The Uncomfortable Truth About Entrepreneurship ft. Scott Faulknor

I say honestly, do your research on prices and what equipment you want. Especially like I've seen a girl on Facebook and ask companies, keep on advertising like $20 an hour work for cleanups and stuff. Like you can't make a business on that. So I would honestly call other companies up and see what they're charging just so you have an idea because you don't want to be the underbidder.

Good day and welcome to the Wealthy Entrepreneur Podcast. I'm your host, Bob Gauvreau. It is great to have you with us today. I wanna remind you that this is the place where we dissect the elements that contribute to entrepreneurial success, from mindset and leadership to profits and revenue. Today is a true pleasure. One of our community members that's part of the Wealthy Entrepreneur Program is going to be highlighted in here, share his story, get his insights. Scott is one of my favorite members. He always comes in with really great energy, a really positive attitude, but he shows up every single time. You know, his commitment to bringing value to the group and also receiving value to the group, uh, has been extraordinary. And to watch his continued success and growth along his journey has been an absolute pleasure. So I'm going to bring in my good friend Scott Faulkner. He's the owner and CEO of Red Rock Maintenance, Window Cleaning and Lawn Care, Kawartha Lakes, a business that he's built from the ground up through hard work, consistency, and a passion for helping people maintain beautiful properties. Today we're unpacking the truth behind building a business, why entrepreneurship is much harder than it looks, and it truly is. But you know what? It's worth it. It's worth it if you do it right. It's worth it. And the struggles people don't fully understand. Until they're fully engulfed in entrepreneurship themselves. Listen, I'm really once again excited about this. You know what, let's just get started today. Welcome everybody to the show, Scott Faulkner, owner of Red Rock Maintenance, Window Cleaning and Lawn Care, Coeur d'Alene. Scotty, how the heck are you?

I'm doing fantastic.

Yeah, it's so good to have you here. You always bring such a really great energy. It's been a pleasure to work with you on your entrepreneurial journey and watching you you as you've continued to grow and have success as a business owner. I would love for you maybe to, Scott, to take us back to what made you get into owning your own business, into your space, and maybe tell us a little bit of your story about how you've evolved and where you are today.

Honestly, I never thought I would even be in this industry. So I actually went to school for culinary management. So if you don't know what culinary management is, it's cooking. So I went to school for that. I actually went to school in Barrie, Ontario, and then I actually ended up ended up going out west and working out west for quite a few years, working in kitchens out there. And then the last place I worked was in Victoria, British Columbia, and I worked at a couple of different restaurants out there. But by the time I was finished, the restaurant was giving us like 4-hour shifts and you can't survive on 4-hour shifts. And they were actually talking about dropping us down to 2-hour shifts. And I'm like, I don't know what to do. It was insane. So actually my cousin called me.

I think that's actually against the law, right? I think there's a minimum requirement for number of hours, but anyway.

So it was insane. So I'm like, well, I can't do this anymore. So just out of the blue one day, my cousin called me up and asked me if I wanted to come back home and start like a lawn care window cleaning business up. And I'm like, sure, why not? And at that time, my girlfriend, now my wife, I told her, let's go back home and do this. And she wanted to come back home anyways. So we ended up back here and she wasn't sure about this whole window cleaning thing. And as many people are like, you can't make money from that. Like they're so clueless about it. And I kind of was too. But my friend back in the day when I was in high school taught me how to clean windows. I was working with them, so I kind of had an idea how to do it, but it'd been like many, many years since I had done it. So I came back with my one cousin and then also my other cousin wanted to join in too. So the three of us went out our first year, we were like literally going up to people's doors, knocking on doors, asking them, hey, we have a window cleaning business. Would you like your windows cleaned? If they said yes, we'd do it right there because we had no customers. So that's kind of how I got into that space. And then with like window cleaning, we also started lawn care business. So we bought like little, home tractor to start a business with. And I think my cousin at that time, I think she already had some customers from previous years where she had done on and off. So we had a couple customers and then we basically just started growing. And honestly, we're just knocking on doors, like literally knocking on doors. Like back in the day, you knock on doors. Now you don't do that. Um, because people think you're crazy, but you, you're like, we knock on doors and that's how we were getting our business. And then I think we were only working like 2 or 3 days a week because we didn't have enough business. So then we would go back with our friend Tim and work with his window cleaning business to help supplement our income and, and help keep busy. And then from there we just kind of grew. And then actually the second season, my cousin who actually called me to come back, she decided not to do it anymore and she moved out to Edmonton. So then it was just me and my other cousin doing it. So we did that for about 5 years and then we just didn't really see eye to eye on things. So we just decided—

it happens.

