Robert (00:31)
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of the I Am Landscape Growth Podcast. Today I have an amazing guest with an amazing story, one I have not heard before, Al Perot from Greencaller. Thank you so much for doing this, Al. Appreciate it,

Al (00:44)
How you doing?

Robert (00:45)
Awesome. Yeah. So we were just talking a little bit before the recording to get a sense of like where we want to focus the conversation. I think it’s going to be pretty simple approach based on what you’ve done. So why don’t you give the audience a little bit of background in terms of how you got started and what’s the kind of like what you’ve done to get where you are now and what’s the kind of core focus of the business that you’re at.

Al (01:06)
Yeah, sure. So essentially I established the company in 2009. Essentially it was just myself working part time, doing a bit of grass cutting on weekends. So started that business just to essentially give me some petty cash and some extra spending money. ⁓ So I was doing that and then ⁓ we… ⁓

I landed somewhat at that time, back in 2010, landed a ⁓ contract out in Haldeman, cutting ⁓ some parks and stuff like that, which I thought at that time was a very big contract. ⁓ But it, so then that’s when I hired one of my, employee at that time. He was a ⁓ younger guy helping me out ⁓ and then.

started adding every so couple of months, started adding an employee here and there. And then we started introducing in 2011, started doing snow removal for the first time, had a small route doing that. And then next thing you know, I got five to 10 employees working for me. So then we started getting into more of the commercial

⁓ maintenance aspect of the business. So we land a big contract with a ⁓ regional municipality. ⁓ And at that point, that was 2012. So our employee status, ⁓ we were around 10 to 12 people at that time, ⁓ which there was ⁓ a significant revenue coming in.

⁓ at that point and I was still working full time ⁓ in the oil and gas business doing a full time job there and trying to run this ⁓ we’ll say side gig hustle. ⁓

Robert (03:16)
Just

starting to turn into like a full on operation.

Al (03:19)
Yeah, and it was, was getting, know, doing the carrying two cell phones and trying to put out fires here and there. And it was starting to get intertwined a little too much. I knew at a certain point that a decision would need to be made in regards to, you know, which avenue, which career path I should be taking.

uh, either doing my nine to five job or do I become a full-time business owner with, you know, all the perks, but, uh, you know, working the, the 60, 70 hour weeks and, uh, trying to grow this, uh, this business. Uh, so, um, it became by 2015, 16, it was just at a point where

I really couldn’t cope ⁓ with doing both. ⁓ So, you know, I sat down with my wife, we had the discussion, you know, it just, I have three kids at that time, they’re obviously a lot smaller. ⁓ you know, weekends I was out doing my estimating, trying to get that work. ⁓ You know, it was, it was, was, it was busy. It was very busy.

And obviously anybody that knows with kids around and you know, obviously my wife works on her own job. so working family with three kids, it’s and not just one job. I was essentially doing two was starting to burn me out a little bit. But by 2016, 17, we had hit

significant revenue. We were starting to, I was starting to notice that there was definitely some lapse of me not being present during the day with my employees, that there was some issues starting to happen, not being available every second.

of the day for them to answer questions and so on and so forth. So a decision was made essentially in 2017, 2016, 17, decision was made to essentially become full-time.

for in the company. And that’s where we saw significant sales change of the way we operate. And then we became essentially, we would jump from 20 to 25 employees in 2014, 15 to essentially 50 employees by 2018.

Me at ⁓ Elm trying to grow both businesses on the commercial lawn, ⁓ commercial grounds maintenance and the construction aspect at that time. ⁓ It was, ⁓ I believe looking back, it was a good decision. And there was definitely some significant increase in growth sales. ⁓ I can’t really say that.

net profit was there yet. Because you know what they say is you know just because you’re selling more does not mean that you’re profiting more. But that’s always a work in progress especially ⁓ even this year with the economy ⁓ and during COVID and inflation and different aspects there’s it’s always a aspect of trying to grow. ⁓

and make sure that your net profit margins are growing as well, not decreasing. essentially now we’re in the 6 to 10 million mark in annual sales. We have about 80 employees on the payroll. So we’re a full scale landscape company.

We do grounds maintenance on the commercial residential side. We do landscape construction on both, again, the residential and construction side. And we during ⁓ right before COVID hit, actually, we started doing in-ground pool installations and became a certified Latham fiberglass installer ⁓ back in 2020, ⁓ just to see if we

we might dip our toes into that different trade. And we did. And ⁓ everybody knows during COVID, it was very crazy busy, you know, with work. was actually, we were quite scared at that time to see if, you know, everybody, all these businesses were going under, especially in the service restaurant business.

