Episode 4

Ezra McCarthy
Hello and welcome back to the Lawn Care Success podcast. We have my friend Scott Molchan with me today, a business coach. He’s an experienced lawn and landscaper. We’re just going to dive into his background, some advice he has for entrepreneurs, and then get into a really important marketing aspect. You’ll find out what that is here in a little bit. Great to be here, Scott. How are you today?

Scott Molchan
Good, thanks, Ezra. Thanks for having me on the show. Excited to be part of your new podcast here.

Ezra McCarthy
Oh great. Now with your background, I know your dad got you involved with his landscaping company, a fairly large business. Do you mind telling us about how you got involved with that? Just a rough idea of what he was doing for numbers to give the audience a general idea.

Scott Molchan
Sure, just a quick recap. My dad started South County Landscaping back in 1988. Before that, he worked for a few other landscape companies, so I would go work with him here and there. I kind of grew my way up in the business and eventually became the vice president. That was right around 1996 or 1997, something like that. At that time we were doing a little over $2 million a year in revenue. We had, I can’t quote you for sure, but around 15 to 18 employees. We did full-service landscape installation, commercial maintenance, and snow plowing. Those were our main core offers. It was a great time, a huge learning experience to grow up in that industry. I loved it and it was a great experience.

Ezra McCarthy
Just curious about what you mentioned there. You said commercial maintenance, and we always kind of hear the discussion—commercial versus residential. What made your dad go that route and why?

Scott Molchan
So initially when he started the business, he did do some residential work. Then eventually he transitioned over because there wasn’t as much revenue in the residential side of things. Same thing goes on today. There are so many people coming into the industry. It’s easy to get into and you’re competing on price alone. It seemed like a lot. So my dad transitioned into commercial, I’d say sometime in the late nineties. We still kept a couple of our higher-end residential clients, but we just stuck with commercial lawn maintenance. For us, it was much easier to manage. You could have consistent routes, the crews knew exactly what to do on every job. It just made it easier to systemize and keep things on track. It was a route that we liked. Luckily, we’re in Northwest Indiana, just a little southeast of Chicago, so there’s a lot of commercial work that can be done here.

Ezra McCarthy
Did you find that you were competing on price a lot, or how did your dad not fall into that trap of just cutting prices lower and lower to get jobs?

Scott Molchan
As far as the residential or commercial side?

Ezra McCarthy
Oh, the commercial. We did some commercial, but we were in a town of like 30,000 people. There was some competition, but they didn’t market effectively. So I didn’t compete on price. From what I heard, a lot of people, to get their foot in the door, they were just lowballing. Instead of charging $60 to $100 per man hour, they were doing like $40 per man hour. And to me, that sounds like a terrible business, personally.

Scott Molchan
Yeah, it is. I guess to add to that, part of our deal was snow plowing too. It was all commercial snow plowing, so we’d offer a whole package deal. We’d go in and maintain the property all year round, which worked really well for us.

But to answer your question about competing on price—yeah, it’s always an issue. It didn’t start out this way, but we eventually learned all our numbers, and that was key. We knew our breakeven point, so we could walk away from jobs knowing we’d lose money if we took them too low. But if we stayed at our target rate and marketed properly, we did well.

The other thing we did was separate out our crews. All they did was lawn maintenance—seven days a week, eight hours a day. That’s it. We were able to systemize everything. The crews would show up and just do their thing. It was kind of like magic after a while. Again, it didn’t start that way, but it was great once we got there. We could control our profits because we could track efficiency and team productivity. For us, that was definitely easier than residential.

Ezra McCarthy
So that’s really good, talking about understanding your numbers and break-even point. I’m sure your dad—or yourself—didn’t know this getting into it. So what made you guys dig into that or even think to go down that road?

Scott Molchan
It wasn’t really until I became vice president. I was always a worker, always the foreman, doing my thing out in the field. I’d do some estimates here and there, but I just took the information my dad gave me and ran with it. But when I stepped up to become vice president, I started stepping away from the labor side.

At that time, I had just married my wife and we were having our first child. She was going to leave her job—she worked as an ecologist—and come work for the family business, doing admin and secretary-type work. That’s when we really started looking at the numbers. I realized, if I’m working here full-time and stepping up, I need to be paid what I’m worth. And with my wife coming in too, we needed to see if we could afford that. The answer was no. My dad and mom were doing fine, but adding more people just wasn’t going to work with how things were set up. We realized something wasn’t right.

