Ezra McCarthy
Hello and welcome back to the Lawn Care Blueprint. Today we’ve got Andy Wilson, the founder of the Lawn Hustle and the owner of Professional Lawn Maintenance. Started his career out in law enforcement and then moved into the lawn care space. And we’re going to be asking several questions today about his origin story and how he got started. So Andy, sure glad you’re here today.
Andy Wilson
Thank you for the invitation. Appreciate the opportunity.
Ezra McCarthy
Yeah, so we’ll start off with an easy one for you. How did you get into lawn care? Was it necessity? Was it something you’d always wanted or what really brought you here?
Andy Wilson
I think it was a combination of passion and necessity because growing up as a young boy, that was my chore around the house—mowing the yard. And my dad was very particular. He wanted the straight lines, the even cut. He didn’t want to see turn marks in the yard. So he put that in me, and it just became a passion of mine.
I can remember as a small boy, eight or nine years old, walking as slow as I could, pushing that mower to make sure my stripe was straight. And it was just something I enjoyed doing, something that I loved. But it also was a necessity because I was recovering from cancer, and it got to the point where I had to try to provide for my family. And I believe the Bible says if you don’t provide for your family, you’re worse than an infidel.
I’ve always been a hard worker, always volunteered to work extra shifts, extra security details and things like that when I was in law enforcement. But when I recovered from my throat cancer, it’s hard to give loud verbal commands when you can’t talk loud. And I was concerned that I would get in a situation where I would draw my weapon, give a verbal command, and they wouldn’t be able to hear me—and then accidentally shoot someone because they couldn’t hear me.
So it came to a decision where I had to step away from law enforcement and start a lawn care business, because really, that’s all else—the only other thing I knew how to do.
Ezra McCarthy
That must have been quite the transition. Had you started into lawn care while you were doing the police officer work? Because I know some people will have like a little side hustle, or was it just cold turkey?
Andy Wilson
Just when I had recovered—I had 10 surgeries with my cancer. I had 18 months of treatment. I was not able to work. I wasn’t out of the hospital for longer than two weeks at a time for three years because I would aspirate and get pneumonia, and I had to learn how to swallow.
When I recovered, I had to do something. I knew I could work hard. I knew I had passion. I knew I could do the work. My wife and I sat down and talked about it—what are we going to do? What’s your plan? What’s your goal? And I said, I want to start a lawn care business.
I had no truck. I had no trailer. I had a 21-inch push mower and a bent shaft trimmer. I had to take the handles off the mower to put it in the back of my Chevy HHR. Every job, I had to take the handles off and put them back on so I could load the mower into the car. And that’s how I got started.
I started with one yard, and very quickly the neighbor across the street approached me. I picked up her yard. About two weeks later, a lady about three houses up the road walked over and wanted a price. I got her job, and it just continued to grow.
I started buying trucks on Craigslist. I would buy them and flip them. Eventually, I ended up buying a brand-new Dodge three-quarter ton—2016 Dodge Ram. I don’t recommend buying new trucks. That was a mistake on my part because in this industry we work hard, and that new truck gets beat up, scratched up, dented up.
So that’s how I started. It was a passion, and it was a necessity at the same time.
Ezra McCarthy
That’s really interesting. And where did the Lawn Hustle podcast come into this picture? Because some might be thinking—having a hard time talking, sounds like a crazy three years there where you’re just back and forth. And then here you are trying to start a podcast. That seems like the last thing you would do, not something you would do. So where did that come into it, and why? Why did you think to start?
Andy Wilson
Well, I always wanted to do one because I’m a listener to podcasts, and it’s something I wanted to do. But like you said, it’s probably the last thing I should be doing. But speaking, trying to reach out and help people, trying to be an encouragement and a strength to people—that’s who I am. That’s a part of me. I can’t get away from that.
My wife and I met my college roommate and his wife in Indianapolis for dinner one night. They’re from Hodge, Louisiana. I shared with them how I wanted to start a podcast, but I was intimidated because of the way I speak. He encouraged me, his wife encouraged me, and my wife had been trying to get me to start one for three or four years before I did.
Finally, while we were eating dinner, I made up my mind. I told my wife and my friend and his wife, I’m going to start it next week. So I came home, started doing some research on how to set it up, how to get it online.