And we thought that that would be a similar into the landscaping field, but it was actually quite the reverse. was, know, everybody was staying home, wanted their home paradise and oasis at home because you couldn’t go anywhere. And yeah, it just, it just became a crazy busy. Obviously with material, trying to source material and different equipment and

the labor pool that brought in different challenges. But yeah, I think ⁓ our first year that we became a pool installation company, I think we installed 26 pools, which that’s pretty significant ⁓ for not doing much. ⁓

Robert (09:47)
Yeah. ⁓

Al (09:51)
Obviously the market in that industry has changed significantly due to the economy, but we’re still in that process of ⁓ doing those. And the good aspect of our company is essentially we take care of everything from the start, the landscape design, the permits right to the end. ⁓ So we don’t sub anything out other than obviously ⁓

couple of things like electrical. ⁓ But other than that, we we organize everything. We’re a one stop shop of for customers. And I think that’s something that they they really appreciate in the fact of they don’t have to go find a gas guy or electrician.

Robert (10:41)
Yeah,

they don’t have to be a GC for their own project, right?

Al (10:43)
Yeah,

exactly. We take care of everything in-house. ⁓ We try to make it seamless and easy as possible on the client. And ⁓ I think some of the feedback ⁓ regarding that is that’s what they like. I think there’s, obviously there’s certain companies out there that do provide that ⁓ similar service, but it’s not many. Yeah, that’s cool. It’s something that, you know, it’s appreciated at ⁓

customer or client to handle things. So yeah, and obviously in the winter we do a lot of ⁓ snow removal and ice control. ⁓ Two years ago it wasn’t much because it was a nice winter. Last year it was a little different, a little heavier. So then it, you know, after a winter going like that you, ⁓ it’s definitely ⁓ reminds you of the joys of

Robert (11:28)
little bit different.

Al (11:41)
Well, I’m snow insulting. But yeah, it’s, it’s something that we ⁓ we like to implement and offer that service because it keeps our employees employed with green collar, gives them that security of not trying to find always trying to find seasonal work. And I think they appreciate that. And yeah, and we try to

not just become a seasonal company, but ⁓ when you work at Green Color, it’s a career path. And we try to promote individuals within our company ⁓ to stay with us. We try to offer training or what needs to grow with the company. Because at the end of the day, know, it’s all about, you know, trying to make more money to support.

to buy a house or serve a family, it takes that type of income. ⁓ And we try to ⁓ make it enjoyable for employees to work at Greencaller and the place, you know, obviously we’re not a smaller company now with 80 employees, but we still try to keep it a family environment and enjoyable ⁓ for everyone. ⁓

Robert (13:08)
Let me just hit this straight though. So you had a side hustle that went to two and half million on the side. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody say they had a side hustle that went to two and a half million. It’s interesting because it’s almost like because you weren’t there, you almost had to lead from a distance. Whereas most people when they’re starting their businesses, they’re fully into it and thick. So I’m just curious before I ask you the question of the show.

Do you think that that’s like a big part of why you ended up getting to where you are now? Because you actually had to figure out how to lead from without being there and like build the systems and try to get the people going. And then when you got there, it was like putting gas on a fire and you just, but like, help or hinder having you not around for that, you know, first phase.

Al (13:57)
Well, I think it definitely hindered it a little bit. Don’t get me wrong. ⁓ you know, I did have some people that helped me out when it was getting ⁓ to that two and a half million dollar mark. ⁓ You know, I had ⁓ some people financing and helping me out, family members. ⁓ So it’s not like it was all on my shoulders of me.

getting to where it is because you know when you’re starting a business you need capital you need credit you need a lot and there was a lot provided or accessible for me to do that. Amazing. Don’t get me wrong it was hard. know and there was some some some pays where I was like I don’t know if I’m gonna make payroll but it’s I think that’s

Robert (14:42)
Yeah, welcome.

