A YouTube video by Mike Andes featuring a conversation with Nick, an ex-employee who became an Augusta Lawn Care location owner. Nick recounts starting in April 2019 at $16/hour, later earning up to $33/hour on performance pay, living in a van and saving $25,000 during 2020, then starting his location via the company's 3F program. The video emphasizes personal growth, ownership mentality, franchising opportunities, and the company's culture of training and mentoring.
Questions this video answers
April 2019
$16 per hour
$33 per hour (for a two-week pay period)
2020
$25,000
Chapters
Today it's Thursday, which means I'm going to the Bellingham shop for the morning meeting. And today they are taking all the team and doing a whole bunch of training in the field. And after that, well, I have a whole bunch of meetings, which is super exciting. So let's go.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is why Augusta Lawn Care exists. This is Nick, by the way, in Marysville.
You know, I started working here in April of 2019. I was making $16 an hour. And that was before we did P4PMike was still doing estimates full time. So it's been really cool to see all this grow. And I'm a living testament to just to all the opportunities that you know this simple job, it's like we're mowing lawns and doing property cleanups. Very basic work, but it has the power to change your entire life if you let it. I've been running my own business for a year and a half. It's just incredible. I used to think I was stupid. I didn't have a degree, I didn't go to college. I used to think that I really didn't have a future beyond just like entry level labor. And I totally flipped out my head. And it's thanks to these wonderful people. So I love Augusta. I think it's incredible. When you were on P4P, what was the highest per hour you made? You bid that job? Yep. I made $33 an hour for a whole paycheck. So for a two week pay period on Performance Bay. And it was sick.
The constant perpetuation of improving oneself.
So I worked here for an entire year before I listened to any podcast, any audiobooks. You know, I wasn't buying it. I wasn't about learning life. You know, I would just, I would just plug in and just do my work. And I was extremely good at it. But I didn't take the next step, which was beginning to educate myself and actually started with all of Mike's podcasts on business boot camp. The YouTube channel wasn't as big back then, but absolute education, everything that you would need to know. And it's like after listening to all that stuff, I had a grasp on what it was to actually run a lawn care business. Because there's so much that goes on in the back end that you don't see. I was able to wrap my head around. I was like, wow, this is something that I could actually do. And that was around the time that you actually franchise the business. And then the opportunity was available and just, you know, through support and talking to my fellow co workers, people are like, hey, you'd be really good for this. You know, I have natural leadership qualities. I was the kind of person that stepped up and took charge for the team and just kind of led, even though I didn't have that title.
Picking yourself up by the bootstraps instead.
Of, you know, being an employee that, you know, your boss is like, hey, this is what you need to go do. Go do it and then come home and then do your job for the day and that's it. If you can shift that to saying like, this is my job. I own it. I own my truck, my equipment, my route, whenever I go out, do it for the day. And you take ownership over everything in your world. It's like you only have yourself to blame for the mistake, but you also only have yourself to blame for the successes. And it's just incredible. And then that is what automatically propels you towards becoming an owner, because that is the mentality that you have to possess as an owner because you have nobody to report to. And sometimes it's scary and uncomfortable.
Someone who doesn't have a lot of education or a lot going for them and making something of themselves.
I actually moved into a van. Before that, I just lived in parking lots around here. I'd stay at Mike's gym. I'd stay at rest stops. So when I lived in the van for that whole year in this 90 degree heat, it was just an oven. And in the van it would be over 100. And every day I'm like, man, this kind of sucks. I was eating top ramen. I didn't have any kind of ac. I didn't shower for five days on end. It was just brutal. And I was like, why am I doing this? And I did that for the entire year of 2020. And I did that. And I literally just saved my money. I spent only a couple hundred dollars a month. I saved $25,000. I started my location through the 3F program. So I waived all the initial fees to start. So literally just a year of hard work, grinding. I had enough money to start. I was just so supercharged with the prospect of being able to start my own location. It just automatically just propelled me. And that's what keeps me going to this day, has nothing to do with myself or my own personal interest. I just hope that gets taken care of along the way, which I'm sure it will, right? But.
And then passing that along to another set of employees, team members, and helping them develop themselves is what it's all about.
Like, I want a big team. I want to see people grow. I want to see people like Marcus literally show up at 19 years old right out of high school, and now run a business that does over a million dollars. That's unbelievable. There is no. Like, obviously, you guys know this. There's no other areas in life that you're gonna see that happen, right? Augusta is so unique in that regard.
That one meeting capsulates everything Augusta Nation stands for. And that is taking something from nothing, turning it into something, and then having that person allowing other people to do the same thing.
It's not even about opening up a franchise. Like, we always talk about that, because it's a very clear, clear and comfortable step for people to take. Because literally, if you have that field experience, you can do a $200,000 business your first year. Anybody can. Like, I'll fight that to the death. Right? Very attainable. It's not even about that. It's like, what. How do you want to further yourself in your own life? Soft skills? Professional skills? Owning your mistakes? I guarantee you, if you work in any kind of corporation, large corporation, people shove stuff under the rug. There's bureaucracy. There's people sabotaging you, not owning their mistakes. And if you're a person that doesn't do that stuff, you're so incredibly valuable to any employer anywhere, literally. It's. It's like the stuff they don't teach you in school. A degree will not teach you this stuff. It's literally just, how do you be a decent person that expects a lot out of themselves at the end of the day and provides for others and just that mentality. It doesn't matter if you're going to franchise or not. That will just propel you through life. And it is just unbelievable. And we're literally just mowing lawns and landscapes. Just to sum it all up. It is what you make it every day. So. And you have that decision to make.
And that's how we'll change the landscape. Industry. One person at a time, helping two people. And those two people helping four people change their lives. One person at a time.
Make sure to tune in tomorrow. We have a massive update. We're launching something brand new for all of you.
So.
So stay tuned. And then also the day after, make sure you tune into the vlog. Cause I'm actually showing you the new facility and property, the shop space that we just recently purchased in person.
Oh, my money. Can somebody go get the money off my desk?