Yeah. So we decided to split up. She took the lawn care business. I took like the window cleaning side. Saying that, I did get some lawn customers because some customers didn't want to stay with her.

So I did have some lawn customers.

And then I didn't actually even have any lawnmower or anything because she took all the lawn equipment. So I didn't know what I was going to do. So I was actually looking on Kijiji one day and I saw this guy. I don't, and honestly, I don't even know why I was looking on there. I just found this guy selling his lawn care business. And so I'm like, okay, well, whatever. And then I didn't do anything about it. Then a couple days later I told my dad, he's like, you need to go look at it. We went to Lindsay and he, he helped me look over the books, which his books weren't really that good because he liked to do cash all the time. Like he said, if you can do cash, do cash. So it may be a little bit It was really nervous. My dad said it looked good, so he was making money. And so we bought the business and he had the lawn care equipment that he had. He had like the lawnmower, the trimmers, the push mower. So he sent it to his mechanic to make sure everything was working in order before I got it. And I went and picked it up. The push mower was in pieces. Like, it was in pieces. The handle was off. It didn't even work. I'm like, are you kidding me? Oh man. So yeah. And then the Rider mower, it was pretty beat up, but I used it for about a month, but half the time I get the PTO. And if you know what PTO is, it's the thing that turns the blades on. Couldn't get the PTO on half the time. So if you show up to cut a lawn, you can't get the blades to turn on, you're out of luck, right?

That's a challenge. That's a challenge.

Yeah, it is. It is. So basically I just told my wife, I'm like, I need to get another lawnmower. And there's a certain kind of lawnmower I like, it's called the Walker Mower. And they're known to be expensive mowers. So we scraped and found all the money that we had and we just bought this mower outright. It was like $10K, came with the mower and the deck. So we got a brand new mower and that's just what I started with, I had that and started using that more. And then I was basically cutting lawns by myself. If I needed help, my wife would come out with me or my brothers would come out with me every now and then just to help out. And then as I grew, I started to have to find some employees, which that's a hard part to scale there because try to find enough work. You find enough work for you, but you got just a little bit too much where you can't handle it yourself. So you need to find work for that person and keep them going as well. So on a fourth of the first, I think probably 5 years I had my wife helping me plus 1 employee, and then I kind of started jumping up more and more employees. And then that brings us to like today where I think I've got 6 employees now. And that's, that's a whole challenge on itself. But I, I've been pretty lucky because a lot of people you, you hear hire people and they don't show up or they're, they're not that great. I've been pretty lucky because all my employees always show up on time. I think over the years I've only had maybe like 1 or 2 that don't show up. And then I did have an issue 2 years ago with one, like sexual harassment issues, which I'd never dealt with before, it was a little bit, wow, I don't know how to deal with this. So, but other than that, it's been pretty good. Employees have been pretty good. They show up, they come to work, they want to work, which is fantastic. But yeah, that's just some of the struggles, you know, when you get bigger, trying to make sure you have enough work for everybody. And for me, the way my season works is we start about mid-April and we go till end of November and then my season's over. So we're really busy in, you know, April till maybe like June, July, August, and it kind of slows down once all the cottagers go home. So trying to get enough work to keep those people on is hard, and then we get busy again in October. But luckily for me, the last couple years I've had some students working for me. So by the time, like, you know, September comes, they're off and I only need one person to help my crew at least. And I do have two crews, one crew for lawn care, one crew for me. So it's nice to have that one person go because I don't have enough work for that many people come, you know, September, which is nice. Yeah. So it's Yeah, it's great.

And are you doing— are you doing in the wintertime, are you doing snowplow removal and stuff as well?

I don't do any snow at all. The insurance is so expensive. I had a few customers.

Yeah, yeah.

I had a few customers just before the winter last year call me. I asked people just come shovel some walkways. But no, I'm just— I honestly, I just can't. I don't want to do— I'd rather be skiing. And that's fair. It is. And the wintertime is— so my wife has a summer business as well. So that's when we take our vacations with our family. So we take vacations in the wintertime. If you're doing snow, you can't really do vacations because you're sitting there waiting for the snow to come.

So yeah, and you got to be there when the snow does come. Yeah, you can't be away.

No, absolutely.