Al (14:55)
every entrepreneur or business owner get is at one time had that problem or issue. ⁓ if you didn’t, well, good on you. ⁓ But, but yeah, so obviously, there’s always some good times and some hard times. But overall, ⁓ the good times outweigh the hard or the bad times. So

Robert (15:20)
Cool. So then, you know, like we were talking about earlier, you’re in rare air. I mean, there are other companies your size, but like, you know, the million dollar mark is kind like the first, the five millions, maybe like the second, depending on who you talk to. When you’re on your way to 10, you know, between six and 10 on your way to 10, there’s not many companies in the landscape space that are getting to that level. ⁓ And so like, the question of the podcast is what is the primary growth constraint holding entrepreneurs back in the green industry? And you can…

Take that question for yourself or just what you see with others in the industry. What do you see holding people back from growing?

Al (15:57)
Yeah, so that’s a loaded question. ⁓ obviously, probably the biggest thing is ⁓ building a strong base. ⁓ having the company ⁓ core values, ⁓ having the proper workforce, laborers, manpower ⁓ that works for your company, where they feel valued

⁓ give you that, that good effort, ⁓ will bring you a long way, ⁓ processes. Now I came from a corporate, ⁓ big billion dollar company when I was working full time. And, know, at that point you’re like, all these processes, why do you need all these processes? It’s just a pain in pain in the butt. But you soon realize that once you start having a certain amount of employees that

if you don’t have these processes in place and it’s, you’re always putting, obviously you don’t want to just put processes in place that have no meaning. You want them to have some meaning and bring some value for your employees in the business. But you have to set those up ⁓ to really strive to not repeat the same issues all the time. And with that happening, ⁓

nipping that in the bud ⁓ you do see significant improvement ⁓ and yeah once you have those in it’s yeah the sky’s the limit really. ⁓

Robert (17:38)
Yeah,

it’s awesome. Well, and to your point though, like it’s, it’s, it’s an interesting dynamic because if you have all the processes in the world in place, but the team isn’t willing to follow them, then you’re kind of, you know, up the, up the creep without a paddle. ⁓ so then, and it’s something you’ve kind of talked about, you’ve implied it quite a bit, ⁓ around this idea of building like a strong team with core values, a strong culture, ⁓ promoting internally to help.

give people career opportunities so they can actually like lift themselves up into a position to raise families, buy homes, all these things. So what was it for you that made you decide to focus on the business that way?

Al (18:16)
So the primary was, to be honest with you, and I’m not gonna joke about it, I was, ⁓ well, I was all in, right? So there was no option ⁓ at that point once all the overhead and all the business expenses were coming in. ⁓

you know, leasing and loans and rent and, and you just get to the point where it’s there’s, well, there’s always the point that you can pack it all in and just go back to a 95 job. But I was, ⁓ had, I was all in. And, ⁓ at that point it was, ⁓ there was no turning back. And essentially to, you know, I obviously I’m getting older now, but, ⁓ at that time, ⁓

I was in my 30s, you’re always striving ⁓ to be the biggest and growth wise and looking at bigger companies in the area and you’re like, I wanna be like that. And I noticed too, like a lot of our employees with the growth and they really do feel like it’s nice for them to…

to see the company as a bigger company. And they do have that thinking of, know, I grew, they helped me grow this company. ⁓ And I do have a lot of long-term employees that have been with the company. And I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. ⁓ So, you know, having that reliability and managers and supervisors ⁓

that have been with me for numerous years. ⁓ I’m not gonna give them all the credit that they built the company, but it’s… Yeah, no, for sure. ⁓ Having the right people ⁓ and sometimes they might be the right people at that moment and things change in the future. But generally speaking, I do have a good core… ⁓

Robert (20:14)
Some, for sure.

Al (20:32)
of employees that have been with me that they know where they stand with me. ⁓ I value them and pretty much, know, I am very grateful ⁓ for the work they’ve put in to growing, ⁓ helping me grow this company. And I feel that they have also pride ⁓ when they say they work for greed.

Robert (21:00)
Awesome, One of the things you mentioned when I asked, you know, what’s holding people back, you said, you know, a strong base, core values, you know, a good organizational structure, having the right people in the right place, doing the right things. You know, a lot of people talk about core values. A lot of people don’t necessarily live them. You know, there’s posters on walls and that kind of stuff, and they kind of are empty, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the case with green collar. So when you talk about the idea of building a strong base to grow on top of,

Like at what point in the business were you at when you decided, okay, we need to get this core values piece, right? We seem to look at the organization of how we’re bringing people together. Cause that’s like working, that’s really working on the business type of stuff. ⁓ So what made you kind of decide that that’s the thing that needs to happen.

