind of get good, you can kind of get people's vibes off of how you are when you meet with them. Because when we get an interview, an interview, when we get an estimate, like to Tilly's point of the process, we like to reach out and try to meet with them before we send anything so we can see them, talk with them and and go over the property and everything like that. And allowing that, I think helps with that aspect of it.

SPEAKER_07 41:21

But that part is not as scalable. So, one thing I would encourage you guys to do is maybe one, because it won't be you guys, someone will be going out there, right? But not you guys every time. And you're gonna want them to just take as many clients as they can get at that point, right? I mean, they can weed out some of the bad, but it's gonna be harder when you guys aren't there to actually attest to it. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_05 41:40

Right.

SPEAKER_07 41:41

So I think one thing I want to encourage you guys to do is come up with a process of how you guys are gonna handle those clients before you get them. Like a screening process almost, or I mean that, but all I mean, I like what you're thinking, but I was thinking of the clients who are gonna say, Hey, you're you did not do this or you didn't do enough, you did the wrong product. Yeah, I would go ahead and put some kind of process in that says, hey, this is how we handle it if they think we put the wrong stuff or too much, too little and didn't properly treat or didn't or didn't treat.

SPEAKER_00 42:06

Yeah, give them a strike and be like, all right, take that strike on their property, and then once they get together.

SPEAKER_07 42:10

And then next time you guys we're gonna bring you on again and we'll talk about what you guys have done where you yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:15

Listen, about that, uh I guess how many clients how many clients are usually the Bagwan? It's probably the one percent, right?

SPEAKER_04 42:23

It's pretty small, like uh yeah, it's it's pretty one percentage. Like we're around 120, somewhere between 120, 130 right now.

SPEAKER_00 42:31

Residential.

SPEAKER_04 42:32

Yeah, res residential. Yeah and um like I said, I don't think there's a bad one in there, so it might be less than one percent. But just you know, as you grow in scale, like you said, you're gonna run into them.

SPEAKER_01 42:42

So that's awesome.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

And more times than not, a lot of the customers starting out, or at least for us in our situation, where these were relationships that were developed um over time with some people. And and so, like some people you like you're not you just things happen all of a sudden, people are like, We're so and so, you know, and then they're like, Well, I want that guy, you know.

SPEAKER_04 43:01

And and that's where a lot of um our starting out came from was just relationships and communication, friends and families, neighbors, yeah, just people that knew us and knew like that we're good guys and that I mean want to do honest work and gives you a good work, good value for what you're receiving.

SPEAKER_00 43:16

Uh yeah, I like well, very competitive price point wise. Like I know for a fact, like we're we're probably middle of the pack price-wise, but product a premium product, premium price being like fairly price. Yeah, for for fair prices is is is awesome. And we do it.

SPEAKER_07 43:33

And you guys are so educated in what you do, so you do a good job, you know, every time.

SPEAKER_02 43:37

So, I guess how competitive is your industry? Like, how competitive is it? Do you have a lot of competition?

SPEAKER_04 43:42

There are a lot of big companies out there buying them up. Yeah, they're all really a lot of them are getting bought up by like private equity and they're all owned by the same people now. And you don't know that there's no company.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

You don't even know that there's four companies in the Middle Tennessee area that are all operating by the same that are owned by the same entity, but they all have four different names.

SPEAKER_07 44:00

Every industry is doing that. I actually spoke with an accounting firm earlier today. I'll tell you about it later. And that just happened to them by a big account. They're smaller. And they're keeping their name to operate as such. So it's just, and they're just all getting wrapped up. So it's the same stuff. Literally, every you're not getting your local people who really exactly Kyle. Yeah, you're not getting your local people who care. You're getting private equity people who are just they want that, they want the cash process.

SPEAKER_04 44:25

I know shows. I mean, those are competitors, like a lot of them have been struggling in recent years after they've been acquired because the quality goes down or because they're chasing money. Yeah, they're trying to squeeze not fix it.

SPEAKER_00 44:37

And uh not not putting out a good product, they just care about the money. All right, you got you're required to put this, make this much money each day. Okay, well, I didn't make this much money, but I was able to spend an hour and talk to Miss Lauren, and we built that relationship and that helped, and and blah blah blah blah. Where it's like, well, I don't care. Don't come back until your tank's empty, you know, type stuff. Where it's like that's that's we don't that just isn't fun, you know.