Well, that's— and that's great, Scotty. And, uh, what year did you actually start? Like, let's take it the year that, um, you had started on your own when you and your cousin sort of went in a different direction. What year was that?

I think it was 2013. It's honestly a big blur now. I believe it was around 2013-ish.

Yeah, so you've had a lot of, a lot of change, a lot of transformation. Going from 0 to 6 employees is a big deal. I remember myself, you know, even starting, it takes a long time to get to those 6 employees. It's interesting because it probably won't take you near as long to get to 12 employees if you decide that that's the direction you want to go. But the first 6 are hard because just like you said, right, you, you start building up revenue, you have just maybe too much for yourself to handle, and then you try and bring somebody in and that person can definitely not do the same amount of volume that you are able to do. So you have to figure that out and then you have to do business development. So yeah, I totally, totally get it. Question for you though, when we're thinking about the entrepreneurship and the journey, you talked about the flexibility, especially in the wintertime to be able to go away. That's definitely a perk that, you know, we maybe see and it's more visible with entrepreneurs, but what realities do people miss when you're actually operating a business versus the idea of, how nice entrepreneurship must be.

Well, when you're a 9-to-5 or an employee, at the end of the day, you get to go home. You don't have to worry about anything. When you're an entrepreneur, man, you got to come home, you got to answer the phone, you got to start doing quotes, you got to go look at jobs. So the day never stops and your phone constantly rings. Honestly, I've had people texting me like 2, 3 in the morning. I'm like, are you not sleeping? That's when I sleep. But yeah, that's the hard part is just Coming home, you're tired. And for me, I'm trying to step out of the business more. Like, for instance, like Amanda, she's my lawn care crew girl. She's been with me like 7 years. She just does all the lawn care stuff, so it's fantastic. But I run another crew, so when I get home, I still have to do my quotes and all that stuff, and it's tiring and trying to find time to do that. Because when I get home, then especially when school's out, my kids come home, and then it's like kids are over you as well and asking questions, and you try to work, and it's hard to work with with other people around, especially when your kids are, you know, coming home from school. So it is a challenge getting all that work done. But saying that, I have built up a team to help me to try and take more stuff off my plate. So I'm not, you know, needing to do all that work and I got more time to do other stuff. So it's that, that's kind of how, you know, my business works. And like, like most entrepreneurs, I would think, have the same issues, like coming home from work and you still got all this extra work to do that the employees have no clue what you're doing.

Yeah, 100%. And we, we like to refer to that of as the work-life integration versus the balance because it's not a balance. But you find a way to make it work, right? And that's a lot of people don't, don't understand. I've seen this image that's on social media, pops up maybe once a year, and it's of the big iceberg that's in the water, right? And everybody sees what's above the water. It's like, oh, that's not such a big piece of ice. But you realize that the majority of the, the iceberg is under the water and it's doing all the, all the heavy lifting to put that little piece of ice on the top. And the idea is that people just don't understand what they can't see. And they don't see the late nights. They don't see the missed birthdays. They don't see the weekends, the stress, the people not showing up, you know, the, the complaints, the all of the stuff that you have to deal with as a business owner that, you know, it must be nice Everybody thinks, oh, the flexibility of Scott going skiing in the winter, that must be really nice that you can do that. And you go, yeah, well, when I sleep 3 hours in the summertime trying to make my life accommodate that, it's, it's a bit of a challenge.

So it is. Yeah. Yeah.

Totally understand that. You know, thinking of— and I know we talked about employees and, you know, the challenge that we can have as an employer making sure, one, that employees are engaged, that they're sort of bought into the business, that they do show up. It sounds like you've got a good culture of that showing up. What would you say has been maybe one of the biggest challenges in building a team over the last, you know, decade or so?

I know we talk about culture in the group a lot. I'm not very good at the culture part. I'm trying my hardest, but it seems like a lot of the boys I have don't really care for that. And I think it's because I'm seasonal. It's not because, you know, maybe if I had year long, it might be easier to incorporate that, but it's very hard to incorporate that. But honestly, like I said, for them showing up every day, that's the best thing I've ever had people do. And that's part of it, I guess, is having them show up. But sometimes I've had, with the group, when we had the meetings every Tuesday, sometimes I'll have it in the car and sometimes you just see the guys just tune right out. And some of this stuff would be great for you guys to listen to, but that's my hardest part is trying to get the best culture and try to get them going. I've already had a couple issues with some employees this year and we've only been working, you know, like 2, 3 days and it's just trying to get them to have a different mindset. But it's hard to change the mindset if they're not wanting to be there. I agree a lot. It takes a little—