We had no idea what we were doing wrong at the time. There was no internet like we have now, no easy way to look up answers. So I started going to what used to be called the Midam Show in Chicago—it’s kind of like the Equip Expo now. I’d go to classes, learn whatever I could. Eventually, we brought in a business consultant—not even from the green industry, just a general business consultant.

He started digging into our numbers. One of the things he found—and I still remember this—was that we lost $165,000 in one year due to unproductive time. I still have that report. That was a huge wake-up call. We realized we had to get our act together and figure things out.

That’s when the systems and procedures started. We dove into what it actually cost to run our business and started estimating based on that. Before, we didn’t know any better. We’d just take the cost of materials and multiply by two. Sometimes my dad would do 2.1 or 2.2—it was all guessing. You might win on one job and lose on another and just hope it balanced out. But no, you should be winning on every single job.

That $165,000 in unproductive time was the eye-opener we needed.

Ezra McCarthy
That’s so good, Scott. You know, this whole podcast is focused on helping people who are doing $100,000 or $200,000 a year and are looking to grow. So with your experience helping your dad build a $1 million or $2 million business, if you were to go back to that $100,000, $200,000, or $500,000 mark, how would you help a business at that size? I know you coach people who are there now. If you were to dig into someone’s business to help them, where would you begin?

Scott Molchan
Honestly, it goes back to learning how to price your work and understanding what it costs to run your business. That’s what you base your pricing on—not what competitors are charging, not the so-called going rate, but your numbers. You almost have to ignore what others are doing.

Now, of course, you don’t want to price yourself out of work, but your business has different costs. I saw someone in a Facebook group the other day asking, “How much do I mark up to recover my overhead?” Nobody can answer that for you. Your insurance, your employee wages—those are different from the next company’s. That’s why the core thing we teach in our Million Dollar Landscaper program is understanding your numbers. That’s step one.

This kind of goes against what some consultants say. I was in some high-end business groups where they told me, “Just go sell more.” So I did. I took classes and got better at sales. And all that did was land me more work. It didn’t mean I made more money—I just worked harder. Looking back, if I had known what I know now, it would’ve been to focus on knowing my numbers and pricing my work properly.

Ezra McCarthy
And you know what, one thing I want to bring up here is how people can get obsessed with the wrong numbers. They say, “We’re at X gross revenue.” But are you taking home any money? We’ve all heard people say, “Well, I’m investing it all back into the business.” You probably hear that all the time. But if you’re not feeding your family or paying yourself, you’re not going to be here to serve people in two years.

So who cares if you’re doing $400,000 in gross revenue if you’re not making anything? Profitability is the real key metric. Yes, you want to grow and you’ll have to put money back in, and you probably can’t take $200,000 out of a $400,000 business—not in our industry. So we’ve got to be reasonable, but we’ve also got to be profitable. Otherwise, we’re just selling work. That’s maybe more of a rant than a question, but I think it’s really important to say.

Scott Molchan
Yeah, no, absolutely. One thing I’ll add is there are two kinds of profit—gross profit and net profit. Net is where it’s at. That’s the number you want to look at. If you’re looking at your profit and loss statement, that’s the number at the bottom.

Ezra McCarthy
Can I stop you there? Can you break down in real simple terms what those two things are? I know you breezed past it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of people listening just glazed over.

Scott Molchan
Yep. Yeah, 100 percent. So I guess the easiest way to explain it is this: if you print off a profit and loss statement—or income statement, they’re basically the same—what you’ll see at the top is your sales. So let’s say you do $500,000 in sales. That’s what you actually sell to customers.

Below that, you’ll see your COGS, which stands for cost of goods sold. That’s going to be your materials, your labor, possibly subcontractors, maybe dumpsters—basically, anything directly tied to the job itself.

Ezra McCarthy
And COG stands for what?

Scott Molchan
Sorry—cost of goods sold. Thanks for that. So those are things you’re charging your customer for. What you do is take your total revenue and subtract those job-related costs. That gives you your gross profit.

Now, below that on a profit and loss statement are your overhead items. These are things you’re not putting on a customer’s estimate—like your phone bill. You’re not adding a line item for your phone bill on an invoice. These are backend costs that keep the business running.

So again: you have your revenue, subtract your COGS, and that’s gross profit. Then you subtract your overhead, and that gives you your net profit—the number at the bottom of the statement.

