Cracking the Code to Profit
The Blueprint for Building a Real Business in the Lawn Care and Landscaping Industry
by
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When I was ready to start my lawn care business, I asked my current boss at a local lawn care and landscaping company if it was okay if I began mowing lawns after I got off work. He said, and I quote, “There is enough grass for us all to cut.” That was all I needed to hear! But, he continued, “If I could give you one piece of advice, don’t do it.” I was younger, 24 years old at the time, and thoroughly confused by his last statement. Long story short I didn’t take his advice on not starting a lawn care business, but now I fully understand why he said it. I will come back to this statement at the end of the book. Here is my advice to anyone considering starting their own company. Be prepared to work, a lot. I cannot stress this enough. Owning a business is not for everyone, especially a lawn care or landscaping business. There are a lot of moving parts. Whatever you think it will take, multiply that by 10. This is called The 10x Rule, which is also the title of an excellent book by Grant Cardone that I highly recommend. For you to compete and break into the market, you are going to have to work harder than you expect. Personally, when I was starting my lawn care and landscaping business, I looked at it like I was training for a sport. If you are planning to make a decent living, be forewarned, this line of work is very physically demanding. That is one of the main reasons I spent so much time in the gym. I had to make sure I could physically handle the huge amount of physical labor and fast pace required each day. I continue to work out daily because I enjoy it, and truly feel like it plays a significant role in my ongoing success in business and life. Not to say that you can’t be successful in this industry if you are not it great shape, but it certainly will help and make it much more enjoyable. Lawn care and landscaping is a versatile business to start, in that you can start off part time making a little extra money, or grow it into a real, full-time business making a good living for yourself, eventually offering employment opportunities to others. It is up to you and what you want your lawn care business to do for you. This is the first important decision you need to make when starting your business. My lawn care business went through all three of these phases, and I had success in each. I, unlike my previous boss, would recommend anyone who has a desire to start a lawn care company to do so. It is very satisfying and can provide you with more income than you could generate at most jobs, especially without requiring a college degree. With that said, it is also going to be more work, both in the field and in the office. So, before you begin, please honestly evaluate yourself to make sure you are ready to handle the bumps in the road because there will be bumps. If you are up to it, I congratulate you and wish you the best. You can make this happen. Before we get too far along, I want to get a couple of things out in the open. Cracking the Code to Profit is a book packed with real-world advice gained from experience on how to grow your lawn care business into a money-making machine. I started my business with no business management experience what so ever. I did know how to perform the technical aspects of the business from working for other companies. I am a former drug addict, I have had numerous run ins with the law, and started my business with no money. I only tell you this to let you know if I can do it, so can you. The reason my lawn care business became so successful is because I continued to educate myself on how to properly run a business, market, deal with people, and most importantly, how to think. Self-education is where I feel a lot of business owners fail and is ultimately why they do not succeed. As I said, this is a book on how to grow your lawn care business, but I do feel it necessary to include some practical general advice before we get started although this is not a self-help book. When you go into business for yourself, you are going to lose the boss over your shoulder and the overall structure most jobs provide. What this means is you are going to have to hold yourself accountable and develop structure in your business. You need to be a self-motivated person. The first several years of my business I woke each morning at 5:00 AM and was working by 5:15 AM. I couldn’t wait to get the next day started. I lost this drive my 6th year in business, and that is what lead me to change my course in life. I still love the lawn and landscape industry and am once again up at 5:00 AM ready to tackle the tasks of the day. My new passion is helping others achieve their goals in life, and there is no one else I would rather start with than you, and other lawn care and landscape business owners. Your mind set is going to play a huge role in your success. By this, I mean the thoughts that you allow to dominate your mind, which will eventually manifest into your actions. You may call this your attitude. You will need to keep a positive state of mind. Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.” This could not be truer. Ford also said, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.” It is very easy to get wrapped up in the day to day of operating your business and forget to think about how to improve. I have found a great way to keep a positive attitude is to have a mentor or several mentors. In business, this could also be referred to as a business coach. If you think you can become successful without the help of others, you are wrong. Ask any successful person you know if they had a mentor. I guarantee they will say they did. The fact of the matter is, you don’t even have to speak with your mentor. Your mentors can be authors of books you have read. Many of my mentors are well-known authors. Although I have never met these people, they have positively impacted my life, and I doubt I would be where I am without them. Another example that proves this point is professional athletes. These people are the very best in the world at what they do, and still, each and every one has a coach. You will have to stay focused! If you truly believe in your mind that you will succeed in your business, you will have the wherewithal to push through the setbacks. Unsuccessful people do what they want to do. Successful people do what needs to be done, whether they want to do the task at hand or not. It is very important to understand the significance of those last two statements. If you are not willing to do what it takes to succeed, very simply, you will not. You will have to make sacrifices. I will share a couple of the major sacrifices I made when starting my business. The first, and biggest sacrifice, was missing out on the early years of my daughter’s life. She was born over the winter before my third year in business began. I still made it to all the major events, but I did not get to spend any real quality time with her as I would have liked for the first four years of her life. It is honestly still a little painful to think about as I cannot get those precious years back, but fast forward to today, and I have the free time and enough money to spend as much time with her as I possibly can. That is a great feeling. The next big sacrifice...