My wife bought me a podcast soundboard and a microphone for Christmas. I started my first podcast about a year and three months ago. I have 78 episodes now, and my next podcast, I will go over 3,000 downloads.
Ezra McCarthy
That’s really good. So you’ve been through this battle with cancer. How would you say it’s changed the way you approach business and even life in general?
Andy Wilson
Well, let’s start with life. I’ll never forget the day the doctor looked me in the eye and said, we’re going to have to take half of your voice box—at least, maybe all of it. And he said, if you don’t agree to this surgery, you have two weeks to live. He said, you’ll probably die in your sleep. You’ve got a cancerous tumor that’s paralyzing your vocal cords. You’ll probably just die in your sleep—but you’ve got two weeks.
I said, when would you want to do the surgery? He said, right now. He said, I feel like it’s important for us to take you to surgery immediately.
So I went to surgery. I’ll never forget looking at my wife and my two small children at that time and telling them I love you—telling my daughter and my son, Daddy loves you. Because I didn’t know if they would ever hear me say that again. And it still gets emotional, I’m sorry, but I’ll never forget that day.
I came to after surgery, and my wife and my mom were at my bedside. My wife whispered in my ear, they only had to take half of your voice box. You will be able to talk.
And I tried to talk because I wanted to respond to her, but I didn’t know they had put a tracheostomy tube in my neck—which I had for 18 months. I didn’t know you had to cover the hole in the tracheostomy tube to talk.
So when I would try to talk, nothing would come out. And the tears just started streaming down my cheeks because I thought I was never going to be able to talk. My wife said, it’s okay, you will be able to talk.
So, family-wise and life—it made me appreciate every day. When you’re in good health, and you have finances, and everything is the way you think it should be, life’s easy. But when you hear a doctor tell you you’ve got two weeks to live, and you go through a surgery where they remove half of your voice box—and I’ve got one vocal cord—it just made me appreciate life. Every day is a blessing.
And as far as my business, it helps drive me. It pushes me. The best advice—let me say, the worst advice I ever got was “you can’t do it.” But that was also the best advice I ever got, because my response was, stand by and watch me do it.
So I took that advice—“you can’t do it”—and I flipped it. I said, I will do it. I can do it. And I started with one client. I have 140 now. So we have done it, and we have been—I like to think—successful in running a business.
The cancer, it drives me. But I refuse to be identified by it, because I’ve always said, I didn’t have cancer—cancer had me. And it didn’t know what it ran into.
Ezra McCarthy
So does it still—sometimes time kind of changes things. You know, we go through an injury or something bad happens, and it starts to fade into the background. In the right sense, does that experience still kind of chase you today to keep striving?
Because you’re not a young buck anymore, but you still seem to be pushing—in a good sense. I mean, I don’t think you have to do this podcast. You probably don’t have to work as hard as you do. What keeps you motivated, even being a little older than probably most of the people listening at this point?
Andy Wilson
Well, I love what I do. And they say if you love what you do, you don’t have to work a day in your life. I enjoy being outside. I enjoy being in control of my schedule. If I need some time off or I need a day off, I can do that. I can make that work.
Just enjoying what you do—and I always keep a goal set out in front of me. I’m not going to be doing this forever. There will come a day that Andy Wilson retires and travels and tries to live a good life. But it’s not today, and it’s not tomorrow or next year. But we’ll talk about that in a couple of years.
Ezra McCarthy
Sure. The name of your podcast is The Lawn Hustle. What made you settle on that? Is there something in there that kind of stuck out to you, or was it just that you couldn’t think of something, so you came up with that?
Andy Wilson
Well, it’s the hustle. It’s the everyday—getting up and getting after it. Go, go, go, go, go. I look at my schedule every night, and I know exactly where I need to be, what I need to do the next day.
And because I have time to myself, I know how long each job is going to take me. I can hit within 30 minutes of when I’m going to pull up in the evening and be done for the day. I know—this yard takes me seven minutes, this one takes me fifteen, this big church takes me three hours. I can add that all up and tell you exactly, within a few minutes, when I’m going to be done.
So it’s just passion. It’s the hustle. And, you know—lawn hustle. Mowing grass, and I’m hustling. So that’s how I came up with the name The Lawn Hustle.
Ezra McCarthy
So in your business, what are some tools that you use to stay organized and keep things efficient while kind of wearing all the hats?
