Ep 336. Spring Rush Catch-Up with Larry Delli Santi | ROPED, Coastal Fertilization & Amazing Creations Update!

Summary

Side Hustle Squad Podcast: Episode 336

Spring Rush Catch-Up with Larry Delli Santi | ROPED, Coastal Fertilization & Amazing Creations Update!
Date: May 21, 2026
Host: Mike Garvey | Guest: Larry Delli Santi

---

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Mike Garvey checks in with recurring guest and co-host Larry Delli Santi live from Kentucky, where they're attending Relco’s Guinness Book of World Records event. The discussion focuses on the intense "spring rush" in the lawn care business, process changes Larry’s made to his company during the off-season, the shift to battery-powered equipment, updates on Coastal Fertilization's expansion, the launch and outlook for ROPED robotics, and broader trends in the green industry. The episode is filled with practical tips, operational insights, a candid look at new technology, and the realities of managing and scaling a landscaping business alongside a full-time career.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

[01:23] – [03:54] | Live at Relco Event: Community & Networking

• Mike and Larry set the scene at a vibrant event, describing "Pac Man setups" and a unique hotel atmosphere.
• Relco’s Guinness World Record attempt is highlighted—cutting an American football field with a powerful 41HP mower.
• Partnership with Nino from Relco is mentioned, setting a supportive and collaborative tone.

---

[03:54] – [06:24] | Building Better Systems: The Employee Handbook Overhaul

• Employee Accountability: Larry revamped his employee handbook using ChatGPT. It now covers attendance, performance-related pay, bonuses, and equipment tracking (including T-shirts!) with detailed acknowledgment from each employee.
• Quote: “I made all the guys initial every page so they can’t say they didn’t see it or didn’t read it… if they get fired about being late, bonuses, I mean I put a lot into this handbook.” – Larry [04:12]
• Impact: Performance-based pay adjustments and quarterly bonuses now incentivize quality—not just speed—setting clear benchmarks on callbacks, complaints, and peer comparison for crews.

---

[06:27] – [10:43] | Going All-In on Battery-Powered Equipment

• Fleet Update: Larry details switching both cut trucks to battery-powered equipment (primarily by Cress, sourced from his own dealership, ROPED).
• Benefits:
  • Fewer mechanical issues and headaches typical with gas engines (especially noted during spring's "winter gas to summer gas" transition).
  • Virtually eliminated downtime from small engine repairs: “How many hours every spring for small engine repair?” “Yeah, I didn’t have any.” – Mike & Larry [08:49–08:57]
  • Warranty and service are fast and efficient through the dealership network.
• Limitations: Gas blowers are still necessary for larger cleanups, especially in the Northeast, due to power and battery endurance constraints.

---

[10:46] – [13:47] | Surviving a Tough Winter & Marketing Strategies for the Spring Rush

• Winter Recap: Larry reports a harsh season with little work opportunity due to persistent snow.
• Spring Lead Generation:
  • Passed on expensive video marketing, opting instead for a targeted digital ad campaign with Postcard Mania ($2,500 for four months of hyperlocal social posting).
  • Massive return in leads and estimates attributed to the focused campaign, validating digital local marketing over high-priced video spots.
  • Mike highlights the compound benefit of year-round adaptable marketing: “Every single month it's gonna change. And they let you do that, right?” – Mike [13:09]

---

[13:47] – [20:41] | Capacity & Customer Expectations During Peak Season

• Booking Status: Larry is completely booked through mid-July, with ongoing jobs and continual quote approvals.
• Demand Spikes: The pre-Memorial Day push—especially for services like mulching—creates an intense bottleneck.
  • Humorous takes on customer priorities (mulch perception at BBQs).
• Customer Retention: Mike and Larry stress the value of reliability, communication, and recurring service—customers stick with providers who “show up when they say they will.”
• Competing on Price:
  • The duo criticizes market undercutting and deceptive pricing structures seen from competitors (e.g., splitting up applications to inflate service counts).
  • Quote: “Okay, then why are you calling me? You’re obviously not happy with his service, otherwise you wouldn’t even be calling me.” – Larry [19:39]

---

[20:41] – [24:14] | Coastal Fertilization of North Jersey: Franchising and Scaling Up

• Expansion Efforts: Mike and Larry are building out the North Jersey branch of Coastal Fertilization using their established "playbook."
• Model:
  • Franchising/partnership model with dedicated training, branding, equipment, billing, and support.
  • Emphasis on the time and effort required to replicate success in new regions—with continued process refinement.
  • Larry expresses enthusiasm for further expansion: “I’m hoping we could open up, like, 10 of these. Like, that’s, like, the ultimate goal, right? It’s almost like a franchise.” [14:44]

---

[24:14] – [29:56] | ROPED Robotics Update: On-the-Ground Experience

• Field Deployments: ROPED’s robot mowers are now installed at multiple sites (homes, shop, commercial properties).
  • Larry shares hands-on learning—including new app features for customizable cut patterns and significant time savings.
  • Goal: Expand robotic mowing to 30 residential properties by next year, possibly ramping up to 150.
  • Quote: “They could probably do those 30 houses in like four hours. Just weed whacking and blowing off. A mower doesn’t even have to leave the truck.” – Larry [26:10]
• Vision: Market adoption through homeowner curiosity and neighbor-to-neighbor influence; possible future application for commercial properties and institutions (golf courses, colleges).
• Skepticism & Conversion: Larry credits attending Equip Exposition and hands-on demos for converting him from skeptic to adopter:
  • Quote: “If I did not go to equip and see this stuff for myself, I wouldn’t even be talking about ROPED at all. I honestly wouldn’t.” – Larry [29:15]
  • Manufacturer partners encourage landscapers to try equipment on a trial basis, reducing entry barriers.

