Transcript
A (0:00)
I got a question for you. How much money are you losing just because you're trying to be a good person? I'm not joking. How many times have you said, I'll just take care of it, it's not a big deal, I don't want a nickel and dime them. And then you turn around and wonder why your business is feeling kind of tight even though you're busy. Well, what if I told you your kindness might be costing you thousands of dollars per year?
B (0:20)
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 max. 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 Pajak, 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 Pak.
A (1:22)
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 diving into something a lot of good business owners struggle with that's being too nice. Now this is not about becoming a jerk or changing who you are, but this is about recognizing where being helpful, flexible and accommodating starts to cross the line and it turns into something that quietly drains your business. You know, the thing is, if you don't have control over this, it is going to control your profits. So let's call it what it is. There is a hidden expense in your business that never shows up on your reports. I call it the nice guy tax. It's the money you should have made, but you didn't. And it's not because your prices are wrong. It's not because your costs were too high, but because you chose comfort over clarity. And here's what that looks like in real life. Let's just say you get a brand new mowing client and they have a lot of overgrown stuff. You know, it's gonna require way more time than just a regular recurring job. You know, I'm talking about things that are not well maintained. This is your first crack at it and you go ahead and you do the Job at normal price, even though you're. You do have pricing for like a first time visit, like a cleanup cost, right? Or maybe, you know, you're. When you're doing some applications, you know, you kind of go outside the boundary of where their lawn is because, you know, it's. Maybe the neighbor doesn't take care of it, or maybe it is a common area that some other property management group takes care of. And, you know, it's like, well, you know, I'll just spread a little bit more fertilizer over there, make it look good, get it cleaned up, take care of those weeds. Even though it's not technically their property, it is adjacent to it and it's kind of a common area. You know, another thing that, you know, if you go back to a property for free because the customer states that they weren't thrilled, but when you get there, you've talked to them a little while, and you realize they just wanted to talk. They didn't really have a problem per se, they just wanted the extra attention. Now, I'm not saying that, you know, these are terrible things, but individually, you know, these things feel small. But if you do some quick math, and if you're giving away, you know, just say 15 minutes per job, I mean, the cleanup's gonna take a lot longer. Trust me, I live that life. But, you know, let's just simplify this. Let's just say you're taking an extra 15 minutes per job. You're doing that five jobs a day, and that's literally over an hour of unpaid time. You could easily do that with just the, you know, the cleanup that you have to do for the new property. But you take that hour and you multiply that across a full week, a full season, and you're talking weeks of unpaid labor. And here's the part that nobody really wants to admit. You're not doing it because the client demanded it. You're doing it because you're trying to avoid discomfort. You want to put your best foot forward, but you realize that's not the best way to go at it. Okay? And I mean, listen, I get it. You want to be a good company. You want people to like you and, you know, like myself, you want to go above and beyond. And that's not a bad thing. But if it's not controlled, it becomes a liability because your business cannot survive on good intentions. It survives on margins.