it probably takes a little bit of time for them to get back in the rhythm too, right? If they're seasonal and then coming back in. Yeah. You know, either you're going to have one of two sort of approaches. One, people are going to be really excited to be like, okay, let's get back at it. This is good. You know, like, I know my team in tax season, they kind of get excited about tax season. They're like, okay, it's coming up, let's do it. Or you're going to get people who are like, oh my God, it's tax season. I don't want to do this. You know, so two totally different perspectives. And sometimes you don't necessarily know what it is you're going to get. But what I would say is, as a culture, you know, if culture is a struggle, one of the things that I can see if everybody is showing up, that's part of the culture. This is just the way we do things. We show up on time and we get to work, right? Continuing to build on that. And, you know, one of the things that we talk about and, and, you know, maybe just to add a little bit of context for anybody listening, we've got our Wealthy Entrepreneur community and Scott's been part of that community, I think, since day one. And it always shows up, you know, and I think, you know, Scotty, from my perspective, You know, when you look at a leader and you're always there, right? You always show up. You're always there. You know, you might have other things going on in your mind that day, right? Like, oh man, I got to get back to this quote. I got this issue that's going on or whatever. But you always show up. And I think, you know, that's a testament to your team showing up as well, is that as a leader, you always show up and they respect and appreciate that, which is why they do the same. Back. So I think, you know, with businesses and leaders creating culture, sometimes it is based on, you know, leading that behavior yourself and just saying, this is the way that we do things. I'll lead by example. And I know for me, you know, tax season now, our team's 180 people. Like, the amount of tax returns that I get involved in is limited to none with— based on what everybody's doing. But on the weekends when these guys are working hard, I have to be in here with them. You know, I'm like, I have to be here. And I don't think they would care at this point if I wasn't. But like, I want them to show that I got my sleeves rolled up with them. Right. And I think that is a sign of, of good leadership. And I would say that's probably why your culture has it so that everybody continues to show up every day.

Yeah. And honestly, I like to work myself. So like, I always tell the guys, like, like I am, I'm usually older— then most of the guys, I have some younger people, I'm like, if I can run circles around you guys, you should be running circles too. So I mean, like, it's just like I said, like, show up, I'll get there and get the work done. Like, I actually physically do in front of them and do it too. And like, it shows that, you know, I'm there and I can do it too. So if I can do it, you guys do it. And yeah, let's show up and just get the work done.

Yeah, 100%, which is excellent. Now let's think about customers, because I feel like we've harped on employees a little bit here because it, you know, things have, have sort of changed over the years with employees and other individuals and their priorities. You know, work isn't as big of a priority as it was for like my dad's generation, the baby boomer generation. They were like, you work hard, you put your head down, and that's how you succeed, right? And I, you know, we've evolved so that that's not so much the way it is anymore. And certainly as new generations are coming in, they're seeing it's like, well, work isn't the most important thing in life. There's other priorities in life. And And that's part of that, that integration. But let's think about customers for a second, because I know right now with the way that the economy is, you know, people are tight with money. People are constantly, you know, worried. You've got certain people in the world who are just going to try and take over and bomb other countries at all times. So it's like lack of predictability of things that are going on. But in your industry, it's a hands-on industry. Reputation matters. Yeah. How is it that you really focus on delivering a good client experience for your customers every year?