---

[29:56] – [36:30] | The Future: Robotics, Electrification & Adapting to Change

• Disruption Ahead:
  • Larry predicts a tipping point where robotic mowing will challenge traditional landscape operations: “... it’s actually going to kill all the, the landscape companies, to be honest with you, because once one company starts doing it… it’s going to be everybody.” – Larry [30:02]
• Tech Adoption:
  • The importance of embracing technology, with Mike urging mechanics and dealers to pivot to electric expertise instead of resisting:
    • Quote: “I want to learn everything about this stuff. This is good. It’s coming whether you like it or not.” – Mike [32:58]
  • Even as much of the tech isn’t brand new, it’s finally ready for commercial prime time.
• Dealer Differentiation:
  • ROPED’s approach is hands-on: mobile showrooms, live demos, and lowering the risk for new users.
  • Vision of building a community ecosystem around this technology, even as they juggle multiple side hustles and full-time responsibilities.

---

[36:57] – [39:45] | Reflections & Final Moments

• Growth Through Delegation: Success in parallel ventures relies on getting support, delegating, and not bottlenecking operations through a single person.
• Connection: The episode ends with light banter, anticipation for the Relco event, and the arrival of mutual friend Cornell Mack—hinting at more collaborative episodes ahead.
• Memorable Moment: Larry jokes about every Italian knowing each other and surprise Italy travel plans.

---

Notable Quotes

• [04:12] "I made all the guys initial every page so they can’t say they didn’t see it or didn’t read it... I made them sign it. I put in all the T shirts. They have to sign off on how many they take, because if they quit, I want them back." – Larry Delisante
• [08:57] "How many hours every spring for small engine repair?" – Mike
  "Yeah, I didn’t have any." – Larry
• [13:09] "Every single month it's gonna change. And they let you do that, right?" – Mike Garvey
• [19:39] "Okay, then why are you calling me? You’re obviously not happy with his service, otherwise you wouldn’t even be calling me." – Larry Delisante
• [26:10] "They could probably do those 30 houses in like four hours. Just weed whacking and blowing off. A mower doesn't even have to leave the truck." – Larry Delisante
• [29:15] "If I did not go to equip and see this stuff for myself, I wouldn’t even be talking about ROPED at all. I honestly wouldn’t." – Larry Delisante
• [30:02] "It’s actually going to kill all the, the landscape companies, to be honest with you, because once one company starts doing it, all, like I said, all the neighbors watch it." – Larry Delisante
• [32:58] "I want to learn everything about this stuff. This is good. It’s coming whether you like it or not." – Mike Garvey

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:23 – Live from the event in Kentucky; Relco World Record intro
• 03:54 – Employee handbook upgrade and employee accountability systems
• 06:27 – Fleet goes battery-powered; end of small engine headaches
• 10:46 – Postcard Mania and digital/social marketing success
• 13:47 – Booked-up jobs and seasonal demand stories
• 14:44 – Expansion/franchising update for Coastal Fertilization
• 24:14 – ROPED robotics: installs, real-world results, and future vision
• 29:15 – Converting a technology skeptic and hands-on demo impact
• 30:02 – Industry disruption: robotics’ effect on traditional landscaping
• 32:58 – Tech adoption, dealer pivots, and learning new skills
• 36:57 – Growth via delegation and final banter

---

Takeaways

This episode is a goldmine for anyone in the green industry or side hustlers in service businesses. Larry’s hands-on experience with new tech, improving employee management, and leveraging laser-targeted marketing paint a realistic picture of how to grow (and protect) a business in a competitive, fast-changing landscape. The honest, conversational tone—blending practical “how-to” advice with plenty of laughs—makes it a great listen for operators at any stage.

---

Skip to any timestamped section for a direct dive into the topic of interest!

Transcript

[Narrator]

Here's a question. Do you have a system for your business or are you just buying stuff and hoping it works? Equip Exposition taking place this October is where landscapers go to build the whole package. Equipment, software and training. Registration is just $25 before May 31st.

[Mike Garvey]

Equipexposition.com Register now at equipexposition.com or use

[Larry Delisante]

the link in the podcast description.

[Mike Garvey]

Save 50% off your registration when you apply the code.

[Larry Delisante]

Side Hustle at checkout.

[Narrator]

Are you ready to kick back and get inspired? Grab your favorite drink, pop the top and join the side Hustle Squad with Mike Garvey and Larry Delisante. This podcast is the perfect resource for anyone who's already started their side hustle or is just considering taking the leap. With in depth interviews featuring guests from the green industry and beyond, you'll gain valuable insights and learn what it takes to succeed in running a business while juggling a full time career. From personal stories to practical tips, the side Hustle Squad podcast has everything you need to turn your passion into a thriving business. Now here's your side Hustle Squad hosts, Mike Garvey and Larry Delisante.

[Mike Garvey]

Hey, what's going on, guys? It's your host, Mike Garvey with the side Hustle Squad podcast coming at you from the Branded Bull Studio, the mobile Branded Bull Studio here in Lilyville, Kentucky with, with my co host, Larry Delisanti. Larry, it's been a while. How are you?

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah, man, doing great. Are you.

[Mike Garvey]

Are you doing now? No, you're doing great.

[Larry Delisante]

I got all my guns taken away last week.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, that's some new pills I'm on. Yeah, yeah, it's. It's great. Yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

Four helmets.

[Mike Garvey]

Let me move this here.

[Larry Delisante]

Crazy.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, so they have, they have Pac man set up right behind us. This is a cool, cool hotel. This is a. Oh, yeah, it is.

[Larry Delisante]

It's a nice setup.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, right in there. Don't turn sideways like a wide angle with that thing.

[Larry Delisante]

It's like this guy's nose right here.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, that's you. Yeah, yeah. All right. Something that's on my camera.

[Larry Delisante]

All right. Sorry.

[Mike Garvey]

It is sticking. So we're here for Relco's Guinness Book of World Records event. We're excited to be here. Can you explain more about what it is?

