This YouTube transcript features Mike Andes arguing that landscaping businesses should emulate McDonald’s by simplifying and systematizing offerings so staff can be trained and become profitable quickly. He contrasts two business models — highly specialized, slow-to-train ‘five-star’ operators versus standardized, fast-to-train operations — and recommends choosing a place on that continuum rather than trying to offer many bespoke services.
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McDonald's sells the most burgers and it's because they've taken something that is hard and difficult making food and simplified it, systematized and said these are the only things we do. We make that burger, that fry and that milkshake and that's basically it. So the goal is like either A, how do we keep people longer or B, how do we make people profitable faster for the business where they can be here for a week or two weeks or three weeks or whatever it is, be trained up and be profitable for the business. When you add more services, it takes them way too long to get trained up. I look at it as like you're either going to be a five star Michelin restaurant and you're going to take years and years to train people and people are going to travel from far and wide and think you're the best thing since sliced bread people, Some people like that. They want to be the custom guy. And then the other extreme is taking 15 year olds at McDonald's and within a day they're profitable for the business and you can train them up and immediately they know exactly how to make that burger and the fries and everything. And you got to figure out where you want to be in that continuum. And I think a lot of us as landscape, we tilt this way too much. I want to do offer this service and this and we're going to be the best at this. Being the best is completely subjective. The best burger, well.