So some of my customers, I honestly, I think I've had them for 10 years or like almost the whole time that I've had my business, which is awesome because you want that repeat business and it just makes it easy. So what I do every spring, I just send out a spring letter and I put down all the services that I offer. Now, I never used to do that. I just started that about like 5, 6 years ago and I just send a spring letter out so it reminds them, you know, that it's time to get thinking about your lawn and your other services that you might need. And then I give them the service of all the services that we do. So they check off more stuff to upsell them on those services. But I just send that out every spring, reminds them, you know, it's time to do it. I used to send out Christmas cards. I haven't done it a couple of years, but I did send out Christmas cards because they say you want, you know, 4 or 5 contacts throughout the year with your customers. So the more contact, the better. So I used to do that. I need to get back into the rhythm of doing that. I just found a lot of work. I was handwriting all the, you know, things. My wife said she can do Excel sheet where it just prints on the computer. So I have no clue how to do that stuff, but she said she could do that. So I just have to stick the stickers on, send the things out. So I got to get back into doing that because I think it really does. Customers don't really notice. I used to send out maybe like 10 gift cards as well and stuff. No one would ever thank me for it. I think I only had one customer ever thank me in the years I did it, but I think it's still a nice touch just to, you know, Keep in contact with them, let them know you care. But yeah, that's just how I've kept in contact with customers. And we do have a lot of rotating stuff sometimes. Sometimes people will only do it for a couple years and move on. Not sure if it's because they want to do it themselves or they found somebody cheaper or what it is. And especially for my window cleaning customers, I used to have a lot of the same customers, but it seems like the windows have kind of dropped off for some reason. But I was going to send out a spring letter to all my window customers. I still got to do that because that way I can get more business coming in. But yeah, I just, I try to keep in contact with them at least once or twice after the season's finished so they know you're still there. Even if there's snow on the ground, you know, they may not be thinking about their lawn care, but I just like to do that because then some customers don't get back to you for like 2, 3 months. So at least you have that 2, 3 months to hopefully get them signed up with you before the season starts.

Absolutely. Yeah. And you know what, customers, they, they like to know that you're thinking of them. Right. And, you know, I think all of those proactive ways, you know, even sending out the letter when people aren't thinking about it, they at least know that you're thinking of them. And I know in the group we talk about, you know, the 4 ways to grow very often because it's, you know, if we, if we really truly want to grow, we have to understand the levers that we're able to pull and what we're able to do in our business. And the one way that we talk often is making sure that all people are aware of all the services that you can do. And that newsletter is such a great way way to be able to do that. Now, over the years, have you expanded like year over year? Are you offering more services continuously as well?

I'm trying not to. I used to do a lot more different services, but I'm trying to keep it to more niche, like just down in lawn care, window cleaning, deck cleaning. Because what, like the lawn care gets filled up. So Amanda's okay doing the lawn care, but when I start having all this other stuff on my crew, it's hard to fit everything in. So I'm really trying just to expand to like window cleaning and deck cleaning. I'm even trying to push a window cleaner out just to get the deck cleaning jobs because I'd rather be doing that. But I mean, if customer wants some other odd jobs, do it. But this year I added mulch to my agenda for them to do. We've got a couple jobs I've quoted, so I think we'll get a couple jobs like that. And then, yeah, that's all I really want to spread out to. It's just you spread yourself too thin and then you just can't fit everything in. And I'm just trying to focus on more of the jobs that I want to do.

Yeah, for sure. I think of the mulch though, and I think that's a great idea because the grass isn't really growing that fast. You know, in the early part of the season where you go mulch everybody's gardens, they look great, and then you make their lawn look great as soon as it's done kind of thing.

Yeah.

Yeah. That makes perfect sense. I hate doing mulch. I used to do it. I used to do it for years, and then I just, it seemed like as we evolved, our gardens continued to get bigger until it was almost like a week-long project so that you, I couldn't do it myself within that time period. So then it goes longer and longer and longer. Man, it's nice to have somebody come in and, and just take care of that for you. So, yeah, I appreciate that as a service offering, Scotty. That's a good one. At what point did you realize that you had to shift from simply doing the work to actually building a group? Like, I know you, you highlighted the idea that, hey, I just had too much work and, you know, that was sort of it. Was that all the rationale for it or were you looking at were you looking at your business and saying, you know what, I think this is something that could be bigger than me?

I honestly never thought I'd be at this point where my business is this big. I never did. Like, and like, like when I first started telling, you know, I came from cooking to here, I didn't even know that this was even a realm of business that I could do. And being a business owner, I didn't even think about that. So for me to be where I am now, it's just like, wow. Yeah, it's a lot of stuff to think about and get, but you know, just I don't know. It's mind-blowing where we are and how we got here. And it's just some days I still don't really believe that I built a business, but it does. It's a slow-going thing, right? It's not like one day you're, you're booming, you're up here. It's been like, like I said, starting like 2013, so slow going to get there. But yeah, I don't know. It's— I just never thought about like that. It's just wrap around your head that you got to this point is crazy.

