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There's nothing wrong with using lawn care as a stepping stone, but there is something wrong with treating an industry like it's disposable. And if you've been around long enough, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

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Today's episode is brought to you by Yardbook, the All in one CRM for your lawn care business. And as an exclusive partner of this podcast, you can get started today and begin simplifying your business and maximizing your profits. Sign up now@yardbook.com the link is in the show notes Time now for Profits with Paycheck, an essential podcast for you in the green industry who are looking to unlock the full potential of your business. Hosted by John Pajac, your certified financial coach, the show features in depth discussions with successful entrepreneurs, thought leaders and industry experts. Providing practical advice and proven strategies on financial planning, operations, marketing and sales. Profits with Paycheck has valuable insights and action steps that you can implement today for creating long term success. Now here's John Paj.

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Welcome to Profits with Paycheck, the podcast where we talk about business strategies and financial insights for the green industry. I'm your host, John Pajak and today we're going to be talking about something that's been on my mind and I'm going to be direct and honest and I'm going to share my experiences with you. And you know, I've been in this industry for over 25 years now. I've built a career here. I fed my family here, I've employed people and, you know, watch their families grow as well. And I've also seen a trend that I think we need to talk about. And here's the problem. We there's a difference between lawn care as a leg up versus lawn care as a profession. And let me be clear right out the gate. I understand not everyone wants to stay in the green industry forever. And I understand that lawn care has a low barrier to entry. And I understand people come here to make money and then move on. That part doesn't bother me. What bothers me is how some people do it. They don't treat clients like relationships. They treat them like paychecks. They don't treat the work with pride. They just treat it like something that they have to get through and they don't care about what happens when they leave. And I don't know, maybe I don't know if it's just my mentality, my work ethic, my the way I was raised, I'm not exactly sure what it is. Okay, But I see you Know, there's always been fly by night guys, right? No matter what, no matter what industry it is, it doesn't matter. There's always some fly by night outfit out there. But here's the part that people don't see when someone comes in, and this is the typical one, okay? And I want to get a little bit deeper on this too, but let me just do the one that everybody's pretty much aware of. You know, somebody comes in, they undercharged, they do mediocre, mediocre work or even bad work, and then they disappear. And the thing is, you know, all of us see that the damage doesn't just leave with them. It stays, it lingers, it hangs around, it shows up. When clients don't trust the next contractor, when we're having pricing conversations that become defensive, it's like, well, we're, you know, the, the potential client puts us up on the ropes with all these questions because they don't have trust anymore. You know, they. The expectations become distorted. And a lot of times, you know, the, the industry looks unprofessional and unstable. I see that firsthand. You know, I get potential clients that reach out and say, yeah, you know, the last guy disappeared, or, you know, he was a lot cheaper than you. I don't understand why your pricing is so much higher. And, you know, sometimes when I get people like that and they're really close to the edge, I'm like, let me come out and introduce myself to you. You know, and then I walk the property and I see why, you know, the homeowner wasn't served. They were used in a. It. It's upsetting. You know, you go to a property and you're saying, wait, how long do they. You've had service from a professional, a quote, unquote professional. And it looks like, this, this is not acceptable. And it's so frustrating because again, this industry feeds more than just one family, right? It's not. This is, this is the part that matters to me. This industry feeds families, not just the owner's family. It takes care of the employees, their spouses, all their kids. Right? And when someone treats lawn care like a short term cash grab, they don't feel the consequences when they leave. You know, if you're that guy. And I'm not pointing fingers at anybody, but I do know some people that are local and I. It frustrates me. They do substandard work. They're in it. They. They flip everything for money. You know, obviously that's the, the point is to make profits. But at the same time, it just doesn't feel right with me. It doesn't sit well with me. And when they're doing the basic cash grab, you know, and then they, they, they dip out, it leaves, you know, a bit of a void in a sense, you know, because they're, they don't care. They're onto the next thing. Oh, I did this just to get some money so I can move to the next thing. Okay. Right. You don't feel the repercussions, but we do. The rest of us do. And we're the ones that are still here. When all that trust needs to be rebuilt and then pricing has to be re explained, the reputation has to be repaired and that ripple effect doesn't go away just because someone found their next opportunity. This just, you know, these tiny little ripple waves, eventually they can turn into like, almost like a tsunami, you know, if you think about like the butterfly effect, you know, one person or, you know, the, the wings of a butterfly can generate a hurricane, you know, just because it compounds on top of itself. And it's not fair to the industry itself because again, I don't know, maybe I'm an anomaly now. I, I just take care of people. You know, it's not just the lawns themselves. I look at it much deeper. I'm not committing just to the lawn itself. It's like the people that live in the house that the property is on, those, that's what's important to me. I want to make sure that they feel like they've gotten their value and that I've helped them and that, you know, whatever they are trying to achieve, I can help them achieve it. It's not just this substandard work and you're rushing through it and you're cutting corners all the time. That infuriates me. I can, I could bar. There's several people that I look at nowadays and I can't even talk to them without feeling disgust because I know how they treated people and I know the work that they've done. And it's, it, it's like, what am I going to do, you know, Criticize them? No, I, I, it's not worth my time. It's like they, they, they're not even in the industry anymore. They have left. They have already extorted everything that they can get out of it to move on to the next thing. And I look at their next project and I'm like, your next project, you're basically going to be treating people the exact same way and you're going to contaminate and degrade the value of the next service you're doing. All right, a quick reminder for you. If you're serious about growing your lawn care or landscape business, you need to be at Equip Expo 2026. That's happening October 20th through the 23rd in Louisville, Kentucky. And right now, tickets are the super early bird rate of just $25. But when you use promo code PAYJACK, you could get your ticket for only $12.50. I said that right? $12.50. You can't even go to lunch for that anymore. And Equip Expo is where industries come together. You get hands on equipment, you could get some real education. You could network with operators who are actually building businesses, not just talking about it online. But don't wait. These prices are going to go up the closer we get to the event. So grab your ticket now, use promo code paycheck, lock in that $12.50 rate, and I'll see you October 20th through the 23rd in Louisville, Kentucky. The link is in the show notes.