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About the Book
What is Cracking the Code to Profit?
Cracking the Code to Profit is the complete, start to finish blueprint for building a REAL BUSINESS in the lawn care and landscaping industry. The author, Ryan Sciamanna, shares all his knowledge on how he went from a solo operator to six crews in three years.
Who is the book for?
Cracking the Code to Profit is for anyone thinking about starting a lawn care business to companies trying to break through the $200k to $300k gross revenue barrier. If you would like to, but are not already, making $100k per year as the owner of your lawn care company, you will benefit from reading this book.
Why Ryan wrote the book:
In 2016 Ryan narrowed his lawn care companies service offering down to lawn mowing and lawn treatments only. Prior to that, his company was a full-service lawn and landscape service provider offering all of the typical services including mulching, pruning, cleanups, leaf removals, hardscapes, landscape design and installation, and snow removal. He made the change in his business model to increase profit margins and reduce the amount of time required of him as the owner of the business.
Naturally, he needed to find referral partners for his lawn care customers because they still had other lawn and landscape needs his company no longer performed. He contacted several other lawn and landscape business owners in his area and told them he wanted to send them referrals for the work his company no longer performed and only asked they don't 'steal' his customers for the services they were still providing.
After shooting off the first several referrals, Ryan quickly realized that a lot of these companies needed help and until they improved their business operations, referring his clients to them was only making him look bad! He has since stopped referring work with the exception of a couple companies that proved they would provide his customers quality work at fair prices and actually be reliable.
Ryan says, "I think most lawn care business owners started their business just like I did...they enjoyed the work and were good at it, so they said, why not work for myself. In the beginning, it usually goes pretty smooth, but as they add more and more customers and eventuallyneed to hire employees, they get in over their heads. I did the same thing, but quickly educated myself on how to run an actualbusiness and not just be self-employed."
He organized all of his knowledge into Cracking the Code to Profit in hopes it will save new business owners years of frustration. Ryan read a similar 'book' before he started his business that his father had bought for him online. It was actually just a word document that someone had written on starting a lawn care business and his dad printed it off for him. It cost his father $79.95 for that! Ryan still has that 'book' and even though it was overpriced, terrible quality and a lot of the information was not good, he still credits that book towards helping him get his business off the ground.
What you can expect from Cracking the Code to Profit - How to Start a Lawn Care Business:
The book flows in chronological order from starting your business to your exit strategy. Ryan put every detail he could recall from his own experience. You can see the book chapters in the book preview. After each chapter, action steps are included so you know exactly what you need to do. At the end of the book, you will find the resource section for continued learning and execution. You can expect to have a much better understanding of how to start and grow your lawn care business is a healthy, profitable way. Ryan's contact info is also included in the book. He would love to hear from you after you finish it!
About the Author
Ryan grew up in Florence, KY in a middle-class family with both of his parents and 2 younger brothers. He I got caught up in the wrong crowd in high school after Tommy John Surgery ended his dreams of playing professional baseball. He still managed to get accepted into the University of Cincinnati's Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning Program which he ended up completely blowing.
His uncle got him his first job in the green industry at a commercial lawn care supply warehouse after he dropped out. He bounced around working at a couple restaurants but always ended up back at a lawn care or landscaping business of some sort. When he got hired at a small family owned lawn care and landscaping business he realized that is what I wanted to do.
He started his business, Loyal Green, with his parents' lawn equipment and even their vehicle to haul the equipment around. He literally had nothing and didn't have the money to buy it either. He also did not have a clue how to run a business at that point!
He kept working at the local business until he built up enough clients of his own...Ryan would do his customer's lawns in the evenings or on the weekends around his full-time work schedule. In March of 2011, he had to tell his boss that he was sorry and could not put in his 2 weeks. He had to handle his customers' lawns full time.
After 1 year of running the business full-time as a solo operator, he hired one of his friends and his brother in the second year running the business full-time. He kept adding trucks, equipment, and employees through 2015 which was his lawn care company's biggest revenue year ever. The problem was the profit margins were terrible and the number of hours he was working was not sustainable!
So, in 2016 he made several changes to his business model. 2016 and 2017 were the most profitable years of his business and the best part was, he was only working 8 hours a week on his business! The systems Ryan had created allowed his employees to handle most of the daily operational tasks. 2018 is poised to be Loyal Green's best year ever. Ryan just wants to see more people succeed!