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah. So they're going to cut an American football field for the Guinness Book of World Record. They're going to try to break the record. It's a 999cc engine, 41 horsepower, vertical shaft engine. So it's a bad Mower. I mean, the motor is badass. I mean, we saw the motor, horizontal shaft motor on it. It's very organized engine. Like, you could find all the ports. You did have everything color coded for the oil, for important things on the mower, for like servicing it. I was very impressed with the engine. We actually did a podcast on that engine once.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, we've had Nino on.

[Narrator]

We.

[Mike Garvey]

We. Well, we've had Nino on. And we've also done been to the Roko booth to actually podcast live from the booth. They're a great partner. They've sponsored Pod Row at certain events. And thank you to them for having us. And Cornell Mack is on his way. Paul Jameson is a master of ceremonies. So stay tuned to all the stuff on our socials covering that event. Right now, we're. Prior to that event, you'll start seeing some stuff roll out as we go. But I wanted to really check in on, check in with you, seeing what's new with you, what some maybe changes that you've made the winter, what your winter was like. And we'll go from there.

[Larry Delisante]

All right. So I. I came up with a lot more rules this year, so I wound up doing employee handbook. I did it like seven times, but I did it all with Chat, gtp, believe it or not, and it came out great. I changed it, like I said, many times because I kept thinking of other things to add to it. Add to it as problems were happening.

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Larry Delisante]

And then I made all the guys initial every page so they can't say they didn't see it or didn't read it. I made them sign it. I put in all the T shirts. They have to sign off on how many they take, because if they quit, I want them back. Or if they get fired about being late, bonuses. I mean, I put a lot into this handbook, and it really does work out great because when they come in late, I make them sign that they were late. So it's like accountability. If I get rid of them, you know, I could fight it with unemployment.

[Mike Garvey]

That was, I mean, a change since doing that.

[Larry Delisante]

And some of them. Yeah, because now, like in there, it says, like, you get paid on your performance just because you're making 20 or 25 an hour, if you're not performing to that rate, I can lower your rate. And they signed off on it.

[Mike Garvey]

That's great. Yeah. You can't just say, yeah. You can't just do it without. Yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

Well, what I noticed is, you know, I'll have one of my guys. He's doing great, you know, Doing great. Doing great. His times are good, everything's looking good. Then I bump him up $2 an hour and then his time slow and I'm like, why'd your time slow? Like because he got his raise.

[Mike Garvey]

You get more hours.

[Larry Delisante]

And I said, okay, well if your times are going to slow, then I'm going to put you back down to $2 an hour.

[Mike Garvey]

Right. I think that's an ever a problem that's worldwide. Right. It's like, you know, you're paying on productivity but also paying on hourly. So it's very, it's difficult. It's a difficult balance. But I think you need to incentivize people again like we do with quarterly bonuses with, you know, different things. But yeah. So that's cool with the employee.

[Larry Delisante]

And that's another thing I did. I put quarterly bonuses in there and that's in my handbook Talk. Talking about it like how you're going to get them, what's going to get it. It's not only being the fastest, it's like the least complaints. So.

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah, they could be fast and just skip everything and.

[Mike Garvey]

Right. So there's a lot of, there's a lot of say, accountability, but also benchmarks that the, the everyone has to hit to get these bonuses.

[Larry Delisante]

Not just and a little competition.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. You're compared to your peers. So I think it's like, yeah, you who, what crew had the least amount of callbacks between the two cutting crews? What then you start tracking that stuff and all of that.

[Larry Delisante]

That was one big thing then.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. What else?

[Larry Delisante]

My second big thing is I transferred both of my cut trucks are fully like small. No more small engine stuff on. It's all battery powered by cress.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

So it's like blowers, wee whackers are all crests.

[Mike Garvey]

What dealer did you use?

[Larry Delisante]

Oh, there's this really good. The best dealer is Ropes Robotic outdoor power equipment distributors because we own it.

[Mike Garvey]

Wow, that's cool.

[Larry Delisante]

But yeah, so I bought. I wound up getting some stuff and put it onto the trucks. Game changer. I'll tell you. Like last year I did it on one truck for most of the season and I knew it was going to work and I knew I liked it. I was trying to more figure out the batteries and stuff like that. Once I did it though, no callbacks. I lied. I have one call of a complaint this year that one of the blowers broke and that was because my guy ran it over at the lawn.

[Mike Garvey]

So. Yeah, but I'm. But well, we've already. You contacted your Local dealer and the

[Larry Delisante]

party, this guy Mike Garvey I called.

[Mike Garvey]

How was the process with that?

[Larry Delisante]

It actually appeared on your workbench. Disappeared on my workbench in like four days. It was perfect. But the stuff is great, even delivered.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, it was delivered.

[Larry Delisante]

The stuff is great. Like last year. I couldn't tell you how many times. I don't know if you guys know this, but if you research it, it's true. And people say it's not, but it's 100. I researched it the other day. I'll pull up my search history.

[Mike Garvey]

Please don't.

[Larry Delisante]

There's a winter gas. There's a. There's a winter gas and there's a summer gas. And it usually changes over around like May, June is when by June 1st, they have to be 100% into summer gas.

[Mike Garvey]

Okay.

[Larry Delisante]

Burns completely different. Cars will never notice a difference. Small engines, disaster like especially two strokes. It says so in the spring, all my stuff acts up. You get like an 85 degree day in there. It does not want to run on. It does a fire rate this year.

[Mike Garvey]

Now one cold stuff being the different of the mix, different gas mixture, different gas to oil mixture.

[Larry Delisante]

Just gas.

[Mike Garvey]

And the gas in general.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah, just the gas in general. It's just different. So it fires different type of gas. Yep. Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. So and you run all like 93, right? Or 91.

[Larry Delisante]

Whatever.

[Mike Garvey]

The highest one.

[Larry Delisante]

So yeah, like I have no. No one calls me saying, oh, the wee whacker won't start when I turn upside down. I'm having a problem. And it's like just also put tag

[Mike Garvey]

up in the shop. But that's also adding how many hours every spring to your. Your day of small engine repair?

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah, I didn't have any.