You know, I get people ask me a lot and they used to, or maybe not even ask me, but they'll say, oh, it must, you know, be easier than it was 10 years ago. Or at least, oh, at least you don't have to do that anymore. It must be easier. I'm like, I don't know, man. I've got my team's 180 and I feel like I'm working harder than ever. And maybe it's the constant reinvention. Maybe it's the constant accountability of trying to make sure that the team's doing what they're supposed to be doing. But it doesn't seem to get any easier. You know what's easier? Just doing it by yourself. That's easier. You know you're going to show up, right? You know you're going to deliver. You know that you understand what needs to happen. You don't have to train. You don't have to mentor. You don't have to, you know, no payroll. Like it's just, yeah, growing a business is not as easy as people make it out to be. And no, you know, getting to the point that you're at, especially having, you know, I would say the complexity of seasonality as well, you know, that's another wrinkle For me, it's easier with my team that they— it's just constantly going, like having a seasonality of, hey, we'll see in a little bit, um, is a little bit challenging, right? So, you know, it's one of those things, the evolution of business doesn't necessarily make life easier, although that's always the end game. That's always something that we're looking for is to say, hey, can we— like, this is supposed to be easier, right? Um, But if it can't be easier, hopefully it just continues to become more profitable for you. Entrepreneurship doesn't often come with the amount of stress that people think about. It comes with a little bit more than that. How have you managed, especially on the mental side, the stress of building a business?

Well, so when I first started out, oh my gosh, I would freak out about everything that would break down. Like when the lawnmowers broke down, I come home, I'd be just like, my head's just like, oh, I don't know what to do. I call my wife up, say, Hey, this happened, what do I do? Blah, blah, blah. Trying to figure out how to fix more. Because back then we only had one mower. So if it broke down, we'd be in trouble. So I just totally be freaking out all the time. And I learned that things are going to happen in your business. And whenever I freaked out, things were way worse. You actually had more problems. I just figured, you know what, things are going to happen. And like I said, I got two mowers in the shop right now that need, and I'm like, I'm a little bit worried about that, but I'm I'll get them back and everything will be fine. So I just kind of put it on the back burner and I'll just say, you know what, everything works out. The more you stress about it, the worse it is because now you're constantly thinking about it. So I just, I just, I'm like, whatever, it is what it is. And like, for instance, like last year, we're, um, Amanda was in Fallon Falls, uh, cutting some lawns and she calls me and say, Scott, the truck won't start. I'm like, great. But luckily we were driving by, so luckily we were driving by, so we switched trucks with her. And then I think my wife came and picked me up in her truck so we could use her truck. So we always have backup vehicle somewhere along the way to help us out, which is nice. And most people don't have that. So it's just trying to work out the situation and honestly do not freak out. Just be calm and everything will work out. You just have to kind of think about what's going to go on. And I always found, like I said, when you freak out, things are way worse. So just everything will work out. Just be calm and kind of think about what situation you're in and trying how to deal with it and figure out what you need to do. And the part too is when we got there, there was my employees in the lawn care truck, and it was me and one other employee. So it's like, you, you don't want to freak out in front of everybody, so you got to be cool in front of everybody and make them think that, you know, you— everything's under control when it really isn't.

Exactly. Yeah. And, and that happens often, uh, as a leader, right, where something's happening and it's all good. You might— it's like the swan effect, right, where the legs are moving so fast under the water, but above the water it's just this graceful, peaceful movement of the swan. And you know, that's entrepreneurship, right? It's, you know, everybody doesn't need to know all the stresses at all times. And what I typically say too in that is, you know, focus on finding the solution. Don't focus on the problems because if you continue to focus on the problems, that's all that's in your mind. Focus on finding the solution quickly, taking action, moving forward instead of dwelling on things because you know what? It's not going to get any easier, right? You know, the more employees, the more mowers, the more locations, whatever this looks like, you know, the more challenges are going to arise. And, you know, those really successful entrepreneurs can make decisions quickly. They can act rationally and they don't panic, you know. And I think it's, you know, those are some attributes of really successful people. Thinking, thinking about someone else who would start be looking at starting a business, maybe even specifically a lawn care business, what would you tell them before they make the leap into being a business owner?