Al (21:44)
That’s always a working ⁓ thing, right? ⁓ Because back in the early 2010s, 11s, ⁓ core values and company culture and all that was ⁓ essentially not existent. We’re only like maybe three or four people. So it’s like, you’re not really setting up the big corporate,

culture and values and so on and so forth. ⁓ So we’re always working on establishing the core values of the company. We ⁓ did work ⁓ recently with a consulting company ⁓ that got brought in to establish the actual ⁓ core values and trying ⁓ to implement that into the company and ⁓ try to keep our employees up to speed on

what is next for green color? Where are we going? ⁓ know, growth wise, ⁓ what’s our plan of attack in which direction that we’re going into? And we’re still working on that because, know, you always ⁓ one year you think you’re going this way and next thing you know, you’re taking the right instead of taking the left. ⁓

and it’s a total different vision. ⁓ But essentially, you know, we’ve always been a strong commercial grounds maintenance company, ⁓ or we’ve always provided landscape construction. We’re trying to definitely grow that side of the business ⁓ with obviously, we implemented the pool installation ⁓ to complement the construction side of things.

And I think, you know, we kind of really kind of stayed away from residential grounds maintenance, but we’re making a comeback on ⁓ that aspect of things. ⁓ We were just trying to find different avenues ⁓ regarding ⁓ where the economy is to just bring different revenues in. And sometimes, you know, the pool business

slows down so you kind of divert to a different branch of revenue. you ⁓ know, it’s, that’s the, let’s scoot.

Robert (24:18)
Yeah, cool. So like when you’re talking about the idea of giving people an idea of where you’re going. So like helping people understand the growth of the business, how you’re going to focus resources, the type of service and the type of customer that you want to go after. You know, essentially casting vision, whether it’s a short term one year or three year or a 10 year, whatever it might be. A lot of folks I’ve talked to and had the experience of it kind of lack this spot. like, you know, there’s just like, let’s do the day to day. This is what we’re doing. And, and leaders have some difficulty, not only

formalizing where we’re trying to go, but then communicating that. So when it comes to communication inside the organization, like how do you guys, you know, let people know what’s going on.

Al (24:56)
Yeah, so, well, it’s funny that you asked that question because today we’re having a company barbecue this afternoon. Nice. So yeah, it’s always, ⁓ you know, and we just started, well, we didn’t just start, but it’s the start of a new season, ⁓ spring, summer. And, you know, we do have a lot of ⁓ new employees that started with us. ⁓ And ⁓ so yeah, this…

this barbecue brings ⁓ me to, ⁓ you know, in informal setting to meet everybody and discuss, we’re gonna discuss the path, ⁓ what our ⁓ objectives are for the season. ⁓ So that communication from the leader to the employees, I think is important. And we’ll have that on. ⁓

I’d like to say on a monthly basis, but you know, sometimes ⁓ we skip a month due to busyness and ⁓ that kind of stuff. But ⁓ I think the communication ⁓ of ⁓ myself to my employees is important. ⁓ We try to, ⁓ I try to always have time for any employee to come and talk with me. And ⁓ you know, I always, ⁓

My door is always open. That’s my saying to these guys is, ⁓ you know, I may not be able to talk to you right away. We can set up an appointment, but my door is always open. ⁓ It’s not a matter of, you know, ⁓ talking to your supervisor first. Obviously, certain issues, but just meeting them at least, ⁓ you know, once a season and just discussing ⁓ performance and all that kind of stuff or

different issues that they might have. ⁓ My door is always open to have that discussion with them. So, yeah.

Robert (26:58)
You mentioned to earlier that, you know, we all know COVID was like, it was the heyday of landscaping. You know, if you could do the work, you got the work, like price wasn’t necessarily an object, but like it kind of wasn’t. And then, you know, things have softened. Last year was the start. This year we see it, you know, whether it’s an election, making indecisions north of the border, or if it’s just a soft economy and a bunch of people kind of like holding their cards close to their chest, because they don’t know what’s going to happen right now. We’re seeing it across the board. So

What are you guys doing to acquire new customers and grow this thing, even in a software marketplace?

Al (27:31)
Yeah, so obviously marketing, you got to market, ⁓ know, pay those dollars to Google ads and get your name out there. ⁓ But the good thing about it is, ⁓ and from our business standpoint is we do do a lot of commercial work, municipal work. So we do have a solid base of contracts ⁓ that

It kind of gives you that security blanket of.

Robert (28:01)
You know what’s coming, right? Yeah.