[Mike Garvey]

You had none. Right. Which leads to more estimates, which leads to more productivity, which leads to more work life balance. Right.

[Larry Delisante]

I'll never have that. But.

[Mike Garvey]

No, but I mean I want it. You want it. Yeah, but some people want it. But like it's leading to. Hey, what's not working on it? Oh, the. You know, we haven't had any failures yet. It's like, whoa, one battery go. The battery. Okay. It's under warranty. Bring it to the dealer and have them swap it out and then do a warranty claim.

[Larry Delisante]

I really want something to break. I want to try. I want to see how the warrant. I said it the other day. I said, you know, it's been a year. Not one. One thing broke yet.

[Mike Garvey]

And you're in your. Even this season. Yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

Eight weeks of cutting almost Eight weeks of cutting.

[Mike Garvey]

You haven't had one breakdown in your head trimmers. Your head trimmers.

[Larry Delisante]

Two full years.

[Mike Garvey]

Two full years. Your pole. Pole saws, your chainsaw, your weed whackers. Yeah. What else do we have? Do you have this little hand thing them yet?

[Larry Delisante]

I'm gonna get them.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

But no issues.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. So.

[Larry Delisante]

And that's a bonus for me. I. I'm gonna.

[Mike Garvey]

So. Right. Right now all your repair stuff is coming from just.

[Larry Delisante]

And backpack blowers that are still my like. So I still use my gas power for big stuff like cleanups.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

Cuz like I, I need that. It's different. It really is. I don't.

[Mike Garvey]

Especially in the northeast, but north.

[Larry Delisante]

You're not using battery stuff for cleanups. It's just not. I tried it. It's. It's. The power is pretty much there. It's pretty good. It's just. I would need 300 batteries, like literally, like. But so I'm going to keep the gas for that. But I have down blowers in the shop right now. It's like, it's just. And I take care of my stuff. I put the best gas in it. The best oil.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

So it's just, you know, it's mostly the gas mixture.

[Mike Garvey]

How was. What did your winter look like this year?

[Larry Delisante]

Horrible. It snowed every day. So basically. Well, it snowed three times, but the one snowstorm stayed there for four weeks because it was so cold. So it was a bad winter.

[Mike Garvey]

So you couldn't do any like extra paver jobs or other projects or they had to wait. Yeah, yeah. I mean some winners are hit or miss. We've had. I remember we had a winner that like wasn't below like 40 the whole time. You know, like it's so all over the place to take us into the start of the season. How it has it been? How is it gaining leads and getting jobs and so what's the spring rush like?

[Larry Delisante]

So I was gonna do. My buddy did a, like a video. It was like a video advertisement for like social media and all that. And he was getting like a lot of leads out of it and stuff. And I was gonna do it. The guy wanted like 10 grand and I thought it was kind of like out of his mind a little bit.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. For four videos.

[Larry Delisante]

Four videos. So I didn't do it. Thank God I didn't do it. So I did Postcard Mania.

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Larry Delisante]

It was like 2500 bucks, but they give you four months of posting for free.

[Mike Garvey]

And this is social media posting. Facebook, Instagram, Google, Google Yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

And then it's 500amonth. Once that four months runs out, they start hitting you 500amonth. I can't even keep up with the estimates. And they're all from that.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, because you're jumping into people's Facebook as they're scrolling, as they're on Marketplace, as they're just generic scrolling. And it's like, okay, oh, I saw that. Oh, like. And I saw this. And like, it's professional. It's hyper focused. You give them essentially the exact zip codes that you want to target. Like, hyper focus. It's not like it's like blanketing all of New Jersey. And I've been doing it. Coastal's been doing it for over two years now. I want to say maybe more. And we run it year round. Yeah, it just year round.

[Larry Delisante]

I'm gonna do it.

[Mike Garvey]

It's just. Hey. And you're gonna flip to. Flip to. Hey. Get 5% off on your winter product, 10 off on your winter project. You have a project that you want to do that you're thinking about, like, we'll, like, every single month it's gonna change. And they let you do that, right? Yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

You could change every month. But I. I was just telling you last night at dinner, like, I can't even. I can't change it.

[Mike Garvey]

Change it to. Don't. Hold on.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah, I'm booked until, like, mid July. Change or May.

[Mike Garvey]

You really?

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah, like, right now, just sitting here, I got two quotes approved that are like, big jobs. Like, so, like. Yeah, I'm probably booked like. Like July. Yeah. Because I've. I have, like, three, like, pretty big jobs that are going to take me like, a week or so to do, and then I have some smaller ones, so it's kind of.

[Mike Garvey]

Right. And right now we're right before Memorial Day at the Jersey Shore, so a lot of people want their little pro. Want their mulch down because they're having a barbecue and.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

They think people are going to look at it.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah. It's like, wow, White trash.

[Mike Garvey]

Wow. He did not do the mulch along the back fence this year. What a scumbag.

[Larry Delisante]

He must be really hurting somebody.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. Yeah. I need everyone over to think that everything perfect. Like, I do my mulch in, like, July because I want everything, like, down trimming. Yeah, Right. I wanna. Because I need, like, four head trimmings a year, Three hedge trimming, and it's like. Like, it'll be fine. Everything's all right.

[Larry Delisante]

Got it.

[Mike Garvey]

Pivoting to other developments. Not out just outside of amazing creations. We've. And I've done. The audience is aware of what we've been up to with coastal fertilization of North Jersey, which is being built out and then also roped. What. What are your thoughts on. On the coastal. Of. Coastal fertilization of North Jersey? We'll start with that one.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah, I think it's great. I think I'm hoping we could open up, like, 10 of these. Like, that's, like, the ultimate goal, right? It's like, almost like a franchise. It's just time, you know, it's training. It's time. It's work. Like, I trained Rob a couple times. You trained Rob a couple times?

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, mainly he comes down and trains with us. With you.

[Larry Delisante]

He's not the smartest guy.

[Narrator]

Sorry, Rob.

