Mike AndesFounder, Augusta Lawn Care and Homeworks · Founder of Homeworks and Augusta Lawn Care

$50k/mo in Expenses Running 5 Businesses

24 Mar 2025 · 0 min

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A conversational transcript (YouTube) where Mike Andes and another speaker discuss the financial pressures of running five business locations in 2024 — notably a sudden $15,000/month increase in fixed expenses (vehicles, equipment, central location) that raises the break-even point and forces growth-at-all-costs tradeoffs. The speaker reflects that trying to scale, acquire another business, and add seasonal services (Christmas lights) simultaneously was overly ambitious and led to operational strain.

2024. Mike sold me five of the locations. And then here we are today.
I couldn't believe you.
Get the central to Charlotte. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
What'd you.
What are you paying for this? It's expensive. It's like 15 grand a month.
Fifteen a month?
Yeah.
The accelerated rate of learning that he's having is why he's having all these. The trouble.
15 trucks, a car, a dozen mowers. So much stuff is breaking all the time.
When you increase your fixed expenses by $15,000 a month, you probably increase your break even point by 50, $60,000 a month. Like, it's not even an option to cut this and raise prices dramatically. This is grow at all costs. Where did we go wrong in 2024?
Looking back, I think I was, like, too reactive. I was trying to scale a team, go through another acquisition, and add Christmas lights all at the same time. That was a terrible idea. Like, you can only do so much at a time, and that's. That was just me being dumb and ambitious.