Al (28:04)
Exactly.

⁓ that has its pluses and its cons and pros, ⁓ but it definitely gives you stability of work. ⁓ But yeah, it’s getting media, Facebook, Instagram, whatnot, getting your name out there, pushing.

And that’s what I said, know, different avenues. ⁓ know, it’s before we didn’t really on the main inside of residential, we didn’t really push that aspect. We’re trying to push that, that aspect, trying to grow the landscape construction side of things. ⁓ So yeah, it’s refocusing, looking at different options in different economies. You know, pool business is slow. So let’s look at

you know, installing more walkways, patios, hardscaping, retaining walls. ⁓ And maybe we’re doing ⁓ certain jobs that during the COVID years, you kind of like pushing aside and not really wanting to touch that stuff, smaller jobs. ⁓ But really at the end of the day, it’s no small, no job is too small. ⁓ And yeah, we look at everything and try to.

provide the best pricing, fair pricing that works for both parties and make do with that. ⁓ But with slower times, the economy and stuff like that, you do see, ⁓ we’ll say the smaller companies get into play. ⁓ But at the end of the day, it’s ⁓ when you’re bigger company bidding on bigger ⁓ contracts,

You know, there’s requirements for ⁓ insurance and all that kind of stuff. So it does eliminate quite a bit of ⁓ that playing field. It’s always, ⁓ we’ll say mostly it’s always the same group of companies ⁓ in that field. ⁓ So yeah, there’s definitely some security ⁓ with having a stable ⁓ sales revenue coming in.

Robert (30:18)
Yeah, on the commercial account. help us understand a little bit more about like how you guys go build those relationships and, and, and acquire the commercial maintenance customers.

Al (30:26)
Yeah, so a lot of it is ⁓ networking. So a lot of networking with property management companies. ⁓ Once you establish that you’re reliable, ⁓ do quality work for the price. ⁓ once you get your, we’ll say ⁓ name out there ⁓ and get your foot in different property maintenance, ⁓ property management companies, ⁓

They know that you’re a good company, you provide reliability and you eliminate a lot of the complaints. ⁓ You seem to get a lot of ⁓ work ⁓ coming your way that way. ⁓

Robert (31:12)
So what do you guys do to go networking? Like where do you go do that?

Al (31:16)
Yeah, so a lot of the municipal ⁓ institutional commercial work. So you’re going through different platforms, you’re going on, you know, bids and tenders, looking at tenders being posted out there, Merck’s, ⁓ those kind of platforms. ⁓ Obviously, it’s, and that’s where the pros and cons usually, ⁓ most of that work is, you know, if you’re the low bidder, you get the

you get the contracts. again, like I was saying, a lot of this is ⁓ the bigger contracts. a ⁓ lot of the, you know, lot of the different companies that are picking up the tenders. you know, it’s a lot of it is ⁓ if you can do it for and make a half decent net profit on the contracts, then you go with your numbers.

And ⁓ once you start building that relationship with different, you know, either municipalities and you do get a lot of, we’ll say not outselling, but you do get a special invitations to different work ⁓ and you build those strong relationships with, it could either be managers at the city or coordinators ⁓ and ⁓ you see a lot of work requests coming your way.

because they know you’re ⁓ a reliable company.

Robert (32:45)
They know they can trust you, right? You’re gonna show up and make them look good. It’s okay. Well, so one last thing before we kind of finish up, then there’s a follow up, you finish question, but you mentioned the idea about processes being super important, but then also being useful. And so I’ve heard lots of people say lots of times, like, you know, the process that we built this process, but then like, I kind of dust and they got it, like people forgot about it.

Or there’s people listening right now who don’t necessarily have a bunch of processes set up inside their organization and they kind of know that they need to, but don’t necessarily know where to start. What would you say to them when it comes to like, how do you start this process of building processes? ⁓ And like maybe what’s one or two kind of steps someone can do to get started in the right direction.

Al (33:32)
Yeah, so it’s pretty simple. If there’s a repeat thing that happens in your company that you’re always trying to ⁓ correct or you’re always discussing with your managers or someone or an employee and it’s the same issue happening over and over again. So I’ll give you an example. ⁓ All the guys leave or all the employees leave early in the morning.

They come back, you know, later at night, let’s say between five and six o’clock. ⁓ So we have a process in place that they fuel at night. ⁓ So it’s always been proven that, you know, it takes less longer to fuel ⁓ all your equipment and your vehicles at night than it is in the morning. ⁓ Reason being is because they want to leave. So.