I say honestly, do your research on prices and what equipment you want. Especially like, I've seen a girl on the Facebook last couple days keep on advertising like $20 an hour work for cleanups and stuff. I'm like, you can't make a business on that. So I would honestly call other companies up and see what they're charging just so you have an idea because you don't want to be the underbidder. And then honestly, like, like get a website. Like I know social media, some people don't like social media, but the more you're on social media, the more you're going to show up on the internet and that way you can get your business out there. Yeah, just like, just put yourself out there and make yourself known. Because if you're not known, it's harder to be seen. And for me, I'm not sure, I'm not, I don't like going out. I'm not part of the community that much. I don't like to go out. I'll sponsor events and that, but I'm not, I don't like going out and meeting people. But my cousin, she knows everybody and it's Everybody knows her business and I'll, but I will have people calling me up, say, oh yeah, somebody recommended you. And I'm like, I have no clue who you are. But you know, yeah, it's just honestly, it's just putting yourself out there and making sure you advertise and making sure you have the equipment that works. You don't need the most expensive equipment. You know, when you first start out, just get, you know, cheap equipment and then from there you can upgrade as you're going along and just have fun with it. Don't, don't worry too much. You know, just have fun with it. And yeah, the more fun you have with it and the more fun you can have with your employees, you know, the better it is.

100%. We want to create something that we enjoy, right? We're going to do this for a long time, likely do this for a long time. We might as well enjoy it and be passionate about it. So yeah, everything that Scotty said, and, and, you know, just to tie in the last point, find something that gets you excited. You know, if it's, if it's lawn care, if it's taxes, whatever, whatever it is that you're doing, find something that, you know, even if you weren't being paid, you would still do it out of joy, right? You would still— you would, you would like to do it and find the people that you would like to do it with and build them on your team. I think that's, that's super important. Okay, Scotty, I got some fast rapid-fire questions for you. All right, we're gonna go into rapid-fire range right now. Okay, let's do this. Early mornings or late nights? Early mornings. Which one built your business?

Early mornings.

Early mornings. Yeah, you're an early morning guy. I'm, I'm not. I can't do mornings. Like I do it. I get up and I force myself to do the gym, you know, before the sun comes up sort of situation. But man, if I had a choice, I'd work all night and sleep in.

But which is funny because, because you were like, when the group, you're like the 5:00 AM club, you were always posting before anybody else. So I don't know.

Yeah, absolutely. But you know what? Sometimes you have to do the things that are hard and that you don't want to do to, uh, to challenge yourself, right? And I know right now my wife's got me in this 75 Hard. I don't know if you've heard the 75 Hard challenge. Oh my good God, I am just— I don't know how people have the time to do these things, but it's amazing, you know, the 2-workout-a-day situation. I would have never thought during tax season ever that I would be able to do this. But you know what? When you commit to something, you find a way. That's all I'm going to say, right? Okay. The hardest part of owning a service business: people, weather, or cash flow?

Oh, I think the weather.

Yeah.

Unpredictable. Oh, is it ever, man.

Like, like today, especially this season, right?

Yeah. It's been raining. We had rain all like last week and then it was like a little bit of snow this morning.

So what's the number one thing customers never realize about that goes on behind the scenes?

Oh man, I don't know. Like, you're always working. You're like always working. You're always calling people. You're just always go, go, go. Absolutely.

The biggest myth people believe about being your own boss?

You'll be rich and famous.

Is that not the case, Scott?

Like, I don't know, man.

I'm still looking for it. I'm still looking for both. One trait every entrepreneur needs if they want to last?

Stay focused.

Focus. Yeah, absolutely. I would usually throw in there resilience as well. Like, man, you're going to get run over 100 times. So you got to realize how to get run over and to get back up because it's a long, it's a long haul, right? And mowers are going to break down. Employees are not going to show up. Things in life are going to not happen at the times that you want them to. And it's how you respond to it and how you get back on the, back on the horse and keep, keep pushing forward.

Yeah.

I have a question for you. So that's the end of the rapid fire, but this is a question that I have for you. I know you've been a part of the Wealthy Entrepreneur community for quite a few years. Two things from you. What's been your biggest takeaway and how has it helped you be successful on your journey?

Honestly, there's lots of takeaways because every week there's, you know, different sessions. So there's always something to learn there. And I always say that if you're not willing to learn, then you're not going to grow your business. So it's always great to be there to learn. With it. And honestly, I was, before I started the group, I was looking for a group to be part of. I always ask questions in Facebook groups, but you never get the answers you want. It's always like, you know, dissing you or saying you're stupid for asking that question or whatever. So I wanted to be part of a group where I could actually ask questions and get answers and actually learn stuff. And they say when you pay for a group, you get that. And so I've been paying for your group and I get that. I'm there, I've learned stuff. You get help, you got questions you can ask, and every week we have sessions so you can ask questions and whatnot and you meet other people a group that are just like you with the same issues. And that's like, without the group, I wouldn't be motivated. Like I get very unmotivated quickly. So as soon as I get part back to the group or listen to session, it helps me get, you know, back up there and get motivated and say, yeah, I can do this. And you don't get demoralized and just keeps you on track. So yeah, that's my biggest thing.