[Mike Garvey]

He's. He's very. You're actually very similar. Not in. In. In a lot in your work ethic.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah, we have a lot of energy.

[Mike Garvey]

We both. Both have adhd. You both have ocd. You both have everything in that. In that manual of psychiatry or what. I forget what it's called. The DD214. Whatever. No, it's just like. It's like every diagnosis of mental health disorders. Yeah, you guys. You guys block hit a bunch, as do I. But anyway, you're a lot similar in your work ethic. And he's excited. He's really excited. And it's funny because. Because he's also a trooper. He's my boss, actually, here, so. Which is pretty funny that, you know, we're. We're in a whole nother thing here. But he's funny. He's like. He's like, hey, man. He's like, did you see that? Did you see that quote come through? And I'm like. Because he doesn't see the. Yeah, yeah. The main branch of, like. Oh, yeah, yeah, Rob, I saw it. I'm very excited. We'll get that. He said, we're going to get that out, right? I was like, yep, we're going to get that out. Let alone like, 14 came through for the, like. Rob, we have 900 customers, bro. Like, right. Like, I want to get coastal north jersey to 20. Yeah, that's the goal. 20. 26. Yeah. 20 accounts.

[Larry Delisante]

That's amazing. I think that's amazing. But they're.

[Mike Garvey]

They're big.

[Larry Delisante]

Like, well, I show.

[Mike Garvey]

I sent you the pictures. Yeah, like, one. You know? Yeah. I'm like, all right. This app is 500. This app is, you know, 385. This app is 235. And, like, I saw comparable pricing to a Guy that's doing it up there hit Rob's neighborhood. He's like, hey, this is what I was paying, like, two years ago. It was $153. And I'm like, are you kidding me? Are you seriously kidding me? Like, like 153. 153 for Rob's lawn. And you're gonna see it. Like, it's big. It's a. All day. It's a 250 application. And it's like, oh, my God, like, you're just poisoning the market. You're just like bringing everyone down to the point where the other night I gave an estimate. It was a massive corner. And I feel like it was very fair. It was like 1800 bucks for the year. Six applications, 285. An app. Like, I need to cover ourselves, right? Because it's like herbicide, the fertilizer. And it's like, oh, you're higher than the other quotes I got. I'm like, well, who is the. Who is it? Or is it pound for pound? Is it. And we all liquid, too. We've all liquid. We've seen. I go, I go, these are the reasons why this might be. And that's what I'm starting to include things. It's pet friendly. Okay? It's slow release or nitrogen. This is high quality organic based stuff. Plus, we've caught people too. Customers that we've had for eight years. Say, hey, I got this other quote. It looked like this. I'm like, okay, yeah, it says six applications, but one of the applications is the weed control and the other one is the fertilizer. Then the other one is the fertilizer and the other one's a weed control. They're actually banging you harder.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah, yeah. Like, well, what it was. It was Chuck's house. And.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

And he.

[Mike Garvey]

He does everything.

[Larry Delisante]

He's like, oh, I'm only. You're charging me this. This company's gonna give me six applications. You're giving me seven. I really want to show that guy.

[Mike Garvey]

What does his lawn look like right now?

[Larry Delisante]

It looks pretty good. I mean, but he doesn't do aerations, and it still looks right, you know?

[Mike Garvey]

Do you remember what he had? Oh, his dirt. Years ago voted. Yeah, it was dirt. It was. Literally, we had him alone in four years.

[Larry Delisante]

But what I said for four weeks, you guys have to do this. You have to always ask to see the quote. I said, can you see the quote over this guy's quote? So basically, this company was only giving him three applications for the whole season,

[Mike Garvey]

saying it was six.

[Larry Delisante]

Saying it was six, but.

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Larry Delisante]

The herbicide and the granular was one. The herbicide and the granula was half two and the herbicide. Three applications with two.

[Mike Garvey]

Sometimes they even. They even push it into like. Excuse me, round one will be three applications. It'll be the fertilizer, the pre emergent, break it and then they'll say the herbicide. Oh, so you're getting apps 1, 2 and 3. Yeah, for the price of 1:1, we could do that too. I'll do. Let's say, hey, you're getting a free. Since you're signing up late, we're going to throw it. We're going to throw in a free weed control for your lawn.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

Oh, you were doing it anyway.

[Larry Delisante]

But that's what they do. And they try to be sneaky with it, but it's like you're not comparing apples to apples.

[Mike Garvey]

No. So the. Anyway, so I don't know where we diverted off to that.

[Larry Delisante]

We're talking about North Jersey and the guy. But the best thing to ever say to these guys, and I learned this when you're dealing with people who are saying, well, this guy. Well, the other guy I have now is cheaper. Okay, then why are you calling me? You're obviously not happy with his service. Otherwise you wouldn't even be calling me. If I'm happy with. I'm working on my house. I don't look for anybody else. I'm not trying to get cheaper.

[Mike Garvey]

We have reoccurring customers from. And you've had reoccurring customers for over 25 years from your originals. We've had reoccurring customers from day one.

[Larry Delisante]

Eight.

[Mike Garvey]

Eight seasons. And what is it? It's easy because coastal fertilization shows up. When they say they're going to show up, they. I don't think about it. Oh, they were here today. They did. That's all people want. And it just becomes like having a reoccurring service that you know, love and trust. It's like having a whatever membership or this membership or like, it's a membership of. Okay, hey, I know this is taken care of. It's not like, oh, I want to go out and shop around the end.

[Larry Delisante]

If you're happy, you're not going to

[Mike Garvey]

shop around in May. Yeah, good luck. Yeah, seriously. And people are like, oh, oh, when can you know? We just signed up. When are you guys coming? It's like, hold on, you're coming to us in May? We could have had you on the front end in. In March.

[Larry Delisante]

March.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. But People, you know, they wait. They think they're your only they. Everyone thinks that. It's just I haven't. That you sit at home and think about them all day.