Robert (34:30)
Nice.

Al (34:30)
And

in the morning, you know, they’re on the clock so they can linger for as long as they want. So it’s just a simple process and it eliminates a lot of wasted time. And at the end of the day, wasted time is money that’s being wasted. So different processes like that, right? Yeah.

Robert (34:54)
That’s just beautiful though, Cause like you have people that show up in the morning, things aren’t fueled. They’re trying to get out. They’re like, I can’t get to the job right now. I gotta do all this shit. And you’re like, okay, well can we do, let’s, let’s make a process for fueling. Let’s do it at night. Cause then they’re motivated. Cause then once they’re done, they can go. It’s beautifully simple and must be really effective.

Al (35:11)
Yes. And it’s, you know, it’s a simple process and yeah, it’s been proven and it works. Yeah. So it’s ⁓ simple stuff like that, right? There’s definitely different processes that are a lot more entailed and sure. ⁓ But, you know, it’s, it’s one of those that you have to set up as a process.

Robert (35:19)
And it works. buddy, that’s great.

Al (35:40)
because it’s a process that has to be communicated to everyone. And it has to be, I’m not saying the process has to be on paper, ⁓ but most of the time it needs to be just so new people come in, they know what that is. And yeah, and once that people start seeing it and it doesn’t become, it’s not a process anymore. It’s just the way things are being done. ⁓

Robert (35:41)
⁓ Go ahead, sorry.

Yeah, which is beautiful.

Yeah. So, but yeah, what I was going to say was like the, the indication though of like where to start on repetitive issues popping up and then build a process around the repetitive issue, train everybody around the, the, the process and then watch the issue go away essentially, which is just a, I think that’s just a beautiful indication for someone thinking about this, where to start. Like that’s a great place to start. Yeah. So before I let you go,

what would be like one speaker, author, source of inspiration that you think people might want to check out.

Al (36:42)
So yeah, it’s, ⁓ you know, people always ask me, always ask me the question, why would you ever gotten into the landscaping business, right? And it’s just something that happened. ⁓ I don’t know why, you know, and I look at ⁓ my kids growing up and, you know, I always joke with them that you definitely know whatever.

take your dad’s business over and find your own path and there’s better jobs or better work out there. But at the end of the day, it was a passion of mine. As funny as it is, I love cutting grass. I love the smell of the grass. ⁓ I love seeing nice yards being completed and attention to detail and new plantings and

putting a pool in and seeing a family jump into the pool that something that you built, you know, it’s just, it’s just the satisfaction of seeing that, that my company built that is second to none. It’s, you know, some people will say, wow, yeah, you know, it’s not that big of a deal, but it’s, you know, I’m a OCD person. I like things very neat, tidy, you know, and when I see

nice quality work done, even if it’s just trimming a garden bed or, you know, cutting nice lines on a lawn. It’s something that I get enjoyment of. Yeah. you know, I, and I always, I always, you know, I’ve had some employees that are, you know, they start their, they’ll work for me for a couple of years and start their own business, you know, and, you know, it’s, I,

Robert (38:21)
Yeah, that’s a woman.

Al (38:39)
I promote that. It’s go for it. ⁓

Robert (38:44)
you’re building people up to a point where they believe in themselves to go jump off a cliff and try to figure out a building.

Al (38:49)
We

try to provide all the right tools and the knowledge. ⁓ hey, if you, ⁓ you know, just be wary that you’ll have, you know, the ups and downs that I’ve had. But hey, it’s, ⁓ I’ve never squashed that, you know, this, that person started their own business and you know, hopefully they fail. It’s not something I want to see. I want everybody to succeed.

⁓ you know, and if it’s going their own path and building their own business, go for it. It’s a hundred percent. It’s never too bad to have too much competition out there. It’s always a good thing. And, ⁓ you know, and I want them to, you know, succeed and, you know, I, there’s no ill will for anybody. ⁓ even some of my competitors out there and, ⁓ you know, you, you always have some run ins and.

and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, as an industry, you want everybody to be successful, to grow, ⁓ to have fulfillment and joy in what you’re doing and the ups and downs. It’s all good.

Robert (40:04)
It’s awesome, man. really appreciate you doing this, Thanks everybody for listening to another episode of the I Am Landscape Growth Podcast.

Al (40:06)
Okay, thank you.