Love that. And, and you know what guys, wealthyentrepreneur.co, check it out. Scotty, thanks for that. But again, you know, I think one of the reasons that you get out of it is because you put into it too. And you know what? I think anybody who is looking for coaching or community, it's not to go in and take, take, take. You know, it's a two-way street. The more you give, the more that people are willing to give you in return. And Scott, you always show up. You always come in with a great attitude. You always come in prepared with questions and, hey, listen, this is what I want to get out of today. When we're having discussions or questions, and that is fantastic. You're prepared, you're on time, you know, thank you for everything that you bring to the community as well. But I'm super grateful, one, to be on this journey with you, but two, to see the success that you've had over a period of time and excited to see what the future holds for you. Scott, one last question for you. If you were to think back to when you started and you would give yourself back then one piece of advice, something you know now that you wish you did then, what would that piece of advice be?

I think like going back to staying calm, like just stay calm when you start up and just don't, don't think of it as, you know, a hard job. Like it is hard, but if you work on it and like be part of groups and ask questions, it'll help you out. Like, like I like to ask questions when I was in the kitchen, I always be asking questions how to do stuff. And I like to ask questions, but that's how I learn. But ask questions, man. Find people around you and just ask questions and learn from them. Find like, I'm part, I know a whole bunch of OnCare guys now, so if I have issues, just, I ask them. So find that person when you're starting out that, you know, become friends with or find a mentor, whatever. Just ask tons of questions and it's great free advice. And don't ever think you know everything. They always say if you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room.. So you want to be finding those people that are smarter than you and learn from them. Then once you're the smarter person, go find another room to be in and then you can learn even more.

Absolutely. Absolutely love that. Now I said one more question, but I'm going to throw one more in for you. Uh, with the culinary program, you must continue to like cooking food. What's your favorite meal that you cook?

You know, I hate cooking now, but, um, so I, I do, I don't know. Because with culinary, it's all the French classical stuff, right? So like, like when I was in, in that, I always have gone out there with brass fries, eating all the nice expensive fancy foods, but it's just too rich for me now. But I don't know, we're actually smoking the roast right now, so I like smoking on my barbecue now. My wife bought me like a smoker barbecue thing, so we— I like to smoke the meats because it tastes so good, and I like cooking chicken. Um, but yeah, I don't know, I, I tend to cook the same thing all the time now just because I'm too, too lazy to look recipes up or whatever.

Lazy but busy, right? Like, it's like, oh, look Simple, simple is sometimes nice when you're a busy guy. So it is.

Yeah.

Scott, thank you so much for joining today. Thanks for sharing your story. Thanks for your insights. I think this has been super valuable. If anybody is looking to get a hold of you or to even say, hey, Scott, we want to work with you, we heard you and, you know, we think that you're a great guy and would do a really good job for us. How can people track you down?

All right. Well, I am on Instagram @redrockmaintenance. I'm on YouTube as well under Red Rock Maintenance. And Facebook. I'm under Red Rock Maintenance. So basically everything, I'm under Red Rock Maintenance. So any, any socials that are out there, I'm on there as Red Rock Maintenance. So yeah, that's how you can find me. And if you want to ask me questions or whatever, shoot me messages. I always respond because I like responding and helping people out as well. So yeah.

And what's your website?

My website is redrockmaintenance.ca. Perfect.

Scott, thank you once again. And for everybody, thank you for joining us today. This has been the Wealthy Entrepreneur Podcast. I'm your host, Bob Gauvreau. Our intention here is to ensure that we're empowering entrepreneurs with the financial confidence they need to continue to be successful because entrepreneurs are truly the greatest movement forward to making positive change in the world. So thank you again for joining us. If there's been anything that you found super valuable in here that you think, hey, you know what, a friend of mine, a colleague of mine, someone I know would benefit from this, please copy, share that information with them. Again, we're here to help business owners find that level of success. Leave a comment, leave a note. We're gonna put in the show notes every way that you can reach out to Scott. Make sure you give us a like and give us a follow, 'cause we're gonna have another episode coming out real soon, and we would love you to tune in then. So once again, I'm your host, Bob Gauvreau. It's been a pleasure to have you here with us today, and we'll see you next time.