That’s the key number because it shows what it actually costs to run your business. And overhead is where people struggle the most. They don’t know how to track or account for it, and there are a lot of misconceptions out there.

You need to understand both gross and net profit. They’re both important. But here’s the problem with focusing only on gross profit—I see people comparing it online all the time, asking, “What’s your gross profit percentage?” There’s no standard in how profit and loss statements are laid out, and that creates confusion.

Someone might tell me they’re at 50% gross profit—but are they really? I just had a coaching call with someone whose accountant had all the job materials listed under COGS, but none of the labor. All their labor was listed way down under overhead.

Compare that to someone who does list their labor in COGS, and you’ll get two very different numbers. It’s not apples to apples.

So I always take gross profit numbers with a grain of salt unless I can actually see their books. I’m not saying one way is right and one is wrong—I won’t get into that debate—but it’s important to understand the inconsistency.

Don’t just listen to what people say on the internet when they claim, “You need 50% or 60% gross profit.” It doesn’t really matter if the books are set up differently. Net profit—that number at the bottom—that’s what really matters.

Ezra McCarthy
One quick note on that too—this is so good. Some of these basics, a lot of people miss. I’ve seen businesses doing $200,000, $300,000, even $400,000 a year and just handing everything to a bookkeeper and hoping it works out. They don’t even check.

Another thing is salary. Someone will say, “Our business made $120,000,” but they’re working 60 to 70 hours a week. So is the business making that? I mean, yes, you can take that home, but if you’re putting in 3,000 hours a year, are you really making a profit?

And if you’re not accounting for your own labor in your man-hour rate, you might think you’re super profitable—but you’re just working yourself to death and not really making anything.

Scott Molchan
That’s a very good point. I had a call the other day with someone kind of in a similar spot—taking over the family business. Their family was pulling out their shares. They were set up as an LLC, so they were taking those shares from the business, but those withdrawals weren’t showing on the profit and loss statement.

So again, you’re not getting an accurate picture. Those payouts showed up on the balance sheet instead, which is a whole different report and another discussion altogether.

If you only looked at their P&L, it looked like the business was doing great. Like, “Wow, you guys are killing it.” But then he sent me the balance sheet, and I was like, “Oh, okay, now it makes more sense.” When you put all the pieces together, yeah, they were doing okay—not bad—but there was definitely room to do better.

That’s why it’s so important to understand your numbers—your P&L, your balance sheet, all of it. Take some courses, watch YouTube videos, whatever it takes. That’s the very first step: understand your numbers. Then you can start putting it together and price your work where it needs to be so you’re actually profitable.

Ezra McCarthy
That’s so good. I’m just curious—let’s switch gears a bit and talk about marketing. I know your dad started the business way before the internet was a thing. I’m a big proponent of online marketing, but you mentioned he had a lot of success through networking and other in-person strategies. Can you talk about how he managed to grow his business that way? And maybe share some effective ways to market today—whether online or offline?

Scott Molchan
Yeah, networking was his thing. He was a master at it. He knew everybody in town. You’d go anywhere in our town—or even a neighboring town—and people would be like, “Hey Doug! How’s it going?” And I remember thinking as a kid, “How does he know all these people?”

Well, it’s because he was out there. He wasn’t hard-selling people—he was just shaking hands and letting them know what he did. That was a big key, especially for the commercial side of the business. You’ve got to be known out there.

Sure, you can send emails or make phone calls, but people still like to shake hands. They want to know who they’re dealing with. My dad joined all kinds of groups and committees in the community. We were part of the BIA—the Building Industry Association—and just from showing up and talking to people, we’d get jobs.

I remember before I stepped up as VP, there was a time when we were low on jobs. My dad would just pick up the phone and call people. Next thing you know, we’d have three or four new jobs lined up. I’d be like, “How did you do that?” And it’s because he already had those relationships. He could just call and they’d trust him.

Later on, we streamlined things so we weren’t always scrambling last minute, but in those early days, that’s how he sold millions of dollars in work—just picking up the phone. But it was all built on that behind-the-scenes effort. He’d go to meetings in the evenings—Chamber of Commerce, BIA events—just to hang out and talk with people, build friendships.

People buy from people. Especially in commercial landscaping, you can’t just hide behind a computer screen. I know a lot of people want to, and I’m not knocking it, but you’ll have better success by showing up in person.