Andy Wilson
Well, I use a good CRM. I use Invoices2go. I’ve been with them for almost 15 years now, and they’ve never done me wrong. I can collect credit card payments through the program—that’s a big topic in today’s market.
Ezra McCarthy
Which one do you use?
Andy Wilson
I run Grasshopper mowers. I use STIHL handheld equipment. I didn’t always have the best equipment, didn’t always have the best tools. I feel like I do now, but it hasn’t always been easy. There’s been struggles, setbacks, breakdowns, even frustrations. There have been many days I felt like just throwing in the towel and quitting—but my passion won’t let me do that.
Ezra McCarthy
What, in your case, does growth mean to you? Are you striving for revenue? Are you striving for freedom—whether that be financial or time freedom? What keeps you driving forward in your business?
Andy Wilson
Well, I wanted to build a business that I could sell and walk away from—leave it in good hands and watch it continue to grow in my community. I’ve got a guy working for me now who’s doing an excellent job, and I’m looking to maybe pass it on to him when I do decide to retire.
I started my business to have time management, to manage my time. I wanted to build a retirement, to invest—and I believe if you invest today, you can live better tomorrow. That’s what I’ve tried to strive to do: invest money, invest in myself—and all of that makes you better. I just want to be the best that I can be.
Ezra McCarthy
What are some ways that you’re doing that? Say someone listening in wants some practical examples—they might say, well, Andy, that sounds all well and good, but how can I really do that? What would you tell them?
Andy Wilson
Number one, I would have a good financial advisor—someone you can go to, trust, and depend on, who’s not going to lead you in the wrong direction. And I have an accountant. I have someone that I can call who’s available anytime I need him.
So I’ve been able to talk to him and work on my retirement through him—diversify. You don’t want to put all your eggs in one basket. You want to diversify your investments. You want to live today like there is no tomorrow.
Ezra McCarthy
That’s really good. What are some ways in your business—you know, we hear a lot of people talk about their gross revenue, and that’s all well and good—but if we’re not making money, then what’s the point?
So in your business, what are some ways you’ve found to stay profitable? Whether that’s through quoting a job or just managing your monthly income?
Andy Wilson
Well, I think number one, you have to know your value. You have to know your numbers. It’s important to know how to estimate a job and know what to charge for that job.
You know, the $30 cuts and $35 cuts—those days are long gone. But I still have guys in my community charging 25 or 30 bucks to mow a yard. It just blows my mind because they’re not making any money.
I learned a long time ago…
If I roll up on a job and it takes me 30 minutes to mow, trim, and blow—and I’m only charging $30—it might’ve cost me five to ten dollars in gas just to get there. If I’m paying an employee, you take his pay out of that $30. Then you’ve got commercial liability insurance, vehicle insurance, gasoline for the equipment, two-cycle engine oil for your handheld tools—all of that stuff costs money.
And I learned a long time ago, at $30, I’m walking away with three bucks. I might have enough to buy a gallon of gas. So it’s not worth it. You’re just racing to the bottom instead of racing to the top.
You’ve got to know what you want for a top-dollar revenue and what you’re willing to accept for a bottom-dollar revenue. You can take in a whole bunch of money, but if you’re blowing it and being careless or reckless with your money, you’re going to end up with a terrible bottom line.
So your profit margin’s going to be really low, and you’re probably not going to stay in business very long. You’ve got to figure out—what am I worth? What is my customer’s desired outcome?
I think you have to charge based on your value and based on what the customer wants the outcome to be. If they want a top-quality job, they’re going to pay for a top-quality job. If the customer doesn’t care, then they can find Chuck in the truck or Dan in the van.
But if they want the kind of job where the stripes are perfect, the landscape is manicured, we trim, we edge—everything looks great—if they want that kind of job, then they’re willing to pay what I’m charging. So you’ve got to know what your value is, what you’re worth, and what your customer’s desire is.
And also, you have to learn who your ideal customer is. There are a lot of people—I dropped one this week. Even though they’re well-known in my community, they weren’t a good fit for me. They weren’t my ideal customer.
So you’ve got to take some time to figure out where you want to work, who you want to work for, what your value is, and what the desired outcome is for the client. And don’t be reckless with your money. I can’t say that enough.
If you’re bringing in $400,000, but you only have a three or four percent profit margin, you’re blowing too much money. You need to step back a little bit, tighten up some screws, and start saving some of that money—because there’s going to be a day when you’re an old man like I am. And it’s not easy. But I know what I want. I want a good retirement. Not necessarily a high top dollar—but I want a high bottom dollar. I want a profit margin.