[Adam Fullerton]

Hey, guys, Adam Fullerton here with Brandon Bull. As a proud sponsor of the side Hustle Squad podcast, we're all about helping lawn care and landscaping businesses make their mark and stand out from the competition. Visit [e-mail] to learn more about our professional branding website and graphic design services and how we can help your business look awesome and grow.

[Mike Garvey]

Hey, what's going on, guys? With Jobber, you can easily manage jobs, track your team, get paid faster, all from one simple app. Join thousands of satisfied lawn care professionals who trust Jobber to keep their business growing strong. Visit the link in the bio today and start your free trial.

[Larry Delisante]

One of our good customers just paid for weed control the other day and she text me four times. Literally paid for it two days ago. When you coming? When you come? I'm like, I don't know, like, we're already done.

[Mike Garvey]

Maybe this week. Yeah, right. Figure it out. But so, so we have that. So we have that and that's developing and I'm, we're guiding it. And like, we just got picked up three commercial weed control accounts. We have some like, very cool. It's building a business. It's building the business all over again. But with the playbook that we've had from this whole eight years, which we didn't initially too. Which you had the playbook from start, amazing on what to not do. And then. But we were also in a new kind of, you know, so but if we can duplicate this, get this model down and then be like, okay, let's find the next person for Mercer. Let's find the next person for Essex.

[Larry Delisante]

Let's find Northern Ocean.

[Mike Garvey]

Northern Ocean. Let's find the next person for Southern Monmouth, Northern Mammoth. I have the people, you know, and it's a lot of the guys I work with that are, you know, thinking about their next step. I had a meeting the other day with someone that just wants to talk about it and stuff like that. But where the, where it benefits these people, it has to be the right fit too. Some people just want all control and everything. But like also too, you're getting the backing of a brand that's being, that's already established, built, branded, a website that's already developed the support system that's already done the billing system, billing system, the reception, the account management, the support team around everybody, the record keeping, the insurance, the licensing. Eight years to Figure that out, dude. We did a lot of, like, you were selling, and I'm doing a lot of, like, the. Like, like, okay, we need to do this. This is how it. Like, you know what I mean? And it's like, it took a year. It's still going. Yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

Still changing, still developing.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. So. So that's that. So, I mean, given a good update on that, you know, but it's the time. There's a lot of time invested in it, in the training, and then going up there, too, to then. To then be able to get robbed to where he needs to be, which he's there, and then moving the equipment up there and having a dedicated equipment. All dedicated equipment to up there. So we're there, but it's gonna. It's a couple months. You know what I mean? It's like, not like, oh, go.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

So. So, yeah, so. And I'm learning the territory a little bit. I'm seeing the other people that are out there who. Who the players are there, who kind of learning, learning that, but pivoting to. To roped. We've had some pretty good developments lately. We did our. We've set up robots on your house, my house, the shop, and then we did our first install with a company that we're working with, which hopefully leads to a lot more stuff. They do a ton of commercial work. What are your thoughts on how it's been and, like, what we talked about the handheld stuff that you're using in your business.

[Larry Delisante]

But.

[Narrator]

Or.

[Mike Garvey]

Or the robots on the lawns are

[Larry Delisante]

great, too, because they still, like, we don't want to rush into it. We're trying to take it slow because we're trying to learn in the app. And every day we learn something new on the app. Like, I just figured out you could actually change the direction every day that it cuts. So you could put diamonds or do whatever. So it does cross patterns. You don't have to go in there every day. And, like, switch makes it a lot faster. I mean, my lawn gets cut in, like, two and a half hours Redox. And then my guys come and just. We whack and blow off. They don't even put a mower on my lawn.

[Mike Garvey]

And it seems like we're. We're getting it more dialed into. Like, we're getting closer to edges. We're getting closer to keep playing with sidewalks. Yeah. What we can and cannot do, what we'll be able to get away with, to let it, like, really go.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah. So my goal is maybe this year to get it at least Four of my properties. I'll buy four of them. Yeah, get it on four. See how that goes. And maybe going into next year by like 10.

[Mike Garvey]

Can I put that order in now? Yes. Okay, cool.

[Larry Delisante]

You know, just keep on putting in and like, kind of grow it out. I'd like to by the end of next year, maybe have like 30 of them out there.

[Mike Garvey]

That you manage?

[Larry Delisante]

That I manage.

[Mike Garvey]

Will you charge more?

[Larry Delisante]

It depends. I. I'll see. Because I look at it like the guys are only going to. They could probably do those 30 houses in like four hours. Like, literally, like, so payroll. They could probably do with one guy in four hours. Just we whacking and blowing off a mower. Doesn't even have to leave the truck, like, on them because I'm going to pick the right lawns for it. That's why I want to do like. Like, get it to like 30 and try to keep it kind of in the same routing and stuff.

[Mike Garvey]

My goal is same area.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah. And if it really works, I'm just going to build it out like that and then get it to where it's like 150 of them on lawns. And then you can start saying to a customer, they're going to love it. Listen, it's going to be. I just keep raising the price every year. Hey, man, I have a robotic on your lawn. Your lawn's going to cut three days a week. It always looks good.

[Mike Garvey]

And too. I think, you know, I think too, you put them, you put them on there at your regular cut rate. Like, hey, I'm. I'm trying something new. Would you like a robot on your lawn? Okay. Hey, for next year, if you, if you want to keep the robot, it's this. Yes. And you almost like, but, but not force their hand, but like a little bit, like a little, little. Hey, hey, like, it's an extra 20 bucks a week.

[Larry Delisante]

What I see with this happening is, though, and I really do see this happening is I'm gonna put it on Mike Garvey's lawn and Mike Garvey's neighbor's gonna say, man, that thing's wild.

[Mike Garvey]

Like, oh, they want me to draw a path to theirs next door.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah, next door. Like, yeah, but that's. It's just gonna wind up going like, where? Oh, you know, it's. It's going to be everybody.

[Mike Garvey]

You know, they're like, just send yours over to mine. Yeah, buy one.