Even now, I prefer selling in person—on the job site—because I can see their expressions, hear their tone, feel how they’re reacting. That’s something I picked up from my dad, and it’s still true today. You have to be out there in front of people. That was a huge part of how we sold back then—and it still works.

Ezra McCarthy
I encourage you as well—especially in most markets—to get out there locally. Just last Thursday, I went to a BNI (Business Network International) meeting. I actually drove about three hours to get there. I would have joined, but it’s just too far from where I live. But if you’ve got one in your town, it’s a great tool.

Like I said, I’m big on online marketing, but local networking—especially for commercial projects—can be a game changer. Now, you can’t have a terrible online presence or bad reviews, because people are still going to look you up. But BNI is solid. At least here in the U.S., I think it’s around $500 to $700 per year. That’s really not much in the grand scheme of things.

And here’s one thing I’ll say—it’s something I might talk about with other guests too—people’s buying mindset matters. If you’re always looking for the cheapest option yourself, that’s the type of client you’ll attract.

Scott Molchan
Yes.

Ezra McCarthy
If you’re constantly asking, “How can I nickel and dime this?” then you can’t be surprised when customers push back over a $2 price increase. It’s a reflection of your own mindset. If you approach something like BNI and think, “Yeah, it’s $500,” but that gets you two great commercial properties—that’s peanuts.

Scott Molchan
Yeah, absolutely. In our area, the Building Association was huge for connecting with contractors. My dad would go to their meetings, talk to people, and he’d hear, “Hey, so-and-so is unhappy with their landscaper.” Then he’d go over, introduce himself, and next thing you know, we’re doing their job. It was cool to see how that worked.

Ezra McCarthy
With your experience, especially in a larger business, what role did branding play—either in your own company or now, with the businesses you help?

Scott Molchan
Yeah, branding can go in a lot of different directions. We’ve been in business so long that our logo has kind of become our identity. I talked to my dad about changing it once—just updating things a bit—and he was like, “No way. We’ve had it forever. People know us by that.”

Our logo has a blue spruce tree and a person with a wheelbarrow. It’s simple, but it’s recognizable. That kind of consistency matters, especially if you’ve been around a while. People associate that image with your work.

Now, when it comes to naming, I’m not a big fan of using your personal name for your business. Like, I wouldn’t recommend calling it Scott’s Landscaping or Molchan’s Lawn Care. It should be something more universal, more professional. That’s part of branding too.

Sometimes I talk to business owners about possibly changing their name. There’s one company—I won’t say the name in case they’re listening—but their business name could definitely be taken the wrong way. I told them, “Look, this might offend some people or come across badly if they read it a certain way.”

They chose not to change it, and that’s their choice. But those are the kinds of things you’ve got to consider. If you’re just starting out, or if you’re early in your journey, it’s worth thinking about. The deeper you get in, the harder it is to rebrand later.

Ezra McCarthy
Yeah, that’s really good. Or even sometimes boxing yourself into one location—like if you name your company after a specific town. That can work in some cases, but more often than not, it limits your growth.

Just curious, Scott, if you’re trying to help a business looking to grow, the topic of employees always comes up. I think everyone struggles with that. What advice would you give someone on how to attract and keep great employees?

Scott Molchan
There are a couple of things. Obviously, pay is really important. You have to pay people fairly. They’re doing hard work. And yeah, a lot of business owners worry about how paying more affects what they charge customers. But if you explain it right, customers can understand. You can say, “Yes, our rates are a little higher, but we pay our team well. They’re taken care of, and that means they’ll take better care of your property.”

When employees aren’t financially stressed, they perform better. So yes, pay matters—and if you’re underpaying now, that’s something you’ve got to take a hard look at.

But the other big thing is treating your people like actual human beings. Be open with them. Let them know where your business is headed.

This was a big one for me. And honestly, I didn’t even realize at the time how powerful it was. I remember pulling aside our hardscape foreman one day and saying, “Hey, I really want to grow the hardscape side of the business. I want us to do more outdoor kitchens and design work. And I could see you—maybe in a couple years—being the operations manager for that division. You’re doing a great job.”

Just telling him that changed everything. It gave him a vision for his future. He could see a path. He saw opportunity. And it shifted his mindset completely.