SPEAKER_04 45:00

Yeah. No, we want to, I mean, to go back to your question of how much competition is there. I think there's a lot of like like bigger people, um, but I don't know how many like smaller companies there are, like him and I. I mean, I don't know, like in the same service areas that we do, there might be like 10 to 20. I'm not sure. Yeah, I was gonna say I see a handful, but you don't but there's like five or six like really big companies that you know seem to be um everywhere and like no matter where you go. And so they've been around for a while.

SPEAKER_00 45:28

Like some of those companies have been around for 20 some odd years. Oh so I would ex I would hope that a company that's been around when Lawn Pursuit hits our 30th anniversary, we should have that many like yeah customers, you know, it's the same type thing where it's like I would hope so, but it's like a lot of people now though as things change, people are starting to like see the the product change, and they're like, Yeah, you know, this was cool, but you know, I'm I'm looking for something else now, you know, and and that's kind of where we're running into now. We're getting a lot of people. Well, I've been with these people for 10 years, that makes sense, but up until the past couple years, I've haven't been able to get in touch or my my quality's gone down, or this, this, and that. And you're just you're hearing it more and more. And like we said, like you just it's because the quality, just the people they don't they're just in there trying to make a buck. And it's I get it, trust me. We own a business, we all own businesses, we all need to make a buck. Yeah, but go for bucks, a couple bucks would be nice, yeah. You're right, especially with everything nowadays. Like, make five bucks. A couple bucks, five dollars is good, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

Amen. For sure. So go with five dollars.

SPEAKER_00 46:32

It's not too oversaturated, and that's the thing that I think sometimes you see with trends, where I feel like all of a sudden it's cool to clean the trash cans, or all of a sudden it's cool to pick up poop, and like it's just there's no shame in any of those businesses. I'm not you can call it, you can call that out, but like hey, I love it when the kids do it though. Anyway, so like I've already got a business model, the scooper pooper or super scooper, you know, and have the superman.

SPEAKER_07 46:56

Hey, Mason did it for a week.

SPEAKER_00 46:57

There he goes, there he goes for a week. I'm actually like, it was hard work. That would help me out tremendously, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 47:05

But yeah, you can pay him like three bucks too.

SPEAKER_00 47:07

I would do, I'd give him more than that. Him and gun. I'm gonna be like I'm gonna give each y'all a weed eater, and y'all just knock these out for me.

SPEAKER_02 47:11

Yeah, so that's awesome. That's awesome. Um, yeah. So and then uh, do people value the quality of the product you pull out? Do your customer value it?

SPEAKER_04 47:20

Absolutely. I think that's like other than like supporting us and like their personal relationship with us, I mean that's the second or first most important thing. Like the quality that we're giving them and what their yard looks like because they're looking at it 24-7. Like they want to have a good yard. And so we could be the nicest people on the planet, but if their yard looks flex us, then I'm gonna do a customer testimony because that I'm gonna be this is me being honest.

SPEAKER_07 47:43

Like, I did it because I was like, okay, I know Kyle, no, he's a great person.

SPEAKER_00 47:47

I feel bad for him.

SPEAKER_07 47:48

I know what it wasn't even that. I was like, okay, cool. Like, like I know you, and like our grass was not the best, like it didn't look the nicest. I I mean I like to have nice grass, but it didn't look the nicest. We didn't really have much in the backyard. Like, I wish I had actually I I'm gonna get before and after pictures and put it in the comments of this.

SPEAKER_02 48:03

Yeah, please do. Yeah, put it put on the booty. Send some.

SPEAKER_07 48:10

Yeah, yeah. But yeah, so and I I hadn't I didn't know much about the value of like lawn care, like or lawn, like right, the grow and like whatever, weed and feed, whatever the whole thing. Yeah, I don't know anything about it. I'm not in that world, but like I know all of a sudden one day, like a couple months after I started working, like you got using you guys. I was like, man, my grass, like I could see, you know, I have two neighbors either side of them. And like, I'm not trying to be rude if my neighbors aren't watching this. I think some of them do, but I'm like, wow, my grass looks so much better than theirs. Right, 100%. Like, I was like, you can tell like where mine starts and theirs stops on each side.

SPEAKER_08 48:44

I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 48:45

And I'm like, man, it looks so good. And the backyard is full, luscious grass. I'm talking like it's yeah, so nice to walk. Yeah, no, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 48:53

And that's what we love. Just putting thank you for that. Because yeah, we just that's all it is, is just putting out a good product.

SPEAKER_07 48:58

But I'm being honest, like, like I'm not even trying to like that. It was like I was surprised. I was like, okay, so that actually is like a like it like it's nail. I need this. Like it's just good stuff.

SPEAKER_08 49:07

Like it's bracelet oil.