[Larry Delisante]

Stuff ain't cheap.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah,

[Larry Delisante]

all cheap. But, yeah, I see, I see it going. Well, I, I like it. I like the product A lot. I really do.

[Mike Garvey]

And I see the rollout again. So we have your actual. We have homeowners that want to own their own and they want to just maintain it themselves. Run the app. Boom. We're perfect for that. Then we have other landscapers, hypothetically amazing creations being that one of them. So they. We supply and support other landscapers to be able to then roll out these robots to their customers. Then I see it, other landscapers, commercial build outs. But then I want to start going to man golf courses. The county, Ocean county, the state colleges go to Monmouth University. Hey, I want to talk to facilities but like can only do so much in a day. So it's like we're building a team around us at Robe to have. Okay, hey, we're a startup. We're legit freaking startup from the ground up. We're not backed by private equity. We're backed by hopes and dreams really,

[Larry Delisante]

but by Mike and Larry's.

[Mike Garvey]

Mike and Larry. Hey, well, this is gonna be something. So it's fun and it's fun to see. We're building out the trailer. I think we even just being on this trip, I think we work through a couple, couple things that we don't necessarily get to like, hey, let's. Okay, you know what, let's dial in this trailer and let's rabbit in the next, you know, couple weeks.

[Larry Delisante]

The only thing I could say like to like people listening and stuff is so I was not a believer in any of this stuff. Wasn't. If I did not go to equip and see this stuff for myself, I wouldn't even be talking about roped.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

At all. I honestly wouldn't. I told you last night, eating dinner last night, I said to you, if you called me and told me as a company, like, I'm going to sell you a robotic mower. So I would have probably just hung up on you like, dude, that's garbage. I'll never do that. Yeah, you have to really get out there, see it, touch it, feel it, watch it. And then you're going to say, wow, this could really work. You know what I mean? And the good thing with Crest is they'll like for you landscapers out there, they'll give you one to try out to see if like you like it. Put it on your lawn, try it out.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

See what it does. And then call up ropes and we'll sell you the mowers. You know what I mean?

[Mike Garvey]

Right.

[Larry Delisante]

But yeah, listen, it's going to be there and it's actually going to kill all the, the landscape companies, to be honest with you, because once one company starts doing it, all, like I said, all the neighbors watch it. People go by my house, just hit the brakes. They just watch the shop hit the brakes. I mean, you don't get that by your house as much because you're a coldest. Yeah, but they hit the brakes. They're all like, what is that?

[Mike Garvey]

I have the UPS guy. He's like, I want one.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

Okay. I had. Or I set one up on the shop the other day, and I was just out there just making sure it's doing good. And I had seven, six cars stop me. Like, what is that? I'm like, is that robot? Yep, that's a robot. Like, oh, my God. That's crazy. Like, it's cool to watch. And it's. It's dead balls, accurate in the stripes. Like, it's crazy. It's lasered in. It's insane.

[Larry Delisante]

And it gets smarter every. Like, I, I watch mine, like.

[Mike Garvey]

And now, now what I'm seeing in some models is that you're going to be able to double, triple, quadruple stripe. You'll be able to get that like 36 inch dark stripe next to it. That like, it's gonna be 36, 52.

[Larry Delisante]

Whatever you want, you can set it up.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah. So our next setup. And I'm gonna try to do it this week. Yeah, this week or actually Sunday if I can get to it. Won't we land on Sunday? I'm gonna try to get it set up over at the biggest high school. We have that on their baseball field and then start cultivating that relationship. So we're putting our demo on there and I'm excited to start seeing it. I'm gonna rip a stripe right up the middle and it's just gonna be like, yeah, yeah. And the grass sucks there because we just started. I just started taking it over and it's been neglected. But that's my project because, you know, that's what I want to, you know, bring that thing back to its glory, which it was in the 90s because a lot of people pumped a ton of money into it to find out. 1993, there's a project there to build that out. No one's done anything since. 35 years later. It's, you know. Yeah. And so. And I actually talked to one of the guys that we know who played there back in the day, and I'm like, hey, I'm taking this on as my project. He's like, oh, God. He's like, good luck. With that, he remembers how it was. So. Yeah. So looking forward to that. And then we have a big meeting coming up with this other company that we're teaming up with and they're very excited about this. We got to. And I talked about the. On a prior episode about their skeptics and mainly a lot of them are the gas dealers and then they're the gas mechanics of the companies because they see it as a threat.

[Larry Delisante]

I wouldn't like it. I lost my job. But you have to lose your job.

[Mike Garvey]

You should be pivoting to.

[Larry Delisante]

You should be.

[Mike Garvey]

Hey, boss. Hey, boss. I want to learn everything about this stuff. This is good. It's coming whether you like it or not.

[Larry Delisante]

How do you program? How do you play change? How do you, like, what should we be stopping? Hands don't get dirty anymore.

[Mike Garvey]

Yeah, bro, like come up and train with us. Like, I know you're like, not into it, but like, okay, like come, come to the course as we do. If you're like them, like, okay, you want to learn how to diagnose everything? Like I embrace it.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah.

[Mike Garvey]

Don't you, don't you want it? They're still. They're never. They're also. They are going to have some gas powered things, right? They had. They have over 50. This company has like 50 whatever. Right. Standards. You think they're just going to throw them all in the garbage like tomorrow? No, but embrace this other part of it.

[Larry Delisante]

You're going to go from 50 to 45 to 40 and you're going to keep stuffing stuff in there as you're

[Mike Garvey]

doing that supplement and keep learning. Yeah. Learning the new equipment and learning the like, like, man, like you hold the weed whack. You're like, there's not a lot to this thing. There's. There's a little motor, right? Like a front end.