So when you talk to your team, and you’re clear about where you’re going and how they fit into it—that makes a huge difference. I didn’t know I was doing anything special at the time. I just talked to him honestly. But looking back, that’s part of what helped us keep good people.

Our longest-serving employee in my dad’s business only just quit two years ago. He was with us for 17 years. That’s almost unheard of in this industry. All he did was lawn maintenance—mowing. We offered to make him a foreman many times. He could’ve done it, no problem. But he was happy doing what he was doing. So we let him.

We had multiple people stay with us over 10 years. That’s because we paid them decently, treated them well, and gave them respect and opportunities.

Ezra McCarthy
That’s really good.

Scott Molchan
If someone’s car broke down or something like that, we’d let them use the shop. They could order parts through the same supplier we used, and we’d just deduct it from their paycheck. Little things like that went a long way. You’ve got to be careful—some people might take advantage—but those small gestures helped us keep good employees for a long time.

Ezra McCarthy
That’s so good, Scott. This is something I’m really trying to work on myself—laying out a plan and saying, “Here’s where we’re trying to go as a company.” I tell my team, “My goal is to help double your income—or more. And here’s how we can get there.”

I break it down like, “Here’s where we’re trying to go this year. And next year, here’s the next step.” I want them to see a path forward. I tell them, “The best way to get a raise is to ask, ‘How can I learn and do more?’” That mindset shift makes all the difference.

Now sure, some people—like that guy you mentioned—might be happy just running the mower. And that’s fine. But most people want to grow. And if you give them that opportunity, they’re more likely to stay. That’s why business growth matters. If you say, “Here’s your role for the next 20 years, and that’s it,” then high performers will feel stuck. That sounds like a death sentence.

Everything you said really hits home. I remember Seth Godin said in one of his books that money was number seven on the list of reasons people quit a job. If you treat people well, they’ll stick around. And you’re right—there’s no silver bullet. You can’t just show up in April and say, “I need help!” and expect great people to show up.

Just like you plan for quality customers, you’ve got to plan for quality team members too.

Scott Molchan
Yeah. Quick story—this happened maybe four or five years ago. Our crews were at a gas station, and a competitor walked up and offered them jobs. He offered $30 to $32 an hour. So three guys came to my dad asking for raises. We just couldn’t match it. So they left.

But within a month, two of them came back. The third ended up quitting that other company too, and I’m not sure where he went. But they came back because the culture over there was toxic. The way the owner treated them—it just wasn’t good. So even though the money was higher, they realized it wasn’t worth it.

So like you said, money’s important—but it’s not everything.

Ezra McCarthy
That’s so true. And how can you build that kind of rapport? I remember when I was in college, I worked for a roofing company. My boss would invite us over for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. We’d sit around, hang out—it felt personal.

Roofing is brutal, and lawn care or landscaping—depending on where you are in the U.S.—can be just as rough. It might be freezing or blazing hot. And those two perfect weeks of weather? They don’t last long.

It’s hard work. And if you want high-quality people, you’ve got to build a culture where they don’t wake up every Monday dreading the week. If everyone’s living for Friday, something’s wrong.

Scott Molchan
Totally agree. We had a pretty fun atmosphere. We joked around—not unprofessionally—but we liked to laugh and have fun. Every Friday, we’d play some kind of sport—paintball, soccer. My dad’s property is pretty big. We actually had a full volleyball court and a soccer field marked out. Not fancy, but enough to play.

We’d play for hours after work on Fridays. It was awesome. And every so often, we’d host family picnics. Everyone would bring their families, and we’d hang up pictures of the jobs they worked on.

It made me so proud to see guys pointing out their work to their kids—like, “Look what I built.” That was a big deal for us. We built a family, and we took care of each other. And because of that, they took care of the business and our customers.

That kind of culture goes a long way.

Ezra McCarthy
So what made your dad think of that? I’ve never heard of someone doing that—especially the pictures. But I think that’s great. How did that come about?

Scott Molchan
I think I actually borrowed that idea from a mastermind group I was in. We already did family picnics and stuff, but I got the idea of displaying project photos from another company in that group. They would showcase work and let the team be proud of what they built.

Our crews too—they’d take pictures of the water features they built and share them with their families. So we just expanded on that. And for the family picnics, people sometimes worry it’ll cost the company a lot, but we kept it simple. Everyone would bring a dish, kind of a potluck, and it worked great. It didn’t cost the company much at all.