Ezra McCarthy
That’s so good. You don’t want to be living on spam at 65 because you didn’t save at 20 or 30.
So Andy, what would you say are some hard lessons you’ve learned as you’ve gone along in business? Now that you’ve been in business quite a few years, what would you want other lawn care or landscape business owners to avoid? Can you explain that?
Andy Wilson
Don’t play the numbers game.
I hear too many people asking, how many yards do you mow? How many clients do you have? None of that matters. You can have 30 and make great top and bottom dollar revenue with a high profit margin, or you can have 150 and have a terrible profit margin.
You can play the numbers game, but you can’t compare yourselves among yourselves. I believe the scripture says you’re not wise if you do that—so I want to be wise. And I pray for wisdom, because the Bible encourages us to. I ask God to help me be wise in my decisions. I ask God to help me display wisdom in my actions.
I just wouldn’t play that numbers game. Don’t get caught up in that.
Another piece of advice I’d give someone just starting out: very quickly learn how to charge and what to charge. Don’t wear yourself out trying to do 25 or 30 yards a day and end up exhausted with no money—because it’s going out as fast as it’s coming in.
Know what to charge and stick to it. Don’t let a client dictate what you charge for a job. If they try to haggle with you, they’re not your ideal customer. Move on. Learn how to say no.
Ezra McCarthy
That’s so valuable right there. Looking back at your career as a police officer, are there any lessons you learned while being a cop that help you run your business today?
Andy Wilson
I always tried to be firm, fair, and consistent. I gave everyone 15 miles over the speed limit—but everyone I stopped got a ticket. One night, working the midnight shift, I stopped one of our friends on the interstate doing 17 miles over the speed limit. My friend got a ticket.
Ezra McCarthy
How was that conversation later?
Andy Wilson
We’re still friends today—because firm, fair, and consistent. In law enforcement, that was the most important thing for me. I would always tell everyone: firm, fair, and consistent. You’ve got to be that. If you want to be a good officer, if you want to be a good deputy, you’ve got to be firm. You can’t let someone talk you out of a ticket.
So you set that criteria—it’s 15 miles over the speed limit. If you’re going faster than that, you deserve a ticket. So, firm, fair, and consistent. And I’ve just taken that right into my lawn care business.
I want to be firm. I know my value. I know what I’m worth. If my potential clients don’t want to pay that price, there’s a half-dozen Chucks in the truck in Newcastle they can work with.
So I’m firm. I’m fair—because if something matters to them, it should matter to me as a business owner. And I try to be consistent. Every day, get up, be the best version of me that I can be for that day, and try to be 1% better today than I was yesterday.
Ezra McCarthy
So Gideon, one final question for you here. Looking back, what would you want your impact to be—whether that’s through The Lawn Hustle podcast or Professional Lawn Maintenance?
Andy Wilson
If I can help anyone avoid some of those early mistakes I made and help them find success quicker, I think that’s where I would want my impact to be.
After almost 17 years in business now, I believe that through the ups and downs, the struggles and setbacks, I’ve got something I can share. I’ve got experience. And if I can share my experiences with someone who’s maybe just starting out—or someone who’s ready to scale and take their business to the next level—I feel like if I can help them achieve their goal, then that’s success.
You can’t—and I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again—you can’t compare yourself, because what works for me might not work for them. But I can give them some advice, and they can try it out. And if it helps them, then I’ve been successful.
Ezra McCarthy
This has been so good, Andy. And if someone’s interested in finding you, where’s the best place to do so?
Andy Wilson
We’re on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. I have a mastermind group on Facebook called the Green Industry Mastermind—I believe that’s the name of it. I also have a prayer group called the Green Industry Prayer Group, also on Facebook.
Of course, they can listen to our podcast—it’s on Spotify and YouTube. I would appreciate the follows and the subscriptions. And you’re welcome to join our mastermind group on Facebook—we’d love to have you.
Ezra McCarthy
Well, thanks for the great value today, Andy—on business and pushing through when things get hard. And if you’re serious about leveling up, be sure to go back and listen again. Hopefully you got a lot of value. Be sure to share it with another lawn and landscape business owner. Make sure to subscribe, and we’ll catch you on the next one.