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah. A little front end motor with a

[Mike Garvey]

battery on the back trigger. It's like. And this stuff's been around for. It's crazy years. Like, it's not like just like Crescent Positech just like popped into the scene. Like they've been called. They were building stuff for Black and decker in the 80s and or 90s when this, all this stuff was coming to be like, yeah, years. And I might be getting some of that wrong, but like, no, this is pretty accurate. This stuff is. Well, these people have been in the game for a long time. They're not just like, oh, like, you know, hello. Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna start making tools. Yeah. You know, and a lot of this stuff spans different brands. There's a whole world of the outdoor power equipment stuff, so we're learning. But yeah, I think, like, embrace the. Just embrace the new technology. Like, don't be. You're resistant to it. And that's where we're thriving as a dealer, because we don't deal in gas. But even if I did deal in gas, I'd be. If I was a gas dealer, I'd be embracing all the stuff. I'd be like, hey, man, this is where it's coming. Well, they're streaming. Short sighted. Be like, oh, you're taking money out of my pocket for my small engine repair. Because Larry brings me a blower and I bang them for 20, you know, 250 bucks to replace carburetor. Right.

[Larry Delisante]

It cost them 40. Yeah, it's true. It's 100.

[Mike Garvey]

It's so true. Right.

[Larry Delisante]

It's actually crazy. But I mean, you know, they're never going to change until they have to. And eventually they're going to have to pivot and they're going to have to change because everybody's going to start using this stuff.

[Mike Garvey]

But here's the thing. We've gone to. You've gone to your gas dealer and said, can you please. This was before we became the Crestier. And you said, can you please take a look at this?

[Larry Delisante]

Yeah, and what they say, they're like, they're. They weren't into it. They're like, oh, we have Milwaukee here and we're happy with that, even though the batteries don't last long. And I'm like, well, why are you happy with something that doesn't last long?

[Mike Garvey]

Right. And who's going there? Like, the big companies are going there for the Milwaukee stuff with the. We're working.

[Larry Delisante]

They said they sold a few, but they're, you know, complaints, you know, of the lasting of the battery. I mean, that's. To me, it's more homeowner. You know, it's a great product, but it's no. No way to charge people.

[Mike Garvey]

Milwaukee fanatics with their pack outs, whatever, all that stuff is very cool.

[Larry Delisante]

They have, like, good equipment. You know, it's not bad equipment. It's just. I don't think it's right for commercial lawn care.

[Mike Garvey]

Lawn care, right where this is commercial

[Larry Delisante]

grade charge on the go.

[Mike Garvey]

You could, you know, charge in eight minutes.

[Larry Delisante]

Yes.

[Mike Garvey]

Like, and, you know, we took an opportunity and Jesus, here we are. Yeah. So I think let's build out that showroom. Let's wrap it and then let's set up a couple, like, let's I'm just going to start hounding people. Hey, on this date, I'd love to bring by my mobile trailer and set up and show you guys some equipment. Have your team there if you want. We'll be there on Friday at seven.

[Larry Delisante]

Now let's do it.

[Mike Garvey]

I don't know, 100 grand stuff. Yeah, we'll bring 100 grand in and stuff.

[Larry Delisante]

Bring a check.

[Mike Garvey]

I mean, yeah, but I think too. And crush all the differences. Dealers do or deal. Dealers do demos, but reps do demos. Right. But reps don't carry the product to actually just unload. Like, not a showroom, make it a store. So a showroom with a store in it. Right? Like, yeah.

[Larry Delisante]

And like you bring this stuff and

[Mike Garvey]

you sell it, even live events. I'm like, hey, credit cards, whatever. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So hey, hey, you want, you really want to try it out? Just buy one thing. Buy a battery and a backpack blower and let me know if you want it. That's the real test. It's not going to try to gather all the equipment and do it for a couple days or whatever? No, it's like. And even some of these bigger companies, like we said, like, let's build out this smaller. Let's build out a couple smaller demo trailers. Be like, hey, we're going to drop this on your property for a month, not two weeks, whatever. See if your guys like it, report back, we'll come pick it up. If you want it, you want it, if you don't, you don't, whatever. So we'll see. So it's a multifaceted. It's got a lot of tentacles to it, but I think it's pushing the ball forward. But also we also have full time jobs and full time side hustle businesses. They're not. Yeah. And then another side hustle business and another franchise and another this. But somehow it's working. But I think it's working through, like getting help, delegating, stuff like that. Not everything bottlenecking through us. So it was good. It was good to catch up with you. Looking forward to this Roko event we're gonna be running into. We already ran into Nino and his team, good friend of the show from Roko. You're gonna go visit him in Italy soon, right? On your trip where you don't know where you're going. That's okay.

[Larry Delisante]

Figure it out.

[Mike Garvey]

You know, it's a tiny place.

[Larry Delisante]

Surprise.

[Mike Garvey]

It's like a city.

[Larry Delisante]

Hey guys.

[Mike Garvey]

It looks like a city. Yeah, sorry. Everyone from Italy knows each other, right? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But, oh, we didn't even touch on it last night at the bar. We're sitting at our favorite restaurant, Rapio Oak, and yeah, yeah, let's, we'll take a quick break and we'll look who's interrupted. Oh gosh, this is normal.

[Larry Delisante]

Is this Cornel Mac on the attack?

[Mike Garvey]

So Cornell Mack just, just Cornell Mack just pulled up. Let's, we'll, we'll get him on and then we'll, we'll, we'll wrap this episode up and then we'll keep this going here, but we'll send it back to Mr. Producer and we'll catch you guys on the next one.

[Narrator]

Thanks for tuning in to the side Hustle Squad Podcast with Mike Garvey and Larry Delisante. We hope you enjoyed this episode episode and gain valuable insights to help you succeed in your side Hustle journey. Connect with Mike and Larry using the links in the podcast description. If you love the show, please leave us a well worded five star review on Apple Podcast. Your feedback and support help us grow and continue to provide you with the best content. And don't forget to follow the show to be notified when the next edition of the side Hustle Squad Podcast is available. We have many exciting guests and topics lined up so you won't want to miss a single episode. Thanks again for listening and we'll catch you next time on the side Hustle Squad podcast.