We had a lot of Hispanic workers too, and they were super family-oriented. They loved bringing food and making it a community thing. It was really nice.

Ezra McCarthy
One thing I don’t want to skip over—because I think it’s really important—is getting around other people who are winning in your space. Whether you’re in lawn care, landscaping, fertilization, or weed control, it matters. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time.

You picked that up from a mastermind group. Same with me—there are people in my industry I reach out to all the time. I look at what they’re doing and ask, “What best practices can we bring to our market?”

I encourage people—just Google businesses a hundred miles from you. Find someone who’s crushing it on Google. Call them and say, “Hey, I see you’re doing great. Can I pay you for your time?” I literally paid $500 for a one-hour coaching call with a guy who’s probably 10 to 15 years ahead of me. The lessons I learned in that one hour were worth way more. I’ll probably do it again.

Even if it costs a few hundred bucks, it could save you thousands—or help your business earn hundreds of thousands over time.

Scott Molchan
100%. In our circle meetings the other day—inside our program—we were talking about hiring. One company shared their “ladder” for employees: how someone can move up through the ranks, and the points where they become eligible for a raise.

They shared that with the whole group, and everyone was taking notes, asking to see their system. It was awesome to watch. That’s how it should be—sharing ideas, learning from others.

And that’s what it was like in the groups I was in too. It’s about finding mentors, having people you can talk to when times are tough. Being in those kinds of groups makes a huge difference. So yeah, I totally agree with you—reach out, find someone to learn from.

Ezra McCarthy
Scott, you know I’m a big proponent of this. I feel like I harp on it all the time, but out of the 70+ people I’ve worked with, maybe three have actually implemented this well.

I’m talking about the Google Business Profile. I know you’ve got a workshop coming up on it soon. But first, some people may not even know what that is. You’d think everyone would be using it—but I just had a call with someone who’s doing over $600,000 a year in Texas.

No website. No Google Business Profile. And I’m just sitting there pulling my hair out. Like, yeah, they’ve got a decent little business going, but they’re leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table.

Even if they don’t want to grow huge, they could trim their worst 10% of customers and replace them with higher-paying, higher-quality ones—just by showing up better online.

So even some larger businesses still don’t know what it is. Can you explain it and talk about why it matters?

Scott Molchan
So Google Business Profile is Google’s free tool that lets you list your business online. The way I explain it to people is this: if you go on Google and search something like “landscaper near me” or “landscaper near [your city],” you’ll see a few different results.

First, you’ll see some paid ads at the top. Then right below that, you’ll usually see what’s called the “3-pack” or “map pack.” That’s a group of three businesses that show up with a map.

Those businesses are showing up there because they have a Google Business Profile. This profile is something you can set up for free. It lets you describe your business, upload photos, share updates (kind of like short social media posts), and choose relevant service categories.

It also works together with your website. You can link the two back and forth. And to be honest, while your website is important—and I’d never say you don’t need one—your Google Business Profile might be even more important when it comes to being seen first.

If you look at a Google results page in Chrome, you’ll notice this order:

1. Ads
   
   
2. Google Map Pack
   
   
3. Organic results (where your website shows up)
   
   

So your profile is going to show up before your website does. That’s why I say it’s almost more important. They work hand in hand, and the profile is free. You’d be silly not to take advantage of it.

Ezra McCarthy
So good, Scott. One thing I always hear people ask is, “How do I get commercial clients?” And this is where I always point them: your website and your Google Business Profile.

Because most of these commercial property managers—whether they’re corporate or out-of-state—aren’t going to ask a neighbor who to hire. They’re going to Google something like “commercial landscaper in [city]” or “lawn maintenance in [town].” And if you’re not showing up in the map pack or on the first page, you’re probably missing that opportunity.

And some people think that’s a pipe dream—but it’s really not. Honestly, most businesses in this industry don’t do this stuff well. So if you just put in a little effort, it can make a huge difference.

What have you seen as the most common mistakes people in our industry make when it comes to their Google Business Profile?

Scott Molchan
Besides not having it set up at all, one of the biggest mistakes is not using Google reviews. That’s so important. I was actually listening to your podcast the other day, Ezra—you were talking with a guest, and you asked if they buy stuff on Amazon. You said, “Do you look at the reviews?” And of course, the answer is yes. If you see a product with no reviews, you’re way less likely to buy it.

The same goes for your business. Google reviews are a key trust signal. You should be asking every customer to leave a review. And don’t wait—build that habit into your process.

Another important thing is your primary category. Most people don’t even realize this, but here’s a tip: you can change your category based on the season. So if you do landscaping in the summer and snow plowing in the winter, switch it in your Google profile to reflect that. It can actually help boost your rankings for seasonal services.

Also, a lot of businesses ignore the photo uploads and updates. These are super important. You should be posting at least two photos a week and one update a week. Think of updates as mini social media posts, but I recommend keeping them more sales-oriented—talk about services, promote seasonal offers, show recent work.

Just doing those two things—photos and updates—you’ll see a big jump in visibility. I’ve tested this over and over. When people stop doing it, their rankings drop. When they start again, their rankings bounce back. If you want to get in that top 3 on the map pack, you need to stay active on your Google Business Profile.

Ezra McCarthy
All of that is spot on. And I’ve seen it firsthand with over 70 lawn and landscape companies I’ve worked with. One more thing I want to add—make sure your service area is actually listed. You’d be surprised how often this is missing.

I’ve audited some Google Business Profiles where there’s no service area at all. You can literally type in their full business name and city, and you still can’t find them. That should never happen. It sounds so basic, but even large companies overlook it. Just check and make sure it’s right.

Scott Molchan
Yes—100% correct. And just to add to that, there’s a flaw in Google’s system. Someone can suggest edits to your listing, and if you don’t catch it, it can hurt your visibility.

I’ve had two clients this happened to. They were ranked #1 in their area, doing great, and then months later, they called me and said, “Our rankings dropped.” I went and checked—and someone had moved their pin on the map to a totally different town. That tanked their rankings.

So yeah, check your listing every now and then. Make sure your location and service area are still where you want them to be.

Ezra McCarthy
Very helpful. And Scott, like we mentioned earlier, you’ve got a workshop coming up soon. And it sounds like you help people with this stuff too. If someone wants to work with you or attend that workshop, how can they do that?

Scott Molchan
Yeah, so we’re doing a workshop—we’ve done a few of these in the past, but this version has some updates. It’s happening March 20th at 6 PM Central Time, and we’re going to walk through, step by step, how to optimize your Google Business Profile.

We’ll give you scripts you can use—like how to write using AI tools like ChatGPT, how to create posts or “updates,” and how to ask customers for reviews. Basically, we’re covering everything you need to optimize your profile. The only thing we’re not covering is how to set it up from scratch. But I have a free guide for that if anyone needs it.

The workshop runs about 90 minutes, and we include a live Q&A at the end. Plus, you get lifetime access, so if we do another one with updates, you can join again.

It’s $77, and you can sign up at millionairelandscaper.com/gbpworkshop. I’ll make sure Ezra has the link. It’s been a popular workshop—people get a lot out of it—and I definitely recommend it. It’ll help you get ranked #1 and stay competitive.

Ezra McCarthy
Very helpful. And you also have a podcast—want to tell the listeners real quick where they can tune in?

Scott Molchan
Sure! It’s called the Millionaire Landscaper Podcast. We started it back in 2018, and we’ve been releasing new episodes every week ever since.

We focus mostly on systems, procedures, and how to price your work—because like we talked about earlier, you have to know your numbers. We cover that a lot.

We also share marketing tips, and we bring on vetted guests—like Ezra’s been on the show multiple times. We only bring on people we trust—no shady stuff. We want our listeners to get real value, so we make sure everyone we feature is legit and helpful for landscaping business owners.

You can find it at millionairelandscaper.com or on all major podcast platforms.

Ezra McCarthy
Thanks, Scott. We’ll have all those links in the show notes. Great visiting with you today. Any last parting words of wisdom?

Scott Molchan
I appreciate it, Ezra. I guess the biggest thing I’ll say is: spend time learning your numbers. That’s the number one thing I’d recommend. If you’re not sure where to start, at least go look on Google or watch some YouTube videos. Just start somewhere.

Please don’t price your work by just doubling costs or following the “going rate.” It might work short-term, but if you want to stay in business and grow, you’ve got to price based on your numbers—not someone else’s.

Ezra McCarthy
So good. If you’re going to scale and grow, you can’t copy others—because they might be totally off. Thanks, Scott. This has been really helpful.

We’ll catch you all again on another episode of the Lawn Care Success Blueprint. Talk to y’all later.

Scott Molchan
100%.